my interview questions from the other day...

OAKESY25

interviewed by 4 people and one conference call guy.. it was a beat down
I have no idea how I did


here is an example.. when you are in a conflict.. tell us the 1st 3 steps of your thought process.

give us a specific example of when you had to make a tough choice and your 1st or 2nd option wasn't available and you went with your 3rd... what choice did you make and how did it work out for you..

another one.... how do you know "your" answer is the right one.. my response was.. you give the best answer you can and time dictates whether it was correct or not and you learn from your mistakes.. ( follow up) how do you know when it is time to make a decision? (response) when you gather enough information to make the best decision.. (follow up) how do you know you have gathered enough information? response.. you use your instinct..
this was the phone guys question and he was so rude an arrogant.. I wanted to tell him to eff off so bad...

tell us the difference between selling and negotiating

tell us a time when you were unhappy as a customer and how you resolved it

give us a specific example of a negotiation the was beneficial for both parties..
give us a specific example of a negative one where you pushed too far and lost the deal

and on and on and on..

Morgoth

Most interviewer's questions that are odd or seem very pointed come from their own insecurities or failings that they are projecting on someone that may one day replace them .

I hear your pain, I started a new gig in June and sometimes had to be interviewed by 10 to 15 different people in one day. My record for most interviews came from Givaudan where I intereviewed 5 different times and made 3 seperate visits to Cincy before they went with an internal (cough cough cheaper) person.

OAKESY25

these were all pre determined corporate questions..
the manager even told me ahead of time that it is pretty rough
the people were all super cool except for the phone guy

TheHun

oh my, I feel for you ... make you want to stay unemployed and out of the rat race.

Wait, that's just me.

Good luck. Vent if you have to ... buy cards.

cheers

Dboneesq

Bob,

Once again ... GOOD LUCK!

larryallen73

That sucks. I hate interviews. Good luck.

mccardguy1

These are behavior induced questions. My company uses these and they are basic corporate questions that anyone who applies for a position with the company gets asked them. Even if you want to move within the company once you are hired you are subjected to these types of interrogation questions. It was weird when I had to interview with 2 people that I had known very well for at least 3 years and be asked these questions. I honestly think these type of questions are such a waste of time because it is so easy to BS your way through them that it does not really give a true measure of the person.

Edited to add...good luck with your job search

Bottom9th

I never understood the interview by committee. I've conducted hundreds of interviews over the years and it was always solo.

JVette

Congratulations Bob. You have just answered a series of behavioral-based interview questions.
They are becoming much more common. My company is currently training our managers on these techniques.

As you could tell, they are designed to identify specific actions or behaviors around key attributes for the position.
They are designed to avoid the "I would do this.." and "I would do that..." type responses that anyone can give.
In other words, many people can talk a good game - give me specific examples where you you have actually delivered.
And, as you experienced, they are much more difficult questions to answer.
That being said, there is no reason for an interviewer to be a jerk in the process.

The good news is that now that you have experienced it, you will be better prepared should you encounter it again.
And, should you have another more traditional interview, your very specific answers as examples of how you would address the more generic questions that usually asked will help separate you from others that answer generically.

Hopefully you will land the job and it will be a long time before you are interviewed again.
Good luck - Jack

Nathaniel1960

This guy is doing a really bad impression of a stodgy old law professor practicing socratic method:

another one.... how do you know "your" answer is the right one.. my response was.. you give the best answer you can and time dictates whether it was correct or not and you learn from your mistakes.. ( follow up) how do you know when it is time to make a decision? (response) when you gather enough information to make the best decision.. (follow up) how do you know you have gathered enough information? response.. you use your instinct..

Continuing....

What if you don't have your instinct to rely on?

response...You mean, like, if I'm in a coma or something?

What do you think I mean?

response...I think you mean if I'm in a coma.

Yes, that is what I mean, if you are in a coma, how will you know whether you have gathered enough information?

response...Can we start this line of questioning over?

TomTim

<< <i> I honestly think these type of questions are such a waste of time because it is so easy to BS your way through them that it does not really give a true measure of the person.

>>



As opposed to non-behavioral questions? And classics like "If you were a dog food what brand would you be?"

Behavioral-based interviews aren't perfect, but they're twice as accurate as traditional unstructured interviews.

TomTim - the HR guy

PoppaJ

I remember my 1st job interview in the mid 50s ..... it went something like this:

Q#1: What's your name?
Q#2: You a good kid?
Q#3: I'll pay ya 40 cents an hour, okay?
Q#4: Ya got any questions? No? Good, I'll see ya tomorrow at 3. Don't be late or your fired!

Ah, the good ole days!

PoppaJ

footlong

glad i'm retired. good luck in your search. hope you find something you enjoy.

mtcards

Do you smell fudge?

SidePocket

Asked properly the "how have you behaved in the past" questions are very valuable. But they can be overdone as yours appear to be.

This question "tell us a time when you were unhappy as a customer and how you resolved it" tells me much more than "give us a specific example of when you had to make a tough choice and your 1st or 2nd option wasn't available and you went with your 3rd... what choice did you make and how did it work out for you..". The second question would take me days to think through.

My favorite question to ask when interviewing is simply "what's the one thing you told yourself you would NOT bring up in the interview?".

Brick

Q#1: What's your name?
Q#2: You a good kid?
Q#3: I'll pay ya 40 cents an hour, okay?
Q#4: Ya got any questions? No? Good, I'll see ya tomorrow at 3. Don't be late or your fired!

I must be younger than you. I started at 50 cents an hour.