Dated 25th Aug 2004
How would you react if your manager, your supervisor and your team leader ask you to do something at the same time? I was really foxed by this question in a recent interview. What should have been my answer?
SOUMEN
Goa
The real question underlying this dilemma is, "How you handle priorities?" or, "How you react to pressure?"
One way of answering this question is to look at the priority level of each person's request and determine which request is more crucial.
A typical example would be your manager asking you to make arrangements for an office party scheduled after a week, when you are busy generating this week's productivity report sought by your supervisor - - how would you prioritise this?
Since the report generation is important, you should ideally be staying in the office to complete the job, on the other hand you could inform the manager that the office party arrangements do not require much time so can be put off by a couple of days.
After all, he is the manager, he would be aware of the priorities and would appreciate your observation.
You have been working in an XYZ organisation for so long, and would have worked in a number of teams during this period. What do you consider are the attributes of a good team member?
UTPALA MISRA
Cuttack
Consider first the situational context of the question. What is the team environment of the organisation that's interviewing you, do they have a strong, organised team-based work environment or is it based on informal authority and fluctuating teams? Ideally, you should ask some questions about the organisation to determine how they operate.
Model your responses accordingly. A typical response would be, "My idea of what makes a good team member may vary from organisation to organisation". It also depends on the position I hold in the team - new member, leader, etc. Based on one's position in the team, one should assess:
How do I make myself fit into a new team?
How do I draw cooperation from other team members?
What is the organisation's biggest problem in connection with teams and team building? And, what solution could I provide?
Going by your qualifications, you have a wide choice of careers before you, why did you decide on this career? What is the interviewer's motive behind this question?
AMARDEEP JHA
Jhansi
This is a common interview question. Make sure you understand the interviewer's point here. Naturally, one of the motives behind asking this question is to find out the degree of seriousness of the candidate. Common interview answers to such questions deal with: How passionate is the candidate about this career? How is this career poised for great growth? Nothing wrong with these common approaches, but make sure you sound credible. Like many job interview questions, this one is used to discover your enthusiasm about your line of work.
Illustrate how much you like this work/career.
You would have admired someone for their work, what made you make him your role model? Is the interviewer trying to find out my personality traits?
SURAJ SASTRY
Kolkata
This is a good interview question, not necessarily from the point of view of the interviewee, of course. There are three different ways to answer such "good interview question." The first common interview answer maintains that the interviewee has no role model, though there are several people that he admires
The second common interview answer lists a very prominent personality. In all likelihood, the interviewer will know a good deal about the "role model"
In the third approach, the candidates could list someone close and personal.
In this case, they can mould their role model's personality as they wish, since it is quite unlikely that the interviewer would know the "role model".
I was asked to describe my previous job in one of the interviews I attended. I wasn't very sure what they wanted to know; what should my reply be to such questions?
MEGHA SAHINI
Punjab
As a smart interviewee, you should always know the intentions of the interviewer when it comes to interview questions and answers.
Describe your previous job; here the interviewer is attempting to see where your priorities lie.
Whether you are going to focus on your achievements, the technology, the people, the industry, the task at hand, the big picture, etc. Each one of these could be a valid approach depending on the type of job you are seeking.
Interview questions and answers should always be evaluated on the basis of the context.
In response to - `Describe your previous job', you can explain what you have learnt, how you enjoyed the company of the people around you, how you could bring out the best in people, how keen you were as a participant in 'the' industry and what you learnt about this industry in your previous job.
By no means a complete list, but you get the idea.
The faq column deals with career concerns addressed to The C&K Management LTD. PO Box 2178, Secunderabad 500003 or emailed to faqs@cnkonline.com
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