How to Answer Hard Interview Questions - And everything else you need to know to get the job you want

175 Pages·2008·0.55 MB·English

by  Charlie Gibbs

How to
answer
hard
interview
questions
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How to
answer
hard
interview
questions
...and everything else you need
to know to get the job you want
Charlie Gibbs
howtobooks
Published by How To Content,
A division of How To Books Ltd,
Spring Hill House
Spring Hill Road
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All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced
or stored in an information retrieval system (other than for
the purposes of review), without the express permission of the
Publisher given in writing.

The right of Charlie Gibbs to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.

© 2008 Charlie Gibbs

First published in 2008
First published in electronic form 2008

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library

ISBN 978 1 84803 245 3

Cover design by Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford
Produced for How to Books by Deer Park Productions, Tavistock
Typeset by Pantek Arts Ltd, Maidstone, Kent

NOTE: The material contained in this book is set out in good
faith for general guidance and no liability can be accepted
for loss or expense incurred as a result of relying in particular
circumstances on statements made in this book. Laws and
regulations are complex and liable to change, and readers should
check the current position with the relevant authorities before
making personal arrangements.
CONTENTS
PREFACE xi
1 FINDING THAT JOB 1
Filling in your application form 2
Curricula vitae 3
2 PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW 5
Assessing yourself 6
Personal ratings and competencies 6
Levels of competence 10
Researching the organisation 31
Timing is everything 34
Planning what to wear 35
What should I take with me? 38
Outside the dragon’s den 39
3 LEGISLATION THAT EMPLOYERS NEED TO COMPLY WITH 40
Legislation affecting recruitment 40
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 41
Sex Discrimination Act 1975 41
Race Relations Act 1976 44
Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 45
Disability Discrimination Act 1995 45
Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 48
Police Act 1997 50
Employment Equality Regulations 2003 51
Data Protection Act 1998 51
The employment tribunal 51
V
VI • HOW TO ANSWER HARD INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
4 UNDERSTANDING THE EMPLOYERS’ PERSPECTIVE 54
Preparation 54
Conducting the interview 55
The importance of interview notes 56
5 CONDUCTING YOURSELF AT THE INTERVIEW 57
6 COMMON INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ... AND HOW
TO ANSWER THEM 60
Questions about ...
... your drive for achievement 60
... your strategic thinking 65
... your relationship building 69
... your commercial awareness 73
... your leadership of change 77
... your leadership skills 81
... your continuous improvement 86
... your customer awareness 91
... your decision-making skills and judgement 94
... your influencing skills 97
... your development of self and others 101
... your teamworking skills 105
The ‘... and finally’ questions 109
7 QUESTIONS YOU CAN ASK AT YOUR INTERVIEW 111
First-round interviews 111
Final-stage interview 113
8 AFTER THE INTERVIEW 115
Learning from rejection 115
Resigning from your current job 120
CONTENTS • VII
9 TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS 123
10 FURTHER TYPICAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS 126
Drive for achievement 126
Strategic thinking 129
Relationship building 130
Commercial awareness 131
Leadership of change 133
Leadership skills 135
Continuous improvement 137
Customer awareness 140
Decision-making skills and judgement 142
Influencing skills 144
Development of self and others 147
Teamworking skills 149
Specialist knowledge 150
Appendix: The joke’s on HR 152
Index of questions 157
Index 161
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I’d like to thank all those who have directly or indirectly contributed
to this book by inspiring the questions, giving both great and terrible
answers when I’ve asked them, or have simply been supportive during
the creative process – that means you Julie Fry, to whom this book is
dedicated.