Interview Questions

Feeling nervous about your interview?

Here is what will happen and what type of questions you can expect.

HR manager/interviewer will:

  • Thank you for coming
  • Outline and introduce themselves
  • Explain a format of interview

COMPETENCY BASED INTERVIEW

CV REVIEW

EDUCATION

  • Leaving Cert /BAC– what was most enjoyable subject and why?
  • Qualifications?

CAREER HISTORY

  • Previous relevant experience
  • Current position and responsibilities
  • Motivations for leaving current role?
  • What are you looking for in this position?
  • Describe characteristics of a good …

WORK STANDARDS

  • How do you ensure you get the job done without neglecting what are sometimes considered the mundane tasks?
  • Give an example when you had to work under time constraints/ pressure?
  • Prioritise work – how?
  • Tell me about a time when you made a mistake, how did you overcome it and what did you learn?
  • Did you ever question the status quo and identify new ways/ develop new processes to make things more efficient?

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

  • Tell me about a time that you went the extra mile to meet a customer’s need?
  • What was the most difficult customer situation you had to deal with?
  • When talking to a customer how do you get to the root of what they need?

COMPANY ABC KNOWLEDGE

  • Why did you apply to Company ABC?
  • What do you know about Company ABC?

TEAMWORK

  • Tell me about a time when you worked as part of a team and you found it challenging?
  • Tell me about a time when you volunteered your assistance to a colleague on a task that they were having difficulty with?
  • Influence others – time when you won support from others.
  • How do you keep people at all levels informed
  • What do you think makes a team effective?

PC skills/ software used?

PERSONAL/ CAREER GOALS

  • How would your colleagues describe you?
  • Do you set goals for yourself and how do you go about achieving them?
  • What do you consider your greatest achievement & why?
  • What key skills can you bring to this role?
  • Interest in training/ further education.
  • Plans for next 5 years

QUESTIONS FOR SALES ROLES

  • What sort of company do you want to see yourself at? What characteristics?
  • What drives you in life?
  • How do you assess a competitive situation?
  • Can you document one of your deals that went terribly bad? Be totally honest.
  • What was the most complex deal you had to win, what internal/external barriers did you need to overcome for success?
  • How do you identify stoppers and supporters in a prospecting account? How do you overcome their resistance? Please give an example.
  • Did you ever turn a customer’s “no” into “yes”? How did you do it?
  • Can you give an example of a successful cross-selling effort? What were your main achievements?
  • Have you ever had to build a business case for a pitch? How did you find/collect the numbers needed as input?
  • Can you share your most important learnings at work to date?
  • How do you identify areas for improvement and what do you do about them? Can you give me an example?
  • Leave a voicemail in English, up to 60 seconds, showing how you manage a client crisis. Please call Mark at +44 771666 XX as if he was the Sales Operations Manager at TESCO UK who just informed you there is a complete stop of orders because the after sales service is not running properly anymore.

OTHER

  • Salary Exp:
  • Notice period?
  • Do you have any holidays booked in the near future?
  • References
  • Any questions about the job?
  • Any further information that we have not covered that you would like to bring to our attention?

After these questions HR manager/interviewer will outline next stage in interview process.

Best of luck!