Interview help

catkins

I have an interview tomorrow and am feeling a bit nervous. I haven't worked for over 4 years so, obviously, haven't had an interview for longer than that.

Luckily, I am not desperate for the job, but would like to get it - it's 20 hours a week in retail - and I think I would quite enjoy it. If I don't get it it won't be the end of the world but I do want to give a good impression and would like to be offered it.

Anyway what I really want to know is what are the key questions being asked in interviews now? Do they normally still ask the "what are your strengths/weaknesses"? If so, I am fairly ok with the strengths but always struggle with the weaknesses as I am always scared of saying something negative that will make the interviewer feel I am unsuitable.

What about the "what are you most proud of"? Is that often asked?

I feel I am going to get panicked about the whole thing and blow it. I hate the "tell us of a time you dealt with a difficult problem" questions.

I am in my early 60's and, to be honest, have not had that many interviews as I have nearly always stayed in a job for a long time. Most of my interviews have just been a friendly chat - one interviewer said "I can see you have lots of experience so testing you would be an insult". That was when I was a secretary but things are so different now with role playing etc

Sofitos

Unfrotunately, interviewers still ask about your weaknesses. Usually, I give some example in my work where a weakness could be a stregnth in other situation.

Also I was asked:
What was your most difficult customer?
What will you do if you get negative feedback from a customer?
What is your main achievement?

asajj

They sometimes ask strengths and weaknesses. It can be difficult to answer your weakness bit. Once you find an answer, try to add what you learned from it and how you recovered.

For instance " I'm always very critical of my own work - which can cause me getting stressed and sometimes wasting time when checking and re-checking it. However, I have learned over time what to look for so when I check my work I know where to focus instead of trying to do it all from scratch" or something like that.

missbiggles1

You need to make a negative into a positive, although don't go for the old chestnut "I'm a bit of a workaholic".

Good luck.

prosaver

your bit of a risk as u not been working for 4 years, i would think you would have a better chance doing some voluntary work first,
anyway the interview experience will help.

Sofitos

Try to find article about interviews' questions by Jacquelyn Smith in Forbes. Comments under her article are must to read, as people leave a lot of useful and real example.

bouicca21

If it is customer facing then look at the job spec and try to spot likely questions.

The obvious ones are the traditional 'Give me an example of good and bad customer service?' and, yes, the dealing with a difficult customer, and probably something about team work (in my experience this is not nearly as difficult as it sounds to people with limited work experience - playing team games, being in a band/orchestra/dance formation will all give you what you need).

I have known people get thrown by 'do you think we give good service?' with the follow up of 'What could we do to improve our service?' It's not a trick, you can agree that someone gives good service and still think it's not perfect.

These are all things you can prepare for in advance. I never ask the strength and weakness one as I hate it when I am on the receiving end and don't think it actually tells the interviewer anything useful.

Masomnia

prosaver wrote: »

your bit of a risk as u not been working for 4 years, i would think you would have a better chance doing some voluntary work first,
anyway the interview experience will help.

Good pep talk for the interview tomorrow!


OP, good luck. If you're not too desperate for the role then try to relax and enjoy it, and as someone has said it's good practice for the next interview anyway. If you don't get it you might get some good feedback that helps you for your next one.

In terms of questions it really depends on the company. Think about times when you've given good customer service, gone above and beyond for customers. What attracts you to this role? Why that company? What does good team work look like? What could you bring to it?

I would suggest that you go through the job description/person spec and think about how you can demonstrate each of the things they are looking for with examples from your professional and personal life as they may well ask you the sort of 'Tell me about a time when you've...' kind of questions. There's a guide to answering those here. You'll be fine

With the weaknesses one, I'd say don't try to BS it, but try to think of something that won't matter too much in the role, and as others have said that you can say you've worked on and make it a positive. Not an easy one.

Good luck with it though, and let us know how you get on!

amandacat

If you've got to interview stage then they're happy with your background so no need to worry about the four year gap as they wouldn't have shortlisted you if it concerned them.

A lot of interviews ask scenario based questions now e.g you have a difficult customer....how would you manage this situation.
Sometimes they ask for you to give an example of a time you have done something e.g. dealt with conflict or worked to targets. Even if they don't it's always worth using examples to give strength to your answers. Have some examples from previous experiences ready to use.

Remember to smile and come across as a likeable person, they'll be assessing how you'll be with customers so will be looking at your manner and communication skills.

[Deleted User]

Thanks everybody - I have an interview tomorrow as well and found the information useful.

asajj

prosaver wrote: »

your bit of a risk as u not been working for 4 years, i would think you would have a better chance doing some voluntary work first,
anyway the interview experience will help.

Not true. They wouldn't even shortlist someone if this was a problem. They might ask why this was the case but nowadays there are lots of people who have had a gap in their career and as long as it is explained when asked, there is no issue in it.