Interview questions?

[thedivahrrrself]

Originally Posted by Teddybear

Ok I have a never been in this situation before. I applied for a job a month ago and then I got a call from the company I applied to. He and I spoke for almost 45 mins and then he asked me to come in for an interview. Now here is where I get confused.

The interview wasn't for the job I applied for but one in upper management I was NOT prepared for that at all nor was I prepared to have an interview that lasted almost 3.5 hrs and I spoke to the person who would be my direct supervisor.

I spoke to them today and was told that within the next couple of weeks I will be coming back for another interview with the head man.

I have had many interviews in my time but always for the job I applied for not a different job completely, and it has never lasted more then 30 mins if that long. Of course I am looking to get out of the truck and into a driver support position but I have never heard of anything like this before

Is this the way the rest of the work world works? Is there any other protocol I should know about? I can tell you that the hiring process of drivers is different then this and I have never experienced it before so If anyone can help me out with this process I would greatly appreciate it

I've conducted about a million interviews. When interviewing for upper management, expect a lot of situational questions. "Tell me about a time when...." The best thing you can do to prepare for this is DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Know the company inside and out, and expect questions that pertain to current troubles in their industry. Read the "news" section of their website. Read their press releases. Google the company and see if they've made the news for anything recently.

Go to LinkedIn, and research the person you'll be meeting with. Where did they work before? Do you have anything in common? Do you have some of the same industry contacts?

Come up with REALLY good questions to ask them, preferably related to what you found doing your homework. If you didn't find much, here are some nice generic ones:

In 6 months/1 years time (whichever seems more appropriate), how will I know I've been successful in this position?
What is the greatest challenge I would have to tackle off the bat?
Do you have any concerns about my knowledge, skills or abilities?
If you're managing a team, what does this team look like? What challenges do they face?

You get the point. Anyway, good luck!

[Soft*Silver]

I use to teach people how to be interviewed..and have taught people how to interview others.

The only thing I want to add with what others have said, was to approach this interview as though you are interviewing them as well. You need to know if this position is the right fit for you. You need to know their expectations of you, from the start, to six months down the road, to where they see you in five years. You want to know about who you are going to supervise and what their strengths and weaknesses are. You want to know the history of why this position was created and why there wasnt a need for it before now. What changed? Ask them what the worst day would be like or what the worst scenario would be? Ask how the company recognizes their employees and how would you play a part in that. Ask them to tell you a success story about an employee.

Above all, be professionally relaxed. Make THEM comfortable. One thing people dont think of, is that the person who is doing the interview is often not trained to do interviews and are sometimes just as uncomfortable as you are being interviewed. That professional relaxed aura will show them you are confident but not arrogant and if you can relax them, they know you will be able to work well with others, too.

good luck and I hope if this job proves to be one you want, you get it!