Almost all organisations recruit candidates through a selection process. Hence, it is quite expected that candidates will have to go through an interface meeting or an interview which is an in-depth conversation between the interview panel and the candidate about their life details, work experiences, educational background and so on. This is done so that the interview panel gets a crystal clear idea about your strengths and weaknesses and recruit according to the company’s needs.
Consultant Interview Questions
In this article, we will share some interview questions along with their answers to ease you a little bit and help you groom in the best possible way. Below are some of those probable questions and their solutions:
Q1. Introduce yourself?
Answer. This is the most basic question anybody would come across. Mostly all the interview panellists will ask you. This is asked so that you can introduce yourself about your personal life and educational background and so on.
Q2. What are your expectations from this company?
Answer. Do not mistake this as a harsh question. What they want to see is that whether your expectations match the company’s interest. If that matches your expectation, then you might be very lucky to get selected for the post. However, if you are more than just ambitious to become the Managing Director of the company within 3 years, then that might not be a desirable answer which they are looking for.
Q3. Where do you want to reach in 5 years?
Answer. Well, you need to understand that the company would want an employee who would make a remarkable spike in profit. So, you will have to be very careful while answering this question. You should mention your strengths related to the post they are looking for and also mention because you need to put on more focus.
Q4. On what basis should we hire you?
Answer. This is the most challenging question you will face in any interview. This is because they have asked and will ask all the candidates this same question and then will judge based on the bases that were being put by them. So be very careful while answering this question and try to be as innovative as you can, however, ensure that you are honest.
Q5. Give a solid reason for this job requirement?
Answer. This is a very common question in an interview. You will have to listen to your heart while you are answering this and try to be as much honest as possible. Be practical and answer this. Make sure that you also put light on the type of job you have been looking for and this is exactly the one, along with all your needs relating to financial support, work hours and location of the job and so on.
Q6. What opinion do other people have of you?
Answer. This is the best moment to differentiate yourself from other people. Mostly all people will try and describe themselves as having excellent communication skills and so on. But what is the factor that makes you unique from them which might be adjectives such as innovative, problem solver and so on? You might be a hardworking individual in your field but it’s more acknowledgeable when you help others in completing their work.
Q7. Talk about your weaknesses?
Answer. Humans are made with proper strengths and weaknesses. You cannot say that you are only made of strengths and no weaknesses. That will only make a negative impression upon you. Also, you should not go for an answer that will lead you to debarment from the job, however, at the same time, you will have to be honest. You can say that you are having less perfection for a specific part of the job requirement, but you have a solution to improve yourself maybe through some training program or in-person workshops.
Q8. Talk about your strengths?
Answer. After you have answered about your strengths, this is an obvious question. This might be an easy one for your to cite because no one knows your strengths and weaknesses more than you. You might be possessing many skills but the idea is to put more focus on the skills that the company requires the most. Do not try to choose something that is not related to the job that you are applying for like Chess or Carrom. This might lead to a negative impression upon your application and might lead to disqualification.
Q9. Please tell us about your achievements so far?
Answer. Basically, for this question, you will have to brag about yourself. Try to speak about your latest achievements that will be enough to convince the interview panel about your deserving capacity for the job. Cite about how you could overcome a problem in your previous company or how you could help your colleague in successfully carrying out a presentation in a very urgent meeting. Be very honest about his answer and do not take this question in a casual sense, otherwise, you might mess it up with overconfidence. Prepare a specified list of the accomplishments that you have achieved which will help you in answering systematically.
Q10. Is there any reason that you are leaving your current job?
Answer. Do not get overwhelmed by this question and puke all that you know. Do not dare to say that you did not like your boss or your payment was highly below your positional standard. Be gentle and consider saying that there were no expected promotional growth or the department you worked in was facing instability. Also, if you did not like the working environment in your previous company, then that might be a valid reason also.
Q11. If you want to ask any questions, then please do?
Answer. You should ask questions only if you have a relevant one to ask. If you are asking relevant answers, then the interview panel will instantly get an idea that you are a good listener. You might also do some good research on the company and ask relevant but interesting questions about it.
Q12. When is the latest that you can start?
Answer. Be honest. If you are currently engaged with any organisation, then let them know that you will be joining this organisation after you get a resignation letter from the previous company. However, if you are not engaged, you can join the job immediately. You can also inform them that you can start the work from tomorrow which show your excitement for your job, putting a positive impression on your application.
Q13. Please state your present salary?
Answer. In the USA, this is almost illegal to ask about your salary. This is because the terms and conditions for every company and every job differs. However, even if get this question asked, be ready to answer it. You can also try mentioning your expectations with the salary from this current organisation.
Q14. Mention your salary expectations?
Answer. Please consider researching the average salary that is being paid by the company in your location so that you can get a clear idea about the same. Make sure that you give them a range of your expected salary and not specify a number and also be conscious that you are satisfied with the lowest range of your expected salary.
Q15. What made you decide to work here?
Answer. You need to put an effort to research on why people like to work in that company which might be because of the environment, good learning opportunities or it might allow you to get more professional. However, do not put more stress on the salary side of it, which might create an impression about your inclination towards money and not the job.
Q16. Describe something about our company?
Answer. This question is asked mainly to test your knowledge about the company. If you could not answer properly, this will show that you are not that serious about working in this company. Applicants who are interested in the job will tend to research almost all the grounds of that company. So, make sure you have enough idea about the Organisation.
Q17. How did you get to know about this job?
Answer. In this, you can answer through whatever source you have got to know about this job. It can be your friends, relatives, newspaper, any websites or any Tv news channel. Also, ensure that you are going into brief detail about what you are talking about.
Q18. Is there any reason that you quit your previous job?
Answer. So, it is not desirable to quit your job before you have another job at hand. However, you can cite reasons such as poor working condition, the shift in location due to unavoidable circumstances or health issues and so on.
Q19. Were you fired? Why?
Answer. Try citing whatever situation you had been polite. If you got into an argument with your boss, try replacing it with differences in opinion and not an argument. Also, try and convince the interview panel that you have learnt a lot from the previous organisation and is looking forward to minimising the chances of the same thing happening again.
Q20. Why were you laid off?
Answer. Do not blame anyone in this case. Politely cite the reason for this situation coming up and move on to the company’s stability and its history with all these layers off and firing people.
Q21. Please elaborate on your employment gap?
Answer. Do not try to sound harsh while saying that you wanted to take a break from all the worldly issues. Instead, you can say to them that you were busy in the betterment of your skills or you were contributing to your family’s wellbeing or something productive in all sense.
Download the list of questions in .PDF format, to practice with them later, or to use them on your interview template (if you want to crack Interview):
Conclusion
In this article, you will be getting a brief idea of how to ace any interview in your lifetime. So, we have included almost all the commonly asked questions in every interview. Please feel free to let us know, how much helpful this content has been to you and do not hesitate to give any suggestions or ask questions in case you have any doubts regarding this topic. Please let us know in the comments down below.
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Sandeep Bhandari is the founder of PrepMyCareer.com website.
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