Tell me about yourself.

•     Talk about your professional self, precisely.
•     Don’t go into your whole life story.
•     Talk about your achievements and strengths,
•     Indulge in specifics, but don’t narrate your resume.  

Tell us your strengths and weaknesses.

The idea here is to understand how much you know about yourself and how confident you are about your strengths.

•     Just stay positive. Even a simple answer like “I am a very positive person” is good enough.
•     You can also change this as per the requirement of the interview. Knowing a bit about the profile you are being interviewed helps as well.
•     Explaining your strength with an experience from the past is desirable here.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years from now ?

This is a question intended to know, what are your career aspirations, how long would you be committed to the organization, is there any immediate plans for you to move on etc. If you have an actual plan, explain it with reasoning. If you do not have any specific plans as of then, give a generic answer along with some interesting activity you would like to take up.
Example

    “I would like to see myself donning one of the senior positions in the organization contributing to technology as well as participating in business growth. I am hoping, I can position myself with relevant experience by then.”
    “As a fresher, I am assuming by first five years will be a huge learning curve. I want to absorb much of the industry knowledge and also to sharpen my technical abilities. In next five years I see myself playing various roles in the team from a developer to leading a team.”
    “I would like to see myself as a technical architect in next five years. My core competency is with technologies, and I would like to work and contribute in the field of most recent technologies and advancements. I would like to get take up some of the major technology certifications”

 

Why should we hire you?

Focus on your qualifications and skills and how they can help the company.

•     Start with your professional persona and move on to how you stand out vis a vis others with the same qualification.
•     Match those to the job description for the position
•     Add traits that will help the company’s business position and show you in line with the company’s business ideologies and processes.
•     Improvise according to the company’s requirements.

What are your long-term goals? What are your short-term goals?

Haven’t thought about your future, five years down the line, let alone in the coming six months? Start thinking. This is how you can answer this fresher interview question.

•     Think of what you want to do in 6 months, 1 year, 5 years
•     Include the Company in your plans
•     Begin explaining short-term goals.
•     Include long-term goals, but don’t talk about salary or explicit details

So, don’t say you want to earn a lot of money and then run away to Prague. Yes, there are interviewees casual enough to answer that. On the other hand, don’t say your long-term goal would be getting “your chair” (the interviewers). That will pretty much take away the job from you.

What are your hobbies and interests ?

You cannot say, you don’t have any other interests, other than academics. Even if you are very studious, your answer should include reading non-textbooks and following cutting edge stuffs in technology. A company looks for a candidate who are more rounded and keeps diverse interests in life. Identify one of your interests other than academics and prepare answer based on that (Don’t include eating, watching TV, sleeping etc.)
Example:

    “I love singing and I also play instruments like Guitar.”
    “Outdoor sports is my interest. Specifically cricket”
    “I am a numismatist (coin/ currency collector). I have been doing it since school days”

 

Are you willing to change your role and profile when required for project?

As a fresher, your most sought after quality is flexibility. You need to showcase, you are flexible and ready to learn. Saying you are flexible doesn’t necessarily mean, you will be forced into things, you don’t like. It just shows your positive attitude to learn and try new things.

Example:

“Yes, most definitely sir. As a fresher, I hope and wish to learn as much things as possible. I believe taking up different roles and profiles only helps me learn and grow in this industry”

How well do you handle stress/pressure?

You need to be well-prepared for this in advance as you can’t get away by saying you are never affected by any kind of work pressure. After all, almost every individual get affected by work pressure at any point of time.

The best way you can answer this question is by giving specific instances from the past when you managed to do good in spite the tremendous pressure. That can give a clear picture to the interviewer about your ways of handling stressful situations.

Are you willing to relocate/travel for work?

While answering this question, emphasize on your willingness to work with the company. Show your enthusiasm for the job role.

Don’t respond with a ‘No’ even if you are not willing to relocate.

What’s your dream job?

Ideally, you should not answer specific job titles. Don’t share your ambitions about a job whose responsibilities are far from achievable while staying in the position that you are applying for. A good idea is to focus more on skills and not the designation.

Focusing on the industry is the key to answering this question.

Are you comfortable with late night and weekend shifts?

Ideally, a carefully enthusiastic response towards being occasionally willing to do so, is a good way to go.

If you aren’t comfortable with it for some reason, state the reason politely. Or you can just say that it would be fine once in a while but you normally prefer maintaining a work-life balance.

Are you a team player?

Yes is always a safe response. But you don’t need to stop there. You can articulate a response showing that you recognize the importance of team work in an office. Much like the team events you have been a part of until then. No cooperation means no result. Sing to them if you have to.

How much salary do you expect?

Just because they are asking doesn’t mean you will get what you quote. In fact, it’s a test as well. Do not say something that doesn’t go well with the position. Do your research before you quote any number. And, in other words, be realistic and keep in mind what not to say in an interview.

Why do you want to work for us?

Mention some good word about the company at the same time, try to align a strength of yours with the company vision or goal or working culture.

What do you know about this company?

If you didn’t do your homework well, you can’t actually answer this question without stumbling and guessing. Read and research about the company you are interviewing for. More similar questions can be raised, so be prepared with enough information to build your answers on.

What are your expectations from your first job?

You can always quote a simple vision or strategy which you like about the company. As a fresher, your most important expectation should be “To Learn” & this is what most companies expect from you. There could be additional personal expectation like contributing to society, placing yourself within corporate world, paying off your education loan etc;

Do you have a referral in this company?

The question could be for two reasons

•     To understand, if you are familiar with the company culture.
•     If you will be motivated enough to join the company, if given an offer.
•     If there is someone close to you, working in the company, or if there are many people you know as working here, there is a high probability, you will be a long term prospect for the company.

So, If you know anyone or many, working in the company, give the name, department & employee number. No need to tell any fake names or numbers, because in case of any verification, you might lose out a chance to make it.

Do you want to ask us anything

MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION!! Never ever, go into an interview without preparing to ask any question. Always keep a question handy. This is your opportunity to voice any of your concern regarding the job profile, company profile, location, timing etc; if not already covered. If you really do not have any questions, ask some general questions like does company provide any higher education opportunity, does company encourage corporate social activities. Etc;