Secret Interview Tips II: Further Interview Questions

Getting a job without a “connection” is not an easy task. If you got a good A-Standard job without connection or being smart and impressive at an interview, count yourself lucky and highly favoured by God (or nature). If you have no connection, you will have to give it your best shot whenever you get a chance to be interviewed. Do not ruin it; opportunities are rare to come by. This post is a follow-up to our previous post where we share some secret Interview Tips. Click it in case you missed it. The previous post majored in you as a person, but this post will centre on questions relating to your experience. You will need to prove that you are not just book-smart but empirically sound too. This is one reason some interview questions will be narrowed down to your experience. Now, let’s take some of them.

1. What are your relevant experiences?

When trying to attempt this question, go through your employment history and tell them just the related job experience (s) you have. End by letting them know that that’s just your experiences relating to the job you applied for (if you have more that seem to be unrelated). If they wish to know more, they will encourage you to go ahead.

2. How do you deal with stress and pressure?

If you are good at working under pressure, let them know. This is one thing they will love to hear. But you tell them ‘how’. Preferably (if you don’t), tell them that you hate pressure or stress so you always plan towards it and you delegate duties that can be done by someone else. You can also add that you take extra time after work to resolve pressure and prevent piling work up. When answering this question, try to describe a time when you had to solve a complex problem; how you broke the challenges into smaller bits, carried out an algorithmic step in dealing with it, and asked more experienced people for help and the positive aftermath of your resolving the problem. Weave these answers as a story, using your previous place of work as the setting.

3. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

This is quite personal. Take it for what it is. I suggest that it should be about your personal life and not about you in the workspace. What do you truly consider your greatest achievement? You should think about it and fill the gap. I hold my opinion as regards an answer to this question. (It’s not ripe for me to share mine yet). Note: Your answer here can be used to infer answers to some questions they do not want to put out to you.
You can also tell them a subtle story of when you failed, what you learned from it, and how you did great, taking the next trial.

4. What did you enjoy most about your previous employment?

If you get this question, do not feel tempted to talk about the pay or place where your office is situated. The idea behind this question is to know what set of skills is attached to your personality and how it can be beneficial to the company. So, answer the question in accordance. Feel free to tell the interviewers how you went above or below your role in your former job just to see that what you love kept living.

5. Did you ever exhibit leadership skills in your last job?

This is a yes/no question, but no the interviewers know everyone will sing a ‘yes’ for this question. They want to know how you have demonstrated leadership skills. Mind you, you must be the manager, or CEO before carrying out leadership. It’s about the leadership skills and not the office. Think of the times, when you have to make decisions in the absence of your manager. Recount the experience of settling misunderstandings between your fellow workers; let them
see that you are that guy who talks and pushes colleagues to reach their target as a team. This will go a long way, and the interviewers will know that they lose a great deal, failing to give the job too.

We have seen those questions concerning your personality you will likely encounter in an interview and how best to attempt them in our previous post: Secret Interview Tips I: Some Interview Questions. This post is on further questions to test your experience. Our next sequel of this post will show you questions interviewers use to check if you are a culture fit. So please, remain with us.