100 Questions Most Frequently Asked by the Interviewer

100 Questions Most Frequently Asked by the Interviewer

Excerpted from the book Job Resumes by J.I. Biegeleisen

1. Tell me what you know about our company and its position in the industry.

2. In what ways will our company gain by hiring you?

3.How does your work and education experience help to qualify you for the job on hand?

4.If you are presently working, why do you want to switch jobs at this time?

5. Your resume indicated that all the jobs you have held have been only for a short duration. Why?

6. How long do you plan to stay with our company?

7. How would you define your longrange
goals and career objectives?

8. Would you be able to work overtime on occasion, if needed?

9. Would it be feasible for you to relocate
to one of our branches in another city if that proved necessary?

10.How do you respond to criticism?

11.How do you spend your vacation and spare time?

12. Briefly, what are your financial
status and obligations at the present time?

13. How did your previous employer treat you?

14. How did you secure your previous job?

15. Were you ever dismissed from a job for a reason that seemed to you unjustified?
Ifso, tell me something about it. ,

16. Have you other job offers you are
considering now, and on what basis would
you select this job rather than the others?

17. It is our company policy to require
a prospective employee to submit to a lie detector test. Would you agree to take such a test as a condition of employment?

18. Do you consider yourself a natural leader or are you inclined to be more of a loyal follower?

19. Looking back, what is the worst thing that has happened to you? What is the best?

20. What do people think of you? In your opinion, do they size you up correctly?

21. How is it that you are unemployed at present?

22. Do you have any mixed emotions about working for a person considerably younger than you are, or for a woman supervisor?

23. How do you cope under pressure?

24. What are your major strengths and how have you capitalized on them?

25. What do you consider to be your major weaknesses and how have they affected
your work, life and general attitude?

26. Does your present employer know that you are looking for another job?

27. When you consider your total employment history, what type of work did you enjoy the most? Which least?

28. As you grew up, what have you contributed towards your family finances, or your own schooling? Are you still doing it?

29. Have you been able to maintain a systematic savings program through planned budgeting?

30. What courses in school did you find exciting and most beneficial? Which bored you and were a waste of time?

31. Based on your knowledge of the field, who would you say are our chief competitors?

32. In what ways are you active in community work, social, fraternal, civic or other organizations?

33. Which of the previous firms you worked for did you like the best? Why are you no longer there?

34. Not all of us are blessed with a happy home life. How has yours been up to now?

35. Your resume shows that you've been with one firm for a long time without any appreciable increase in rank or. salary. Why didn't you venture forth to seek a job with better prospects?

36. You state on your resume that your health is excellent. ,When was your last physical checkup?

37. At present our firm is faced with the following problem which relates to your field of specialization. (Brief explanation
of problem.) What could you hope to contribute to help solve it?

38. Let's assume hypothetically that you consider your supervisor unfair or difficult to work with. What would you do about it?

39. Are you easily ruffled when things don't go your way?

40. Have you ever dropped out of school before getting a diploma or degree? If so, why? Do you regret it?

41. Are you prepared to work full time, or are you interested in seasonal or part-time employment?

42. Do you have any physical or emotional
condition which might interfere with your performance on the job?

43. Do you have patience for detail, routine work, problem solving?

44. In your opinion, what is necessary to succeed on a job or in business?

45. Do you have any difficulty in making
decisions for fear of coming up with the wrong one?

46. Are you taking any courses for selfimprovement or college credit? Do you plan to do so in the future?

47. What professional associations or trade journals help keep you abreast of developments in your field?

48. It's been said that it's not what you know, but who you know that really counts. How do you feel about that?

49. If a job were offered you, who would make the decision to accept it? You alone, or with your spouse jointly, or anyone else?

50. Do you have friends or relations working for our company?

51. What suggestion or innovation of
"yours on your previous jobs were adopted and turned out to be of benefit to the company?

52. Looking ahead, what position do you hope to hold with this company some years from now?

53.What was the salary progress on your previous job?

54.What type of people attract you? What kind do you shy away from?

55. Under the Personal heading of your resume, you state that you are divorced.
At the present time, do you feel up to it to talk about it?

56. Do you consider yourself a well-organized
person?

57. Do you work well as a member of a team or are you more comfortable working
independently?

58.Do you recall the most difficult work assignment you ever tackled? How did it turn out?

59. Why are you changing careers at this time in your work history?

60. Have you ever been in conflict with the law except for such minor offenses as traffic violations, speeding, illegal parking,
etc? Have you ever been convicted of a major offense? If so, explain.

61.As a department supervisor what procedure would you follow in recommending
the dismissal of a worker who has proven to be inadequate on the job?

62. Why would you like to work for this company?

63. Would you be willing to take calculated risks when necessary?

64. I'd be interested in knowing what rubs you the wrong way.

65. During your school or college days, were you ever elected an officer or leader in any social, athletic or scholastic organization?

66. Are you at the present time under the care of a physician or other medical person? If so, what is the nature of that care or treatment?

67. In the last twelve months, how much time have you lost from school or work, and for what reason?

68. Have you ever held a position of trust, handled money or confidential material? Have you ever been bonded?

69. Ifyou are not a U.S. citizen, do you have the legal right to work in this country?

70. At the present time, are you in the habit of taking narcotics or other hard drugs without a doctor's prescription?

71. Have you ever worked for this company before under another name?

72. Have you served in the armed forces? If so, what was your branch and rank? Are you currently in the reserves?

73. Do you understand that a condition of employment with our company requires a medical checkup conducted by a physician of our choosing?

74. Do you hold a driver's license? Has it ever been revoked? Is it now restored? What was the reason for the revocation?

75. Succinctly, tell ~e the story of your life, highlighting those aspects which made you what you are today.

76. As a boss or supervisor, would it bother you to fire an incompetent worker or would yo).! keep him (or her) on, making
fewer demands on him because you know he needs the job?

77. Have you ever been fired or requested to resign? What were the circumstances as you remember them?

78. What do you do to keep in good physical condition?

79. Why is it that you are not making more money at your stage of life?

80. Who would you say has had the greatest influence on your life?

81. There seems to be a number of unexplained gaps in your employment history. Would you explain the reason for these?

82. Before coming to a decision to hire you, what references should we not follow up at this time? Why?

83.What was your starting and highest salary on your last job?

84. What salary do you expect with us?

85. What attributes do you look for in a friend?

86.In your opinion, what personal qualities make for an ideal supervisor or boss?

87. What does it take to make you happy?

88.Can you tell us something about your family?

89.What is the nature of the occasional criticism that your employer or supervisor made about your work? Can you relate specific examples?

90. What do you do for relaxation?

91. Do you own life insurance, a car or home?

92. Do you have any outstanding debts at the present time?

93. Are you generally inclined to hold center stage in a group or organization?

94. What personal sacrifices are you prepared to make to succeed on the job?

95. Ifwe hire you, when can you start?

96. What supplementary income, if any, do you have?

97. What was your scholastic average in high school? In college?

98. How good is your memory for names and faces?

99. Location-wise, would you encounter
any problem getting to work on time and maintaining a good attendance?

100. Are there any questions pertaining to the job in particular, or about the company
in general, that you would like to ask me?

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