1). Did you face any difficulty in finding this place?
The interviewer generally asks this question to initiate the talk and put the applicant to ease. You can smile and answer this question by saying: “It wasn’t difficult to find this place.”
The interviewer generally asks this question to initiate the talk and put the applicant to ease. You can smile and answer this question by saying: “It wasn’t difficult to find this place.”
2). Tell me something about yourself.?
This is the most generally asked first question in any interview and the one which can set a ground for rest of your interview. Include details like: Your education background (not beyond 12th standard), some information about your family – father’s occupation, mother’s profession, number of siblings (no need to get into their educational details) and some details about your extracurricular activities or hobbies.
This is the most generally asked first question in any interview and the one which can set a ground for rest of your interview. Include details like: Your education background (not beyond 12th standard), some information about your family – father’s occupation, mother’s profession, number of siblings (no need to get into their educational details) and some details about your extracurricular activities or hobbies.
3). Why does this role interest you? Or why have you applied for this position?
The purpose of this question is to see if you are actually interested in this job or you applied to this job just because you are jobless. Relate the job requirements with your candidature and explain why do you believe you are an appropriate applicant for this job.
The purpose of this question is to see if you are actually interested in this job or you applied to this job just because you are jobless. Relate the job requirements with your candidature and explain why do you believe you are an appropriate applicant for this job.
4). Why do you think would we take you for this job?
This is another way of asking the last question. A company will want to hire you if you can add some worth to it. So, focus your answer on your skills and how they can be useful for the position you are being interviewed for. Also, tell them about your ability to grasp new things quickly, adjust well into a team and flexible approach. These are the qualities that employers regularly seek in a fresh graduate.
This is another way of asking the last question. A company will want to hire you if you can add some worth to it. So, focus your answer on your skills and how they can be useful for the position you are being interviewed for. Also, tell them about your ability to grasp new things quickly, adjust well into a team and flexible approach. These are the qualities that employers regularly seek in a fresh graduate.
Remember to keep an example ready for each personal quality you offer.
5). Are you an Introvert or Extrovert?
Being on either of the extremes at work can be bad for you and the organization. Your behavior at work should be as per the requirement. To answer this question you can say something like: I behave as per the requirement of the situation. For e.g. If I am representing the company at an occasion which wants me to talk to plenty of individuals, I become an extrovert while if there is some serious issue under discussion, I think gently and deeply on it.
6). What is your greatest strength?
This is also one of the most usually asked questions in any interview. Your answer to this question demonstrates your preparation for the interview. Your same set of strengths cannot be a benefit in every interview. This needs you to tailor make your answer as per the requirement of the position you are being interviewed for.
Before each interview, analyse the requirements of the role carefully and list out the qualities required to perform that role. Now, make a list of the qualities you have and match them with the requirements. You can offer these qualities as your strength for the role.
7). What do you want to achieve in the next five years?
This answer shows your capability to make plans for yourself, have an ambitious but genuine plan:
- Say you would like to get certain skills and move up the ladder
- If you are interested in Management, say you would like to take up a part-time course/full time course in x years’ time.
8). Would you be open to change your project/profile when necessary?
This is actual important for a company, they want employees who are willing to change roles, to meet business demands, so the typical answer here is “Yes”. Say “I understand it will be in best interest of the business, if my manager needs me to develop my skills and take up another role.”
9). What skills do you want to develop to succeed in this role?
Again talk about some key skills that are essential for the role, this will show them that you are ready to learn and are aware of your shortcomings.
Tell them that you, as a fresher, have the capability but require formal training to enhance your skills for a professional environment
10). What is your greatest weakness?
This is another common question which rises the anxiety level of the candidate. The interviewer is not interested in your answer to the question unless you tell about a weakness which will straight affect the work. He is more interested in the way you deal with the question.
Here are some ways to cope with the question:
a.) Offer a weakness totally un-related to work – For e.g. I can not cook though I have been staying alone for years now.
b.) Offer a humorous weakness – For e.g. “I have a passion for speed and bikes are my weakness”.
11). What is your greatest achievement?
I stood first in the order of merit in class Xth sounds like you have not achieved anything big since then. Find out something from the near past that makes you honored of yourself. If you do not find an answer to this question in your professional or academic life, it is completely fine to offer an answer from your social life. For e.g. I succeeded to save the life of an accident struck stranger by taking him to the hospital well on time and donating a bottle of blood for him. This example demonstrates that you are a responsible individual.
12). What was your biggest mistake?
To answer this question try to find out a mistake you did long back. It demonstrates that you have not done a mistake as big as that since then.
You do not have all the experience we are seeking for this position.
As a fresher you will not have much experience of working on numerous projects and even employers are aware about it. Offer your capability to grasp new things quickly as a solution to this.
13). Where do you see yourself five years from now?
The purpose of this question is to see if the candidate is ambitious enough to grow. Recruiting an applicant is a time consuming and costly affair so they also want to see if the candidate is over determined to stay in the company for long.
You can say something like “5 years down the line I would like to see myself in a responsible situation where I can make important decisions for company and the company treats me as its strength. I am sure that this company can offer me such growth opportunities.
14). Are you speaking to some other companies? Or how is your job search going on?
The reason of this question is to see if other companies are also interested in hiring you. If you are in discussion with some other companies you can say, Yes, I am in conversation with some other companies and waiting for the results.
15). Which companies are you talking to?
This can be the very obvious next question you might face. If you are not comfortable in revealing the names of the companies you can simply say, “I respect the confidentiality of those companies so I would not like to name them in the interview.”
16). Why haven’t you got a job yet?
This question will normally arise if it has been sometime since you finished your studies and are still in the market without a job.
You can say that, I have been offered some tempting positions in the last few days but had to turn them down as I did not find them right for my application. You can follow it up with some examples.
17). Are you ready to relocate?
Say yes only if you mean yes. The employer may be planning to recruit you for a position in some other city or may have a plan to shift you after some months. Giving them a wrong hope will not be good on your part professionally.
18). How do you feel about doing repetitive work?
Any job you take up will have an element of redundancy and the interviewer wants to see if you get bored of it. You can say something like: I like to do creative work but I also know that any job has an element of redundancy. So, it is fine with me.
19). Are there any types of people you can not work with?
Most of the work these days needs you to work in teams. This needs you to be able to adjust with all kind of people. So, you can say something like, I am fine with working all type of people as long as they are sincere to their work.
Say yes only if you mean yes. The employer may be planning to recruit you for a position in some other city or may have a plan to shift you after some months. Giving them a wrong hope will not be good on your part professionally.
18). How do you feel about doing repetitive work?
Any job you take up will have an element of redundancy and the interviewer wants to see if you get bored of it. You can say something like: I like to do creative work but I also know that any job has an element of redundancy. So, it is fine with me.
19). Are there any types of people you can not work with?
Most of the work these days needs you to work in teams. This needs you to be able to adjust with all kind of people. So, you can say something like, I am fine with working all type of people as long as they are sincere to their work.
20). If you face a difficulty with your own performance, what would you do?
Your answer to this question indicates whether you can detect difficulties with yourself or not. So, you can say something like: “If I see a problem with my own performance, I will try to find out and analyse the factors behind it & work on each of them.”
21). How many local trains run in Mumbai?
Even the employer might not know the answer to such questions. The purpose of asking them is to see your reaction when you are asked unexpected things. To cope with such a question, you can start thinking aloud in a logical way and offer an answer.
This demonstrates your logical capabilities.
22). In a catastrophic condition like fire what you will do?
The purpose here again is to see your response in such situations. They do not expect you to do anything heroic. You can say something like: “First of all I will ensure my safety and immediately inform the fire department of the company and city to come to support. If I am in a position to help some people, I will definitely do that.”
23). How much salary do you expect?
As a fresher you will typically not have much bargaining power in terms of salary. Still, you can ask the interviewer about the package they offer to fresher graduates. Most of the big corporations have a fixed salary for each level and there will not be a room for much negotiation.
Nevertheless, if you are required to spell out a figure, offer a range rather than an exact figure. For example you can say something like: I expect somewhat around mid-twenties.
Do you have any other offer at hand?
This is normally a closing question and they may want to know how actively you are looking for a job. Usually give an honest answer and say why you are looking for another job with that offer at hand.
24). What will you do if you are offered a job with a pay higher than this?
As discussed, recruitment is a time consuming and costly affair. A company will not want to hire a applicant who will switch the job for a couple of thousands.
To answer this question you can say somewhat like, I know that attraction of money but at this point in time growth is more important for me. In such a situation, I’ll discuss the growth openings with my manager and analyse the situation. If I see a growth potential in the same company, I will continue to work. Nevertheless, if I don’t see any further growth, I’ll humbly inform him about my decision to move on.
25). Do you want to ask us something about the company?
Not asking any questions back demonstrates lack interest in the job, tediousness or lack of research about the company.
When you are asked this question, you can ask some curious questions like the opportunities for you to grow in the company, the expansion strategies of the company and the opportunities for you to grow there.
If the company has been in news recently, you can ask questions related to that also.
Some of the other things that you can ask are -
- Whether the company lets for lateral and vertical role changes
- If the company encourages learning and development of employees
- Expansion plans
- You can also discuss your role in detail
