interview questions Archives - Palladian Career Resources

Why Would You Change Jobs Now?

I read an article on the Ladders today about interviewers asking why a job seekers would make a job change during a recession. As the article points out, this is a tough interview question – one of the toughest you might encounter. It’s also a question you can expect to hear a lot.

I've been getting a lot of resumes lately from people who have been in their current position for only a year or two. They show significant accomplishments on their resume in their current job. Despite the short tenure, they're actively looking for a change. It's impossible to avoid wondering why.

There are a number of reasons a job seeker might want a change soon after taking a job:

The job seeker is failing and worried about being fired
The company is in trouble and they expect to be laid off
The job seeker misjudged the opportunity and is looking for something that better suits their goals
The job seeker has personal issues that require a move
The job seeker has a professional goals that are being satisfied in their current position

There are numerous other reason why a job seeker would want to make a change. The article on the Ladders discusses how to answer questions about why you want to make a change in an interview. This is important, but you need to address it before the interview.

What do you think the hiring manager will assume when they read a resume? If you don't explain why you are looking for a job, the hiring manager will usually assume the worst. This makes it important to answer why you are looking, either in your cover letter or resume. Provide a short statement as to why you are on the market despite the short tenure in your position. If you are out of work, addressing this is even more important.

You can check out the article on the Ladders at Tough Interview Questions: Why Are You Making a Move in a Recession?

There Are No Stupid Interview Questions

Have you ever been asked a question in an interview that strikes you as complete ridiculous? The kind of question that makes you wonder how the person across the desk was able to get their job if they think a question like that is valuable.

At some point in your job search, you may be asked a question that seems valueless, or just plain stupid. Some people react to a question like this by making a joke out of it, asking if the interview is serious or stating that they think it’s dumb question. These responses are mistakes.

If an interviewer asks a question, they have a reason for asking it. It’s important to them. It may indeed be ridiculous and the basis of the question may not make any sense to you, but the interviewer asked it because they want the answer. If your reaction shows you don’t respect the question, it will hurt your chances. Even worse, the interviewer may have a very good reason for asking the question due to some detail of the position you do not know.

There are no stupid interview questions. Regardless of your feelings of the value of a question, the judge of each question and answer is the interviewer. Additionally, there are interviewers that intentionally throw in off the wall questions to see how the candidate will react. In this case, the interviewer doesn’t really care about the answer. They are more interested in the ability of the job seeker to stay focused and professional.

As you prepare for an interview, it is important to consider how you will react to a question that completely surprises you. No matter how much you prepare, there is always a chance that the interviewer will ask a question you didn’t anticipate. How you respond to being blindsided can make or break an interview.

If you get a question that surprises or stumps you, take a few seconds to answer. A short pause to think will not hurt the impression you make. If you need more than a couple seconds, stall. A simple phrase, such as: “That’s an interesting question,” followed by a restatement of the question can help you formulate your answer. Avoid the temptation to just start talking. Many people, when nervous and faced with a question they didn’t expect panic and start talking immediately – before they know what they are going to say. If you avoid this, you will make a much better impression.

Interview Questions: Your Professional Development

The challenges and expectations in your career will continually change. You must learn and grow to succeed. Interviewers often will question how you approach your career and what you have done to continue learning.

Some of the interview questions about your professional development include:

What continuing education classes have you completed recently?
What new skills have you gained in the last 3 years?
How do you stay current on developments in your industry?

Professional development can come for a variety of sources. Many people stay current through magazines, blogs and books. Others receive excellent continuing education at work. Some individuals take training classes, college courses or pursue industry certifications. All of these activities are good to discuss.

Your answers to professional development interview questions need to be specific. I’ve had candidates give answers like “I keep up on my industry by reading a few trade magazines.” This does not tell the interviewer anything. You could add some detail, for example, discussing specific periodicals and books you have read, but this is still a weak answer.

A better answer would include specific knowledge or skills that were gained. You could discuss a new technology, a tool or a process you learned. Your answer should have a clear, direct benefit to the job you are seeking. You want the interviewer to see that you are committed to your professional growth and are adding skills that will benefit them. Very broad learning unrelated to your field may help you in the long run, but probably will not make a strong memorable impression on the interviewer.

The best answer to a professional development interview question will discuss what you learned, how you learned it, and how you have applied what you learned to deliver results. This last piece makes a huge difference. It’s one thing to say you learned something. It’s another to say your learned something and applied successfully.

Look at the projects you have completed in the last couple years. Which projects required you to apply skills or knowledge that you didn’t possess before the project?

An example of an answer to a professional development interview question is:

“I am committed to continuing to learn in my field. I read several periodicals, and I try to take training courses in my field on a regular basis. Most recently, I attended a seminar on inventory management. I learned a new cycle counting approach that I applied this past year. By implementing new cycle counting procedures, we reduced our inventory levels by 20% and improved our inventory accuracy. All of this was achieved while we reduced our cycle counting hours by 15%”

This example shows a commitment to professional development, and most importantly, a commitment to the continuous improvement of the organization from the lessons learned. The results are likely to be valuable to an employer, making the candidate also valuable.

Interview Questions About Former Bosses

One of the types of interview questions that cause job seekers a lot of trouble is about former bosses. Discussing previous supervisors often paints a great picture of the attitude of the job seeker. Unfortunately, this is one area where job seekers tend to lose their professionalism and turn very negative.

A few of the variations of questions about former managers include:

Tell me about the worst boss you have had.
Tell me about a time when you did not work well with a supervisor.
What would you do if you knew that your boss was making a very poor decision?

These questions open the door for you to talk about the aspects of a former boss that you did not like. Usually, this spells disaster.

I’ve interviewed a number of job seekers that interpret these questions as a green light to badmouth a boss. In the worst cases, years of pent up frustrations and resentments boil out.

The problem with answering a question like this is the interviewer may interpret your attitude towards a former boss as the attitude you will have with your future boss. One of the key goals a hiring manager has is to select a candidate that will not be a problem. If you send signals that you had an attitude problem in the past, your chance of getting hired goes way down. This is the pitfall many fall into.

You don’t have the option of avoiding this question. You have to give an answer. The best approach is to honestly assess the strengths and weaknesses of your previous supervisors.

Let’s look at two examples of how to answer the “worst boss” question. We’ll start with a poor answer:

There’s no contest when it comes to the worst boss. I worked for a guy that was abusive and offensive. This manager routine screamed obscenities at all of his subordinates. One of the games he would play was to find the nickname that would make each person the maddest. He was absolutely terrible and got sued a few times by employees for harassment. The verbal harassment was bad, but his guy didn’t stop there. He routinely brought handguns into his office and would show them off to threaten employees.

Now this answer could be interpreted in one of two ways. It could generate sympathy from the interviewer. This may help build rapport but will do little to get you hired. The second effect it could have is to cause the interviewer to question the credibility of the job seeker. The accusations in the answer are pretty severe and many people may not believe them. If this is the case, the interviewer will conclude that they cannot trust the statements of the job seeker. Even worse, the interviewer may believe that the job seeker is prone to telling lies about their boss.

This story is completely true and the reality is actually worse than described. Despite being true, this would be a terrible answer in an interview. The following example would do much better:

I’ve worked for a variety of bosses with a mix of strengths and weaknesses. One in particular comes to mind. This individual managed the facility where I worked. As a manager, he was very good bringing the team together and motivated cooperation to get things done. The one weakness this individual had was in creating sustainability. He was very good at creating rapid change but rarely implemented performance metrics and follow up procedures that would sustain the change. In working for this manager, I learned how important it is to build systems that will sustain and continue to build on improvements.

This example details a very specific weakness of a former manager, along with the manager’s strengths. It is a much more balanced approach. The most important part of this answer was the lesson learned – the importance of building systems to sustain change. An even better answer would incorporate an example of how the job seeker implemented a system that helped maintain performance improvements.

Hopefully, you have assessed the managers you have work for and understand their strengths and weaknesses. If you have done this, developing a strong answer about a former boss should be easy.