Executive Forklift

► How have you gone about making important decisions?

► Describe a situation where you had to plan or organise something.

► What have you been doing since your last Forklift Operator job?

► Are you willing to work overtime?

► What assignment was too difficult for you?

► What support training would you require to be able to do this Forklift Operator job?

► What performance standards do you have for your unit?

Talk about desire to perform and be recognized for contributions. If you have changed careers make a logical argument as to why you did so. This is the part where you link your skills, experience, education and your personality to the Forklift Operator job itself.

► If offered this Forklift Operator job, how long do you plan to stay at company?

► What do you ultimately want to become?

► Tell me about an important issue you encountered recently.

► Time when you had to make an important decision.

► How would you decide on your objectives?

► Describe a team experience you found rewarding.

► How do you maintain a positive discussion?

Asking these interview questions helps determine the candidate's ability to learn from successes and failures. This is a good time to illustrate how you can contribute to the company if you are successfully recruited. Impress the interviewer by highlighting your successes that are most relevant to the job.

This is the part where you link your skills, experience, education and your personality to the job itself. This is why you need to be utterly familiar with the job description as well as the company culture. Remember though, it's best to back them up with actual examples of say, how you are a good team player.

It is possible that you may not have as much skills, experience or qualifications as the other candidates. What then, will set you apart from the rest? Energy and passion might. People are attracted to someone who is charismatic, who show immense amount of energy when they talk, and who love what it is that they do. As you explain your compatibility with the job and company, be sure to portray yourself as that motivated, confident and energetic person, ever-ready to commit to the cause of the company.

A typical interview question to determine what you are looking for your in next job, and whether you would be a good fit for the position being hired for, is "What challenges are you looking for in a position?"

The best way to answer questions about the challenges you are seeking is to discuss how you would like to be able to effectively utilize your skills and experience if you were hired for the job.

You can also mention that you are motivated by challenges, have the ability to effectively meet challenges, and have the flexibility and skills necessary to handle a challenging job.

You can continue by describing specific examples of challenges you have met and goals you have achieved in the past.

Interviewers expect a candidate for employment to discuss what they do while they are working in detail. Before you answer, consider the position you are applying for and how your current or past positions relate to it. The more you can connect your past experience with the job opening, the more successful you will be at answering the questions.

It should be obvious that it's not a good idea talk about non-work related activities that you do on company time, but, I've had applicants tell me how they are often late because they have to drive a child to school or like to take a long lunch break to work at the gym.

Keep your answers focused on work and show the interviewer that you're organized ("The first thing I do on Monday morning is check my voicemail and email, then I prioritize my activities for the week.") and efficient.

► What are your career goals?

► What do you do when priorities within warehouse operations change quickly?

► What kind of decisions do you find it most difficult to make?

► Have you ever made a suggestion regarding how to improve safety in the warehouse or improve loading/unloading procedures? What was it and was it implemented? What was the result?

► What do you do when your boss asks you to do something with which you disagree?

► How do let any subordinates know what you want them to do/

► Are you ever hoping to move into management?

► What types of situations do you find stressful? How do you handle the stress?

► Describe a situation in which you had to compromise either with your supervisor, a colleague or client.

► Why should we hire you over someone else/what do you bring to this position that others don't?

► Give me an example of when you did more than was asked/required of you?

► Why are you leaving your current job? Why did you leave your last job?

► How do you see the position of forklift operator contributing to a company's success?

► Have you ever had a difficult manager? How did you deal with it?

► What salary do you expect?

► Where do you want your career to be in five years?

► When did you take your fork lift test?

► What made you want to be a forklift truck operator?

► Have you ever had any accidents or been around any accidents? Describe these in detail showing your involvement.

► Describe how you understand a warehouse to work and the processes of accepting a delivery?

► What do you understand about Health and Safety?

► Have you ever had any Health and Safety training and to what level, where etc?

► What goods/products have you been used to working around?

► What turnaround time did you work to when sorting deliveries in bound or out bound?

► How big was the last warehouse environment you worked in?

► Who did you report to?

► How did you report to them?

How much experience do you have operating a forklift?

What types of forklifts are you certified to operate?

In what types of industrial environments have you operated a forklift?

What shifts have you worked?

Can you work second or third shift?

Why did you leave your last job / why do you want to leave your current job?

What do you like and dislike about being a forklift operator?

What, in your opinion, are the most important qualities in a forklift operator?

What motivates you to do a good job?

Do you prefer to work in a small, medium or large warehouse / distribution center environment? Why?

What do you see as your best characteristics? Your worst?

How would your current or last supervisor answer the above question?

How will your best characteristic help you perform in this position?

Where do you see yourself in your career / job in one year? In three years? Ten years?

How many accidents have you been in while operating a forklift in the past year?

Of those, how many can you honestly say were your fault?

What could you have done differently to avoid the accident?

Did the accident result in any lost productivity or revenue for your employer (that you know of)?

What are the good characteristics of a leader?

When have you placed yourself in a leadership position?

What kind of work situations make you feel stressed?

How do you handle stress on the job?

What kind of co-workers do you find yourself having trouble with?

How do you handle working with someone whom you don't like / grates on you?

Have you found any ways to make the job of forklift operator easier or more productive?

► Describe the most difficult scheduling problem you have faced at Forklift Operator position.

► Why did you apply for this Forklift Operator position?

► What personal weakness has caused you the greatest difficulty in school or at work?

► What are the techniques that you use to clarify obscure message meanings?

► What changes did you develop at your most recent employer?

► How do you reach a decision if you don't have all the facts?

► Example of adaptation to changes and the difficulties.

Don't neglect to mention experience you have working on group projects. Talk about the job and the company for which you are being interviewed.

Show your qualities that will enable you to be successful in this position.

Crappy answer: "I am currently a fork lift operator, developer, insurance adjuster, etc. I left because my manager wouldn't give me a raise. I had the most seniority and I hadn't had a raise in 2 years. I always showed up on time. The company didn't treat it's employees right. I saw lay off after lay off."

Any variation of the above is off limits. I don't want to hear you complain or make excuses. Under the premise of Behavioral Interviewing, examples of prior behavior are an indicator of future behavior. This isn't a good sign.

Good answer: There are a couple of directions you can take here, any version of the below is cool with me as long as you don't have any resentment in your answer.

I have been at this company for 3, 5, 15 years and am looking for a change. I like the company a lot, and I like my manager, but I have gotten to the top of my discipline there and the company / department is of the size that I am not learning any more. This is a company that specializes in "your discipline here" or is larger so there would be more opportunity to grow my skill set.

The company just had a lay off and I am still employed and am confident that they will have another lay off within 3 months, so I just want to see what other options are out there. I am talking with my manager to see if there is anything I can do to expand my skill set and make myself more valuable to the company, but even my manager is suggesting that we all look for new jobs.

I was just laid off from my company and took a break for the last few months. I figured I wouldn't have a chance to take a long break till I retire so I made it a conscious decision to spend more time with my family, remodel the kitchen, learn a new skill set, do something you always wanted to do and have a passion for.

Being unemployed doesn't sound good. Being unemployed by choice sounds much better. It gives the impression that you have options and won't take the first thing that comes along.