Human Resource (HR)

This is generally asked by employers seeking a fuller picture of you or to help you relax during the interview. Finding out about your other interests and leisure activities gives employers another opportunity to uncover skills and abilities which may not have been discussed. Other activities also give employers a chance to assess your enthusiasm, curiosity, and quality of life.

Avoid the impression of aimlessness or uncertainty. It is fine to major in a subject because of your interests. However be willing to talk about this interest. Show evidence of knowledge, positive attitude towards study, and an understanding of skills and knowledge you have gained.

This is a leading question. If you have been called for an interview it is unlikely the employer considers you greatly over qualified. Otherwise they could not justify the time spent interviewing you. Do not apologies for your degree. Rather state your willingness to start at the bottom and work your way up, your enthusiasm for the organization and your desire to develop a broader range of skills. Emphasize skills such as fact finding, analysis, your capacity to acquire new knowledge quickly, rather than the specific content of your degree. Some employers are more interested in what you can offer in the ‘practical hands-on’ sense than in the ‘academic’ sense!

Your answer will reveal the amount of homework you have done before the interview. For example, if the company has products in the market place look for these at points of sale. Use your initiative to find out as much as you can about the organization and during the interview cite ways in which you have gone about finding out this information.

Do not commit yourself to a specific time unless you are quite clear on this. Indicate you anticipate staying in the position for as long as it takes to learn the job and to gain experience in it, and that you then hope to move on within the organization. After making a comment yourself, you can always turn this question back to the employer and ask how long they would expect you to stay with them.

Be honest. This question is often used during graduate recruitment. Your approach to job hunting indicates how you approach challenges. Employers are aware of the competitiveness of the job market. They would be most surprised if you indicated that you have not applied for other jobs and may question your initiative or motivation.

If you are not a student/graduate participating in a university recruitment programmed, you may wish to approach this question more carefully. The interviewer may be looking to ascertain how focused and clearly defined your job objective may be.

Answer in terms of the skills and personal qualities you have relevant to the job. You may refer to your academic qualifications, relevant sections of university courses, experience in the workplace, leisure activities, or personal qualities.

This is a good time to talk about training or promotion opportunities giving some idea of long-term career plans. There may be aspects of the organization’s work that really interest you, and you may wish to move into another area of that organization later on. The interviewer is probably trying to assess your enthusiasm and ambition.

Explain why you are interested in the organization. If you have had a long-term interest in them, say so. If location is significant, you could mention this after talking about your interest in the firm. Try not to focus on what you will get from the organization, but the qualities you will bring to them. You could mention that you see the position as offering challenge, a chance to learn new things and to enhance and develop skills and abilities necessary for the position.

Your answer will give evidence of whether or not you are the sort of person who plans ahead. Remember that fewer and fewer employers expect all their employees to make a life-long career in their organization. You may want to express a desire to progress as rapidly as ability and opportunities allow within the organization, or what you would like to do on a broader scale.

You have to focus more closely on the specific duties outlined in the job description or what your understanding of typical tasks for this kind of job would be. Again, cover the kinds of skills, interests, or knowledge from previous study or work that you would bring to the position.

If you are flexible about your long-term plans say so, however, it pays to give a general picture of what interests you now, and how you see that developing. You should not commit yourself to a long-term period with an employer if you do not honestly feel that you can do so. At this stage you may not be in a position to know how long you would see yourself staying in any one job. On the other hand, you are keen to put to work the skills that you have developed. Avoid ‘I don’t know’ and a shrug of the shoulders, as an employer is usually trying to assess how motivated and interested you are!

In your preparation for the interview you would have developed a good understanding of the duties and personal attributes listed in the job description, as well as finding out about the goals and objectives of the organization. Think about tangible results you might be able to achieve on the job that contribute to those goals and objectives. The interviewer is not so interested here in what tasks or duties you plan to have completed, but how you go about planning and assessing your own performance. Are there any practical ways you currently measure your success in part-time work or study e.g. sales figures, grades, feedback from your supervisor or lecturer$

The interviewer is likely fishing to see if you are interested in your field of work or just do a job to get paid. Explain why you like it. Besides your personal interests, include some rock-solid business reasons that show you have vision and business sense.

Do not say any bad things about the college. Put forward a positive point.

Answer with positive, work-oriented adjectives, such as conscientious, hard-working, honest, and courteous, plus a brief description or example of why each fits you well.

Stay positive regardless of the circumstances. Never refer to a major problem with management and never speak ill of supervisors, co-workers or the organization. If you do, you will be the one looking bad. Keep smiling and talk about leaving for a positive reason such as an opportunity, a chance to do something special or other forward-looking reasons.