7 Job Interview questions to ask

 1. What are you going to miss most about this person that left?
2. What is the company culture like, and what do you guys do to actively keep it a positive environment.
3. This is what I learned yesterday. Tell me how you have seen this applied in scenarios with a client.
4. What did the person in this role before me do that was appreciated but not required based on the job description.
5. How can I best suit the needs of my direct counterparts.
6. what is the current state of this department and how are they performing in reference to the bottom line.
7. What's the company's three-year, five-year, and 10-year plan.

Woman reveals her secret to acing job interviews (msn.com)

Job Interview Tips and Tricks.

Okay, so this is a Tips and Tricks post. I am now officially getting a new job, after 5 years in retail! So, with this in mind, I would like to post some interview tricks and tips that I've received from someone I work with (In retail). As well as things I've read on various websites, and even on other interviews.

Sections marked with a red asterisk *: Are purely situational, and won't always happen, they may also depend on the particular job position, as well as the field. I've been asked some questions only when applying for a retail job, and one question was asked because of the personality of the interviewers. So the ones in black, may be more important, and more used. Once again, it just depends on various different things.

Sections marked with a purple diamond ♦: Will be asked about half of the time, but not always.

The thing with interviews is, the interviewer wants to get to know you, but, you have to lie to them and say what they want to hear.. which is ironic because they want to know who you are.

Sections in black ♣:  Are almost always asked.

Tips For Questions

♣ Why are you leaving your current position?

For my current position in retail, it was easy. I just had to tell them that I wanted to leave retail, and get back into the office environment. If you're changing fields, you can just say you want to get into that field.

What I started to do was... I'd tell them I wanted to get out of retail, and into the Private Sector, which sounds really fancy. I may or may not have gotten this idea from an episode of the Golden Girls.
Private Sector, just means a non Government job. A Government job is called the Public Sector.

Another scenario, is to just say, the job is not Challenging enough. This is a good way on doing things, as it's not negative, you're not talking bad about about the company, or anything. As with the previous statement, I may or may not have gotten this idea, from an episode of Queer as Folk...

• I Would like to leave "blank", to get a position in "(an Office, Graphic Design, Retail.. etc..)
• I am looking to leave "blank", to get a job in the Private Sector. Alternatively, if you're interviewing for a Government job, you can say Public Sector instead.
• I'm leaving "blank", because it's not challenging enough. I saw your company, and saw it would give me great new challenges to face.

NEVER: 

• Say you're looking to get into a quieter atmosphere. The employer might say that their job is rather busy, and it will just hurt you in the end.

• Say you're not a people person, this is just a bad idea. Even if it's an office job, they may even say, that you still have to deal with customers/clients. If the topic comes up, tell them that you love working with people!

♦ I see you went to school for "blank", but you got a job in "blank", OR you're applying for this position. Why is that?

I was asked once, why I went to school for Graphic Design, but got a job in retail. This was a heavy hitter, like really, why ask that?!

Dont: 
I used to tell people, that I couldn't get a job in Graphic Design, so I went into retail.

Do: But now, I'll tell people that I decided I realized I wanted to do Graphic Design as a hobby, and tried out retail, because I love working with people. (Which was a lie..). It sounds better.

Then you can state reasons why you want the current position.

For Customer service positions, I told them that I love working with people, but also wanted to get back into the office atmosphere.

♦ What do you know about the company? 

• List 2-3 things about the company before hand, so that you can tell them what you know.
I like to write it down in an order of 1-3

Examples:

1. "Started in 1999"
2. "Law firm company that focuses on schools, and children."
3. "Affiliated with Donations companies, and gives to charities.. "

I'd even go out to ask the interviewer, more about the company.

Alternatively, during the interview, you can mention one of the facts you've collected, and they might make a comment saying that you did your research!

♦ What is your favorite and least favorite thing about your current position? 

This is a question to be careful with! Never say anything bad about your current job such as, "They need more staff", or "The customers are rude", this will just make you look bad.

Favorite Thing: (This you can have fun with), The Managers, the People you work with, Free food in the break room.. etc..

Least Favorite: There's two ways you can do this, either list something silly that can't be controlled, or you can have a more smarter way to answer this question.

• Silly Answer - No Employee bathrooms, Not enough parking, No TV in the break room.. something that isn't a big deal.
• Smarter Answers - The job isn't challenging enough, you might also be able to get away with saying Bad Management, but I would be careful on that one.

* At your current job, who is your favorite manager, and least favorite manager. Why is that? 

THIS IS A TRICK QUESTION!!! DO NOT say you have a least favorite manager! I got hit by this one myself, but I've only ever been asked this once.. I think it's because all of the reviews on Glassdoor for that company, talk about how the managers do favoritism.

Just say, I like all of the managers, but if I had to choose a particular favorite, I would choose so and so. Because "they're sunshine and rainbows", "they bring in a cake every week.. etc.. " .

♦ What are your strengths and weaknesses?

This is an interesting answer, because I've recently learned of a really cool way to answer this question.

Strengths: examples: I'm a go getter, I'm hard working, I love a good challenge, I'm creative, I come in on days off to pick up extra hours, I always stay later if needed. etc...

Weaknesses: This part is tricky, you can either answer with a real weakness, but challenge that weakness with a solution. Use a strength, and make it sound like a weakness, or use a something you love, that is a weakness.

As an example, if you're bad at math like me.. you can say,  "My weakness is math, but in order to combat that, I can use a calculator! "

Alternatively, you can have some fun with this, and turn it around. You can say that your weakness is something that you're good with, but make it sounds like a weakness. "My weakness is, I never say no to coming in on my day off!".

Another type of "Weakness" you can use, is something you adore/unexpected! "My weakness is kittens!".

• My weakness is "Blank", but in order to combat that, I can do/use "blank". 

• "My weakness is, I never say no to come in on my day off!", "I can't stop working, until the challenge is completed!" "My weakness is, I never say no!".

• "Kittens are my weakness!" " Pokemon is my weakness!" "Flowers! They're so pretty to look at!"

♦ Name a time when you had a challenge at work, and what did you do to overcome it? 

This can be an interesting question. If you've never had a job, just come up with either a made up scenario, or use something that happened to you, where you were able to overcome something. This is a personal experience thing, so I cannot add much myself. Just make sure it was a positive experience that happened.

Example below: Feel free to use this yourself, as long as you've worked with customers before. You could even go as far to say that you were at so and so's garage sale, helping out, and helped an unruly customer out with a price.

I personally, like to use this time I had a really rude customer. Her coupon didn't work, and she was being very nasty to me for no reason. I got the supervisor, and she fixed the error, and made the coupon work, and she left the store happy, with a smile on her face! (Which wasn't true, she was an evil bitch from beginning to start, but I changed the end, and so far I've gotten positive results from this answer!)

* Name a time you used team-work.

This is pretty self explanatory, just come up with something that happened to you. These are my examples.

Before I got a job in retail, I told an interviewer, that for a college photography class, a bunch of my college friends and I car-pooled to a park, and took pictures for a class project.

My personal favorite is this one time...

In order to stop a lady, who was switching price tickets in my store... Myself, and two other co-workers, grouped together and watched her from afar, to make sure she didn't do anything fishy.

* How do you get along with ODD/Annoying/Rude people?

"I get along with everyone, I am calm, and supportive of people, even with different ideals."

"I work with everyone the same way, in a positive manner"

"I have a good rapport with everyone!"

* Describe the perfect position.

You can say something like,

•A place that provides professionalism, growth and advancement.
•A place with good people to work with, people who really care about their customers/clients.

Something fun and positive.

* How are you with stress?

Just tell them that "you work harder in stressful situations", " I am calm, collective and enthusiastic!" sometimes things aren't as bad as it seems.

♣ Do you have any questions for me? 

These are questions that the person is going to ask on an interview, and I don't think there is a time where they aren't going to ask you for questions. The following are questions I've gotten from the internet, and I've had really interesting results!

My top three: 

• What's an average day like? - They'll just tell you what happens through a normal day.
• Who would I report to? - Half of the time I've asked, it's usually not the interviewer, or it's them, and another person.
• What is your favorite thing about the company? - This is the part where they say they've been with the company for 100 years, and how much they like it.

Others:

• How long is the training period? Will there be mentors or orientations for the position? (This would be great if you want to know the learning curve of the job)
• What is a current challenge or goal that the company currently faces?
• How long has the company been at this location?
• What is the next step in the process? 

I usually only ask three questions, but I found out about this question recently, and it's also very useful to use.

• What is the competitive scene like? Who am I up against, and what would I have to do, to show that I am the right choice? 

I've only asked this twice so far, but I've gotten very interesting answers! But I can also see how this could come off narcissistic, like you just think you're better than everyone else.

If you've had a history of bad bosses and want to see if this person is just as terrible as the last, you can ask these questions I found on Workplace Stack Exchange. 

Question

• Can you describe a project where someone reporting to you did particularly well on a project? How did you help them be successful?

If the interviewer says something along the lines of "We're still interviewing", it's possible that they're not going to hire you.

Don't use

• What area needs the most help?

I've asked this a few times, and usually people got defensive, and would just say "Well, this position you applied for!". Although one time, someone did actually say something else needed more help, but I decided not to ask this question anymore, since people got weird about it.

* List three Adjectives/Personality traits, that best describe yourself. 

This is from a question I was asked on an interview, and ever since then, I've collected a few words to use on other interviews. At the end of an interview, I will tell them, if I described myself with three adjectives, it would be, blank, blank and blank. Any time I've said this, people usually thought it was interesting that I had said this, one person even wrote it down.

These are the ones I've used currently.

• Ambitious
• Friendly
• Optimistic

Make sure not to use a similar word, that basically means the same thing, as well as words that are the opposite too. You can't say you're energetic, and calm, it clashes too much. Always remember to use positive words.

Some other words I've used are

• Creative
• Enthusiastic
• Positive

Some others I found.

• Adaptable
• Compassionate
• Diligent
• Persistent
• Reliable
• Sincere


Tricks

• A cool trick you can do, is ask the interviewer for a cup of water.. or coffee (Or whatever). When you don't know what to say, you can take a sip, in order to think about what you're going to say! I did this on an interview, where I ended up getting the job.

-Alternatively, you can also mention that you will get back to that question, and need a moment to think, and you can discuss another topic in the mean time. If you haven't given your references/resume/ or Cover Letter, you can give that to them, while you think about the answer.

• You can ask the interviewer, if you are allowed to show off your skills. You can ask them to give you a project to complete, in order to test out your abilities!

• If you forgot anything you were going to say, you can ask for their email and say something like "I forgot to mention on the interview, that "blank".

• In some cases, the interviewer might put you up to the task, and give you an assessment. Make sure you can do the assessment, and if they listed a program, make sure to try the program out, before the interview.

-Alternatively, If you haven't used a program for a long time, just tell them you haven't used it in a while, and need to re-familiarize yourself with it again.

-If by chance you do terribly on an assessment, tell them you're going to practice with it.. It may bring a shed of hope for considering you. Some companies also don't care about how well you know a program, but care about how pleasant someone is!

• Be cautious when applying! - Some companies aren't actually hiring, they either got a good discount on a job site, and have to post an X amount of jobs, in order to get the discount.
So when a company posts a job a million times, they're either doing something fishy, or they're just bad at keeping people.

- They may also do it, to make them look better, more popular.. etc..

• NEVER Say you want to go back to school one day, this means you wouldn't stay with the company, and it would be a red flag.

• If you don't have experience in something, tell them you're always willing to learn, as well as you pick things up quickly.

• If your current job is in a different field as the one you're applying, you can always mention something that you did, that can qualify for the job. Such as, when I was in retail, I answered phones.. which is something you also do in an office, so for office jobs, I could list answering phones.

• Saying you're a jack of all trades, is a good thing.

• If they talk about not liking Drama/Complainers, or something similar, just agree with them. "I agree, there's no room for drama in the work place."

• You can always say something at the end, like.. "If hired, you won't be disappointed..  I am a hardworking, detail oriented individual that always takes the extra mile!" Something like that can add to the interview.

• At the end of the interview, tell them that it was a pleasure to meet them, and that you are excited about the opportunity.

Interview # 47: I love Adventures!

Okay, so I had applied for a job that was the same pay as my current job. I got a call, and at first, I brushed it off. Why would I go for a job that is the same pay rate? Not to mention, it's Tuesday-Saturday! I like my Saturdays! I asked a bunch of people, 2 people said don't go for it, but 5 people said go for it. My one friend said, since I'm so miserable in retail, I might as well try this, because if I have a chance to be happy, I should go for it!

So I call back the lady a day later, and she gets back to me... Usually companies don't get back to me, so I was surprised. She asks me some questions, she tells me that the job is Tuesday-Saturday. I paused for a moment, because I wanted to ask her about this fair I go to every year, that is on a Saturday.. but I didn't, and then she went "You paused once I said Saturday", and I said I was just writing what the hours were down (Which was true, but a good save by me.)
She asks me to come in for an interview, but she requests that she emails me the information.. so since I was at work, and my phone service sucks... I couldn't view it until I got home. I completed all the information at home.. etc.. She sends me an email about an interview on Thursday at 10am! Which is great and all, until I realized I was closing the day before, and wasn't' getting home until 12am.

I somehow got enough sleep, and I get to the place. Now in the email, it says to go past a security booth, and then go to the other side of the building (With car). But I got confused with the instructions, and so I ended up going through the building, and walking through the whole thing, until I found it.

I meet up with the lady, and she tells me that I am going to do a testing assessment. I do the assessment, which was supposed to take 15 minutes, but  I finished it in around 8-10 minutes. It was basically just doing data entry tests, which were rather easy, and kind of fun. I only got one wrong, and on the last one, which bothered me. But other than that, I got a 99% right.

The interviewer, ends up being another lady. She's this nice grandma like lady, and she was telling me about how much she loves data entry, and typing. She was clearly nervous herself, while I'm just normally awkward. She said it was great that I did so well in the assessment.
She went over the job, about how it's Tuesday-Saturday. She had moments where she couldn't think of what else to tell me about the job.
She told me about how she works retail too, at Kmart. I told her that I'm very detail oriented, because at my job, they told me to just throw the merchandise wherever.. she said at Kmart, they want perfection, and that she should get a job at my store. I told her, I could give her a good reference!

She seemed to really like me, she said that I seem like a nice person, and that she believed me when I said I was detail oriented, or I get along with everyone.. etc..

I asked her these questions:

• What's an average day like
• What's your favorite thing about this company?
• What is the competitive scene like? Who am I up against, and what would I have to do, to show I am the right choice?

At once point, I felt like I was interviewing her. lol

I did forget to tell her my three adjectives, that I'm Friendly, Ambitious and Optimistic. But I think she thought that about me.

So, before I did the assessment, the first lady gave me a water bottle, as she asked If I wanted anything.
Now, a cool interview trick is.. to ask for water.... or whatever. Because when you don't know what to say, you take a sip of the drink, and it gives you more time to think about what you're going to say. I did this a few times with the water bottle,

She asked me to describe a time I had to face a challenge. I took a sip of water, and I thought of a time.. where I dealt with this very nasty customer. The customers coupon didn't work, so I got the supervisor to override it. Now, what really happened was... the lady was a bitch from the start, and a bitch to the end.. she was by far, the nastiest person I've ever had to deal with.
However, the lie is, that after we got the "coupon" to work, the lady became very happy, and nice.
So that's my challenge, even though it's half a lie.

At times, I did however come off rather awkward, but the lady seemed a little awkward too, so I don't think it was a  big deal.
Of course, my dumb ass parked in the wrong direction. So I was trying to find the stairs for the way I didn't go through, and the first lady saw me kind of looking around, confused. She showed me the way, I told her I wanted to walk, because I love adventures (I said the same thing twice like an idiot).
I found the way..
But my problem is, if I've never been somewhere, or if I've never done something.. I'll get really confused and just get the directions wrong somehow. (Such as, now that I know where to go, the directions to the building in the email, is rather easy and I understand it now.)

So the interview, I think went very well. We'll just see what happens next!

Edit: As of May/01/2018. I found out that they liked me, and I will be working for this company, starting the 22nd of May.

Interview # 46 : I will make you wait!

Interview 46, was for a Doctors office. This is the second time I went to a doctors office interview, and also the second time they made me wait for at least 20-30 minutes!

So the funny thing is, the gps told me the place was one way.. but it ended up being farther down the road. I got to the place, but I didn't know that there were two different doctor companies in it. So One door said something like "For the doctors office, go <-", so I go to the other door, and I ask for the lady I talked to on the phone. They were like, there is no one here with that name! I was like oh no!!! (In a Joseph Joestar voice)
They told me that maybe I was looking for the other office, which is unrelated to them. I was like thank you. etc..

I get to the right building, and they had me wait for a while.. which I thought was weird.. I was supposed to be there at 12pm, I got there at 11:50. I waited until about 12:23. I got out at around 12:40.

I believe I did good, I remembered everything I was going to say, FOR ONCE... I also made some small talk about how it’s always good when everyone gets along...

She told me a little about the company, after I told her what year the business started.
It looks to me like all you have to do, is remember one or two things about a company, and they figure you did your research, even if you didn't really.

She asked if I had any questions, I told her the ones I always ask. Usually I forget one or two of them, but I remember them without a problem this time.
• What's it like to work here.
• Who would I report to.
• What is your favorite thing about the place. - She told me that she's been there for 15 years, and that she started part time too (This is a part time position I went for) She said that many people advance and get promoted from within.

 After I had asked my three questions I always ask, she asked if I had more questions. I said, what is the competitive scene like, who am I against and how would I prove that I am the right choice...this really got her, she had to think about it. She said that she likes to look at people who don’t have experience, to give them experience, but at the same time she looks at people with experience. She said that she’s interviewing for two more weeks and I asked her to let me know either way, she said her kids are looking for jobs and they tell her how these companies don’t get back to them, and so she definitely will. Since it's part time, I told her I was thinking about going to medical school (which was a lie, but I said I’m thinking about it, not doing it). Although I have thought about going back to school for something art, or tech related. But I can't afford it at this point in time.

Lesson Learned: As long as you know one or two things about the company, they seem to just assume you did your research, and won't ask you a million things on what you know, or don't know about the place.

Interview # 45: Traffic Cone of EVIL!!

So, on my way to this interview... It was the day after a terrible snow storm, and I was going to be there in five minutes.. when I had to dodge this evil traffic cone! It was in the middle of the road, I assume due to the snow storm. I was so distracted about dodging the cone, that I didn't realize I had just passed a red light. I immediately stopped after I was in the clear.. I hope I didn't get a ticket! I took pictures just in case.

The traffic light is shortly after, and on a 40 MPH road!
I got this interview through networking, so this is my first networking interview. As one of the ladies I work with, is friends with a woman who owns a printing company. They're always looking for Graphic Designers.

On the interview, I was actually disappointed in how boring the office looked.. I was surprised that they were graphic designers, since it's just an ugly looking inside, and an ugly company logo. But then again, I'm more about the pizazz!

I had to fill out a form, which took some time, and had some really pointed questions towards people being fired. Like "If you were terminated, why?" "If you left due to mutual agreement with your previous employer, why?" which I didn't understand what that meant, did it mean they understood you were leaving, or what..Some of them were really strange questions.

I was sat down with my co-worker's friend, and her husband. Her friend is very nice, as she had mentioned. I didn't really get to answer many questions, and it was more the husband, who interviewed me. They both kind of just skimmed through my portfolio, and skipped some categories (as I label sections in my portfolio, such as abstract, and drawings... etc.). But at least they were nice, unlike someone from a Previous Graphic Design Interview.
They did give me tips on what I should do for my next interview, which made it sound like they didn't like me at all. But I felt like he was trying not to laugh, or something of the sort. I think they really hated my work, they understood that I didn't have work experience in Graphic Design.. but I really don't think they took it well.
For a moment, the husband asked me some customer service questions out of the blue. I said that you have to put on a smile, and give your best customer service attitude.
They gave me some tips, and then I was on my way.

Normally, I'm ready to answer a million questions, but because it was different this time, and it was mostly about graphic design, I was put off guard. I feel the interview didn't go too well. But this is also why I don't apply for Graphic Design jobs anymore,  I don't have the experience, so no one wants to try me out in the first place!

Interview # 44: GPS can't fool me now!

This company was near the company I went on my 34th interview on. Which is funny because, on my 34th interview, I had to turn around 10 minutes out of my way, to go back 10 minutes and ended up being late.. if the GPS had been correct, I would have been early. So I realized I was getting near that area, and I said, you can't fool me twice! So I was able to enter the building of the place I went on an interview 3 years ago, and was able to turn around to this interview.. which in fact, the buildings were next to each other.

 I got to the building, and realized I went through the employee entrance, so I turned the corner to find a little waiting room. But no one was there! I rang the bell, and no one answered. So I spoke to the lady on the phone, and maybe 5 minutes later, the interviewer came. The interview went well, but it was short, she still covered all the basics. It was about 5-10 minutes. She told me how the company is, she asked about me. I said I went to school for Graphic Design, and decided it wasn't what I was looking for, so I got a temporary office job and then retail. (Which is not true, I still want a graphic design job, but I think I will have to put that on hold for now, since I don't have experience.) She then said, you want to get out of retail to get into an office position (She mentioned she had worked retail as well). I said yes, although I should have said private sector, since it's like a warehouse setting.

 She asked me how I get along with odd people (This isn't a typo, she said ODD not OLD. lmao), I told her I get along with everyone. She also said that everyone is like a family back there, I told her that it's always better when everyone forms a strong bond. She asked if I had questions for her, the third question I forgot and I told her that the question escaped me and I would think about it as I was talking. I had to hand her some papers that I was asked to fill out, and remembered it by then. (I was thinking to myself later, I ask these same questions every time, and I conveniently forget one of them EVERY TIME.)I asked her what it's like to work there, what's her favorite thing about the job, and then the one I forgot was.. who would I report to. But other than that, I think it went well. She said I'd know next week, I told her I would appreciate knowing either way. I think it went okay, except for me agreeing to wanting an office job, and forgetting what I was going to ask her. It was rather short, which concerns me.

 Lesson Learned: Never forget to get there early, you have no idea if the building is going to be trouble to get to. As well as the fact that some places have multiple companies, and could be a bit confusing to find the right company.

Interview # 43: Yak yak yak, why ya talking all the time!?

The title is a reference to the game, Kya: Dark Lineage, which really fits this interview.

As I'm writing this, I already know I didn't get the job, as I asked the lady to send me an email if I got it or not.

 I had applied for a position on a Sunday, and I got an email hours later requesting for an interview. The next day, I got TWO emails in an hour from them, requesting an interview, I was like geez lady, calm down.

 So this is the first time I went on an interview, and forgot my portfolio, with my resume, cover letter.. etc.. I've never forgotten it before! The funny thing is, the last 5 interviews I've been on, the interviewer didn't want to see it, so I was hoping I wouldn't need it. It worked out because she was talking about how people don't like phone calls, and everyone does emails, so I told her I would email my references when I got home. Apparently it was me vs one other person. It was mostly just her talking about the job the whole time.... She went on.... and on... and on... and she even mentioned she talks so much. It was hard to get two words in, because I felt like I was being rude, and interrupting. I just told her that I am on the shy side, but open up and she said that she expects that from everyone, because they don't know each other yet. Then I said three adjectives I would describe myself in. This was the first time, the interviewer didn't write those down.. they always write down my list of three adjectives. She was really nice, I just didn't get to say much.... She asked me salary range, I said around 14, an hour, but it's negotiable. She told me they have vacation days, 401k. She said in a week or two, but I wouldn't start until March because they're updating their systems to Sage, which I later found out was a math program. I am terrible at math, so probably a good thing I didn't get it.

 She told me she wanted to hire a guy, because one of her girls is leaving due to pregnancy, so she wants a guy because they can't get pregnant. I told her I promise I won't get pregnant. Which is rather sexist. Because she basically only hired girls before, which is sexist, and now she only wants a guy, which is also sexist! I don't mind that I didn't get the job because, I felt like the job would have been boring. But the thing is, she did most of the talking, so I don't know what I could have done differently, like other interviews gave me time to comment... but she really didn't.

 Lesson Learned: Sometimes, the interviewer talks too much!