How to get better prepared for a Job Interview - An Expert Quiz (Part-1)

How to get better prepared for a Job Interview – An Expert Quiz (Part-1)

Posted in: FAQ - Standard HR Questions

How to get better prepared for a Job Interview ? An Expert Quiz (Part-1)
We are presenting a Behavioral Quiz prepared by the HR experts. Irrespective of the fact whether you are a tester or some other professional, just practice it before attending any interview & you will be better prepared to face the challenge.

Guidelines to Practice the Quiz:

A) The two-part quiz contains 20 Special Questions. Correct or the best answers are available at the end of each section.

B) To understand the Logic behind the best answer, justification is provided alongwith every question.

C) You can evaluate your performance by comparing your score against a standard score card provided at the end of the Part-2 of the Quiz.

Quiz Part-1 (Set of 10 Questions)

Q. 1: What are three most important keys to success in interviews?

A. Good cologne, nice smile, fresh breath
B. Making eye contact, showing enthusiasm, speaking clearly
C. Fresh breath, nice smile, making eye contact
D. Developing rapport, good posture, fresh breath

Justification / Logic: All of the answers contain good ideas. You certainly want to smell good (or at least not smell bad) and have fresh breath.

Employers rate showing enthusiasm (for the job, company, industry) and making eye contact as the most important keys to success at interviews. Since interviews are a conversation between the potential employee and the employer, speaking clearly (and loud enough) is also vital.

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Q. 2: Which of the following is not one of the suggested strategies for preparing for your job interview:

A. Conduct research on the company/industry

B. Prepare answers to possible interview questions

C. Gather key resources (extra resumes, reference list) to take with you

D. Plan to ask about salary and benefits at the beginning of the interview

Justification / Logic: It doesn’t mean that you should not do any research on salaries; of course you should! But raising the issue of money and benefits early in a first interview is seen as premature and presumptuous; wait for the offer.

A critical factor leading to interview success is preparation. You need to do research on the company and industry so that you can show off your knowledge in the interview. You should also spend some time prepping for the interview by preparing answers to typical interview questions – and practicing those answers in a mock situation, if possible. Finally, you should also go into an interview with resources the employer may want, such as extra resumes, a list of references, work samples, etc.

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Q. 3: wearing a formal suit is always the safest “dress for success” attire.

A. True
B. False

Justification / Logic: While there have been many companies and industries that have become known for their informality, it is still safer to dress on the side of conservatism than informality. Remember that first impressions are quite important and a positive first impression can get the interview off to a good start.

What’s the real answer? Call the company and ask about the expected dress at interviews. If you know someone who works at the company, ask her. Otherwise, someone in the human resources department would be more than happy to tell you.

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Q. 4: being the most qualified candidate for the position just about guarantees you will get the job.

A. True
B. False

Justification / Logic: We have been in so many situations where the person who looked best on paper fell flat in the interview and was not offered the job. Being the most qualified gets you the interview; you need to do the rest once you’re there. Don’t ever fall into the trap of thinking that you don’t need to prepare for an interview because you are the perfect candidate or it will only lead to disappointment.

Remember that the goal of the interview is to sell the employer on the vision of your impact to the organization and the job at hand.

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Q. 5: The STAR (situation, task, action, results) Technique refers to a tool you should consider using for developing answers to what type of interview questions?

A. Traditional/conventional
B. Psychological
C. Behavioral
D. Historical

Justification / Logic: The behavioral job interview is based on the theory that past performance is the best indicator of future behavior, and uses questions that probe specific past behaviors, such as: “tell me about a time where you confronted an unexpected problem,” “tell me about an experience when you failed to achieve a goal,” and “give me a specific example of a time when you managed several projects at once.” Job-seekers need to prepare for these interviews by recalling scenarios that fit the various types of behavioral interviewing questions. The STAR Technique is a tool that help your organize and plan your responses to these types of questions.

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Q. 6: greeting the receptionist/assistant when you arrive and treating him or her with respect is an important key to your success.

A. True
B. False

Justification / Logic: This gesture is so small, yet we cannot stress this point often enough: receptionists and assistants are key people within organizations and many employers will ask them about the manners of the candidates – so make sure you introduce yourself in a professional and friendly manner. Those candidates who think a little too highly of themselves may ignore — or even be rude to — the “little people.” And candidates who have that behavior in an interviewing situation would only be worse if they were to become employees, so employers tend to shy away from candidates with these attitudes
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Q. 7: Which part of the interview is the most important?

A. First minute
B. Answers to the “toughest” questions
C. Final minute
D. The whole time

Justification / Logic: You need to stay focused on the entire interview in order to move to the next step — either more interviews or the job offer.

Of course, all these elements are important. The first minute of an interview is critical; interviewers often make first and lasting impressions on how you are dressed, on the firmness of your handshake, on your confidence, and on all elements in that initial minute.

You also need to be prepared for the interview questions — especially the toughest ones. Finally, don’t ignore the final minute. Always remember that the interview is like a sales call, where you are selling the employer on hiring you. In sales lingo, we call it closing the deal. Make sure you use that final minute to restate your interest in the job (possibly even asking for the joB., as well as determine the next step in the process.

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Q. 8: It’s best to arrive how early before an interview?

A. 1 hour
B. 30 minutes
C. 10 minutes
D. 1 minute

Justification / Logic: If you said an hour, you must be one of those people that arrive at airports hours before your plane is scheduled to take-off. And if you said one minute, you must be one of those “last minute” kind of people. These two answers are extremes, but they happen all the time.

You should plan on arriving about 10 minutes before the start of the interview. This amount of time gives you a little slack for unexpected events (such as the elevators not working) and time to complete an employment application or other paperwork before the interview.

Before we leave this subject, one more tip: plan ahead! Make sure you know the exact location of the interview — and even take a practice run if you’re not sure about it. We know one job candidate who was going to her most important interview — the job and company of her dreams — but the night before the interview she realized she wasn’t really sure where the office was located and instead of doing something about it, she just “winged it” the next day and showed up about 30 minutes late and did not even get an interview, let alone the job.

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Q. 9: You should use only examples from your actual work experience to answer the question during a job interview.

A. True
B. False

Justification / Logic: Ideally, most of your answers will relate to experiences you had on the job, but we can learn valuable lessons about work-related issues (leadership, teamwork, etc.) from areas outside the office, such as with volunteering, community work, sports, and personal relationships.

For recent college grads especially, employers are not going to expect that all your responses will be related to work experiences. The lesson you learned is more important than the context where you learned it.

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Q. 10: The best thing to do in an interview when you get a question that stumps you temporarily is:

A. Sit there and just stare at the interviewer
B. Keep saying, “good question, good question”
C. Respond with, “I just really can’t answer that”
D. Paraphrase the question while giving yourself time to think

Justification / Logic: Believe it or not, we’ve actually seen all four responses on numerous occasions, and the first three are all bad choices because they show that you are unprepared for that question — and perhaps the entire interview. You need to respond, and you need to do so in a positive and constructive manner.

Does even the most experienced interviewee get stumped? Of course, and that’s where you need to have a strategy to gain a little more time to compose an answer. You don’t have to paraphrase the question — brief periods of silence are okay — just make sure to give yourself some time to compose an answer.

Continue to the Concluding Part -2 of the Quiz
Suggested Best Answers to Above Questions