Tough Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

Rachel Adamson; Mandy Soule

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184490069X ISBN 13: 9781844900695

Publisher: Which? Books, 2009

Competition for jobs is fierce. Suitable for job-hunters, this title offers 400 of the trickiest questions and advice on the perfect way to answer them. It features: advice on what the interviewer wants to hear; winning ways to answer awful questions and examples of how not to; and, tips from leading blue chip companies.

About the Author:

Rachel Adamson and Mandy Soule are co-founders and directors of The Assessment Partnership, a consultancy that provides advice and practical support to private and public sector businesses in areas of assessment, selection and development of their people.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Introduction:

We find ourselves in a rapidly changing job market. It is one that is increasingly competitive with many applications for each vacancy and employers looking for a wide variety of skills and qualities. Even methods of interviewing and selection have changed, with many more employers using assessment centres or structured competency based interviews to choose the right people to join their business.

In such a challenging environment it is critical that you are able to stand out from the crowd, demonstrate your skills, experiences and qualities effectively and answer interview questions confidently. This book could be the secret to your success - with over 400 interview questions it will give you an understanding of the questions you may be asked and valuable guidance on how to answer them. In addition, there is a chapter dedicated to assessment centres explaining what they are, what to expect and how to prepare for them (see pages 226-37).

This book is written by recruitment professionals who work with organisations of all types and sizes in the public and private sectors and across all industries. As such it provides a realistic guide to the questions that are being asked by employers and ones that they want to hear a good answer to. Some of the questions included are not necessarily good practice, but you may well be asked them, so you need to be prepared for these and have thought about how you will handle them.

The most important thing you can do before attending an interview is preparation. Of course, no one can tell you exactly what questions they will ask, what approach they will take to conducting the interview or what skills and qualities they will concentrate upon, but these are all things that you can take an educated guess about by looking at the range of information you have about the job.

Using this book, work through the opening general chapters and then select the ones that relate most closely to your situation or job requirements. Doing this will ensure that you go into the interview well prepared having given real thought to your skills and qualities and unique selling points. You owe it to yourself to do this - you wouldn't make a public speech, presentation or attend an important meeting without preparing, so why would you try to wing it in an interview?

Preparation is one of the easiest ways of reducing the nerves that strike most of us in a pressured situation like an interview - you are much more likely to be able to think of good answers and strong examples if you have already worked thorough some of these prior to the interview.

This book is designed to support you through the process of preparing for an interview. Read through it and pick out the sections relevant to yourself, the job you have applied for or the kind of interview you are expecting. The opening chapters guide you through how and what information to prepare followed by Chapters 3-10, which cover questions that you may be asked in the interview. Chapter 11 focuses on questions you can ask the interviewer.
Chapter 12 is about assessment centres and gives comprehensive insight into what these are about and how to prepare for them.

The authors regularly work with a range of job hunters offering training and support in preparation for interviews and assessment centres. In doing so, they have developed a good understanding of the real concerns of candidates and the appropriate mechanisms that can be used by them to prepare effectively and make the best presentation of their skills, qualities and potential for the role they have applied for.

The interview process can be a stressful and challenging time for many, but also a good opportunity for you to take stock of your own skills and qualities and think about what you want out of your working life. Throughout the book you will find a range of hints and tips to make your preparation and interview experience as positive and stress free as possible.