Archive for the 'Interviews' Category
“How would you deal with a difficult/aggressive client?” is quite an easy question when you know exactly how you would deal with this problem. The key to difficult clients is to make then easy to deal with. Sounds too simple, well it is really.
Difficult or aggressive clients obviously have some reason to come into or contact your office and it’s your role to find out what is the problem. If it’s possible you can resolve the issue or find someone who can.
The first thing to do with these clients is stand firm; do not take abuse or yelling personally. They are frustrated or upset and you are bearing the brunt of it. Deep down they know it’s not your fault but you are in the firing line. Take a deep breath, count to 10 and wait for them to take a breath.
In a calm and reasonable voice, ask them what the problem is and how they want you to help. Make sure you listen to what they are saying and paraphrase (repeat) what they have said. Take notes, so you can demonstrate that you are treating this seriously and you want to help. Once they see that you do take their problem seriously they will calm down quite a bit.
Once you have all the necessary information if you can help them, advise them on the course of action you will take and make sure you follow through. If you can’t help, get someone who can. If it’s your Supervisor or another team member, get their assistance. If the person who can assist is out of the office take a detailed message, with all the contact details of the upset client and pass it on. Make sure they follow up and resolve the issue. If they have an email address and you intend to email the necessary party, send a carbon copy (cc) to the upset client, so they can see that you have done all you can.
In your interview the points you need to make sure you raise are:
- Talk in a calm and reasonable voice, no patronising or sarcastic tones;
- Take detailed notes and paraphrase the client, to demonstrate that you are listening and show empathy with them;
- Provide all the assistance you can with solving the problem or bring in a third person if you can’t resolve the problem yourself;
- Ensure the client leaves with the knowledge that you have done everything in your power to fix the issue and is happy with the level of customer service that he received from your department
With this question, just think how you like to be treated when you go into a customer service department with a problem and what level of service you expect from the relevant staff. As long as you say you will go the extra mile for clients you will do fine.
If you come across this question, “Why did you apply for this position?”, whatever you do, don’t mention money, hate your current boss or anything that can put you in a negative light. A positive spin is needed to be placed on any negative reasons for leaving. It is a similar response to “Why do you want to work for us?”, with slight variations.
If you are looking for another job because you’re current employer is difficult to work with, then say “you feel that your skills are being undervalued in your current workplace and feel that this position offers new challenges that can only improve your knowledge and experience”.
If it is money related - then lie 
No employer wants to hear a future employee admit that they are money motivated, even though everyone is. At the end of the day we all need money to make ends meet, but your employer wants to believe that essentially you are working for them, because you want to not because you have to.
So, when you are first posed with this question, your research should be able to help you out with this response. Tell them that this role offers:
- An opportunity to utilise skills and experience in a challenging environment;
- It is the type of role that you have been seeking as you will be extending yourself mentally;
- A chance to use and improve key skills (make sure the skills are relevent to the job specification);
- it’s an opening for career advancement with a progressive company that encourages training and self improvement.
With these types of responses you are telling them that you have a plan to move up the career ladder, you believe that they are a great firm to work for and you have the skills and abilities to do the job that they require you to do. This makes you and them look good.
Remember flattery will get you everywhere - as long as it’s in moderation.
“Why should we pick you over the other candidates” this is an absolute dream question as long as you are comfortable with talking about yourself and selling yourself. The key is (along with every other question) is research into the role and what type of person you believe they are looking for to fill the position.
A well researched person will be able to pick out the skills that they have that would help them fit into the position straight away. For example if it’s an Administration position, highlight the fact that you have typing skills, basic bookkeeping/accounting skills, have done accounts receivable and/or accounts payable. You have worked on a Switchboard, maintained records, undertaken data entry work. Anything and everything that will make you look employable.
However, this is also a question where you get to think outside of the box and mention your personal skills that make you a better person than someone else who doesn’t mention their ability to work under pressure, sense of humour, empathetic with clients and other personal skills that make you the great person that you are.
Don’t forget to tell the panel that you are a quick learner and back up the statement with an example. Like you had to learn new software in a previous role or filing system, something that you would have to learn under pressure and in a short time frame. This also earns points.
Don’t ramble on though, don’t tell them everything about yourself, just the key points that highlight your positives. If you think you have been talking about how fabulous you are for more than say 5 minutes (without examples) then I think you have covered enough. I would aim for about the 2-5 minute mark unless they are starting to look like they are losing interest then I would wrap that question up.
Excellent comments to make for this question:
- Calm under pressure
- Don’t stress easily
- Keep my sense of humour under all conditions
- Amicable, easy to get along with
- Strong (insert skills here)
- Enthusiastic
- Quick learner
- Use initiative
- Interact well with others
- Comment on skills that you have already that is required by the position
- Ability to delegate
- Leadership ability
- Finally, the 2 R’s - Responsible and Reliable
There are plenty of other comments you can make to this question, but remember these are the one’s that the interview panel are looking for, it demonstrates teamwork ability, leadership ability (when required), you are someone they can count on and you won’t require much training as you already have key skills.
One of the most common interview questions is “Why do you want to work for us?” For the unprepared this can be quite a daunting question which is why it is routinely asked. The interview panel is trying to establish what you know about their company and the position you are applying for as well as judging your confidence in responding to the question.
If you have done your homework on the company you can mention key areas you are interested in and how you enjoy different challenges. For example, if it is a research position in a hospital, you would have beforehand looked to see what research they are currently doing and tailor your response accordingly.
For example:
I have looked into the Cancer research that Xyz hospital is currently undertaking. In my previous role I have undertaken similar research and feel that these skills would be transferable. I enjoy the challenge of research and this is an area I feel quite passionate about. I feel that participating in the research at Xyz hospital would enhance my knowledge and skills, whilst I would be an valuable team member.
You could then go on more about the type of research that they are doing and elaborate more on what you have done and how you anticipate using your skills and selling yourself.
The key to this question is background information before going into the interview. To sell yourself for this question, you need to know and understand what you will be undertaking in the role.
At my current place of work, the Administration ASO 1 employees work under a generic job specification and can be expected to work in three different types of positions; Correspondence, Reception and Sundry Debtors. If you were to apply for an ASO 1 position and were asked this question a good response would be:
This Administration position will enable me to have the opportunity to further enhance my skills in three key areas which are quite diverse. I have had training in Administration and feel that this position will give me day to day challenges that will stretch my experience but will also improve my skill base. In my previous role I mainly worked in a Customer Services role which has prepared me for working in Reception. However, I have undertaken courses and have knowledge with financial procedures, data entry and records management. I welcome the chance for on-job training and to develop my knowledge and would be keen to participate in job rotation.
The above statement demonstrates that you have researched the position, you have the necessary skills and you are also prepared for further training, if necessary.
