QUESTIONS FOR A JOB INTERVIEW

Questions which you may be asked Education and training 1. Can you tell me about your course at Sciences Po? 2. Why have you chosen this course? 3. Do you think that the course will be beneficial to your career? If so, in what ways is it beneficial? 4. Do you enjoy any particular part of your studies more than the rest? 5. Can you tell me about a project that you have worked on at university? 6. Could you please tell me something about your background. 7. Would you tell me about your extracurricular activities and what you gained from them? 8. Which languages do you speak? Employment history 9. Have you had any work experience? 10.Could you tell me about your last job? 11.What has been your greatest achievement in your working history? 12.Can you tell me about a problem you have had at work and how you dealt with it? 13.Which of all your jobs have you found the most interesting and why? 14.Why did you leave your last position? General 15.Tell me something about yourself. 16.What do you consider to be your strengths? 17.What do you feel are your weaknesses? 18.How would you describe your personality? 19.What would you like to be doing ten years from now? 20.Could you say a few words about your outside interests and hobbies? 21.What are you most proud of having achieved in your life so far? 22.Where do you see yourself in five years? The vacancy 23.Why do you want to work for this company? 24.What do you know about this company? 25.Can you explain why you have applied for this position? 26.What do you think you can contribute to the company? 27.We have a lot of applications for this job. Why should we appoint you? Closing questions 28.What is your availability? 29.Do you have any questions you would like to ask? Answering questions Before any attempt to answer a question, make sure you really understand it. If you are not sure you do, you may clarify the question by rephrasing it: So, you want to know how I plan my career for the next five years? So, what youre asking is my experience in ...? If I understand the question correctly, you would like to know ... Are you talking about my post-secondary education? When you say technical work, do you mean experience in the laboratory?

You can also ask for repetition by saying: Sorry, could you repeat that? Im sorry, I'm not sure I heard you correctly. Could you say that again? Im sorry I dont understand. I beg your pardon. Gaining time To give yourself a little more time to organise your thoughts you can begin your answer with short phrases such as: Well, ... Let me see ... First of all, ... If you really need more time to think about your answer you may say: I need to consider my reply . Can you give me a moment to think . I think that areas a bit too technical for me but I really want to explore it in the future. Ways of making strengths out of your weaknesses Q: What would you say your weaknesses are? I sometimes take my work too seriously. And I always work outside office hours to get something done. I have a tendency to say yes to too many responsibilities. For example ... But I soon realised that I could not do too many things at the same time. This experience helped me learn to prioritise. Salary If you are asked about the salary you would like to receive, you may mention the bottom-line figure you have in mind or give neutral responses like: How much does the job pay? How much is a new employee usually paid? How much do you usually pay someone with my experience? I would expect to be paid what other people in this job are paid. It's your turn to ask the questions How would you describe the duties of the position? How much travel is normally expected? How frequently do you relocate professional employees? What are the prospects for advancement beyond this level? How often do the training programmes begin? What new product lines/services have been announced recently? How many people are you interviewing for this position? If I am extended an offer of employment, how soon after this would you like me to start? When can I expect to hear from you? If you feel that you know all you need to about the position, you could say: I think that you have covered all the important points already, but if I have any questions later I will contact you.