Questions frequently asked during job interview

Job interview is part of the recruitment process which can determine whether you are selected as the shortlisted candidates and of course, are suitable for the job.

Suitable for the job must be from both sides, means, from the interviewer and the interviewee, not only about the job specification, job descriptions, job responsibilities, adaptable abilities, leadership skills and many others but also related to the competitive remuneration package.

A good and professional job interview will agree on an appropriate schedule so both sides can be punctual and come well prepared.

From several interviews experienced, you might probably notice that several questions asked are relatively similar from one interview to another.  Therefore, you should be able to do some research and study prior to the interview with the expectation to have smooth and successful discussion.

Here are several most common questions frequently asked during job interview particularly in the hotel industry.

Question 1. Tell us about yourself

Remember that the interviewer has your details written in your submitted curriculum vitae or resume, hence, be honest about your work experiences and educational background.  You do not need to repeat all on what are in the resume to describe about yourself, but it is better to summarize what is important to highlight particularly your skills, abilities and achievements and how you can contribute to the company.

Question 2. What do you know about the company?

First of all, you are applying to a specific company or hotel and therefore, you must know what makes you interested to apply.  Do some research about the company or the hotel in advance though online or find out from your colleagues who works there or had previously worked there.

Knowing the information about the company or the hotel that you are applying will be an interesting topic of discussion during interview.  You can also congratulate the interviewer if you find out on any awards or achievements that the company or the hotel recently wins

Question 3. What encourage you to apply for the job?

Again, you will need to know about the company or the hotel information and profile.  Your answer may vary, such as, because of the company credibility, the scope of job opportunity, the company history on career development, the company achievements, brief information that you have on how the company take care of its employees, a good job opportunity for your career enhancement and many others.

Question 4. Tell us about your greatest achievement

Be honest and be realistic when informing on your achievement, meaning the information is factual. Some of achievements can be related to awards won, revenue target achievement, new customers acquired, production increment of existing customers, won large bidding project, successfully handled big project or event, social media boost, maintain or reduce cost with good marketing activities.

Be prepared on your answer in advance, so you can easily provide the necessary information as asked

Question 5. With your experiences, how can you contribute to the company?

Do not give promises if you cannot keep and achieve.

Be strategic and again, be realistic on your answer.  You can inform your list of priority tasks when you join the company.  Say, if there is currently a significant high turnover team in the department, then besides revenue as the main priority to focus on, the other thing will be to recruit an experience and suitable key team player within a certain time frame.

If you know that the hotel is lack of certain market segment, then, if realistic, you can also mention to capture a particular market segment that can give a certain percentage of revenue contribution.

Question 6. How do you see yourself in 3 or 5 years?

This is not an easy question, but still, you will need to be able to give an answer.  By giving your future expectation, at least, you provide the company or the hotel on your ambition and what you expect on your career path.

Question 7. The questions will be related to the periods of your working pattern

Some examples are,

• Why you stay in that company for short periods of time
• You have been in the company for over 10 years and why you decide to move to another company now
• There is a time gap in your working experiences, can you please provide the information on that

Question 8. If you find any obstacle, how do you overcome it?

Provide an example based on your real working experiences because challenging and obstacle will always part of the job. What matter is on how you can overcome the situation and prevent the situation to happen again.

Question 9. What is your salary or package expectation?

Again, this is not an easy question.  But the most important is that the figures or package will make you happy.  Do not compare with what your colleagues get, because enough for them may not be enough for you and vice versa.

Question 10. Do you have any questions for me?

Do ensure that you have prepared several questions to ask the interviewers.  Asking some questions can create an image that you are interested with the job and the company.

Question 11. When can you start?

This question is usually asked in the initial interview, although there are still some follow up interviews to go before being a short-listed candidate.

Do not say you can join as soon as possible, if there is a month or 2 months’ notice required in your current company. When you plan to resign, then leave with a good memory. The same thing when you join a new company, then start with a good impression.

All of the questions mentioned earlier are not in a particular order, so do prepare yourself to get random questions during a job interview.  When you are a school fresh graduated or an initial start of your career journey, some of these questions may not be relevant yet, but these can become your references.

Do come well prepared and be punctual for your interview schedule.

Wish you the best of luck.