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• Hello everyone, and welcome back to English With Lucy.

Today I’m going to be talking to you

about the most common job interview questions

and how to answer them.

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(upbeat music)

This is the second part of a two-part lesson.

In the previous lesson,

we discussed seven of the easier and more basic questions.

In this lesson, we are going to discuss

the more difficult questions.

Let’s get started with the lesson.

Question number one, what is your biggest weakness.

The dreaded question, do you turn it into a joke

and say something like, chocolate.

Do you answer really honestly.

Or do you use it as another opportunity to show off.

What your interviewer

is really trying to do with this question

is judge your self-awareness and your honesty,

and also screen out any red flags.

Let’s start with what you definitely shouldn’t say.

I don’t have any weaknesses.

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No one wants to have someone

deluded or arrogant in the office.

Other big no-nos included, I can’t meet deadlines.

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Or, I have a temper.

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That makes you sound like a liability

or even a lawsuit waiting to happen.

One cliche that you shouldn’t say is I’m a perfectionist.

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Everyone says it and nobody believes it anymore.

You absolutely must not lie.

Employers want to see that you can reflect and improve.

Think about something that you aren’t particularly strong at

but could easily improve.

For example, in my previous role,

I could have been better at delegating tasks.

Or, I’ve never felt completely comfortable

talking to large audiences.

It’s something that I’m actively working on.

I still get nervous but I can handle it

and I don’t feel like it holds me back.

Number two is what are your salary requirements.

This question is frankly horrible

and puts you in an awkward situation,

but you need to be ready for it.

You need to carry out research on websites

like Glassdoor to get a rough idea

of what you should be expecting.

You could also see if you can get

any insider information from the recruiter

or from someone else in the industry.

You need to state as high a salary requirement

as you can honestly and reasonably justify

but also say that you are flexible and negotiable.

Chances are the interviewer already has a budget

and will negotiate with you at a later date.

So you need to leave room for that negotiation.

If you state a salary requirement

that is much lower than what they might be willing to pay,

you are cheating yourself out of proper compensation.

If you walk into an interview without a clear idea

of what you want to be paid,

then you are going in unprepared.

So make sure you think about this question in advance.

Question number three is, do you have any questions for us.

Remember, that an interview isn’t just about the interviewer

seeing if you are a good fit for the company,

you also need to use it to see if the company

is a good fit for you.

You absolutely need to go into any interview

with a handful of questions.

And also try and develop some questions

throughout the interview itself.

Here are some great questions that you could ask.

In the majority you should use the conditional.

What would my day be like.

Number one, what would an average day

look like in the company.

Number two, what projects

are the team working on at the moment.

Number three, what sort of budget would I be working with.

Number four, is this a brand new role.

Number five, how would I be trained.

Number six, what’s the performance review process like.

Number seven, what’s your favourite part about working here.

Number eight, who would I be reporting to.

Number nine, what’s the company culture like.

And number ten, what is the next step

in the interview process.

Questions number four,

is why was their a gap in your employment.

This is a hard question, but you can understand

why an interviewer would want to ask it.

It definitely raises a red flag for them.

The most important thing that you can do is be honest.

Never be tempted to extend your period of employment

in a previous position just to cover up the gaps.

There’s every chance that the interviewer

will call your previous employees to verify your time there.

Instead, follow these six tips.

Number one is don’t overshare.

They don’t want to know the details

of your personal problems.

Number two is offer a simple explanation.

Don’t be too mysterious, just say one or two sentences

about why you took time off and what you did.

Number three is talk about the new skills

you developed in your time off.

Volunteer work, courses, classes, reflection time,

did you have a baby, talk about the soft skills

which include communication, adaptability,

problem solving and critical observation.

Number four is emphasise that you are sure

that you now want to work again.

Number five is be confident.

Don’t downplay what you achieved.

You shouldn’t feel embarrasses about time off.

And number six is move on.

There’s no need to dwell on it.

Try and move the conversation gently on.

Question number five is, can you tell me about a time

when you disagreed with a decision made at work.

The interviewer is really asking

about your communication skills with this question.

Disagreements do happen, it’s what you do when they happen

that says a lot about you and your personal skills.

They also want to see that you maintain good relationships,

so this is definitely not an opportunity

to talk badly about your previous workmates and bosses.

You do need to prepare a specific situation

and this will be different for everyone.

Do not lie as again, they might bring it up

whilst talking to your references.

Some tips are, that you answer the question

in a positive way, even if it was a difficult disagreement.

Discuss how this situation will help prepare you

to handle disagreements in the future.

Don’t be afraid to admit that you were in the wrong,

if that’s what happened.

The ability to admit that you’re wrong

is a good skill to have.

Also, don’t pretend that you’ve never had

a disagreement at work.

This makes you look like a yes man.

An example answer is, I once disagreed with my boss

over some advice he was giving to a customer.

Rather than question his authority in front of everyone,

I talked to him in private.

I was open and honest about the problems I had

with the way he wanted to do things.

It turned out there was just this simple misunderstanding

and my boss was actually correct, but he was glad

that I spoke to him as I then understood

where he was coming from for the future.

Question number six is why are you leaving your current job.

Or even more difficult to answer, why were you fired.

This question is more about what not to say.

Number one, never-bad-mouth your boss,

especially if you were fired.

It’s all the more reason for them to contact

and question your previous employer.

Number two, is do not say that you had a fight

with a co-worker, and definitely

don’t try and blame them for it.

If you couldn’t get on with your old work mates,

who’s to say that you’ll get on with the new ones.

Number three, is don’t make it sound

like money is the only thing you care about.

Instead, you could say, I didn’t feel like

there was opportunity to grow or advance

further in that role, so I decided

a change would be best for my career.

Number four is don’t sound too impulsive.

They’re investing in you for the long term.

And they want to minimise their staff turnover.

They’ll be hoping that you stick around for a long time.

Number five, is don’t be too vague or illusive.

If you look like you have something to hide

they might find you untrustworthy.

So what should you say if you were made redundant.

The most important thing is to be honest.

You could say, my position was eliminated

and I was made redundant?

Layoffs happen, you can be specific about why,

because it wasn’t your fault.

Just remember to not badmouth the company.

What about if you were fired?

Well I recommend that you tell the truth and come clean.

It’s not worth lying and getting caught later

when they check references.

Even if you get hired at the position,

if they ever find out you lied,

it is grounds for termination.

Question number seven is are you interviewing

with any other companies.

This is a tough question.

They want to see how popular you are

as well as finding out the supply and demand in the market.

They might also want to predict what sort of salary

you might be offered at competing firms.

My advice, is to link it back to the company.

For example, you could say, I am in the beginning stages

of my job search, I’m attracted to positions

that require keen analytical skills.

In fact, what I like most about this opening

is, and then you can say something about the specific role.

If you’re already in serious talks with another company,

you can mention that but it can both benefit

and disadvantage you.

So now we have discussed

all of the most common interview questions

and how you should answer them.

Please feel free to share your model answers

in the comments down below

and you can use each other as inspiration.

You could also provide constructive criticism

and feedback when the person asks for it.

That’s is for this lesson, I hope you enjoyed it,

and I hope you learnt something.

Don’t forget to connect with me