why did you apply for this position

8/3/2019 Why did you apply for this position

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Why did you apply for this position?Tip: How do you think that you might fit into this company

Would you tell us what attracts you to a career with us? How do you see your studies, skills,

experience and personal qualities contributing to the work of the organisation?

Tip: How do you think that you might fit into this company

Describe a time when you had to deal with conflicting demands. How did you deal with thissituation and what was the outcome?

Tip:STAR

Can you describe a time where you have been required to perform as part of a team? What was

the situation? What part did you play in the team and what was the outcome of the exercise?

Tip:STAR

How do you establish a working relationship with new people?Tip: Team skills

Where do you expect to be in 5 years time? What will you do if you are not successful in

gaining this position?

Tip: Demonstrate to the interviewer that you have thought about what it is you want from work

and what you hope to achieve. Let them know you are flexible however, and willing to explore

new opportunities.

What particular skills and qualities do you bring to the workforce? What other skills would you

like to develop in the future?Tip: Strengths and weaknesses

Tell me about a challenging situation you have faced. What was the situation and how did you

cope with it?

Tip:STAR

Is there an achievement of which you are particularly proud? What is it? Why is it significant?

Tip:STAR

Imagine that you are a member of a small team responsible for the development and production

of an internal publication. Your team is dependent on another workgroup to provide the data

which will form the basis of your publication. The deadline for completing this project is not

able to be relaxed. (a) What factors do you think might affect the team's ability to meet the

publication deadline? (b) What could the team do to ensure the project is completed on time?

Tip: Hypothetical questions allow the interviewer to identify key competencies deemed
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important by the employer. No right or wrong answer

What are the key elements of measuring performance and how can you establish whether an

outcome represents a success? (Answer this in terms of your own work or study experience.)

More specifically, what do you think might be some key indicators of the successful

performance of a national agency?

Tip:STAR(Behavioural +Situational question)

You have demonstrated in your CV that you have knowledge of entomology. Could you please

expand on your experience and tell us what you think your strengths are in this field. An

important component of the position will be the maintenance of water quality parameters within

acceptable limits for the species. Can you outline your experience in water quality testing? What

do you feel are the most important water quality variables?

Tip: Multi-part question

The ability to work independently within a structured team is essential to the position. This will

require the successful applicant to be self-starting, able to prioritise tasks, be a good

communicator, as well as showing considerable initiative. Can you give us some examples where

you have worked within a team environment and demonstrated these abilities?

Tip:STAR+ multi-part question

What do you feel is the potential for aquaculture in Australia and what are some of the major

impediments to its development? What are some of the major aquaculture species cultured in

freshwater? As well as the position involving general maintenance of the aquaria and pond

facilities, a significant component will involve participation in scientific experiments through thecollection and collation of research data. Can you describe previous experience you have had in

the day to day running of scientific experiments?

Tip: STAR + multi-part question

The research project and facilities the successful applicant will be involved with receives

considerable attention from the general public. Therefore, a component of the job will involve

liaising with the general public and media. This requires the delivery of information in a simple

precise manner. How confident do you feel you are in delivering sometimes complex

information in a simple manner?

Tip: give examples

What computer programs are you familiar with, and more specifically, what programs would

you use to write a report, enter research data, and to prepare a poster or seminar.

Tip: give examples of where you have applied the use of these programs.
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You have had an opportunity to look at the statistical table from the publication (this was

supplied before the interview). (a) Imagine you were asked to write a commentary on the

information in the table. Are there any significant or curious or interesting features revealed by

the data which you think should be highlighted, and if so, what might you say about them? Can

you offer any suggestions to explain these features? (b) What is your opinion of the general

layout of the table? How might it be improved?

Tip: multi-part question

Open-ended Questions

- Used by interviewers when they expect more than a yes or no answer. Some typical open

questions are: "What can you tell me about yourself?", "Why are you interested in the posted

position?" or "What are your most remarkable skills?".

The best way to answer these questions is by doing the right research before going to the

interview (check your own resume and the organization website) and by making a list of possibleopen-ended questions so you can rehearsal your answers before the interview.

Closed-ended Questions

Used by interviewers when they need to know a specific piece of information (years of

experience, technical knowledge, etc.). These questions require a brief and solid answer.

The best way to deal with these questions is by reviewing and making sure you don't have any

doubts about your background and CV details. If the question requires a yes/no answer thenalways try to add a brief piece of valuable information to the answer. For example: "Are youexperienced teaching children?""Yes. I have 4 years of experience and I think they have been

really rewarding".

Hypothetical Questions

Used by interviewers to assess your problem-solving skills and to make sure you do have

enough experience in the field to be able to face day-to-day problems. Of course, reply speed isalso assessed.

The best way to face these questions is by having all the required information so you do not giveplain, meaningless answers. The best way to gather info is by asking follow-up questions beforeanswering.

Leading Questions

These questions are assumptive ("So, you have a lot of experience in the Customer Service

Area, dont you?). The idea of leading questions is to get a specific response from the


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interviewee ("yes, as you can see in my CV, I worked as a receptionist for 7 years and").

The only way to answer these questions is by not being caught off your guard. That is: Listen

carefully and process questions before you answer them. The interviewer may be asking a

leading question with a negative emphasis ("it must have been really difficult to get along with

your boss as a salesman"). Always go for positive answers.

Multi-Barreled Questions

They check your reasoning skills. These questions are linked in such way that suddenly what

seems to be one question are actually two or three questions about the same topic.

First of all, remember that they are checking your reasoning skills so do not give an answer

unless you truly understand the questions. Do not fear to ask the interviewer to either repeat or

rephrase his/her question.

Behavioral Questions

Used by interviewers to check the behavior of candidates. This type of question states that the

best way to know what a candidate will do is by knowing what he/she did in a similar situation in

the past.

It is important to be completely honest when asked a question about a past experience,

interviewers will ask for more and more details and it would be impossible to keep a lie going

on. The best way to prepare yourself for these questions is by doing all possible research: What

the company wants and what skills are required for the position. Get an Informational

Interviewto get and insight of the posted position.

The STAR Approach for Answering a Question

S: Situationdescribe the situation

T: Task or problemwhat dilemma or problem did you face?

A: Actionwhat action did you take?

R: Resultwhat was the result of your action?
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