This is also a projective type of question with the goal of determining the aspects of your job to which you devote more time and attention so that the interviewer can compare your typical day with the kind of day that is typical on the job you are applying for. The best way to handle this question is to preempt it. If you ask your interviewer early on "What's a typical day like in this job?" and then probe for an answer, you'll have a far better shot later on when you are asked, "What's a typical day like on your job now?" When it's your turn to answer, focus on the similarities of the daily routine of your present job and the one you're applying for. The greater the divergence between a day on your present job and a day on the prospective one, the lower are your odds of securing it.
What do you think of the future of your company?
Your interviewer may ask this question to determine if you're a pessimist or an optimist. If you take the optimist's approach and tell your interviewer that your present company's future is great, you run the risk that he or she may delve into the subject of why you're leaving under such favorable circumstances. (Shouldn't there be opportunities for your personal growth if your company is blooming?)
If, on the other hand, you answer this question by alluding to the negatives about your company in order to rationalize why you are leaving, you run the opposite risk of coming across as someone who sees the dark clouds and not the silver lining. The solution to this double-edged question is to be forearmed with all the facts about your present company, and to present them as matter-of-factly as an evening newscaster so that you are seen as an objective, astute observer.
How would you handle someone who isn't doing his or her share?
This can be tricky. If you accept the workload that the other person should be handling, you may be seen as a good guy but, at the same time, you could come across as a wimp who allows himself to be taken advantage of! (Why should you do the other person's job?) On the other hand, if you bring the problem to the boss's attention, you look like a complainer, and perhaps a shirker. Your best bet is to convince your interviewer that your strategy would be to try to persuade the person who is not shouldering his load of the greater benefit to everyone of his pitching in. You'll come across as an active team leader, and that isn't all bad.
How much travel is acceptable to you?
Your answer to this question could make the difference in your getting a job offer. (I.e.: if you tell your interviewer your true feelings-for example, that you don't want to travel more than 40% of the time-and the job calls for 60% travel, someone else is likely to get the nod.) On the other hand, unless you reveal your true feelings, you could end up with a job with intolerable travel demands. And you're even worse off! While total candor has to be the answer, the way you describe your travel limitations could be important, and you might want to consider a "range" response. For example, you might tell your interviewer that you can live with 60% (or whatever % is your upper limit) travel about 40% of the time, and 20% travel about 60% of the time. (You fill in the numbers.) Believe it or not, the example above averages out to 36% travel. Answering this way could satisfy both you and your interviewer.
What do you enjoy about you as?
Both variants of this question are designed to a person, and both rely on an assumption. UM grams attract different kinds of viewers. If about the viewer who likes:
- Highly combative contact sports like football
- The skill of a sport like golf?
- Violent detective dramas like "Miami Vice"
- Situation comedies that let your mind go totally blank
- A public TV buff who enjoys classical culture?
- A news magazine buff who enjoys in-depth probing into less-than-ethical enterprises?
The fact is that, like yourself, interviewers have preconceived notions about what programs you watch, and what types of reading you enjoy. There is no way around this question except to be knowledgeable about its pitfall. The best you can do is find out from your friends the image of a viewer who likes to watch and read the same things as you do. If you think that this image is totally appropriate to the job you pursue, you're home free. If not, focus on those aspects of your T.V. viewing and book (or magazines) reading that you think convey the image necessary to land the job.
