WS Chronicle

By Algenon Cash

This happens to be the season when most job seekers are hunting for their next big opportunity. Whether you’re a candidate or employer, understanding powerful interview questions can define success or failure.

I’ve been hiring employees for various positions for well over 10 years – so I outlined the most common interview questions that I like to ask and strongly encourage candidates to study.

Some questions may seem rather simple on the surface, such as “Tell me about experience.” Yet the easy answer is not the right answer. The more open ended the question, the wider the variation in potential answers. Once you have become practiced in behavioral interviewing skills, you will find that you can use almost any question as a launching pad for a particular example or compelling story.

As you read through these questions, picture yourself sitting in the interview feeling strong and satisfied with yourself. As I’ve stated in earlier articles, you are only as powerful as you believe yourself to be.

1. Tell me about your experience as it aligns with the qualifications on the job description.
2. How satisfied are you with your current earnings potential?
3. What would you to consider your top skills and traits that would help you be effective in this role?
4. Are you looking at other opportunities?
5. What is important to you in order to consider making a move from your current position / employer?
6. Tell me what your typical day looks like:
7. How would your boss describe your management style?
8. Tell me about a challenging situation that didn’t go very well. What do you believe went wrong? What would you change if you had a “do-over” opportunity?
9. Tell me about your favorite boss and what made him/her your favorite?
10. Describe the management style you work the best with? What management styles/traits are not compatible with your working style?
11. Describe for me a decision you made that would normally have been made by your supervisor? What was the process you used to make that decision?   What was the outcome? What would you do differently?
12. Tell me about a time when you had trouble working with a difficult or demanding customer. How did you handle this?
13. Describe for me a time when you have come across questionable operational practices/information that could jeopardize the brand. How did you handle the situation?

It’s critical to be prepared to respond effectively to the interview questions that employers typically ask at job interviews. Since most of these questions are so common, recruiters will expect you to be able to answer them calmly and without hesitation.

Never memorize an answer, but do practice what you’re going to say so you’re not put on the spot during the job interview. Your responses will be stronger if you prepare in advance, know what to expect during the interview, and have a sense of what you want to highlight during your interview.

Algenon Cash is the managing director of Wharton Gladden & Company, an investment banking firm, he is also a national spokesperson for the oil and natural gas industry. Reach him at acash@whartongladden.com.