Types of job interview questions and how to face them

1. .1. Screening Interview 
2. Screening Interview is a commonly used interview method in order to reduce the number of candidates for a job. Those who are “Screened” in shall be listed in a short-list and be offered regular personal interview. This process’s purpose is to review quickly the qualifications of the candidates to see if they meet job requirements as described.Screening interview is normally used when there are still a large number of candidates after application selection process which needs reducing before final personal interview phase.Methods of screening interview:1. Computer Screening Interview: A computer-based questionnaire shall be given to the candidates online (commonly known as IQ or EQ tests).2. Phone Screening Interview: If the candidates are far from the company, phone interview maybe used instead. This method is also used in screening interview.3. Face-to-Face Screening Interview: a HR specialist shall conduct a small interview with group of number of candidates.Tips in Taking Screening Interview:1. Make a good first impression.2. Maintain a smile under every situation. That shall help create a positive image of yours.3. Have proper manner especially while taking a phone screening interview.4. Think twice before answering.5. Be enthusiastic in your answer. If you are taking a phone interview, you don’t have to pay attention to your body language, so focus on your tone only.6. Practice phone interviews with your friends or relatives.7. Keep a glass of water available as you may need it after speaking.8. Leave everything else for your phone interview. If you are busy talking with someone, you may leave it for later but you cannot miss the interview.9. Don’t forget that a normal phone from the interviewers may still part of the process of recruiting.
3. 2. 10. Keep your application form and recruitment announcement nearby so you may use it at anytime.2. Phone Interview Phone Interview is a useful method of pre-selecting or screening a number of candidates for potential job. It helps narrow the candidate pool and selects out those who shall be invited to personal interview. Also, this method helps reduce the cost of interview as it reduces the number of candidates for a personal interview.3. Stress interview Stress Interview (or Pressure Interview) is a popular method used by interviewers to evaluate the candidates’ ability to handle a situation under hard pressure. In a stress interview, a group of interviewers shall ask a candidate a number of questions continuously and put them under high pressure while answering such questions.The goal of Stress Interview is to evaluate the candidates’ ability to handle stress. Therefore, this method is commonly used for jobs that require a highly stressful working environment such shaving to deal with many projects at the same time or there are conflicts at work.Stress Interview is normally performed as follows:• The candidates are made to wait for a long time before the interview.• The interviewers don’t show certain manners to the candidates such as inviting them to sit or drink a glass of water.• The interviewers keep a long silence before asking the candidates.• The interviewers ask multiple of questions before the candidates can answer completely one.• The interviewers may pretend not paying attention to the candidates and therefore, make them very stressful.• The interviewers may criticize the candidates no matter they approve or disapprove.• Behavior improperly during the interviews which may cause hard feelings for the candidates.2. Methods of Dealing with Stress Interview• Don’t take personally for what you see. Think of this like a game of mind.• Keep calm and don’t get frustrated. This is an interview. There must be something going on.• Answer clearly and don’t change your answer.
4. 3. • Maintain a smile on your face. Don’t look so serious.• Don’t overreact for what you hear.• Keep your head cool is the best way to deal with this high pressure..4. Group InterviewGroup Interview involves a group of number of interviewers asking a group of candidates. Thepurpose of this interview method is to select potential candidates for management positions orpublic positions (in which the candidates are required to communicate with publicity). Excellentcandidates are gathered into groups of 8-10 people. After that, they will be asked to debate oncertain topics raised by the interviewers. The interviewers shall observe and assess thecandidates’ ability to communicate, persuade and discuss with others. Also, the interviews maymeasure the candidates’ ability of reasoning and cooperating with others.1. Be polite and generous with others. Try to break the ice with your interesting introduction toother candidates.2. Listen to the interviewer’s instructions carefully and analyze them well.3. Actively and dynamically participate in the discussion. That is highly expected by theinterviewers. Don’t just stay there and listen as it may cost you the chance of getting the job.4. Nevertheless, knowing to listen is important, too. You must know when to be a talker andwhen to be a listener. That’s important.5. Don’t be stubborn and too much aggressive in your discussion. Be cooperative, stay calm andlisten attentively. Those are requirements of a potential candidate.6. Try to deal with conflict in an appropriate manner. There out to be disagreements in adiscussion, certainly. The goal of the discussion is to debate on a common solution; however,only cooperation may be able to come to such a solution but not aggressiveness or arrogance.7. Appreciate others’ opinions and support others in narrating their ideas.8. Constructive criticism is good in a debate; however, make your points so that they don’t causeany offense.9. Try to avoid any conflict or “quarrel” in a discussion. All of candidates are supposed to workin a team but not fight in a competition. So, try to lead the discussion to a positive outcome.10. Make a list of constructive questions to ask in the discussion.
5. 4. 11. When you are required to answer questions by the interviewer, keep your answer short andcomplete.12. Work as a team but also remember to make you individually outstanding.5. Panel InterviewIn a Panel Interview or Committee interview, there are several interviewers raising questions to acandidate instead of normal one-on-one interview in which there is only one interviewer and onecandidate..6. Lunch (Breakfast) InterviewDon’t let the meal take you off your track. This is still a business situation, an interview. So,behave properly with your table manner. Take advantage of the meal as a relaxed method butdon’t pay much attention on it.Job interview related:• Lunch interview tips.7. Behavioral InterviewBehavioral Interview is the kind of interview of which the goal is to identify whether thecandidates have suitable skills for the job. In such an interview, the interviewers shall not askwhat you will do, but instead, what you did. They want to know how you handled certaincircumstances that you have experienced in the past and based on your answer, they will evaluatehow well you handle such circumstances in the future.STAR is short for a procedure, in which:• S = Situation: describe the situation.• T = Task: identify the goals you wish to achieve.• A = Action: determine the action you should perform to reach such goals.• R = Result: what is the result you expect?Job interview related:• Behavioral interview tips.• Behavioral interview questions.8. Case Interview or Situational Interview
6. 5. Case Interview is a method of interviewing which is more suitable for consulting firms orfinancial firms. The candidate is asked to resolve a problem, a situation or a conflict at work thatmight have occurred or may occurred in future in relation to the job.Job interview related:• Case interview tips.• Situational interview questions.9. One-on-One InterviewIn a One-on-One interview, you will participate directly in an interview with one interviewer(normally who shall determine you are qualified or not). You will come to this round afterpassing a panel or group interview… and your abilities and skills have been proved qualifying.And now, you have to face with one interviewer who will ask you very specific about the job andyourself. To survive this interview, not only you need to demonstrate your abilities and skillsagain but also you have to know how to develop a friendly relation with the interviewer.10. Follow-up InterviewsIn some cases, the number of applicants in a job may reach thousands which means recruitmentprocess has such a hard job to do. In such cases, there may be a lot of “Screening” interviews toreduce the number of candidates and you will have to pass these follow-up interviews to be apotential candidate. There may be different interviewers as well. Remember that patience plays acrucial role in these interviews.Job interview related:• Second interview questions.11. Final Selection InterviewThere is always a final decision-maker during a recruitment process who will decide if you areemployed or not. Normally, in the third interview phase, you will be met with this person. He orshe shall personally interview you with very strict questions. Only a few can manage to this finalinterview with this person. Pass this and you get the job. Lose it, you may lose the job, too;however, you will still be in the list of potential candidates. Patience, Politeness, Professionaland Friendliness are the keys to succeed in this phase. The employer may ask other people aboutyou, even the receptionist any each member of the interview panel. Just keep your head coolfacing this VIP and you will get your desired job.12. Informational InterviewThis type of interview is more like a meeting between a candidate and the interviewer to providemore information about the job and the company to the candidate. Job-seekers shall be the oneswho “interview” the employers and the employers shall provide information about the job as
7. 6. asked. The candidates may present their skills and qualifications to the employers and ask ifthose are qualified for the job while the employers may note down anyone whose qualification isremarkable.13. Structured InterviewNormally, Screening Interview is combined with another technique which is called structuredinterview. Due to time limits, in structure interview, copies of a questionnaire shall be given toall the applicants and require them to fill in. Questions may be about specific duties of the job,information about the company or the industry. Nevertheless, the answer shall then berecollected and compared with others to select out those most outstanding