Hello my name is Niharika. When you apply for a job and your'e called for an interview,
there are various questions that are asked and the better prepared you are, the more
successful your interview would be. Well, you might have come across various videos
online that talk about the most common interview questions and answers. This video would be
a little different, because it's not just about the questions and answers, we are gonna
talk. I'm also gonna explain that what exactly the interviewer thinks, when he's asking certain
questions. What exact answers he's looking at and what are the common mistakes that you usually do.
The first most common question that is asked by the interviewer is, So tell me something
about yourself or he or she might also ask, that run me through your CV? Now here the
interviewer is not really interested in your answer. What they are looking at is your confidence,
your enthusiasm and the passion that you answer with. So it's the best time that you show
off your communication skills. Now usually I have observed that many people end up saying,
Ahh I love watching movies, I think I love partying. I have so many friends, so I really
enjoy partying. No that's not the right way that you answer to this question. What you
need to talk about is your education, where you grew up or you can also talk about your
past work experience, if you have any and your personal interests. For example, you
can say, Ahh well I grew up in France and I studied accounting. I also worked for an
accounting firm for about eight months and I really enjoy numbers, so maybe that's exactly
the reason, I love to solve them. Solving them is so much fun and in my spare time,
I really like reading and also go out jogging only if the weather allows me too. So that's
the way you would answer to this question.
The second most popular question that is asked by an interviewer is , What are your strengths?
Now here the interviewer is looking at how positive, you think about yourself. It's quite
a general question, there's no right or a wrong answer to it, but if you give out one
liners such as, Oh I'm a very friendly person, I love being with people and people love being
with me. That just doesn't sound great for an interview. Isn't it? So what you can say
is, My strongest trait is attention to detail. I totally believe in planning and execution.
In fact even when I was in college, I used to really organize my week and many people,
because of my very outgoing nature. Many people have said that I am quite approachable, so
I believe these are my strengths.
The third most common question that is asked is, So what are your weaknesses? Here for
this question, you need not be really negative about your self. I have heard people saying,
well I am a very impatient person or people also say, That I get angry easy. Well, that's
not the right answer. Maybe that is your weakness, but you need not bring it out. The best answer
to this, because what the interviewer is looking at is whether you can identify your weakness
and how you can cover it up. So one of the examples, that you can use to answer this
question is, I think my weakness is that I am way too detail oriented. I try to accomplish
everything and I just want everything to be perfect, but then I realize that I'm losing
out on time, so maybe that makes me submitting these projects pretty late. So I think that
is one of the weaknesses. So here basically, what you are doing is, you are displaying
that maybe, you run out of time, but your'e also giving a very positive aspect to it that,
you are a perfectionists. And that' s exactly what we saw as a strength in the previous
question too. So I think this is one of the best ways that you can answer to this question.
The next common question that is asked is, Where do you see yourself in five years from
now or the interviewer might also ask that, What are your long term or your short term
goals? Now here, Iv'e seen people really struggle to answer this question. Well, maybe, because
you yourself have no idea, where you would like to be, so usually people end up saying,
Oh I would like to be the CEO of this company or I would like to own an airline. That doesn't
sound right, so what a good answer to this question would be, because here the interviewer
is looking at, how committed you are gonna be to this company? A very clear path with
commitment, because you know what's the attrition rate these days. So he wants to know, how
long would you stick to the company? So one of the best answers that you can give, would
be, Well, five years from now, I think I would like to be in a management position. Till
then I would like to gain a practical experience and then eventually become a manager. Of course,
I would like to share and also learn a lot of new things from my team members.
The next most popular question that is asked is, So tell me something about our company
or what do you know about our company? Now here the interviewer of course has knowledge
about his own company, Right? That he's working for, but what he is looking at is whether
you are serious about this job or not? Whether you have just come for one of those random
interviews? So many people are usually let down, because of the lack of research about
the company, so what you need to do is research. Go online learn about the positive attributes
about the company. Learn about their products, their history and etc. So one of the best
ways that you can answer to this question is, Oh well your company is very well known
for the customer service and you also won an award for the best service provider in
the country. And of course, you also have a great clientele, so that's one of the best
ways that you can answer this question.
Sixth most common question that is asked is, How well do you handle a change? Well, the
philosophy behind this question is to know, would you be able to cope up with a change?
Because usually companies definitely come up with different strategies, employees come
and go, so would you be able to handle that? People usually end up saying, Oh of course,
I am great at handling a change. Well, trust me the interviewer would not be impressed
with this answer. How you can answer to this question with an example, would be. Well,
of course I can handle a change, because in my previous company, one of our bosses, one
of our immediate bosses had to quit and there was this new boss, who came in and he had
completely changed our strategy of a project. So of course, I'm very flexible and hardworking
too, so we managed it with our team efforts and definitely the results were pretty good.
So this is the way that you could answer to this question.
The next common question that is asked is, How well do you work under pressure? Now the
reason behind this question is the employer or the interviewer wants to know that do you
get really stressed out? Do you get really panicked under pressure? Because these days
companies, of course expect you to take more and more responsibility and of course a greater
work load. So the best way to answer this question is, well definitely working under
pressure or without pressure works just the same for me. In fact in one of the companies
that I was working, there was a project that was given to us, which had to be completed
in four days. Which usually takes ten days and the whole team is like so stressed out,
they panicked and they just didn't know what to do, but then I insured that they settled
down . We prioritized our work and in fact in a very organized manner, we completed the
project. Of course we also worked late nights, but that definitely helped to submit our project
in four days. So I think working under pressure is not too bad for me. So this is one of the
best ways that you can answer to this question.
The last common question that is asked is, How do you handle important decisions? Now
the reason behind this question is usually, If someone or the interviewer is hiring the
person or hiring you for a management position or for a lead position. He wants to know that
someday when you have to handle a very important, a very critical decision. How would you do
that? So many people end up saying, You know what I really haven't come across, I really
haven't dealt with such difficult situations. That's not the right answer you would say,
One of the best answers that I can help you with is, You can say, Handling decisions is
definitely considered to be a little difficult, but I am sure I can do it, because my experience.
I would rely on my experience, I would also weigh on the pros and cons. Of course, I would
also take some advice from my team members and I'm sure that would help me to come on
a decision. We will also look at the consequences of the decision.
So definitely I can go ahead and make decisions.
So that brings me to the end of this lesson. I hope all of these questions
and answers are helpful for your interview. And if you are going for an interview. Wish
you all the very best. Do well and I will see you soon in the next lesson. Take care.