AMRI CELESTE

FREE
GUIDE

TOP 20
INTERVIEW
ANSWERS
Simple, effective example answers to
difficult questions

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

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What attracted you to our

company?

A number of things attracted me to ABC Industries. I did some

research into the company prior to my interview and I was really

impressed with what I found. Not only is this an industry leading

company but I checked review sites and there are hundreds of

terrific reviews from happy customers.

Additionally its really clear you are rewarded if you exceed

expectations here, I noticed a high number of managers are

promoted internally and have been here a long time from looking

at Linkedin, and you are a Sunday Times Top 100 Company to work

for - which is a great accolade for the company to have under it's

belt.

What are your biggest

Strengths?
I requested feedback from my manager recently as I'm always

interested in how I can improve and I take an active approach to

this.

His feedback was that he felt I'm extremely dependable, therefore

clients of the company know that when they come to me with an

issue, I will resolve it even if it means going outside my duties on

occasion. He also noted that other team members have

commented on my positive attitude and clients on how

approachable they feel I am, which has translated to a high level

of service.

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

 What is your greatest

weakness?
I hold myself and my work to a very high standard so sometimes I

get caught up in the finer detail to the detriment of speed and

deadlines. I identified this through self-analysis and seeking out

feedback.

What I've done to combat this over the past 18 months is put in

place a system of checkpoints and set earlier deadlines.

This allows me to see how much detail I'm adding to simple tasks

and projects - and allows me to ensure that I focus on the

necessities of each task. I can still add detail with any time left

over, and then I stop when it's time for me to move on to the next

task.

After practicing this for over 18 months, I can now confidently say

that I meet my deadlines with ease, and work much faster

naturally, without as much focus on time limits.

How would you describe your

work ethic?

I would describe my work ethic as very strong. I believe that if you

have chosen to work in a role then it should be something you are

passionate about, and intend to give your best to. I believe that

when you care about what you do and the quality of work - it's

easy to be motivated to have a strong work ethic.

For example over the past year I have had 100% attendance at

work, and I have met all of my objectives for the past two

quarters and am on track to meet my remaining objectives for the

rest for this year.

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

 How do you stay organized?

I utilize multiple tools to keep myself organized.

To keep track of appointments and meetings I use my calendar

and in-build scheduling tools such FindTime in Outlook

I also use note-taking tools such as Evernote if I'm on the go.

But most importantly I find the best way to stay organized is to

have your set goals, and a schedule for your week / month /

year, and check in regularly to ensure you are on track, so you

don't get side-tracked and caught up too far in day-to-day short

term activities.

How do you handle pressure at

work?

I've found that by staying organized, using my calendar, reminders

and to do lists, it minimizes the number of pressured situations as

I'm generally more prepared.

However there are times when unexpected situations occur. For

example if a customer or colleague comes to me with an issue

and they need a quick resolution this could cause pressure

depending on workload and what the issue is - I try to see things

from their point of view and use a collaborative approach to

resolve the issue and keep it from escalating.

If necessary I'll ask for help to ensure things are resolved within a

timely manner.

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

 Describe a difficult situation at

work and how you handled it.

The best example I can think of is when I had a member of my

team who was underperforming on a consistent basis. I had a

conversation with the team member to see how we could resolve

this.

We agreed on a performance plan, which included some re-

training exercises. I also discovered through that conversation,

that there were underlying personal issues at home. I was able to

work closely with this team member and give them the space and

time they needed to bring their performance back up to speed.

As they were are high performing team member I knew that while

the temporary under-performance was difficult to manage - with

a bit of patience and closer supervision in the short term I could

likely resolve the issue.

What are your long term goals?

Although my ultimate goal would be to progress to Head of

department or more senior position, I feel quite strongly that this

needs to be within the right company.

I want to find somewhere where I somewhere I can contribute and

be of value, somewhere that is aligned with my personal values,

and this is what initially attracted me to this company. The reason

those things are important to me is because I intend to find

somewhere I can stay long-term.

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

 What is your current salary?
Personal Note: There are many schools of thought on

how to answer this question. In some countries is illegal to ask for

salary information, in many countries it isn't but it is still an

uncomfortable question to answer for many people. If you don't

want to share your salary, my advice is to be up front and say:

I would prefer not to share specifics if that's okay, but I'm happy to

discuss more about what's on offer?

As a Recruiter this would be an acceptable answer - you should

never feel pressured into giving of salary information if you don't

want to, as what you currently earn is personal.

Give us an example of a time

when you solved a problem

While working in my previous role as a customer service rep I came

across a customer who was very upset as he had been chasing a

refund and had been passed around to different teams multiple times

before he had a chance to explain the background of his situation.

To solve this problem the first thing I did is listened to his query in full.

It was a long issue that was not his fault - by listening carefully and

showing empathy this not only calmed him down, but I identified that

his payment details had changed since he originally made his

purchase.

I identified this by going step by step through the process to see

where it fell down. I was able to go directly to the right team who

processed his refund that day and sent an email confirmation so he

had peace of mind.

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

 Why should we give you the

job?
Personal Note: This answer is highly dependable on

the position you are interviewing for - the example I've used below

was created during a coaching session and used by a recent client

to secure a Sales position.

I have 3 consecutive years of industry experience, and a lot of useful

transferable skills. A combination of key skills I hold that I feel are

essential to succeed in this role include New Business Development,

Client Relationship Development and being able to consistently deliver

in a sometimes pressurized and challenging environment.

I have strong clear communication skills with an approachable and

flexible selling style so I can adapt to each customer - if they want to

get straight to the numbers, I won't ask attempt small talk, and if they

talk about their dog, I won't miss that opportunity to build a personal

connection with them!

I'm used to working to and exceeding KPI's and targets. For example

last year I bought in 50k revenue per quarter, exceeding my target by

20%.

What would you do if we didn't

offer you this job?

I would first ask for feedback, so I can understand why I was

unsuccessful, it would give me a chance to also address and maybe

resolve any concerns that we hadn't discussed in the interview so I

could be reconsidered in future. I could also be better prepared for

future interviews.

Then I would continue to look for a similar role in this industry as I am

passionate about moving into this type of position.

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

What would your current manager

say about you?

My manager has told me that she feels she can always rely on me,

so I would say my manager considers me to be very dependable.

I'm often assigned projects that require working with others or

putting together a team, even though my day-to-day role is very

much a stand alone position where I work independently, so as

she made the decision to hire me into my current position, and to

assign me to those projects, I feel this indicates that she considers

me to be quite a flexible worker, with the ability to work both

independently and in a team.

How did you prepare for this

interview?

I focused my pre interview preparation in a way that might give

me some insight as to what the company might be like and what

questions I might have.

I researched the companies history, looked at what you were

looking for in this role and how my relevant experience could

advance the business. I also had a look at Twitter for current

events, Linkedin and the company website.

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

What for you is the key to building

a great relationship?
In my experience communication, and listening on a regular basis

is the strongest foundation for building a great working

relationship because this allows for check-ins, sharing of ideas

and understanding things from different perspectives which can

be used to adjust your approach for a more collaborative

outcome.

For example while working on a recent project with another

department we realized that by adding a simple additional layer

to our process it allowed their team collect crucial tracking and

budgeting information they needed in a much easier way, which

they were grateful for, and this made it easier for us to work

together with them in future.

What is your biggest achievement

I was recently tasked with arranging a large event and was

responsible for many of the key achievements during the project.

It was the largest scale event that I have assisted with I my career

to date.

I drew up an outline for a project timeline, and set up a budget

tracker so I could keep track of how much was being spent.

I sourced and contacted vendors for promotional materials,

arranged catering and collected dietary restriction details. I

rounded up volunteers and arranged most the logistics for the

day. After the event I also followed up to get feedback from

attendees.

The MD of the company thanked me in a quarterly meeting and

shared really positive feedback from attendees, which I felt very

proud of.

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

 Give an example of a time when

you have thought outside the box?

In my current role I was sending out the same emails over and

over. Due to my role I was repeating the same conversations with

new clients and customers on a regular basis - I came up with the

idea of setting up outlook templates.

I did some research online and I was pleased to find that there is

a way to do this.

I set up shortcuts so I can select the most common templates

quickly.

I also set them up so that I could edit them as I was using them

which saved me hours of time, usually spent writing out the same

email again and again. I then shared this with my team as I know

they had the same problem.

Discover 3 key questions you need

to ask your interview panel

+ 1 bonus question!

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

 DO YOU HAVE
ANY QUESTIONS
FOR US?
NEVER- say no!

QUESTIONS ARE CRITICAL

3 key reasons to always ask questions are:
You never want to waste an opportunity to boost your chance of
getting the job, questions are a key additional opportunity that
candidates who don't get the job often miss out on.

Asking questions demonstrates your passion and genuine interest

in the role

This is one of the golden opportunities to build an emotional

connection with your interviewer! The more they feel they can
trust you, the more they can see themselves working with you.

THE NEXT SECTION IS FOCUSED ON QUESTIONS YOU CAN ASK YOUR

INERVIEWER.
© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.
 What type of person works well in

this team?
This question is super powerful, because you get a clear picture of

the type of person your interviewer feels will succeed and want to

hire in their own words - as opposed to the formal job description.

You can then add any additional information you want them to know

about you that matches that profile.

This also gives you great insight into the type of team you could

potentially be working in because their answer will be based on

existing successful team members.

What would you hope to see the

successful candidate accomplish

in their first 90 days

This is wonderful way to get an idea of what would be expected of

you. Its one thing to get the job, but you then need to use the skills

you mentioned in the interview!

They may talk about key projects or initiatives they would like you to

be involved in, or what the team or department priority is, and how

that ties into your role, and priorities for your first three months.

This can sometimes be a useful information to think about after the

interview when you're considering whether the role is right for you, as

an interview is a two-way street.

Have they mentioned they expect you to work late every night for the

first 90 days? Does the workload seem realistic and manageable?

Are they asking you to get involved in exciting tasks? All useful food

for thought!

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

 Can you tell me a little about

each of your backgrounds and

what you do?

This is useful to get to know your interviewers in more detail, and

open up a discussion about them, as the interview has likely been

focused on you and your skills up to this point.

Generally people like talking about themselves to a person or

audience who are genuinely interested, and this exchange helps to

build trust and connection between yourself and the interviewer as

long as you are asking questions of genuine interest. You could find

that there maybe similarities you can connect with.

*BONUS QUESTION*

Based on my answers so far, do

you have any reservations?

This is a key question.
It's a final opportunity to secure the job. Some interviewers are very

open about any reservations they have or skills gaps they feel you

have in relation to the role.

But sometimes you will need to work a little to get this information. A

question like this ensures you have done everything you can to try

and address any areas of concern and secure the job.

If for example your interviewer were to say something like 'well you

clearly have strong experience in client management, but there are

some project management skill sets you don't have'. This would be an

opportunity to talk about transferable project management skill-sets

you've developed that mean that you could add value and excel in

the role even though you hadn't worked in a project management

focused position - this of course is just an example at random, but it

shows the reason this question is so important.

© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved.

 Want one to one coaching &
support from me?

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personal coaching sessions each month. I
provide support and coaching on the areas
that will have the biggest impact on your
interview outcome.

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© 2020 Amri Celeste. All rights reserved. This is for personal use only. Do not duplicate, copy or
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