100 Interview Tips

All Interview Tips

This site has 100's of tips for a successful interview. Every 
interviewer is looking for an ideal candidate for their organization.
To get the job, you need to be their ideal candidate and our tips can
help you to become an ideal candidate. 

To facilitate navigation, the tips are divided into following 
categories: 

Day Before the Interview - things to do before the day of
 the interview. 
Appearance for the Interview - how to dress. 
Day of the Interview - how to stay cool on the day of the interview. 
During Interview - how to behave in an interview. 
Mistake Candidate Makes - common mistakes. 
Question to ask the Interviewer - what to ask. 
After the Interview - things to remember after the interview. 
Tips On Telephone Interview - how to face or act in a telephone 
interview. 
First Week On The Job - do/don't in the first week. 

It is very natural for a candidate to become nervous during an 
interview. However, if you are prepared for it, it will increase
 your self confidence, which will in turn improve your performance
 in the interview. We have all the tips to help you. 



Questions About Candidate:
---------------------------

1.Why did you choose this profession? 
Suggestion:  Answer should be close to actual reason. If the job
is in advertising, the reason can be you have artistic ability, 
you can visualize what people will like, etc. Avoid negative answer,
such as, for money, you don't know what to do so you have chosen this
profession, etc.
Sample Answer: I always liked math and problem solving, even when I 
was kid. When I was in high school, I was fascinated with the computer
and the programming, so I decided to be a computer scientist. Now, I 
know I made the right decision and I am happy about it. 

2.What can you tell us about yourself?
Suggestion:  Answer may include where you came from, what school 
you went to, your education, skill, job and accomplishments. Try to
answer the question in one to two minutes. Use the information from
your resume and cover letter for this answer. Do emphasis your strong
points. 

3.What are your strong points?
Suggestion: Talk about strong points related to this job. 

4.What are your weak points? How do you plan to correct them?
Suggestion: Be honest and choose one or two less damaging correctable
weak points and tell how you are planing to correct them. 
Sample Answer: Sometimes if I do not succeed on an assignment on the
first try, I get demoralized and become less enthusiastic. Since I 
identified my problem, I am working on it. I am convincing myself that
it is not possible for anyone to succeed everywhere on the first try 
and I am not an exception. To tell you the truth it is working. Now, if
I fail I don't give up anymore and try harder. 

5.Why should we hire you for this position?
Suggestion: Your answer should include your education, skill and 
experience pertaining to the job position. Talk about some skill you 
have which may put you above other applicants. 

6.What is the toughest problem you have solved so far?
Suggestion: Talk about a problem you have solved. If you have solved 
many tough problems, choose the one that may related to this company's
work and/or which may impress them. For example, if the company is a 
financial institution, talk about some financial problems you have 
solved. 

7.Tell us about one of your work assignments or dealings where you
failed. What should have you done?
Suggestion: Choose a less damaging situation. 

8.How do you handle failure or disappointment?
Suggestion: Answer positively. Answer may include you may feel bad,
and you take caution so that it does not happen again.
Sample Answer: As a normal human being, failure hurts my feeling.
However, I do not let it get in my way. 

9.Do you criticize others? Under what condition?
Suggestion: Use your judgment. Remember criticism hurts feelings and
does not help in any normal situation. 

10.Are you a good communicator? 
Suggestion: Interviewer looks for a good communicator. If you are not
a good communicator, start practicing. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Questions About Candidate Part II

1.How do you handle criticism?
Suggestion: Choose your answer wisely.
Sample Answer: A nice and constructive criticism helps me. Although, 
abusive or bad criticism may hurt my feelings, it will not reduce my 
performance.

2.How do you manage your time?
Suggestion: Should be positive, and explain with example.

3.How do you handle deadline and pressure? 
Suggestion: Be positive in your answer and explain with example.

4.How do you persuade someone to agree with your point of view?
Suggestion: Answer may include explaining your view, showing the 
positive side, etc.Sample Answer: By communication, I tell them 
what benefit my point of view will bring for them. I explain the
up side and the down side of my proposal and most of the time they
agree. I am always ready to negotiate and modify my plan with 
their input, if the situation demands. So things always work out. 

5.What do you find frustrating?
Suggestion: Be positive in your answer, explain with example.

6.Are you willing to learn new skills? Can you learn fast?
Suggestion: Answer should be yes. Give them an example where you
really learn fast.

7.Do you have problem in getting along with others?
Suggestion: Be positive, should not be a problem. 

8.How do you deal with surprises? For example: In an exam you 
have been asked a question from a topic that has never been 
taught to you; how do you handle it?
sample Answer: I try not to get nervous. First I answer all 
the questions I know and then I go back to this problem.
I answer it as best as I can.

9.Did you prepare for this interview? How?
Suggestion: Answer may include: researching about the company,
reviewing your skill, etc. Remember this question may generate
more questions and you must be ready to answer them. 

10.What are your hobbies?
Suggestion: Talk about your good hobbies.

11.Do you like to travel?
Suggestion: Answer should be yes, however, be honest.

12.Do you have any problem in relocation?
Suggestion: Tell the truth. Remember, the more flexible you are
the more chances you have to get the job.

13.Where would you like to be in five years?
Suggestion: Be positive and honest. Do not give an impression 
that you will leave or take over someone else's job (worse if 
that is the position of the interviewer).Sample Answer: In five
 ears I want to be a valuable part of this company and help it
to reach its goal. I also want to manage a challenging project 
and bring in the latest technology that will benefit the company.

-----------------------------------------------------------------


Questions About Candidate Part III

1.What do you want in a job?
Suggestion: Answer may include using your skills, gain new skills,
challenge, recognition, satisfaction, etc.

2.What will your previous manager will tell me about your strengths
and weaknesses, if I call him now?
Suggestion: Be positive, emphasize on your accomplishment and 
skills. Do not avoid talking about your weakness (if there are any),
however, don't talk lots about it. 

3.Can you work under pressures, meet deadlines?
Suggestion: Answer should be affirmative.

4.In your current work, what problems have you identified that 
had previously been overlooked?
Suggestion: Explain a situation with example. Do not brag.

5.Do you feel that you will be better off in a different company?
Suggestion: Remember if you are better off in a different company
(in size or line of business), you will quit this company at the 
first chance you get and the interviewer will not like it. So 
think before you answer.

6.How would you describe your personality?
Suggestion: Answer positively. 

7.Through our ad you saw what skills we need, is there any skill
are you missing? 
Suggestion: Answer positively, if you do not have a skill say
it and if possible, back it up by something convincing.
Sample Answer: Your ad says that applicant needs experience 
in Java. I do not have any work experience in Java. However, 
I did take a course in Java and practiced a lot. I also have 
2 years experience in C++, which is similar to Java. So I am 
sure I will not have any problem programming in Java. 

**Following are some questions you may be asked by the interviewer
to know about you, your hobby, how you spend your spare time and 
weekends, etc. Since the answer fully depends on you, we do not 
have any suggestions or sample answers. Just remember answer them 
positively and honestly. 

1.What magazines do you read? 
2.What kind of movies do you like? 
3.What is the last book you read? Did you like it? Why? 
4.What kind of sports do you like? 
5.Do you play any games? 
6.How do you spend your weekend? 
7.Do you do any voluntary work? 

-------------------------------------------------------------------


Questions About Organization:

If you are really interested about a company, you naturally do some 
kind of research about the company. Interviewers like it if you 
know about their company and the industry in general. These are 
some questions asked by the interviewer to know how much homework 
you have done about their organization. 

1.What do you know about our organization? 
Suggestion: Talk about their product, size, location, reputation, 
income, etc. If you are not sure about something ask questions 
and show genuine interest, the interviewer will talk about it. 
However, never tell anything that your are not sure about. 

2.What new technology should we introduce to our company to make 
it more productive and why? 
Sample Answer 1: Your Database does not have any interface to 
handle data formatted with XML tags. Since companies are using 
XML for e-commerce, you can grow your market by making your 
product XML compatible. 
Sample Answer 2: Since I never used your product in any of my 
work, I can not make any suggestion right now. I am confident 
that I will be able to make some suggestion, once I work with it. 

3.Why you want to work in this organization? 
Suggestion: Some reasons can be: It is a famous company, has 
a challenging product to develop, you can use your skill, 
your desired line of work, etc. 
Some bad reasons: Money,near home, no pressure, can't find any 
other job or your parent told you, etc. 

4.How did you find us? 
Suggestion: Tell them your source. If someone working in the 
company told you about the position, say it that may help. 

5.What products do we have? 
Suggestion: Find out about their product (very important). 

6.Can you name some other companies who make similar products as us? 
Suggestion: Research and find out and answer it. 

7.What features of our products are better than our competitor's? 
Suggestion: Find a few features, be positive in your answer. 

8.What weak points do we have compare to our competitors? 
Suggestion: Don't be very negative. Talk about some negative aspect 
of the company that is very obvious and rectifiable. 
Sample answer: Your product does not run under MAC-OS. Since MAC 
is coming back, you should make a version for it, unless it is 
not feasible. 

9.If your family asks you about our company, what will you say? 
Suggestion: Should be similar to the question what you know 
about the company. 

10.What do you find the most attractive about our company? 
Least attractive? 
Suggestion: Talk about some positive aspect of the company. 
Talk about one obvious negative thing about the company 
(say it nicely). 

11.What important trends do you see in our industry? 
Suggestion: Tell them about one or two trends. 

-------------------------------------------------------------


**Questions About Work:

An interview wants to know if your are fit for the position 
they want to hire you. These are some of the questions asked 
by the interviewer to know about your skill, how you do handle 
work issues, you expertise, etc. 


1.Why do you want this job? 
Suggestion: Tell your reason, be specific. 

2.Do you think you have enough skill to work in this position? 
Suggestion: Be positive, explain with example. 
Sample answer: Yes, I have enough skill for the position of web 
developer. I am creative, good with presentations and have 
2 years experience with HTML and Internet. I know how to promote 
and attract people to a web site. I made a site for myself and 
I am getting about 500 hits per day. 

3.If we are using certain technique to solve certain problem 
and you find that you know a better way to solve those problems, 
what will you do? 
Sample answer: I will suggest my solution. If it is possible I 
will make a prototype and/or a visual presentation of the 
solution to illustrate my suggestion. 

4.What skills did you improve in your last work? 
Suggestion: If few tell them about all. If you improved many 
skills, talk about the skill relevant to this job. 

5.Tell us what do you think an ideal working environment should be? 
Suggestion: Answer may include: job satisfaction, appreciation, 
feels at home, etc. 

6.Will you describe a situation where your work was criticized? 
Suggestion: Be honest and as positive as you can. 

7.What other kinds of job position or companies may interest you? 
Suggestion: Answer should relate to your field and same as 
this company. 

8.If you are given an assignment which is a part of a big 
project and there is no detail specification, how do you 
handle it?
Sample answer: At first, I will do all the general tasks 
without going to details. The little knowledge I get from 
the spec, I will try to fit this assignment with the whole 
project. By then I will have a clear idea about the assignment 
and the missing details. I will put all my questions in a 
paper and will setup a meeting or send an email to the designer 
or the person who gave me the project, and will find out all 
the answers. While waiting, I will plan on how to approach 
the problem. 

9.Your supervisor gave you an assignment in the morning that 
will last for a week and he is leaving for one-week vacation 
tomorrow. What will you do first? 
Sample answer: I will go over the specification or requirement 
of the assignment and will plan my strategy to complete the 
assignment. If I find something not clear or if I have question 
I will write them down in a paper. Then I will meet my boss and 
get all the answers. 

----------------------------------------------------------------


**Questions About Work Part II:

1.Your supervisor gave you an assignment in the morning that 
will last for a week and he left for one-week vacation and you 
don't understand the assignment. What will you do? 
Sample answer: All assignments have something common to do, 
such as, setting it up, do paper work, research, etc. I will 
do them first. If someone else knows about this project I will 
talk to that person. If nothing works, I will ask my acting boss 
to give me some other work for the time being. 

2.One of your teammates quit job today. He completed half of his 
assignment and it is given to you and you are not sure what he did. 
How will you handle it? 
Suggestion: Sometimes it is better to start over than to finish 
someone else's unfinished work. Go over work requirement and find 
out what to do. Check half-done assignment and take whatever you 
can use and process. Your answer should be something like that. 

3.Tell us about a tough project, which you helped to finish? 
Suggestion: Tell then the most impressive one. 

4.Do you prefer supervised or unsupervised working condition? 
Suggestion: Say which ever makes you comfortable and productive 
and explain it. 

5.What can you do for our company? Why should we hire you? 
Suggestion: Tell them about your education, skill and past 
experience that you can use for this company. Use some example 
from your past to illustrate. 

6.How do you manage your time at work? 
Suggestion: Answer should be productive. 

7.What do you prefer, verbal or written (email) communication? 
Suggestion: Both are OK. Whatever you say, justify. 

8.How much supervision do you need to complete a job? 
Sample answer: In the beginning I may need some help. Once I 
understand the project, I do not need any supervision. However, 
occasional check and feedback will help me to assure myself that 
I am on the right track. 

9.How long would it take you to get adjusted and start 
productive work? 
Suggestion: Answer may include, time for orientation, 
adjustment, etc. should not be very long. 
Sample answer: Since, I do not know anything about company's 
standard, rules or style of doing an assignment, I need to 
learn that, plus I need to learn about your corporate policies. 
Since I am a fast learner, I can learn all that within your 
planned or allocated time. To do the actual work, if it matches 
with my skill, it would not take much time. 

10.Have you helped to increase sales? Profits? How? 
Suggestion: Explain with real example. 

11.Have you helped reduce costs? How? 
Suggestion: Explain with real example. 

12.Do you like working with figures more than words? 
Suggestion: Tell your preference with some explanation. 

--------------------------------------------------------------


**Questions About Team Work:

1.If you have a disagreement with a coworker, how would 
you handle it? 
Suggestion: Answer should include discussing the problem, 
reasoning, etc. If one-to-one meeting does not solve the 
problem, help from the common boss or an arbitrator may be asked. 

2.What minimum quality should a person have to be your teammate? 
Suggestion: Be practical and reasonable. 
Sample Answer: Although, I can work with any person, it 
will make my life easier if the person is a team player, 
can communicate and nice in behavior. 

3.What behavior of a person do you not like? 
Suggestion: Search for most common one, such as lazy, 
not-punctual, bad behavior, foul mouth, etc. 

4.If you find that your teammate is rude, racist and/or 
sexist, how will you handle it? 
Sample Answer: If there is a corporate policy, I will 
follow it. If not, I will warn the person the first time 
and if he continues, I will report it to the proper authority. 

5.How do you handle a teammate who thinks he/she is always 
right or knows better? 
Sample Answer: If it does not interfere with any of my work, 
I try to leave it alone. If it interferes with my work I will 
talk and reason with the person. If that does not work I will 
talk to my superior. 

6.If there are 4 people in your team and you think your are 
doing half of the work what will you do? 
Sample Answer: It depends on circumstance. If I feel that my 
boss thinks I am the only person who can do the job, I will do 
it. Normally if I can finish the work within the allocated time, 
I will not complain. Otherwise I will just let my boss know about 
it and if she still insists on my doing it, I will do it. 

7.If there are 4 people in your team and you think your 
supervisor assigning you only 1/8 of work, what will you do? 
Sample Answer: If I feel that my boss did not give me the 
work because he does not have enough confidence on me, I 
will talk to him and do something to improve his confidence. 
In all other cases, once I finish my current work I will let 
my boss know that I can take a new assignment. 
8.While waiting for new work, l will spend the free time to 
learn new skills that may help me in my work. 
You have a deadline and no time and one of your teammate needs 
some help, What will you do? 
Sample Answer: If the solution is easy one and not time 
consuming I will help my teammate. Otherwise I will tell 
him to wait until I finish my project and then I will help him. 

9.We don't know everything; that is why we have supervisor, 
teammate, manuals and books? Under what circumstance will you 
take help and from what source? 
Sample Answer: If there is not much time and I need little 
help I will ask my supervisor and teammates if they are not 
busy. In all other circumstances, I will get help from the manual. 

10.Do you like to work in a team? Why? 
Suggestion: Tell your preference. Make sure your desire does 
not conflict with the interest of the company. 

11.Do you like to work alone? Why?
Suggestion: Same as last question.
Sample Answer: I have experience in working both alone and 
in a team. I can work in both situations. However, I can 
concentrate and work better, if I work alone. 

12.Suppose you are working in a team and a project is given 
to your team. All the team members want to solve that project 
in a certain way and you know a better way to solve the problem. 
How will you convince them?
Suggestion: Answer can include, discussing your plan with them, 
illustrating with some example, etc. 

------------------------------------------------------------------