Interviews can be very tricky at times. If you do not know how to go about these trick questions, you have high chance of losing out on your candidacy for a job.
To understand trick questions, you have first to understand what an interview is all about.
Interviews are taken to understand the type of people and what they can do for a prospective company in a specific role.
A prospective employer may ask you some questions that will seem like he is interested to know you as an individual.
A popular interview question of this sort is “Tell me a bit about yourself.”
Most of us will start by providing the interviewer with a story of where we were born and the whole rigmarole of how we came to be where we are in the last decade or so. Wrong answer!
Employers do not want a life history. They need to know what challenges your mind and how you can handle those challenges. After all, what good is your personal information here?
The idea behind this question is to sell your skills. Many unprepared candidates get rattled when posed with this question because clearly, they believe that there is so much that they need to talk about themselves. Never show unpreparedness – always be prepared for this question.
Nine times out of ten, an interviewer will ask you to say a little about yourself. Talk about your professional experiences, skills, and aptitudes.
Remember that while you answer this question, the interviewer is assessing how you fit into his organization.
The “tell me about yourself” question is related directly to how well you can convince the employer that you are what he is looking for in a candidate.
Let us look at some sample answers here:
See also: Administrative Assistant Interview
Tell Me a Bit About Yourself – Sample Interview Answers
1. As a recent high school graduate, I have been interested in working for animal welfare. The many pet sitting jobs that I have held during and after school developed my interest in animal welfare, and this is what brings me to this chair in front of you today.
2. I have always been interested in working with people. Also, I deem myself to be good with clients and stakeholders, which is the main reason for me applying for this customer service job. Because I am calm and can handle most adverse situations with tact, I believe this is the right career choice for me.
3. Since the beginning of my career, I have been focused on the many areas of marketing, especially the notorious P’s, which I learned in business school. This information has led me to understand marketing deeply, and this is the work area that I want to concentrate mostly on, and this is what compelled me to apply for this position.