There always comes a time during the interviewing process where you’ll be asked questions.  Be prepared!

Create a new file for yourself with potential “Questions and Answers” that you might be asked at an interview. You’ll read the questions and answers over and over again to practice what you would say if you were asked such questions.   You need to be prepared to answer those questions in a way that you’ll look great in their eyes.  You WILL hear questions that you may not have heard in a previous interview.  Don’t worry.  You can always research that type of question on Google when you return from that interview.  You’ll be ready for that question in the next interview.  But…… while you are at that interview and a question is asked that you don’t know how to answer, it’s best to respond to their question with another question.  Point to remember…. the person asking the questions is in control.

For example, if they ask you about what salary you are expecting, you spin it right around.  Respond with a question:  “May I ask you what this position has ‘historically’ paid or what the salary range is that you are offering?”  Or you could say:  “My salary is negotiable considering other benefits and what the ______ company thinks is a reasonable start.  What is the salary range for this position?”  You still haven’t told them what you WANT as a salary!

Don’t trap yourself into a situation where you tell them the salary you want and the company was actually willing to pay more!

Strengths and Weaknesses

Another typical interviewing question they will ask is about your Strengths and Weaknesses.  Use the information you listed on your “phone interview questions” as your response.  You might say:

• I have a relentless can-do attitude.  When I’m given a task or a challenge you’ll always hear me say, “No problem”.  Then I go to work to reach my new goal.  If I don’t have the answer myself, I network to FIND the answer.  
• Another strength I see in myself is that I enjoy teaching other people the skills I’ve acquired.  In my past jobs I was always the “go to” person.  I enjoy sharing my business acumen.

Never ever say ANYTHING negative about yourself even when you are responding to the question about your Weaknesses!  Always put a positive spin on things.  For example:

• Oddly enough my weakness is somewhat similar to my strength.  I enjoy helping others when they need my assistance with software or database knowledge that I possess.  I take it to heart when I have to say no to someone who needs help.  I try my best to assist others but sometimes job assignments of your own cause you to have to say no. 
• The phrase that my former employers and co-workers would quote me as saying is, “No problem”!  

See?  Always make it a positive ending even when speaking about your “weaknesses”.

The Behavioral Interview questions are the ones I always hated.  But they DO get asked on occasion and you just need to be aware of them.  There is an entire page of Behavioral Interview Questions that you can review.  Here are a few of the questions, along with some answers I came up with from a previous job interview:

What is the most difficult situation you faced and how did you tackle it?

• I tell the story about my former boss being promoted to a Vice President.  I had to transfer 2,000 clients in a database I never worked in and do it in 2 weeks instead of 1 month which had been the normal timeframe for this yearly task. (Accomplishment!)

What did you like most about your job?

• I received satisfaction in knowing that I was personally responsible for my executive’s effectiveness.  That would carry over into this position as I take my responsibilities very seriously.  

I enjoyed the challenges of each day: 

• scheduling appointments 
• juggling travel itineraries 
• analyzing sales data
• handling the challenges of everyday business & projects 
• I enjoyed being busy & I enjoyed being counted on.  

The point is that you can come up with SO many different scenarios.  It just takes a LOT of thinking about your job and what took place when you were working there.

Write down everything you can think of and add to your list as new things come to mind.