In this video today,I'll go through the most common questions asked at a job interview one by one and I'll share some advice to help you answer those questions professionally and confidently.Now,we haven't got time to go through every job interview question in this video,which is why I've created one of the most detailed workbooks we have ever created here at Lady with tips to help you answer the 10 most common interview questions plus lots of examples to help you create your own fantastic answers.So make sure you click the link in the description,you add your email and we'll send it to you right away
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I'm Emma,the founder of Hey lady,an online English speaking community where women around the world find their voice in English and become confident,courageous English communicators here on our channel,you'll find videos to help non native English speakers to connect and communicate better.
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Alright,here is the most common interview question.
Tell me about yourself.
Not technically a question.More of a request.But it is an extremely common way for your job interview to start with a broad question just like this.And it's a good way to break the ice or to plant some interesting information that will make the interviewer curious and want to know more.Now,there are so many blogs and youtube videos all about this question and most of them will say
answer with where you're from,what you studied or your experience and then maybe something interesting about you like a hobby.
This will make you sound exactly like every other person that they interview for the job.And you're really just saying the same information that you put on your resume out loud.So right here is where you have the opportunity to stand out from the crowd.So answer this question by saying
where you're from,but then say,
I'm passionate about,
well,I'm passionate about solving technical puzzles and
finding ways to make people's lives easier through technology.
That's why I decided to become a product designer and to study at UCLA,I graduated in 2018 and I've worked for the Department of Health ever since.
So when you respond to tell me about yourself,it's essential that you think about what the interviewer is most interested in and they're not interested in your degree.Probably they've already seen that on your resume.And if they are interested in specific details,
let them ask you.But by answering the question with,I'm passionate about.You're painting more of a picture of who you are as a person and how,who you are aligns with exactly what they're looking for.
Another common question is what motivated you to apply for this position
and this is a hot tip.Do not say
it's got a great salary
or excellent benefits or it's really flexible and that suits me.These are all reasons why the job is a good fit for you.But you need to answer this question demonstrating how you are a good fit for them.
There are two parts to this answer.One is reassuring the interviewer that you've read the requirements and you know that you are a great candidate for this position.
So it's an opportunity to explain why the role excites you
that you feel excited about the opportunity of contributing something to this team.So to prepare,read over the position description,
the key selection criteria and mention something specific about your experience or your passion or expertise that tells them you're a good fit for this role.And the second part is the opportunity to make sure they know that you have chosen them.
You wanna work for this company because they are a good fit for you.You could work anywhere but you've chosen this company,
why
this is your opportunity to flatter them.So to do that,review the organisation's website and get a better understanding of the company culture and their values,help them to understand how your beliefs and your interests and passions align with those of the company.
You might say that your motivation for applying for this job
is because the company has a great reputation for innovation and creativity or a fantastic team culture.And you really value the opportunity to learn and grow within that team or perhaps
they prioritize sustainability and you want to contribute to an organization that's creating a better future.
I have a lot of experience creating and fostering team culture.
And when I realized that an essential component of this role will involve bringing together stakeholders often with different priorities.And that commitment to collaboration is something that really drew me to this company.
I believe that with the right engagement,even the most unlikely partners can produce fantastic project outcomes.As a business owner myself and having interviewed many people for roles in my companies.The people who stand out are the ones who actually show an interest in our
and align with our values.They're the ones who've taken the time to consider who we are and how they can help us to reach our goals.So this is another really important opportunity to stand out from the crowd.
What are your strengths?
When you answer this question,it is really important that you think about which of your strengths of your many,many strengths,
which one of those strengths will actually add value to the organization and the position that you're applying for.Don't just tell them how good you are,
tell them how you're gonna make them look good.So you wanna explain how your strengths can help their organization and provide some examples or some context to really convince them that this is a strength of yours.Anyone could say they're a good team player.
But what makes this one of your strengths using examples from your previous experience?Or
if you volunteer,you could talk about that work or the team that you work with,you could also talk about sports teams or other organizations you're involved in.If you're a non native English speaker,you might even like to highlight your ability to understand and to empathize with underrepresented groups in society.Or if you're a new migrant,you might wanna highlight your determination to succeed with.The odds are against you and your persistence in obtaining mentors and building new networks in your new country.These are all strengths.
One of my strengths is that I'm a problem solver.
The harder the challenge,the more determined I am to find a solution.I really believe that it's this grit and this determination to find solutions that will bring value to this organization,
especially in a role where I need to bring stakeholders together,to find common ground,to collaborate and to keep projects moving forward.
What are your weaknesses?We all worry about this question.
We don't wanna expose our negative traits and we don't want to turn the interviewer off us,but it's important not to overthink it.
The purpose of this question is just to let the interviewer know that you are aware of your blind spots,
the areas that you need to improve,you're aware of them and you're open to learning and developing new skills.
So when you're thinking about how to answer this question about your weaknesses,instead,ask the question,what is one area that you'd like to develop your skills in?Maybe there's one aspect of the role where you have a little less experience and you wanna work on those skills.And when you highlight this to the interviewer,make sure they know that this is something you're aware of and something that you're working on,give them an example of something that you've been doing to practice that skill,demonstrate that you have a growth mindset that you have initiative and that you can take action when needed.Let's look at an example,
ah,
one area that I'm working on right now is delegating responsibility.I started managing a team in my previous role and initially I handed over tasks expecting them to be returned to me exactly as I would have completed them myself and when they were returned and they didn't quite meet my expectations.My usual response was just to take the project back to work overtime and to complete it myself.But over time,I've learned that investing my time and training into my team upfront
and implementing project management systems to make sure that my expectations are really clear from the outset.
This allows my team to thrive and for everyone to feel valued.So I'm really enjoying learning more about managing a team and getting the best out of them.
But I'd be really grateful for opportunities to be mentored or to learn from more experienced managers in the team.
OK.The last common question also happens to be a request rather than a question.And it starts with,tell me about a time,
these ones are tricky because you need to think on your feet.
They're designed to find out more about who you are and how you would react to certain situations,but you don't know what situation they're gonna ask about.So it can catch you off guard unless you've prepared a good way to prepare for this type of question is to brainstorm
and there's space to do that on the free PDF that we made for you.So when you brainstorm,you write down your ideas about something
and now I want you to write down some ideas about a time where you had to collaborate with a team or maybe take the lead in a situation and a time where you dealt with a customer or a client complaint and a time where you had to solve a problem or think out inside the box,think creatively and do something different.So if you can think of an example from your own personal experience that suits all of these different situations,
you will be prepared to adapt one of those to the scenario that's asked during your interview.
Tell me about a time when a client was disappointed with your work.How did you resolve that situation?
Fortunately,this hasn't happened too often,but there was a time when my client's expectations didn't meet their budget,
which is difficult because as architects,we're the creator of their dreams or the ones that bring them to life.
So if there's misaligned expectations,
I'll always invite the client in for a coffee so that we can go through it face to face.And I,I took them through several options that helped us to reach a similar outcome
without the price tag.
So I tried to find some
similar tiles to the Italian marble ones that they chose so that we could get a,a similar feel.But for half the price.And since this experience,I provide options to all of my clients from the outset and through the project.
So that discussions about budget and uh expectations are,are always met throughout the project.
These clients were so happy with the result that they ended up recommending the firm to another uh client.And we got a,a different job out of it,which is fantastic.
Now,it's impossible to know what questions you'll get asked at a job interview.
But preparing for these ones is gonna help you to feel prepared
and help you to get off on the right foot.
Don't forget that fantastic free PDF because there are five more common interview questions that we didn't have time to go through here in this video.And it also has the space for you to prepare your own answers with some extra tips and lots of examples.The link to get that PDF is down in the description.
If you enjoyed this video,please like it.Subscribe to the channel just down there,say hello in the comments we love to hear from you.In this video today,I'll go through the most common questions asked at a job interview one by one and I'll share some advice to help you answer those questions professionally and confidently.Now,we haven't got time to go through every job interview question in this video,which is why I've created one of the most detailed workbooks we have ever created here at Lady with tips to help you answer the 10 most common interview questions plus lots of examples to help you create your own fantastic answers.So make sure you click the link in the description,you add your email and we'll send it to you right away
If you enjoyed this video,please like it.Subscribe to the channel just down there,say hello in the comments we love to hear from you.