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.
Thank you.
