Difficult Interview Questions and Winning Answers (part II)

[IronLady]

^ you may want to check the old thread also (part 1). i think it was saved. this question was asked there a few times.

but here goes my suggestion na din.

you can say you're looking for more professional growth, that you'd like a new challenge and you'd like to do something more in line with your background, where you can maximize your potential, etc.

how many years have you been doing the same job at this KPO company? no chance of promotion ba there anytime soon?

uu sis.. no chance for promotion anytime soon and wala rin naman akong balak magtagal dun kasi nga parang nabubu na ko.. kahit mapromote ako ganun at ganun pa rin ang gagawin ko.. panu pa ko makakalipat sa ibang companies kung wala naman akong kaalam alam? hehe!

anyways, nahihirapan ako.. kasi after ko isagot ang career growth at gusto ko in line dun sa field ko or course as a reason, my follow up question na 'bakit hindi ba in line yung ginagawa mo ngayon?' mas lalo ko hindi makasagot! haha! kasi in line naman sya.. pero hindi kasi ko magamit yung mga pinag-aralan ko nung college.. yung ganun ba..

thanks so much sa reply sis..

[imnuttz]

sis blooming, i believe you are from the HR department.  i believe iba iba ang mga questions depending on the position you are applying for, can you give examples of interview questions for the PA position para ma practice-an ko?

[jiggles]

hi! ask ko lang po kayo. i'm currently working sa family biz namin, pero nagpla-plan na ko magapply at mag-work na sa iba. yung work ko sa family biz namin medyo all around sya e - order taking, scheduling of deliveries, monitoring of inventories, purchasing of stocks, pati magpasweldo at magdeposit sa bangko e ginagawa ko - ang question ko e anung Job Title ang tama or fit dito? sorry ang babaw ata ng tanong ko, di ko kasi alam kung ano ilalagay ko sa resume ko. Purchaser ba or planner or inventory controller? TIA 

[parprx]

Hi! Is there any chance na maretrieve yung first thread? sayang naman kasi ang dami pa naman helpful tips dun. when i clicked the link of the first thread "an error occured" was posted.

1. i'd like to know what do you exactly tell with the "tell me about yourself" aside from the basic name,age and school? this is for an airline application.

2. what's one weak point you have?

3. Why do you want to be a cabin crew for *local airline when there are bigger airlines out there?"


thank you so much in advance! 

[blooming]

i have a question.. kasi i just applied for a call center..i had 5 yrs of experience already..and initial interview palang, bagsak na ako.. 4 kame sabay ininterview..sa aming 4, ang nakapass lang eh yung nagsstammer pa during the interview lacking self confidence and all.. and i also heard that some others who had longer experience weren't hired. care to answer any HR people? i'd really appreciate..thanks

sis, depende kasi sa position. does not mean you are good at it, or experienced, hired na agad.

you see there are bosses na prefer nila baguhan, mas fresh ang mind, etc.  moreso, baka kasi mas magaling ka pa sa mag-h-hire sayo    (not that it's a bad thing, minsan kelangan nga mas magaling sayo ang subordinate mo para mas efficienct ang trabaho)

so kelangan there is a "match" between dun sa applicant tsaka sa requirements ng job.  otherwise hindi din magtatagal and employee, sayang lang ang oras ninyong lahat, and the boss/HR still have to undergo the same process again.

[blooming]

hello mga sisses! i need help.. im currently looking for a job.. so madami akong pupuntahang interviews! haha.. hirap lang talaga ko magsagot yung tanong na "why do you want to leave your current employer/company?" ang reason ko lang naman e career move.. kasi stagnant na ko.. im working for a kpo company kasi and routinary yung mga ginagawa feeling ko wala ko natututunan or mapupuntahan.. kaya nga hirap ako maghanap ng work dahil sa experience na meron ako.. parang.. wala lang.. yung mga inaral ko nung college di ko naman naaply or nagagamit kaya yun yung reasons ko.. kaya lang di ko alam kung panu sasabihin.. dati sinagot ko parang ive learned everything i need to learn.. lol. nayabangan ata sakin.. di ko talaga sya masagot eh.. i need help.. btw, course ko ay financial accounting kaya parang hinahanap hanap ko yung tipong gagana sana utak ko sa work na papasukan ko.. tska yung kapag lumipat ako maacknowledge yung experience ko, unlike now.. sorry mejo napahaba.. tenkyu sa mga mgrereply! =)

same question din sis...

ano ginagawa mo ngayon and how long have you been there?


minsan depende kasi sa pagsagot mo sis. instead na maging reklamador re your current job, sometimes you have to emphasize na you are also doing something about it.  Kasi habang nag aapply ka ng ibang job for growth, ano ginagawa mo to address the situation.  I was in that situation before, puede mo sabihin na you accept consulting jobs, or other  extra analysis; work that can help other people do the analysis, etc.  you attend workshops or study on the side, mga ganun ba, para lang hindi mabobo. 

[blooming]

sis blooming, i believe you are from the HR department.  i believe iba iba ang mga questions depending on the position you are applying for, can you give examples of interview questions for the PA position para ma practice-an ko?

hi sis, hindi po ako sa HR. nagkataon lang na I am also on the lookout for applicants from time to time.  and isa lang masasabi ko, I always look for people who also 'yearn' for the job, yung seryoso at hindi parang naglalaro lang. someone who takes the job seriously.  Makikita mo e, if there's passion. 

second criteria ko  - Attitude. accepting, open to new thoughts and ideas. hindi laging de kahon mag isip. kung may mali, tanggapin. kung may opinion, i-express.

third syempre - skill sets. 

[blooming]

hi! ask ko lang po kayo. i'm currently working sa family biz namin, pero nagpla-plan na ko magapply at mag-work na sa iba. yung work ko sa family biz namin medyo all around sya e - order taking, scheduling of deliveries, monitoring of inventories, purchasing of stocks, pati magpasweldo at magdeposit sa bangko e ginagawa ko - ang question ko e anung Job Title ang tama or fit dito? sorry ang babaw ata ng tanong ko, di ko kasi alam kung ano ilalagay ko sa resume ko. Purchaser ba or planner or inventory controller? TIA 

sis, to whom do you report to?  or who makes the decision sa mga ginagawa mo?  Ikaw ba ang nagpapatakbo, or your parents?  Tapos tuwing punta ba ng bangko, sila nag uutos sayo or alam mo na ang gagawin?

if you run your business, then you can say COO. if you do all around for your biz, baka puede chief of staff?  may tao ka rin ba under you na puede mo utusan?

[blooming]

3. Why do you want to be a cabin crew for *local airline when there are bigger airlines out there?"

Being bigger does not translate to being better.  There is nothing wrong in working for a smaller company. The more important thing is being able to maximize your growth while meeting company's objectives and goals.

[hapi_prego]

first thread here:

http://www.femalenetwork.com/girltalk/index.php/topic,178998.0.html

sad naman, the link doesn't work na 

ano po ba ang usual question sa mga Interview?

[clueless]

^ oo nga. i remember that one of the last posts on the last thread was from one of the mods saying the thread would be saved (or made into a sticky). sayang naman. paging our mods. can the old thread be retrieved ba kaya?

[clueless]

parprx, oo nga, sayang the old thread. to answer your questions (the first 2 of which have been discussed quite extensively on the old thread):

1. state something that's not on your resume, something about yourself that's not on your CV.

2. when asked about weaknesses, think of something that's also a strength. for example, in my line of work, this is relevant. attention to detail. sometimes it is a strength because you want things well planned, well thought of etc but sometimes, thinking too much about something is also not good. something like that.

3. i agree with blooming that bigger is not always better. with a small company, it is relatively easier to become a big fish in a small pond. there may be a bigger chance for advancement. in a big company, you may be a very small fish in a very big pond so you may not be given as much chance to shine.

[super bratinella]

When I was applying for a higher internal position and I passed for the initial interview, the management emailed me the schedule of the final interview and I misunderstood the time as 03:00pm and it is supposed to be 3:00, and so they need to reschedule my final interview the following day same original time.

They asked me this final question, after answering all their series of questions:

Ranking yourself 1 to 10, 10 as the highest and 1 as lowest, How would you rank yourself?

I answered 9, and they asked why?

That is only because I miss the final interview schedule that was originally set for me, otherwise I could be 10.

[Pretty_ava]

MODS, please give us access to the old thread.  akala ko po di sya mabubura for future reference. Please po,  badly need it. andun po kasi yung lahat ng answers sa questions ko.  di ko na save sa word or notepad man lang, silly me.

hello, magic dragon, natutuwa ako sa posts mo sa BI thread and galing mo sumagot sa thread 1 nito ha.

same goes to sis clueless and blooming.

[hapi_prego]

mga sis, ano bang better na sagot pag

"how much is your expected salary"- dapat ba mag bigay ng exact figure?

[penelope]

MODS, please give us access to the old thread.  akala ko po di sya mabubura for future reference. Please po,  badly need it. andun po kasi yung lahat ng answers sa questions ko.  di ko na save sa word or notepad man lang, silly me.

same here.. i cant access the old thread... hope they could give us access.

TIA

[blooming]

mga sis, ano bang better na sagot pag

"how much is your expected salary"- dapat ba mag bigay ng exact figure?

normally, sinasabi ko ang current pay ko.  during the interview, malalaman din naman nila ang reason ko for exploring opportunities sa ibang companies. may iba kasi mapilit magtanong. pero i try not to give a figure.  I just say how much I am getting, expectation ko - total package syempre better. 

minsan kasi kung magquote ka, baka sobrang taas, di ka ihire. pag sobra naman baba, baka feeling mo malugi ka sa paglipat.

[clueless]

hapi_prego, like blooming, i sometimes just give my current pay and i say they have to at least meet my net pay. i have a 15% tax rate kasi now so it's important they meet my net and my gross pay.

but when i was younger, it was safe to give a figure 1.25-1.5x your current. some nga 2x pa kasi magtatawaran pa yan so tumawad man, may significant increase pa din that the last.

but again, you have to know how to strategize. like what blooming said, sometimes if you quote a figure that's too high, they might lose interest. that's why you have to really impress them sa interview so that when you give your figure, they'd really think you deserve it.

and ako i always say everything is negotiable. salary is only one of my criteria. i also consider the overall package along with the kind of job and opportunities for growth.

also, very important, make sure you know the standard in the industry you're in so you can give a figure that's around the right range. giving a figure that's too low might indicate that you're not very confident in your qualifications and giving a figure that's too high might indicate yabang naman. so it's really best to know the industry average.

[jezamae]

pasali po, to post some tips in interviewing applicants

here's some:

question: tell us about yourself
strategy : focus on the aspects of your experience that apply to the position that you are applying for, any formal or on-the-job training that apply to this position

question: what aspect of accounting do you dislike the most?strategy : if the accountant position that you are seeking is in audit, don't use audit as the aspect that you dislike the most.  choose the aspect of accounting that you dislike the most that is most unrelated to the job that you are interviewing for.
 

[jezamae]

sis blooming, i believe you are from the HR department.  i believe iba iba ang mga questions depending on the position you are applying for, can you give examples of interview questions for the PA position para ma practice-an ko?

what's a pa? personal assistant? executive assistant?

for the position of executive assistant, here's some questions:

 1.   tell us about yourself.
focus on the aspects of your experience and any formal or on-the-job training that apply to this position.
2.   describe a typical workday in your previous position.
3.   what are your current duties?
4.   you've been asked to set up and coordinate a meeting.   what actions will you take?
among other things, the time, place, agenda, and attendees.
5.   what are your computer skills?
6.   how strong are your communication skills?
7.   describe yourself in three words.
8.   why do you want to leave your current position?
9.   what are your plans for future?
10.   tell me about a project that you have completed in your current job.
11.   what salary are you looking for?
12.   tell me about your experience in preparing presentations with powerpoint.
13.   tell me about your ability to communicate with different people and departments?
14.   we are looking for someone who is willing to “wear many hats”.  how does this fit with your job search?
15.   do you have anything to add?
emphasize your qualifications as they apply to this job.   also cover anything you missed