Interview Tips: What Questions Will You Be Asked?

Generally, the most worrying aspect of being interviewed is being unsure of how well you will be able to answer questions when put on the spot. It is not possible to know with any certainy what question you will be asked, but you can do a lot to prepare. For example, you can learn to recognize why an interviewer is asking a particular question and what type of answer is required, you can familiarize yourself with the type of questions generally asked and predict the topics that are likely to be covered in your interview.

Therefore, interviewers cannot ask candidates outright if they have the qualities required. Instead they have to encourage them to reveal this information through their answer to a variety of more general questions. At the same time they have to ensure that thay get complete and accurate picture of each individual.

Irrespective of the topic of conversation, interviewers can use questions in variety of ways to probe and prompt candidates until they get the information they require. The main methods of doing this can be grouped under the following headings.

Checking
Interviewers can check the accuracy of the information they are given by candidates – both in application forms and during the interview – by asking indirect question. If candidates are asked about their experience, for example with a question like “Could you explain to me what is involved in compiling those budget?” their answer and general response can give an indication of whether or not they have the experience they claim. Interviewers can also use questions to check that they have understood what a candidate has said, by asking for clarification.

Clarifying
It is important that interviewers understand what candidates mean by what they say. If thay are uncertain thay can ask for clarification, either directly – for example by saying “Could you explain to me again how you think that situation arose?” or by paraphrasing what the candidate has said:

• Candidate: I’d rather be in the office than out on the road.
• Interviewer: Are you saying that you don’t want to have to do much traveling?
• Candidate: No, it is just that I enjoy working with other people.

Paraphrasing or reflecting
By restating in their own words, what candidates have said, interviewers can check and clarify information, and help candidates to see gaps in their explanations and encourage them to explain further. For example:

• Interviewer: Why do you dislike that part of your job?
• Candidate: Well, it is something I’ve got to do every week and I find it quite difficult because I haven’t really had the chance to learn it properly.
• Interviewer: If you do the job every week, why haven’t you had the opportunity to learn how to do it?
• Candidate: It is not so much the time, I just haven’t been given any guidance.

Focusing
When you meet people for the first time it is difficult to know what aspect of their experience will reveal their tru self. For example, how could you know that someone’s performance on a particular task in the past would reveal that person is tendency to get flustered under pressure?

When you have only short time to talk, as interviewers do, you need to get at the relevant information fairly quickly. Focusing is a powerful probing technique for doing this. The interviewer starts with a general question and then asks a succession of increasingly specific questions, according to the candidate’s reply. For example:

• Interviewer: What do you enjoy most in your current job?
• Candidate: I think it is probably the people I work with.
• Interviewer: What is it that you like about them?
• Candidate: They are very helpful and easy to get on with.
• Interviewer: Do you need to call them for help very often?