Some of the interview questions I had before How many pingpong balls could you fit in a jumbo plane? How many windows are there in Austin?
Your goal from the moment you sit down should be to answer questions in a way that promote discussion and to change the interview from a question and answer session to an actual conversation. If you can steer it this way naturally, you'll often hit a home run. Make sure to research the company and to know what they make, what their products are, etc. Know the stock price and financials as well, sometimes it comes up. Also come up with some good questions to ask back, examples: 1. Why is this position open? 2. How often has this position been filled in the past 5 ¬ 10 years? 3. What are the primary reasons given when past employees have left this position? 4. Why did the person who most recently held this position leave? 5. What would you like do differently by the next person who holds this position? 6. What are some of the objectives you would like accomplished in this job? 7. What objectives is most pressing? What would you like accomplish in the next 2 to 3 months? After the interview, thank them for their time, express your interest and you can even mention that your goal is to get an offer to work for them. You can also ask what the next steps are, if any, and when a decision might be made (when will you hear from them). If they offer to contact you, you can politely ask them when you should expect to be contacted. As soon as you get home write individualized thank you notes to each of your interviewers. Email is good, handwritten and mailed is better and set you apart. Follow up with a phone call within a week of when the interviewer said they would contact you (if they failed to do so). Of all the job interviews and offers I've gotten, I've never actually been contacted by the time table that I've been given and have pretty much always had to follow up on my own whether I got the job or not. Topics to avoid if possible: What you currently make and what your current benefits are if any. Also try to avoid salary if at all possible, especially if they want a number. "My goal is to find a challenging position to grow my career while benefitting (insert company name), and compensation/benefits are secondary to that goal. I believe my skillset is competitive within the market and we would be able to find a common compensation package that would be beneficially to both (company) and me." Or some junk like that. AVOID as hard as possible at throwing out a number during an interview, because once you do, you are stuck to it in later negotiations, and throwing one out too high as a bargaining chip can only price yourself out. Sometimes its hard, and they will insist. This will be when you'll have to know your market value. Giving a range is almost pointless as they will almost always think to the low end, but if you present a range, make sure to present a range (fairly wide) with the caveat that the range depends on the total compensation package (bonuses, stock, 401K, vacation.) So if you get backed into a corner, have a range, but keep it nebulous and maintain the phrase TOTAL COMPENSATION PACKAGE or something like it. Now I'm rambling...don't do that in an interview.
Relax. Listen more than you talk. Think, and I mean really pause, before you answer a question. Don't lie. Don't fudge. If you don't know something, it's ok. Those questions are more to see how you react than to see if you know everything in the world. Use these points as your guiding criteria and no interview can go badly (if you get a jerk purposely trying to intimidate you or make you feel stupid, they are a jerk/stupid and you don't want to work there anyway). With your other job in the bag, think of this as an opportunity to network with people in your industry that you can continue to develop as contacts. You never know, you may be able to reach out to them in the future if you keep in contact (do).
Yup, extremely annoying. It's just laziness and unpreparedness from the interviewer (though I've usually just gotten this in phone interviews, and it's the easiest thing for them to ask if they've got hundreds or thousands of applicants). The funny thing is, I've never had a good answer to "tell me about yourself." It always seems like an odd question; makes me feel like I'm on a date. But everyone should have a good 3-5 sentence response that is confident, concise, and coherent. Don't need to go into detail about why you're perfect for the position since it'll likely drag on. Maybe something like: "I'm a recent graduate of (or a current student at) XXX School/College/University. I've studied XXX (that pertains to the position) and while I was at school I was involved in XXX (hobby, club, or other activity that is relevant or could be deemed interesting). Ideally I would love to be doing XXX (that may pertain to the position, though I'm not certain that may be the best thing to say if you are unaware of the actual duties)." Perhaps someone else can suggest their opinions for that ever-annoying question.
I had an interview today. My interview was going well until I get to this one guy. I go in there smiling to have a positive attitude anyways he gazes at me and he is like "are serious about this job"? And I am like shocked. He says "It seems like you aren't serious about this cause of the way you are smiling" I was ready to just punch the guy. I am indian, but some indian people who come here to do masters kind of suck. Should I go report that to HR.
make sure you have researched the company as thoroughly as you can so that you can be prepared to ask the interviewer questions of your own. doing this shows initiative. be sure you highlight that you are intrinsically motivated/driven. telling a potential employer of the things in your life such as family, children, college, whatever you are doing to better yourself helps a potential employer understand that you seek stability and success. try to highlight this with your answers.
If it was one of a series of interviewers, I wouldn't be too worried. A lot of times, if he's really that much of an idiot, his coworkers will ignore his opinion anyways. Also, it may have been his lame attempt to throw you a curve to see how you would react. Perhaps if he really was serious and actually would have a say in whether or not you got hired, maybe its better if you don't get the job, because who would want to work with somebody like that?
