h

en appl

y

ingfor the job use the infor

m

ation

y

ouincluded to create

y

o

ur response. For exa

m

ple, if

y

ou

a

reinterviewing for a job at aschool wh

e

re

y

o

u will ne

e

d to

m

anage student registration, explain to the interviewer h

o

w

y

o

u register

e

d students f

o

r courses, d

e

signed and

m

anaged registration software, andsolved custo

m

er proble

m

s. If

y

ou didn

'

t fail at an

y

thing, s

a

y so.

If

y

ou can think of an exa

m

ple, be sure that i

t

'

s aminor one andturn it into a positive. Forexa

m

ple, if

y

ou were w

o

rki

n

g on a proje

c

t that was b

e

hind deadline, explain to the interviewer howyou

a

djusted the workload a

n

d the ti

m

eli

n

e to get back on track andahead of sc

h

edule

17. JobInt

e

rviewAnswer: HowWill YouAchi

v

e Your Goa

l

s?

As a follow-up to the interview quest

i

on

"

What are

y

o

ur goalsfor the futur

e

?

" the interviewer will of

t

en ask

how

y

o

u plan on achieving those goa

l

s. A good answer to thisquestion will speak specificallyaboutwhat

y

o

u are going to acco

m

plish and how

y

o

u are going to acco

m

plish it. Exa

m

p

les of goodrespons

e

s include:

•

I plan on ga

i

ning additional skills by taking related classes and continuing myinvolve

m

e

nt with a

varietyofprofessional associations.

•

I noticed that XYZ co

m

pany (the co

m

pany you are

i

nterviewingwith) provi

d

es in-house

t

raining for e

m

plo

y

e

e

s and Iwou

l

d certainly

b

e interested in taking classes that wou

l

d be relevant.

•

I will continue

m

yprofessional develop

m

ent

m

yparticipating inconferences, attending se

m

inars,

and continuing

m

yeduc

a

tion.

18. JobInt

e

rviewAnswer: WhyA

r

e You L

e

aving Y

o

ur J

o

b?

One of the

q

uestions thatis t

y

pical

l

y

a

sked in an i

n

terview is "Why are

y

ouleaving

y

o

ur jo

b

?

" or "

W

hy did

y

o

u leave

y

o

ur jo

b

?

" ify

o

u have already

m

oved on.If

y

ouwere fired from

y

o

ur job, use

these answ

e

rs

to

respond.Ifyou left of

y

o

ur own accord, review th

e

se sugg

e

stions on how b

e

st to answerand tailor

y

o

ur response to

m

eet

y

our particular situation. Be direct and focusyour interview answer onthe future, especiallyif

y

o

ur leavingwasn

'

t under the best of circu

m

stances.

Don

'

t Ba

d

m

outh YourB

o

ss

Regardless

o

f w

h

y you l

e

ft, don

'

t speak badly abo

u

t

y

o

u

r previ

o

us e

m

plo

y

er.The interviewer

m

ayw

o

nder if

y

o

u will be bad-

m

outhing his co

m

pany next ti

m

e

y

o

u

'

re looki

n

g for work. Ionce interviewed a person who told

m

e that her last e

m

plo

y

er w

a

s terrible.

Theydi

d

n

'

t

p

ayher enou

g

h, the hourswere awful and she hatedthe job. That co

m

panyh

a

ppened to be

m

y co

m

pan

y

'

s biggest, and

m

ost i

m

portant, custo

m

er. And there isno w

a

yIw

o

uld have hired so

m

eone who

felt that wa

y

,justified or not, about our valuble clien

t

. So, shegave up anyopportunity of getting the job as soon asshe

a

nswered the"Whydidy

o

u leav

e

?

" q

u

estion.

Sample

a

ns

w

ers to the

i

nterviewquestion"W

h

y did y

o

u leave your j

ob

?

•

I found

m

ys

e

lf bored withthe work a

n

d looking for

m

ore challenges. I aman excellent emplo

y

ee and I didn

'

twant

m

yun

h

appiness to

h

ave anyi

m

pact on the job I was

d

oing for

m

ye

m

plo

y

er.

•

There isn

'

t r

o

omfor grow

t

h with

m

yc

u

rrent e

m

plo

y

er and I'mreadyto

m

oveon to a new

c

hallenge.

•

I'm looking for a bigger

c

hallenge and to grow

m

y

c

areer and I

c

ouldn

'

tjob hunt part ti

m

e while working.It

d

idn't seemethical to use

m

yfor

m

er e

m

plo

y

er

'

s ti

m

e.

•

I was laid-off from

m

ylast position when our dep

a

rt

m

ent was eli

m

inated due to corpora

t

e restructurin

g

.

•

I'mrelocati

n

g to this area due to fa

m

ilycircu

m

stances and left

m

ypreviousposition in order to

m

ake the

m

o

ve.

•

I

'

ve decidedthat is not the direction I want to go in

m

ycareer and

m

ycurre

n

t e

m

plo

y

er has no

opportunities in the direction I

'

d like tohead.

•

After several

y

ears in

m

y last position, I'm lookingfor an co

m

pany where I

c

an contribute and gr

o

w in a tea

m

-oriented environn

m

ent.

•

I aminterested in a new

c

hallenge and an opportun

i

tyto

u

se

m

y technical skills and exper

i

ence in a

different capacitythan I

h

ave in the past.

•

I recentlyre

c

eived

m

ydegree and Iwant to utilize

m

yeducational background in

m

ynext position.

•

I aminterested in a job with

m

ore responsibilit

y

, and I amveryreadyfor a n

e

w challenge.

•

I left

m

ylast position in order to spend

m

ore ti

m

e with

m

yfa

m

il

y

. Circu

m

stances have ch

a

nged and

I'm

m

ore than rea

d

yforfull-ti

m

e e

m

p

lo

y

m

ent again.

•

I amseeking a position with a stable co

m

panywithroomfor growth and o

p

portunity for advance

m

ent.

•

I was co

m

muting to the cityandspen

d

ing a significant a

m

ount

o

f ti

m

e each day

o

n travel. I would

prefer to be

c

loser to ho

m

e.

•

To be hones

t

, I wasn

'

t co

n

sidering a

m

ove, but, I s

a

w this job p

o

sting and w

a

s intrigued

b

ythe position andthe co

m

pan

y

. It sounds like an exciting opportuni

t

yand an ide

a

l

m

a

tch with

m

y

qualificatio

n

s.

•

This position see

m

ed likean excellent

m

atch formy skills and experience and I amnot able to fully utilize themin

m

ypresentjob.

•

The co

m

pa

n

y was cutting back and, unfortunatel

y

,

m

yjob wasone of thoseeli

m

inated.

19. JobInt

e

rviewAnswer: What

W

as Most / L

e

ast Re

w

arding?

This interview question

c

an be trick

y

.Youwant to

m

ake sure that the things

y

o

u s

a

yare

l

east reward

i

ng aren't responsiblities thatare going tobe a

m

ajor

p

art of the job

y

o

u are interviewing for.For exa

m

ple, if

the last job you had invo

l

ved extensi

v

e custo

m

er service telephone workthat

y

ouhated,and if beingon the phone doingso

m

ething si

m

i

lar is even a

m

inor part of the new

j

ob, don

'

t

m

e

ntion it. Instead, focus

o

nthe the tasks that were

m

ost rewarding a

n

d highlight those.

When interviewing, alw

a

ys be cogniz

e

nt of the job

y

o

u are interviewing for

a

nd tailor

y

ou

r respo

n

se accordingl

y

.Tryto accen

t

uate the postive, regardless ofwhat question you h

a

ve been ask

e

d, becauseyou

don

'

t want tobe construedas so

m

eone who is n

e

gative about work, in general.

20. JobInt

e

rviewAnswer: WhatInterestsYouAbout Th

i

sJob?

When

y

ou

'

re asked what interests

y

ouabout the position

y

ou areinterviewing for, the bestw

a

yto respond

is to describethe qualifications listed in the job po

s

ting, then connect themto your skills and experience. That w

a

y

, the e

m

plo

y

er will see that

y

o

u know aboutthe job you

'

re interviewing for(noteveryone does) and that

y

o

uhave the qualifications necessaryto dothe job.

For exa

m

ple, if

y

o

u were

i

nterviewingfor a Hu

m

an ResourcesManager job where you w

o

uld be responsible for recruiting, orientation, and training,

y

o

uwill want to discuss how

y

ouwereresponsible for

these functions in

y

ourp

a

st positions,and w

h

y youare interested in continuing to devel

o

p your exper

t

ise in

Hu

m

an Res

o

urces

m

anage

m

ent.

Another ex

a

m

ple would be if you were interviewing for a Program

m

er / Anal

y

st position

In that case,

y

o

u w

o

uld mention

y

o

ur

i

nterest in learning and e

x

celling at new technolog

i

es,

y

our experience in progra

mm

i

ng both newapplications, and

y

our int

e

rest in andyour abilityto problemsolve.

In all cases,

y

o

u will want to convey your enthusiasmfor the opportunityto

i

nterview, along with

y

our solid abilityto dothe job.

21. JobInt

e

rviewAnswer: WhyShould We Hi

r

e You?

t

y

pical interview question,asked to get

y

o

ur opinio

n

, or to validate the interviewer

'

s opinion, on w

h

y

y

o

u would be thebest candidate for the position, is "Why shouldwehire

y

ou

?

"

The best w

a

y to respond

i

s to give concrete exa

m

ples of why

y

o

ur skills andacco

m

plis

h

ments

m

ake

y

o

u the best candidate for the job. Take a few

m

o

m

e

n

ts to co

m

pare the job descr

i

ption with

y

o

ur abilities, as

well as

m

entioning whatyou have acco

m

plished in

y

o

ur other positions. Bepositive andreiterate

y

our interest in the co

m

pany

a

nd the position.

22. JobInt

e

rviewAnswer: WhatWereYour Expectations for the Job?

m

anycases,interviewerswill want to knowwhatyou expectedfrom

y

our l

a

st job when

y

o

u were hired, so, be be prepared to answerthe interview question "

W

hat were

y

o

u

r expectations for the joband to what

extent were they

m

e

t

?

"

There isn

'

t aright or wr

on

g answer to this question.The best w

a

y to respond

i

s to discusswhat

y

ou

expected when you took

t

he job and g

i

ve exa

m

plesofhow theposition worked out for

y

o

u. If the jobwasn

'

t exactlywhat

y

o

u expecte

d

, it

'

s fine to

m

ention that.How

e

ver,you shouldf

o

cus on the j

o

b itself, not the

co

m

pan

y

,

y

o

ur boss, oryour co-wor

k

ers (if th

e

ywere a probl

e

m

). Do be careful howy

o

u answer anddon

'

t

focus too

m

uch on the n

e

gative. Instead, address t

h

e highlights of the job.

When respo

n

ding, be spe

c

ific. Prepareso

m

e exa

m

ples to sharewith the interviewer in ad

v

ance.

For exa

m

ple, if

y

o

ur job

i

nvolved cre

a

ting web ap

p

lications using Cold F

u

si

o

n, discuss t

h

e specific progra

m

s you developedand the responsiblities

y

o

uwere given. If

y

ouwere provided training and

opportunities for prof

e

ssional develop

m

ent to help

y

o

u achieve

y

o

ur goals,

m

ention that,as well.

23. JobInt

e

rviewAnswers: Your Responsibilities

When

y

ou are asked ques

t

ions related to the experience that qualifies

y

o

u forthe job, it

'

s i

m

portant tobe very specificabout

y

ourskills and experience.

The best w

a

y to respond

i

s to describe

y

o

ur responsiblilities in detail and to connect them to the job

y

o

u are interviewing for. Tie

y

ourresponsibilities in with tho

s

e listed in the job descr

i

ption for thenew position.

That w

a

y

, the e

m

plo

y

er will see that

y

o

u have thequalificatio

n

s necessary to do the job.Focus

m

ost on

y

o

ur responsibilities thatare directlyrelated to the new job

'

s require

m

ents.

It

'

s also i

m

p

ortant to be honest and a

c

curate. Don

'

t e

m

bellish your job, bec

a

use

y

ou

d

on

'

t knowwho

t

he

hiring

m

ana

g

er will be checking withwhen theycheck

y

o

ur references.

24. JobInt

e

rviewAnswer: WhatDoYou

K

nowAb

o

ut Th

i

sCompany?

t

y

pical job i

n

terview question, asked to find out h

o

w

m

uch company resear

c

h you have

c

onducted, is"What do

y

ou k

n

ow about this co

m

pany

?

"

Prepare in a

d

vance, and ina word,res

e

arch, so,

y

o

ucan providerelevant and current infor

m

ation about

y

o

ur pr

o

spe

c

tive e

m

p

lo

y

e

r to the interviewer. Startby

research

i

ng the co

m

pany

m

pany website. Google the

c

o

m

pan

y

, re

a

d blogs that

m

ention it, and check Discussion Boards andsocial networking sites.

If

y

ou

'

re a college graduate check withthe Career Office at

y

o

u

rschool to seeif

y

o

u can

g

et a list of alu

m

ni whowork f

o

r the co

m

pa

ny

. That

'

s an ideal w

a

ytoget an insider

'

s view of the e

m

plo

y

er, and to get

infor

m

ation that

m

ight not be available elsewhere.

Use the infor

m

ation

y

ouhave gathered to create a bulleted list of relevant infor

m

ation that

y

o

u can easily re

m

e

m

ber during the interview. Taking the ti

m

e to research willhelp

y

o

u

m

ake a good i

m

pressionwith

how

m

uch you kn

o

w ab

o

ut the co

m

pan

y

.

25.  What Are Your G

o

als for the

F

uture?

The best w

a

y to respond

t

o the interview question

"

What are y

o

ur goals for the futur

e

?

"

o

r "Where do

y

o

u see

y

ourself

i

n five

y

ears?" is to refer to the position and the c

o

m

pany

y

ou

a

re interviewing with. Do

n'

t

discussyourgoals for ret

u

rning to sch

o

ol or havinga fa

m

il

y

, theyarenot relevant and co

u

ld knock

y

ouout of contention for the job.Rather, youwant to con

n

ect

y

our

a

nswer to the j

o

b you are a

p

pl

y

ing for. Exa

m

ples of good res

p

onses include:

•

Mylong-termgoals involve growingwith a co

m

pany where Ican continue to learn, take on additional responsibilities, and contribute as

m

uch of value as Ican.

•

I see

m

y

selfas a top perfor

m

ing e

m

plo

y

ee in awe

l

l-established organization, like this one. I plan on

enhancing my skills and continuing myinvolve

m

e

nt in (related) professional associations.

•

Once I gainadditional experience, I would like to

m

ove on froma technical position to

m

anage

m

ent.

26. JobInt

e

rviewAnswer: HowWill YouAchi

v

e Your Goa

l

s?

As a follow-up to the interview quest

i

on

"

What are

y

o

ur goalsfor the futur

e

?

" the interviewer will of

t

en ask

how

y

o

u plan on achieving those goa

l

s. A good answer to thisquestion will speak specificallyaboutwhat

y

o

u are going to acco

m

plish and how

y

o

u are going to acco

m

plish it. Exa

m

p

les of goodrespons

e

s include:

•

I plan on ga

i

ning additional skills by taking related classes and continuing myinvolve

m

e

nt with a

varietyofprofessional associations.

•

I noticed that XYZ co

m

pany (the co

m

pany you are

i

nterviewingwith) provi

d

es in-house

t

raining for e

m

plo

y

e

e

s and Iwou

l

d certainly

b

e interested in taking classes that wou

l

d be relevant.

•

I will continue

m

yprofessional develop

m

ent

m

yparticipating inconferences, attending se

m

inars,

and continuing

m

yeduc

a

tion.

27. JobInt

e

rviewAnswer: Are You Willing toTravel?

When

y

ou are asked about

y

our willingness to travelduring an interview, behonest. There

'

s no point in

s

a

y

ing

"

y

es"if

y

o

u w

o

uld prefer to beho

m

e five nights a week.

It is perfectly acceptable to ask how

m

uch travelis involved. That way,

y

ou

c

an weigh how

m

uch

y

ou

would need

t

o be on the road and

m

ake an educated decision as to whether

t

he a

m

ount of travel required fits in with

y

ourlifest

y

le.

What

'

s

m

osti

m

portant is to get a goodunderstandi

n

g of what

'

s involved bef

o

re you are offered the job,

rather than

b

eing (unpleasantl

y

)sur

p

rised after

y

ouhave already been hired.

28. Tell meaboutyou

rs

elf

:

I have sixyears of

m

arketing and sales experien

c

e,working ina varietyof industries fr

o

mretail to advertising.For the past

t

wo

y

ears, I

h

ave been working in the e-com

m

erce i

n

dustr

y

. I h

av

e a solid grasp of the online marketplace and online pub

l

ishing. I have strong ana

l

y

tical and co

m

puter skill

s

. Further

m

ore,

I

’

ma team

p

la

y

er, andI

t

hrive on challenge.

29. Whydid you leave

y

our lastpos

i

tion?

:

I

’

ve set so

m

e goals for

m

y

self, and

m

ycareer, but unfortuna

t

el

y

, there areno advanc

e

m

ent opportunities in

m

ycurre

n

t co

m

pan

y

. Ihave begun

t

o explore a

v

ailable opti

o

ns before I spend too

m

uch ti

m

ein a job

where I can

n

ot advance. Mygoal is tocontinue to i

m

prove

m

y

self. I

’

mnot finding a job as interesting as I

used to. There has

n

’

t beenany new

p

r

o

duct develop

m

ent in s

o

me ti

m

e. I want to find a job that is sti

m

ulating, where I cangrow andbechallenged. I

’

mlooki

n

g for job satisf

a

ction, and Iwant to have

m

ore

balance in mylife

b

ycut

t

ing back on

m

ytravel.

30.  What a

r

e your sala

r

y e

x

pectations?

Answer 1:

I reallyneed

m

ore infor

m

ation about thejob before we start to discuss salary. I’d like to postpone th

a

t discussionuntil later. Ma

y

beyou could tell

m

e what is budgeted for the position and how

y

o

ur co

m

mission structure wor

k

s.

This is the best answer. Postpone the discussion about salaryuntil

y

ou haveall the facts and also until

y

ou

’

ve had

t

he opportun

i

tyto highli

g

ht

y

o

ur stre

n

gths. Y

o

u n

e

ed all the infor

m

ation possible before

m

aking

a decision. Not onlythe

b

ase salaryb

u

t other factors that wouldbe i

m

portantto

y

o

u like stock options, flexible e

m

pl

o

y

m

ent con

d

itions and other benefits.

Answer 2:

I’msure whatever

y

ou off

e

r will be a fair a

m

ount for a personwith

m

yqualifications. Salaryis not the

m

osti

m

portant factor to

m

e. I

’

mlooking for opportuni

t

y.

Question:

1. 

Tell

m

e about

y

o

u

rself.

2. 

What do

y

ouwant to dowith

y

our lif

e

?

3. 

Do

y

ouhaveanyactualwork experie

n

c

e

?

4. 

Howwould

y

o

u describe

y

o

ur ideal jo

b

?

5. 

Why did

y

ouchoose thiscareer?

6. 

When did

y

o

u decide on this career?

7. 

What goals

d

o you have

i

n your career?

8. 

Howdo

y

ouplan to achieve these goals?

9. 

Howdo

y

ouevaluate success?

10.Describe a s

i

tuation in w

h

ich

y

ouweresuccessful.

11.What do

y

outhink it takes to be succ

e

ssful in this

c

areer?

12.What accomplish

m

ents have given

y

o

u the

m

ost satisfaction in

y

o

ur lif

e

?

13.If

y

ou had tolive

y

our life over again,what w

o

uld

y

o

u chang

e

?

14.Would

y

ourrather workwith infor

m

ation or withpeopl

e

?

15.Are

y

ou a t

e

ampla

y

er?

16.What

m

otiv

a

tes you?

17.Why shouldI hire

y

o

u

?

18.Are

y

ou ag

o

al-oriented perso

n

?

19.Tell

m

e about so

m

e of

y

o

ur recent go

a

ls and whatyou did to achieve the

m

.

20.What are y

o

ur short-termgoals?

21.What is your long-range

o

bjective?

22.What do

y

ousee

y

ourself doing five

y

e

ars fromnow?

23.Where do

y

o

u want to beten

y

ears fr

o

mnow?

24.Do

y

ouhan

d

le conflict well?

25.Have

y

ou e

v

er had a conflict with a boss orprofessor?H

o

w did

y

o

u resolve

it

?

26.What

m

ajorproblemhave

y

o

u had todeal with recently?

27.Do

y

ouhan

d

le pressurewell?

28.What is your greatest str

e

ngt

h

?

29.What is your greatest we

a

kness?

30.If I were to

a

sk one ofy

o

ur professors to describe

y

o

u, whatwould he or s

h

e s

a

y?

31.Why did

y

ouchoose to attend

y

our col

l

eg

e

?

32.What changes wouldyou

m

ake at

y

our colleg

e

?

33.Howhas

y

ou

r education prepared

y

ou for

y

our care

e

r?

34.What wereyour favoriteclasses? W

h

y?

35.Do

y

ou

e

njoy

d

oing ind

e

pendent res

e

arc

h

?

36.Who wereyour favoriteprofessors?Why?

37.Why is

y

ourGPA not hi

g

her?

38.Do

y

ouhaveany plans f

o

r further ed

u

catio

n

?

39.How

m

uch training do

y

o

u think

y

ou

'

ll need to bec

o

m

e a productive e

m

plo

y

e

e

?

40.What qualities do

y

oufeel a successful

m

anager should hav

e

?

41.Why do

y

ouwant to workin the

industry?

42.What do

y

ouknow a

b

outour co

m

pany?

43.Why are

y

ouinterested in our co

m

pany?

44.Do

y

ouhaveanylocation preferences?

45.Howfa

m

ili

a

r are

y

ouwith the com

m

u

nitythat we

'

re located in?

46.Will

y

ou relocate?In the future?

47.Are

y

ouwilling to trave

l

?How

m

uch?

48.Is

m

oneyi

m

portant to y

ou

?

49.How

m

uch

m

oneydo

y

o

u need to

m

a

ke to be ha

p

py?

50.What kind of salary areyou looking for?