HR

Tell me something about yourself in brief

Thank you, Sir/Ma’am for this opportunity. I am from XYZ City and belong to a nuclear family. My father is a Central Government Employee and my mother is a Vice Principal at a private school. My younger sister will appear her CBSE 10th board this year. We are a very close-knit family. On an individual front, I perceive myself as a confident, conscientious and hardworking individual. I carry out any task assigned to me without hesitation, provided the instructions are clear. In the case of doubts, I never hesitate to put forth my questions. I have always been a fast learner, and I love to keep up my process of learning to figure out better ways of solving problems. Moreover, I love to compete with my own past performances than competing with my peers, as I believe that improvement is always better than perfection!”

Well, I am a confident, hardworking and a very professional individual. I have always carried out all the tasks assigned to me without hesitation, provided the instructions from my Reporting Managers or seniors were clear. I have also been a good mentor to my juniors and never hesitate to guide them. On the other hand, I am a creative person and I love to test my boundaries. In order to do so, I keep pushing myself to think out of the box!

I’m a management consultant with 12 years’ of experience that I have gained across multiple industries and sectors such as financial services, IT, Telecom, retail, and media. In my current job role, I am responsible for business development activities. In the last financial year alone, I sold projects totaling INR 40,00,000 to clients. On a daily basis, I handle a 10-member strong team of consultants and junior consultants. Besides being a management consultant, I am a fair and independent individual. I try not to be judgmental and always absorb constructive criticism, listen to my boss' inputs, my client's complaints as well as address my team members' issues, to my best possible abilities.”

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

I have several strengths namely – I am patient, committed, honest and self-motivated. I am the biggest dreamer I have ever come across! I forgive easily and hate to keep grudges in my heart. My greatest weakness is that I don't like getting interrupted when I am seriously into something. Another one of my weaknesses is that I trust people very easily. As I already said, I am a very patient person, so I am actively working on this lacuna.”

Possible Answer #2:

“I am impatient which is the reason why I am a quick learner. But I honestly believe that being impatient is a real weakness. I expect my team members to prove themselves and start delivering on the very first assignment. In case a particular resource fails, I have a tendency to stop delegating work to them and pick up projects on my own. I am working on this attitude and in my previous organizations, my peers helped me cope up with this to a great extent. To compensate for my own weakness, I prep my people about my exact expectations. Then I give them a complete scope of the assignment followed by various “checkpoint” dates, where they can update me about their progress, with a demo/presentation if applicable. In my previous job as a Project Manager, I was handling a 15-member team of both individual contributors and Business Managers like Lawyers, Web Designers, Graphic Designers, SEO/SEM Consultants, Editors, Writers and Callers. I used to break the entire task down into manageable chunks for each employee, followed by stringent timelines about when they would circle back to me. This process worked brilliantly, helped me stay within the assigned budget and helped everyone achieve their individual targets, as they learnt.”

What are your strong points? or What are your strengths?

Don’t just talk about your strengths, your interviewer genuinely wants to know about your strong points.

Possible Answer #1:

“I am passionate towards my work and also a good listener, which means, I take my instructions seriously. I am not a person who leaves things midway. I never lose focus, even if I am under stress or have stringent deadlines to meet. I like to finish every single task on my to-do list completely. Optimism, energy and my ability to learn quickly let me hit the ground and rapidly solve problems. I also have good communication skills which means I can deal fairly well with my business clients as well as with the members of my internal team, in the future. Based on my skills, abilities, and experience, I know I would be a great addition to the team.”

Possible Answer #2:

“I have the requisite skills to make your risk worth it. Chatting less and letting my work do the talking, is my motto. In the past, whatever project was assigned to me was delivered on time and also at par with all the quality standards.”

I’ve been told that I’m a very good manager. My team tells me that I give them a lot of freedom in how to do their work, which they really appreciate. They also say that I’m really enthusiastic, so when we’re faced with too much work, they tell me that my manner really helps to keep them motivated and calm. My boss also tells me that I’m very innovative in terms of finding new ways of working that cut out inefficiency.”

Since I like to build strong professional relationships with my teammates, most of them have become great friends. We have been spending eight hours a day, five days a week for several years now. So, I am sure that whatever they say, will be realistic and not made up. One thing that they will surely mention about me is my love for food! The rest is up to you to find out.

I am a good leader. That is the reason why today, I manage a 5-member strong team independently in an MNC. While assigning tasks, I consider people skills often. If a team member is feeling demotivated, I try my level best to understand them and accordingly control the situation. Bearing my performance as a Manager over the past few years, I would rate myself an 8.5/10, as there is still a lot of scope to learn and grow.

What makes you angry?

Possible Answer #1:

“I get angry when I get falsely accused of something that I did not do. 
Lack of order and discipline also irritates me, but 4 years of hostel life 
have taught me to cope and adjust with other people.”

What motivates you?

Possible Answer #1:

“I love public speaking. Preparing a presentation and talking about it in front of an audience, and then getting back to them with answers in the question and answer round, motivates me! The whole experience is so thrilling. As a Sales Rep, I think building a connection with my audience is useful, inspiring and exciting.”

Possible Answer #2:

“Meeting the set target within an assigned deadline motivates me the most. When I do so, I get a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. When this is coupled with an award, I feel all the more motivated. All in all, I like to achieve milestones, so that I can look back at them and say to myself, ‘Yes, that was my achievement.’ Visible results also motivate me.”

 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS

Strength: 

I can work under pressure.
I can adopt any new environment and mixed up with the folk easily.
Smart worker.
Honest.
Quick learner.
Can handle the situation.

Weakness :

I can trust easily on someone.
I never get comfort until I complete the work.
If someone lies I rebuked him on the face.
I think too much but sometimes it proves for me better because with more thinking I get the solution of the problem.

My strength:
* Hard worker.
* self-motivated person.
* Fast learner.

My Weakness:
* I am working on my weakness to overcome it.

• “I think my greatest strength is my positive attitude, even during the most hardest of times. During my college project, there has been couple of occasions, when our idea was not falling in place and the results were negative. I had to believe and think positively and keep my team motivated to persist on our idea, and finally we got the desired result.”
• “My best skill would be my verbal ability and articulation skill. I have worked as editor for our college magazine and have been involved with various literary forums during my school and college days.

2) Why do you want to work in this company?

This is a popular interview question

Following are 4 sample answers

Sample Answer 1:

I would be proud to work for a company like yours with such a long history of leadership in the industry.  I have carried out web research and believe that the company’s XYZ products and its future projections are very impressive and promising.  The XXX team is the team I would take pride to work with. A place where my skills or background fits perfectly and can be utilized respectively.

6) What would you consider your greatest strengths & weakness?

This is a popular interview question

Following are 4 sample answers

Sample answer #1

My strength is my ability to convert negative work environment into a positive and at the same time, developing a supportive team. I am also capable of keeping many projects on track and ensuring deadlines are met. As far as my weakness is concerned I get impatient sometimes in order to get everything done very quickly. To tackle the problem, I am trying to re-consider the to-do list and prioritize the tasks.

Sample answer #2

I am very comfortable working with a different group of people. My strength is my analytical and planning skills, developed over the years, help me to complete my work before the deadline. I am a little bit nervous while speaking in a group, but I have given good number of paper presentation to overcome this.

What motivates you?

This is a popular interview question

Following are 4 sample answers

Sample Answer #1

I am very result-oriented person; my primary motivation is to achieve the desired end result.  While I enjoy working on the project of my own, I am particularly motivated by the buzz of working in a team. It’s very exciting working closely with others, who share the same common goal. I also like to take on the challenge, and rise to that challenge as part of a concerted team effort.

Sample Answer #2

Primarily, my ability to work hard and delivering result motivates me.  But subsequent recognition of my efforts gives me the encouragement for my next efforts.

Sample Answer #3

Responsibility towards work motivates me the most and my aim within any company is to move up to greater levels of responsibility to achieve each goal with better responsibilities.

Sample Answer #4

Many things motivate me. My goal to be the best of what I can be often motivates me to go beyond my own expectations. When I see myself being productive everyday, it motivates me to continue.

13) Why should we hire you?

Following are 5 sample answers

Sample Answer 1:

In my XXX years of experience as a manager, I have build-up a solid motivational and team-working skills. I was awarded twice as the manager-of-the-year for my excellent methodologies for motivating employees to encounter challenges and meeting deadlines. If hired, I will carry forward this ability of leadership and strategies for achieving profit gains to this position.

Sample Answer 2:

The subjects I chose while working for my degree in XXX subject have prepared me for this particular post. Also, my two-year experience working with company X has given me the platform to master the skills that I needed to deliver for this position. It seems as if I was prepared all my life to land this job.

17) Describe your management style.
Basically, my management style comes with promptness and flexibility. To make sure goals are achieved, I religiously study and make plans down to the smallest detail. While I do implement a strict sense of being time bounded, I also add reasonable allowances and make room for contingencies.

17) Describe your management style.
Basically, my management style comes with promptness and flexibility. To make sure goals are achieved, I religiously study and make plans down to the smallest detail. While I do implement a strict sense of being time bounded, I also add reasonable allowances and make room for contingencies.