Interview Questions

  
Tell Me About a Time Where you had to Deal with Conflict on the Job

I think most people at some time or another have come up against this and the trick is how you deal with it.

The interviewer is purely looking for your reaction and whether you remain calm when you have to deal with any conflicts.

Whilst doing your preparation think of scenarios surrounding this question and strategies on how you deal with such conflict.

Maybe you have had conflict with another employee that you have to have a good working relationship with. How do you continue this working relationship whilst not being the best of friends. The answer is not always easy but it is about rising above situations and concentrating on your career to the best of the company. That is what the interviewer is looking for, whether any disagreements will damage the day to day performance or reputation of the company.

Be honest, how do you deal with conflict? Try and come across as calm and that you think first and weigh up the options before reacting.

All companies need a good balance of people, question such as these allow an interviewer to know what your personality is and whether you are a fit for their company.

Good Luck.

  
How would you describe your work style?

Your potential new employer wants to know if they can work with you. Are you someone that works like them? Do you have different skills that will compliment or not?

Think carefully how you do work.

Are you organised? Only say so if you are. And if you are then how can you demonstrate that you are?

How is your time management? Or do you need guidance? Remember be honest, you will only get found out if you can’t live up to what you have said during your interview.

Can you describe to your interview a typical day in a previous role? How do you start? When do you start?

People all work differently, some people need to stick to a rigid routine including having their lunch and breaks at the same time each day, others can be a lot more flexible. Depending on what kind of person you are will depend on whether you will fit into that particular company. It has to be right for both parties – for example: there is no point saying that you are self motivated and can work on your own initiative if you need to work with others.

Think about your skills and how you operate carefully before answering this, there is no right and wrong answer just simply a fit to that particular company. Be honest.

  
Tell me about your proudest achievement

Remember this doesn’t just have to be about work, it can also be your proudest achievement outside of work for example: maybe you passed your driving test, got a good University Degree etc – be realistic and genuine about what you are proud about.

Interviewers will ask this kind of question to see what you have done in or out of work that you are proud of, they will use it to assess your personality and to see what you view as important.

Make your answer relevant and recent so you are not trying to describe something years ago.

Be specific, don’t waffle – if you are proud of it be straight to the point about what you are proud of.

If you can’t think of one thing that you is your proudest achievement think of a few small things and discuss them all in one remembering to be specific and clear and try and turn it into something relevant to the role you are being interviewed for.

  
Give Examples of Ideas you Have Had or Implemented

If you haven’t got any ideas then yes this is hard. However you need to break the question down and maybe re phrase, its not as scary as it first appears.

Try this:

What have you done in your past roles that has been new to the company? or what have you brought into the company that is a new idea?

Does that help? Think, what have you done?

For example – a receptionist in a new role just orders stationery from the same supplier because that’s what the company has always done. However notices that  there is a better/cheaper supplier they could use that would cost less and be more efficient delivery wise so she introduces that to the company and it works well.

Or – Depending on your role have you had an idea which gets all the staff working together as a team, maybe an idea of a team building exercise to help with this?

No matter how small or insignificant you think something is, if you have implemented it or had a good idea about something this is what your interviewer is looking to hear about, it shows you have initiative and that you can think outside of just day to day duties. Good Luck.

  
What are you most proud of?

Is it work or personal related?

If you are most proud of the fact that you have helped someone whether it be a client find a new policy, or a child you have helped with their reading, think about why you are proud of this and what impact it has had on that other person and you.

Try and make it relevant to your interview so for example if you are most proud of how you are very organised and manage to complete your tasks on time efficiently then make sure that this fits with your new role and explain why eg: because of this I feel that I will be able to transfer the skills I have learnt into my new role.

If its not a work related one then try and explain it with your skills, are there any that are transferable to a working environment eg: organisation, loyalty, trustworthy, reliable etc.

Make sure that you think about the successes you have had and talk about these as what you are most proud of.

– Hard worker
– Helpful at work
– Qualifications you have achived
– Meeting personal goals
– Punctual
– Quick learner

Good luck.

  
Many people would be daunted by this question at an interview and to be fair it doesn’t come up a lot in my experience however it worth knowing the answer in case.

The reason questions like these are used is not so the interviewer can see you squirm and they are not looking for the correct answer, they are merely looking to see how you demonstrate problem solving.

A strong candidate would be able to:
Evaluate and understand the problem Communicates assumptions Demonstrates analytic skills Answers the question. In case you want to know what the answer is:

As stated the answer is 22 – if you only count the minute and hour hands overlapping.

2 times a day when all 3 hands overlap – at midnight and noon.

A simple way to see this is to imagine that the two hands are racing each other round a track. Each time the minute hand laps the hour hand we have the overlaps we want.

How many times do a clockss hands overlap in a day? the answer is 22 and here is how:

1. midnight
2. 1 + 1/11 am
3. 2 + 2/11 am
4. 3 + 3/11 am
5. 4 + 4/11 am
6. 5 + 5/11 am
7. 6 + 6/11 am
8. 7 + 7/11 am
9. 8 + 8/11 am
10. 9 + 9/11 am
11. 10 + 10/11 am
12. noon
13. 1 + 1/11 pm
14. 2 + 2/11 pm
15. 3 + 3/11 pm
16. 4 + 4/11 pm
17. 5 + 5/11 pm
18. 6 + 6/11 pm
19. 7 + 7/11 pm
20. 8 + 8/11 pm
21. 9 + 9/11 pm
22. 10 + 10/11 pm

  
To become a beauty therapist you would normally complete a qualification to Level 3. However some salons will offer you to go in at entry level and train on day/evening release at college whilst working in a beauty salon environment.

If you have now got to the interview stage and are wondering what kind of questions you will be asked, here are a few to be thinking of:

Why do you think you will make a good beauty therapist?
Obviously you need to be answering that you feel you can make people feel and look good as one of your points.

What do you think of the salon’s hours and the hours that you will be working?
Remember that salon’s do late nights sometimes and always work on a Saturday. It’s not a straight 9-5 job.

How will you keep up to date with new products?
Magazines, trends, from your Manager/Company.

How do you keep yourself looking good?
What is your routine? Remember to make someone else feel good you need to feel and look good too.

Make sure you research the salon, maybe even go in for a treatment yourself before your interview or ask a friend to and report back to see how they operate and what they would be expecting of you.  You will need to be fully aware of what treatments they provide, products they use etc.

Check out following questions too:
Tell me about yourselfWhy should we hire you?Why do you want this job?What is your greatest strength?What is your greatest weakness?What are your salary expectations?What motivates you?Give some examples of teamworkContiune reading:

Beauty therapists salary
Beauty therapists jobs

Good luck.

  
Waitress Interview

With the ever growing restaurant and bar industry there are plenty of jobs for waiters and waitresses but yes unfortunately the hours and pay are not always that great.

A second job for most students to supplement their studies but some people make their career in this industry and work their way through many restaurants and maybe even become front of house. The opportunities are endless.

Some questions you could get asked at your interview:
What drives you to be in the food and beverage industry? What do you drink? What do you eat? What do you understand about food and drink? What do you do in your free time? They will want to assess how many late nights you will actually work.
Can you name 5 types of mushroom? If a guest presents you with a coupon that states not to be used in conjunction with any other offer and they have had an offer, how would you deal with this? What is your favourite dining memory? How do you gauge the success of a restaurant? Just remember the hours are unsociable and you will need good customer service skills but you will also learn many trades and get to meet a lot of people.

Check out following questions and answers too:
Tell me about yourselfWhy should we hire you?Why do you want this job?What is your greatest strength?What is your greatest weakness?What are your salary expectations?What motivates you?Give some examples of teamworkDescribe a difficult work situation project and how you overcame itWhat can you contribute to this company?Good luck.

  
Teaching Assistant Interview Questions

So you have got an interview to be a teaching assistant, well these are the kind of questions you can expect to be asked:
Why do you want to be a teaching assistant? What makes you think you will be a good teaching assistant? What do you think the role of a teaching assistant is? What do you think will be the main activities of a teaching assistant each day? Why do you think the role of a teaching assistant is important? Do you think you would find the role of a teaching assistant fulfilling and why? What challenges do you think you will face? What do you think the highlights of the position will be? Why do you want to work at this school? Are you familiar with this school? What are your perceptions? Would you be proud to work at this school and why? Whats your experience of working with children? Why do you enjoy working with children? What experience can you use from previous posts that would be of benefit in this school? How would you deal with a child who was disruptive? What would you do if a child complained they were bored? Could you support pupils reading? The list is endless, the interview process is exceptionally thorough because of the environment you are looking to work in with children.

If this is a career choice of yours and you have discovered this early then it might be an idea to do some work experience at a nursery or somewhere similar when before you do your exams.

Check out following questions:

– Please describe your interest in teaching
– Why did you want to be a teacher?
– What is your favorite science book?
Tell me about yourselfWhy should we hire you?Why do you want this job?What is your greatest strength?What is your greatest weakness?What are your salary expectations?What motivates you?Give some examples of teamworkDescribe a difficult work situation project and how you overcame itAre you willing to travel?What can you contribute to this company?Good luck.

  
Medical Secretary Interview

In this position the main differences between a general secretary and a Medical Secretary relate to the terminology which is used in the medical profession.  Specialist secretaries need some additional training so that they become comfortable with the various medical words and phrases. 

A good Medical Secretary is extremely important to all healthcare professionals.  They are a valued member of the team no matter where they work.  There is always a demand for experienced Medical Secretaries.

There is a good choice of working environments for a Medical Secretary.  They may work in a busy local GP health centre, pharmaceutical company, hospital or private practice.  In every environment there will be different aspects to the job.

Although there aren’t formal qualifications necessary for the Medical Secretary, it is usual to expect five GCSEs at A-C level including English.  Good typing skills are essential.  When you are working your employer may suggest that you work towards the Advanced Diploma for Medical Secretaries.  This is part of the Association of Medical Secretaries, Practice Managers, Administrators and Receptionists (AMSPAR) which will give guidance with medical words and terms and medical documentation which is included in its curriculum.

There are lots of opportunities for advancement within the different organisations.

Interview

An interviewer will want to know what previous experience you have had in this industry?
Why do you want to work as a medical secretary? How would you deal with an irate patient? How do you intend to manage your administrative duties? Where do you see yourself in five years time? How would you manage with a particularly stressful day? It is really important to show that you know that you will be working with professional people at all times, so therefore you should always be smartly dressed.  It is essential that you are always punctual, so ensure that you arrive for your appointment in plenty of time.

Spend some time researching the medical centre, or hospital for which you are being interviewed.  If you have references from previous employers, take them with you, even if they are for general secretarial work, they will still show your attitude to members of staff and employers, and whether your work is always accurate.

Smile at the interviewer and talk directly to them.  They will want to have some background information about you, and the reason you feel that you are the ideal candidate.  Make sure that you have considered these questions before the interview, go that your answers will be readily available.  There is a good possibility of being shown around the building including “your” office if you are successful.

At the end of the interview, make sure that you shake hands with the interviewer whilst thanking them for seeing you.  Ask when a decision is likely, and indicate that you would be delighted to accept the position if it is offered to you.

Good luck.