Interview Questions and Answers! (How to PASS a JOB INTERVIEW!)

hi it's richard mcmahon from passmyinterview.com and in this video i'm going to go and undertake a job interview so i'm going to walk through that door sit down and the interviewer is going to ask me about 15 questions let's see how i get on now just very quickly before i go through that door and undertake the interview if you haven't subscribed yet please do make sure you click the subscribe button lots of you are passing your job interviews as a result of the content i don't want you to miss out you can also connect with

me on linkedin i've put my linkedin link in the description below the video and please give the video a like because that tells me you find the content useful okay let's go in and let's pass this interview make sure you take notes here we go please enter hello nice to meet you my name is richard please do it hello hi richard please take a seat thank you very much hi richard welcome to the interview thank you how was your journey here today yeah it was really good thank you i actually came last night before the

interview just to make sure i knew exactly where to come i got here early this morning just in case there was some traffic sat in the car and composed myself so it was a really good journey thank you for asking okay my name is andrew this is joshua we will be doing the interview with you today we're going to ask you a number of questions for your suitability for the role so if you can start with if you can tell me about yourself that'd be great yeah sure so as you know my name is richard

over the years i've built up a diverse range of skills and qualities that i believe are a match for this job description i am very positive i love being at work i have goals outside of work which means that i need to perform to a high standard when i'm in my job in order to achieve those goals so i'm very focused in my work i'm very good at planning and organizing my work so you can give me loads of tasks and different projects to work on and they will always be done on time and to

the necessary standard i'm very good with clients and customers because i understand for your business to be successful i need to not only act as a positive role model but i need to provide outstanding service so your customers and clients come back to your business time and time again i'm happy working on my own but i also like to work as part of a team i'm a very fast learner so if you give me a task i will learn it quickly i'll always be the first person to volunteer to do a job that needs to

be done and you have my word that if you hire me in this position i will perform to a very high standard and i will help you to achieve your commercial and your financial objectives that's great thank you could you tell us a little bit why you want to work here with us yes so i've been aware of your organization for many years as you know you are a market leader you are innovative and you are creative and i believe from what i've seen you always put your customers and clients first so you start with

your customers and then you work backwards which in my opinion will always mean that you are going to be successful that is good for me because i am working in an organization that is constantly striving and moving forward and more importantly you want to improve and develop i'm the type of person who also wants to improve and develop i don't just want to sit in a job and do the bare minim bare minimum i want to excel and advance year on year i'm also at the stage in my career where i see myself staying with

the same organization for a long period of time and because from what i understand during my research you have very ambitious plans for the future and i would like to be a part of those finally i have under i understand that you hire lots of talented and bright people so again that's good for me because i will get to work alongside some people who will push me and they will challenge me and that's great for my long-term future career plans so those are the main reasons i see myself being here for a long period of

time and i will be able to grow as your company grows as well thank you richard what experience do you have which is relevant to this role before i applied for the position i downloaded a copy of the job description i read it to make sure that i was confident i could meet the requirements of the role predominantly the experience i have is first and foremost dealing with customers and clients i'm very very good at that i have lots of experience i used to do it on a daily basis in previous roles so if a

client is demanding or they are difficult i have the interpersonal skills and the communication skills to win them over and make sure that we provide them with a first-class service i also have lots of experience working in a variety of different teams so you could say to me richard we want you to go and work in a team i may have never worked with those people before but i will adapt i will support the team members and i will make sure that we all focus on achieving our objectives other experience i have is being able

to plan and organize my work methodically i am very good at working on the pressure i enjoy working under stressful situations and that is because i always plan and organize my work meticulously so i know what's coming i look ahead and i make sure that i can achieve my objectives other experience i have is is also helping my managers and my supervisors to achieve their goals obviously your manager and your supervisor is always under pressure you know they have lots of commercial goals and objectives to achieve and i understand that so i will work with

my manager and my supervisor to help them achieve their objectives by being basically a high performing employee and always putting the needs of the business first so just to summarize having read the job description i feel i have all of the necessary experience to not only get up and running quickly in the role but to excel also thank you it's great to hear your comments there especially about your experience working in a team and for this role working as a team is pivotal um can you explain to me what makes a great team in your

opinion sure there are a number of different factors that all come together to make a team effective the most important thing is that the team has a shared objective and a common goal so if i was working as part of a six-person team for example everyone in that team must be working towards the same end goal so you have to have a common objective that everyone in the team is signed up to the team also has to be good at communicating and i'm not just talking about speaking you also have to be good at listening

to so for communication to be effective you have to be a good listener when you are working within a team you also have to be supportive of other people within the team and if someone is struggling in the team you have to be prepared to say right let's help that person to get back up to speed so you have to be a supportive team member you also have to be totally driven towards the end goal and to achieve that you have to have different skills and different qualities in the team it would be no good

having a team where everybody has the same skills as me so the team needs to be diverse in order to be successful so if i had the responsibility for example to pick a team i would make sure i choo chose people from different backgrounds different skill sets and different experiences and finally to be effective as a team you have to be willing to take on board feedback you have to constantly analyze your performance as you go along review what you've done step by step and be open about any improvements that can be made that's important

because for a team to be effective it needs to be open to continually improving and developing great thank you can you give me an example when you've worked as part of a team yes i have worked in many different teams in a variety of different settings a recent example of where i worked as part of a team was whilst working on a project for a particularly demanding client so as a team it was our responsibility to make sure we completed the project for the client on time and to the required specification now part way through

the project the client kept changing the specification but they wanted the time frame to stay exactly as it was now a couple of people in the team were getting a little bit frustrated with the client but i said to them we need to make sure that we deliver for the client here we want that client to come back to our business time and time again so i said every time that client changes their mind let's not make it an issue let's say yes we can work with you to solve this problem we can change the

specification and deliver it on time so everybody was on board each time the client came back to us and they changed their mind it wasn't a problem we sat down we regrouped and we changed our direction sometimes people in the team had to do different things so for example i had to take on a task that i wasn't particularly familiar with but i went away learned how to do it came back and carried out that task to the right standard thankfully we completed the project on time and it was a great motivator for everyone in

the team because despite all of the challenges we still managed to complete the project on time and to the required specification and i'm pleased to say that that client actually ended up coming back to the business no fewer than five times to users on further occasions so it's a really good experience for everyone within the team thank you for the answer richard no problem i did previously noticed that you stated that you enjoyed working under pressure with this in mind can you tell me about a time when you completed a difficult task under pressure yes

no problem i'm used to working under pressure and i actually really enjoy it one particular situation springs to mind when my manager came into the office and he said that a member of the team had gone off sick at short notice now this member of the team was highly specialized in a particular area they were really good at the work they carried out my manager said he needed a volunteer for somebody to take on their work as well as their own and being someone who enjoys working under pressure i put my hand up and said

yep no problem i will take on their work now i'll be honest with you i didn't know how to carry out their particular tasks but i wasn't afraid of the work that would come my way so what i did i went home and i actually called the person who was off sick just to ask them for some advice about how they approached all of their tasks when i went back to work the following morning i sat down and i put a plan of action in place so i assessed my own tasks i then put the

other person's tasks next to them and i prioritized what i would need to do to get everything done so i had a plan of action of how i was going to complete the tasks i then worked tirelessly to complete their tasks on time and also to get mine done too now to achieve that goal i had to stay behind late a couple of nights after work for a couple of hours but i was more than happy to do that i got a lot out of that situation because i learned some skills that i hadn't previously

managed to undertake so i was diversifying my skill range i was improving my ability to work under pressure as well so it was a win-win situation for the organization because my manager got somebody to complete the task and time and i learned something new which was as i say a win-win situation excellent thank you so how would you deal with conflict with a co-worker how would i deal with conflict with a co-worker i haven't experienced a huge amount of conflict with co-workers however if it does happen i always try and resolve it straight away i'm

a strong believer that conflict can have a negative impact on a team it can take away positive energy and it can deter from what you are actually trying to achieve so i'd resolve it as soon as possible first and foremost i would review my own performance and my actions to assess whether i were doing anything to cause the conflict it's very easy for us as individuals to think well it's nothing to do with me it's the other person but i think it's important to look how you perform yourself i would then speak to the other

person in private and i would use an open style of communication i would be positive and i would say to them look i can feel that there's conflict between us i'm keen to sort this out am i doing anything that is either irritating you or contributing to the conflict so i can then gain some information that will give me them the power to try and resolve the situation i would then suggest an amicable way forward for the pair of us to work so to work harmoniously so we can achieve our common goals so i would

open dialogue with the other person try and resolve it straight away of course if there was a situation where the conflict was too ingrained and it was too difficult i would seek advice from my manager and supervisor as to try and find a suitable way forward but above all i would try and resolve it quickly and amicably thank you thank you for your answer richard where do you see yourself in five years in five years from now i genuinely see myself still working for your organization now of course i would say that but my career

progression planning is with your organization i want to work here for the reasons that i stated previously i'm also at the point in my career where i want to stay working for the same organization that's important you have ambitious plans for the future and i want to still be working here either in the same role or perhaps having gained advancement if you deem me suitable to do so to a higher level however in five years time primarily i want to be really good in my work i want to be a high performing achiever i want

you to be happy with my work and see me as a respected member of the organization someone you can trust and someone who is also loyal i would also see myself obviously experienced in five years time and somebody who could perhaps help train up other new members of the organization as and when they join so i'm basically sharing my experience with them thank you yeah thank you so how would you handle stress and pressure in this role i prefer to work under stress and pressure and i really enjoy it when i'm up against time or

i'm working as part of a team to get a difficult task done within a set time frame so i actually enjoy stress and pressure i believe i am at my best but i handle stress and pressure by first and foremost making sure i'm fully organized in my work if i know what i need to do during each day and each week then whenever stressful situations come along it's far easier to deal with them i also handle stress and pressure by remaining calm in every situation if things are going wrong the only way that you can

get through them is by having a clear mind so you have to communicate clearly you have to be calm and composed and you also have to have a positive mindset the only way that you can get through stressful situations is if you are positive and you work together draw on other people's experiences as part of your team and then you can achieve anything you want to in a role so i actually prefer to work under stress and pressure thank you richard can you tell me about a time where you provided excellent customer service yes i

am used to providing excellent customer service and i fully appreciate that for your business to be successful you need happy customers so it would be my responsibility to always provide a great service one particular situation springs to mind where i received a call from an elderly customer they wanted to place an order on our website but they were worried about how to do it how to go about it they didn't know which product to order and they were also more concerned about making a payment online for security reasons now i had set timelines that i

had to deal with customers and that timeline was two minutes i had to get the call finished within two minutes i saw this as a as a different situation where i needed to take my time and reassure the customer so i was prepared to spend longer on the call to deal with them so i started off by speaking to them in a positive manner reassuring them building up a little bit of a connection with them to make them feel comfortable and then started exploring what type of product they needed so i was assessing their needs

once we established which product they wanted i then started to reassure them about the online buying process i explained how secure our website was the fact it was a secure server and their um credit card details were not actually shared with our organization so it was totally totally secure once i built up their trust and their confidence i then took the payment over the phone went through with them in step-by-step details and then sent them a receipt by email and once we had finished i called them back two days later to make sure they had

received the product which they had done so i just wanted to make sure that they were fully happy and i'm pleased to say that customer even though that was the first time they'd ordered from our company they went on to use as many times in the future so i believe the call took about seven minutes in total which was five minutes longer than it normally should do but it was great because i managed to win a long-serving customer of ours which was great news and they were happy as well excellent thank you can you describe

to us your strengths yes my strengths are primarily the fact that i am a fast learner so if you give me the job i will learn this role really quickly that would be my first day to get up and running in super fast time i would spend time in my own time in the evenings learning the role because it would be my aim to get up and running quickly i want to be a high performing member of my team other strengths are my ability to work as part of a team to motivate other people as

well i think i'm good to be around you know i'm very positive in nature i have a positive mindset and i believe that you only get out of life what you are prepared to put in and i think that would rub off on other people also other strengths include my ability as i've said before to remain calm under pressure so if things are going wrong i can be a trusted member of the team and i will help everyone to get to the point where we are achieving things within time and to the right standard i

think i'm a good communicator as well so when i'm dealing with your clients and your customers i will always act as a positive role model and you have my word that i will put your commercial interests above everything else finally another strength of mine is that i can be left alone to do a job to the right standard but you can also leave me to make sure that i keep my knowledge and my expertise up to date i take my personal and professional development seriously and i will always make sure that my knowledge and my

expertise are right at the top of where they should be thank you thank you richard thank you for the answer what's your biggest weakness my biggest weakness i believe is that i find it very difficult at times to say no to people now in the past this has resulted in me taking on sometimes too much work so as hopefully i've shown you today that i will always be the first person to put my hand up that sometimes in the past has resulted in me taking on too much that i've become a little bit overwhelmed at

times where i think i'm going to struggle to get that done and i end up working many hours in the evening sometimes just to make sure it's done on time obviously that's not good for my own you know my own mental health and my concentration skills so i need to make sure that i do say no when i am absolutely at full capacity having said that another one of my strengths is the fact that i'm always looking at myself to improve so if you see anything about me that you think i could improve on tell

me and i'll go away and i will sort it out and improve in that area thank you excellent thank you so i'd be interested to know why did you leave your last job why did i leave my last job my last job was brilliant up until a point so the length of time i stayed there it was fantastic i was learning and i was growing along with the organization i then got to a point where i felt i wasn't personally growing and developing in the position i basically reached my potential and i wanted a fresh

and new challenge now the organization were amazing i still get on with the organization you know i had a really good relationship with them and i'm very grateful the experiences that i had whilst i was there they gave me a lot and in return i gave them a lot too but it was the right time for me to move on and i left on really good terms and as i say i still have a really good relationship with the organization and my previous manager so the main reason i left was because i was ready for

a new challenge and i wanted to go and work for a different company and gain some new experiences as well okay thank you thank you why should we hire you i believe you should hire me because not only do i have the experience and the skills and qualities that are a match for the job description the experience i have gained means that i will get up and running in this role very quickly that means you can leave me to get on with things which reduces the pressure on you because obviously you are you are busy

and you are under pressure to achieve your objectives and the last thing you need to be doing is to be watching me all of the time so i am a fast learner i'm also very good working around people and i understand the benefits of working in a diverse team i feel that i am a good motivator so i can get other people to feel motivated about their work as well i'm also very good with customers one of my strengths is being patient with customers dealing with them methodically and making them feel comfortable and as i

said at the start of the interview i understand that for your business to be successful you need customers and clients to come back time and time again so i would say one of my strengths is the fact that i'm commercially aware i'm commercially astute and i understand that i need to do my job to the right standard in order for you to be successful and i will also another strategy is that i am loyal i am honest and i always act with integrity so i will represent your brand and your company in a positive manner

always so what are your salary expectations for this role prior to coming to the interview today i carried out a little bit of research to find out the average salary for this position within the industry now the average salary was between 25 000 pounds and 35 000 pounds now idealistically i would like the 35 000 pound mark however i understand you don't know me i'm coming into your organization you are trusting me to do a good job and therefore i feel i have a responsibility to prove to you my worth on that basis i would

be happy with a salary of 32 000 pounds and i believe then i have a duty and responsibility to prove to you that i am worth that amount and i would be comfortable with that position well we've reached the end of the interview now richard so only really one last question to ask really is have you got any questions for us thank you very much i've really enjoyed the process i'll just have a couple of questions if that's okay so as i said previously i plan to stay with the company for a long period of

time if i'm successful and i'm interested to hear what plans do you have for the business over the next five to ten years we're looking to expand operations quite quite big and we're looking to increase product lines as well and we have really big ambitious plans for the future okay excellent brilliant and can i also ask please um what's frustrated you about people who've held this position in the past that's a really thing yeah that's an excellent question so as a company we look for people that have a willingness to learn and have drive to

move forward as andy mentioned we're expanding our operations at the moment and to having that driving willingness to learn is really important to us unfortunately previous employees in the role have lacked that ambition and drive to move forward so that's what we're looking for and the ideal candidate for this role and i i know i would say this but i'm very enthusiastic and ambitious so i believe that i can bridge that gap for sure and just one final question if i am successful what would you need me to concentrate on within the first 30 days

of starting in the position yeah it's important for us that you get into a position where you can really help us achieve those goals as quick as you can so we really need you to get up to speed as quick as possible as andy said we've got those really um massive goals that we're aiming for so we need you to get in a position where you'll be comfortable and you can help us drive towards those goals perfect thank you yeah i don't have any more questions thank you very much okay that's great thank you richard

um it's been lovely interviewing you today and we'll be in touch very soon thank you can i just finish off and say um thank you very much for interviewing me it's been i've really enjoyed the process it's been great learning as much as possible about your company if you do hire me i promise you that i will be a high-performing employee and i will give it my all thank you very much indeed thank you thank you take care thank you very much thank you take care bye thank you