http://www.assuredjob.in/blog/ Latest Blogs Sat, 09 May 2026 19:50:59 +0530 en-us http://www.assuredjob.in http://www.assuredjob.in/blog/basic-questions-asked-in-any-job-interview_5774.htm http://www.assuredjob.in/blog/basic-questions-asked-in-any-job-interview_5774.htm Fri, 25 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0530 It’s a well known fact that looking at a candidate’s past behaviour is the best way to predict their future performance. So don’t waste any more precious interview time asking hypothetical questions. Behavioural interview questions will let you understand in detail how a candidate has acted in specific situations. First, identify the core behaviours you’d like your candidates to  demonstrate. Then you can then select your specific questions from the list below.   ABILITY TO HANDLE STRESS What has been the most stressful situation you have ever found yourself in at work? How did you handle it? What have you done in the past to prevent a situation from becoming too stressful for you or your colleagues to handle? ADAPTABILITY Tell me about a situation in which you have had to adjust to changes over which you had no control. How did you handle it? Tell me about a time when you had to adjust to a colleague’s working style in order to complete a project or achieve your objectives. How was your transition from high school to university? Did you face any particular problems? How did you handle them? ANALYTICAL SKILLS / PROBLEM SOLVING Describe the project or situation that best demonstrates your analytical abilities. What was your role? Tell me about a time when you had to analyze information and make a recommendation. What kind of thought process did you go through? Was the recommendation accepted? If not, why? Tell me about a situation where you had to solve a difficult problem. What did you do? What was the outcome? What do you wish you had done differently? What steps do you follow to study a problem before making a decision? Why? ATTENTION TO DETAIL What process do you use to check that you have the right details from a customer? Give me an example of a time you discovered an error that been overlooked by a colleague. What did you do? What was the outcome? Tell me about a time that you were confused by a customer’s request. What steps did you take to clarify things? CLIENT FOCUS / CUSTOMER ORIENTATION When have you had to deal with an irate customer? What did you do? How did the situation end up? Tell me about a time you have “inherited” a customer. What steps did you take to establish rapport with them? What did you do to gain their trust? How have you handled a situation in the past where your client has changed the brief or “changed the goalposts”? Give an example of a time you went well out of your way to ensure a customer received the best possible service from you and organisation. What was their reaction? When have you ever gone out on a limb to defend a customer? What happened? COMMUNICATION Tell me about a recent successful experience in making a speech or presentation? When have you had to present to a group of people with little or no preparation? What obstacles did you face? How did you handle them? Have you ever had to “sell” an idea to your co-workers? How did you do it? Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa). What obstacles or difficulties have you ever faced in communicating your ideas to a manager? Tell me about a time in which you had to use your written communication skills in order to get an important point across. When have you chosen to communicate a particular message in person as opposed to via email even though the email channel would have been a lot faster? CREATIVITY When was the last time you thought “outside the box” and how did you do it? Why? Tell me about a problem that you’ve solved in a unique or unusual way. What was the outcome? Were you happy or satisfied with it? Give me an example of when someone brought you a new idea that was odd or unusual. What did you do? When have you brought an innovative idea into your team? How was it received? DECISION MAKING Tell me about a time when you had to make a decision without all the information you needed. How did you handle it? Give me an example of a time when you had to be quick in coming to a decision. What obstacles did you face? What is the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make at work? How did you arrive at your decision? What was the result? Give me an example of a business decision you made that you ultimately regretted. What happened? GOAL SETTING Give me an example of an important career goal which you set yourself and tell me how you reached it. What obstacles did you encounter? How did you overcome the obstacles? Tell me about a professional goal that you set that you did not reach. How did it make you feel? How have you gone about setting short-term goals and long-term goals for yourself or your team? What steps did you take along the way to keep yourself accountable? INITIATIVE Describe a project or idea (not necessarily your own) that was implemented primarily because of your efforts. What was your role? What was the outcome? Describe a situation in which you recognized a potential problem as an opportunity. What did you do? What was the result? What, if anything, do you wish you had done differently? Tell me about a project you initiated. What did you do? Why? What was the outcome? Were you happy with the result? Tell me about a time when your initiative caused a change to occur. What has been the best idea you have come up with during your professional career? INTEGRITY/HONESTY Discuss a time when your integrity was challenged. How did you handle it? Tell me about a time when you experienced a loss for doing what is right. How did you react? Tell me about a business situation when you felt honesty was inappropriate. Why? What did you do? Give a specific example of a policy you conformed to with which you did not agree. Why? INTERPERSONAL SKILLS Give an example of when you had to work with someone who was difficult to get along with. How/why was this person difficult? How did you handle it? How did the relationship progress? Describe a situation where you found yourself dealing with someone who didn’t like you. How did you handle it? Describe a recent unpopular decision you made. How was it received? How did you handle it? What, in your opinion, are the key ingredients in guiding and maintaining successful business relationships? Give me examples of how you have made these work for you. Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully communicate with another person even when that individual may not have personally liked you (or vice versa). How did you handle the situation? Tell me about a time when you had to work on a team with someone you did not get along with. What happened? Describe a situation where you had a conflict with another individual, and how you dealt with it. What was the outcome? How did you feel about it? LEADERSHIP Tell me about a team project when you had to take charge of the project? What did you do? What was the result? Describe a leadership role of yours outside of work. Why did you commit your time to it? How did you feel about it? What is the toughest group that you have ever had to lead? What were the obstacles? How did you handle the situation? What has been your greatest leadership achievement in a professional environment? Talk through the steps you took to reach it. What have been the greatest obstacles you have faced in building/growing a team? Describe a time when you have not only been responsible for leading a team of people but for also doing the same job as your team members? How did you juggle/balance your time? PLANNING AND ORGANISATION / TIME MANAGEMENT Describe a situation that required you to do a number of things at the same time. How did you handle it? What was the result? How do you prioritize projects and tasks when scheduling your time? Give me some examples. Tell me about a project that you planned. How did your organize and schedule the tasks? Tell me about your action plan. When has a project or event you organised not gone according to plan? What happened? Why? How did you feel? SALES / NEGOTIATION Tell me about your previous success in building a customer base from a standing start. What steps did you take? What is your greatest sales-related achievement to date? What steps led to the final outcome? Describe a time when you convinced a resistant customer to utilize your services. What was the most stressful professional negotiation you have been involved in? How did you handle it? TEAMWORK Describe a situation where others you were working with on a project disagreed with your ideas. What did you do? Tell me about a time when you worked with a colleague who was not doing their share of the work. How did you handle it? Describe a situation in which you had to arrive at a compromise or help others to compromise. What was your role? What steps did you take? What was the result? Tell me about a time when you had to work on a team that did not get along. What happened? What role did you take? What was the result? What was the biggest mistake you have made when delegating work as part of a team project? Tell me about a time when you had settle a dispute between team members. How did you go about identifying the issues? What was the result? What have you found to be the difficult part of being a member, not leader, of a team? How did you handle this? TENACITY / RESILIENCE Tell me about a particular work-related setback you have faced. How did you deal with it? When have you ever found yourself in a competitive situation professionally? How did you handle it? When have you seen your tenacity or resilience really pay off in a professional setting? What was the outcome? Courtesy:- http://recruitloop.com http://www.assuredjob.in/blog/how-to-create-a-culture-of-leadership_5789.htm http://www.assuredjob.in/blog/how-to-create-a-culture-of-leadership_5789.htm Thu, 31 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0530       Culture is a composition of 'Intellectual Activity'. In this competitive world, a key factor behind a company's success, apart from product differentiation and quality of service, is its culture. One of the most important aspects of culture is the pursuit of transforming employees into leaders. So, how does a company go about achieving this?   Give Ownership- Ownership plays a big role here. Believe and let employees own their role, make them accountable for the tasks in hand and see how they develop. Responsibility imposes the mind to think beyond the visible horizon. It enhances productivity since bringing the outcome is in the hands of the owner which necessarily mean it has to be the best.   Role Rotation- Role rotation or switch is another feature in transforming employees into leaders. This would essentially mean that high potential employees should be exposed to a set of functions and not just one. What is expected of a leader is that he should be abreast of all the nuts and bolts of the company. He should hold a holistic view of the company and be able to examine the different facets of the business through his knowledge and understanding and therefore, it is important that employees of the organization are allowed exposure to all inter-linked functions.   For instance, an employee in product development should also be exposed to product marketing to understand the market trends, competition and in turn use that information for enhancements. It will prepare him for an elevated role by making him a better developer.   Find Your Core- However, giving opportunities like these cannot be random for there are possible chances of confusion and unilateral decision-making. Hence, this should be properly planned and structured keeping the Vision of the company and most importantly the core business in range. So, if you are in the business of developing software for the hospitality industry, every person in the product team must feel responsible towards the design and the product getting developed. Focus cannot just shift away from the nucleus of the company and the culture should thoroughly imbibe it.   Leader Shows the Way- Having emphasized on the theme of empowerment, it must be evident that we rule out the process of 'micro-management' completely in the company. What works is leadership of participative style, which is to say that leaders show the path, trust and delegate responsibilities, create ownership in roles and stay juxtapose to guide if required. He must see the picture through the company's eyes.   Liberty to Speak Your Mind- When you say you have a workforce who is empowered there is a level of liberty which is a must and should be bestowed upon them to make an expression of their thoughts.   Define Clarity of Purpose- Creating a culture of leadership comes naturally for a startup when the team is small and everyone swims together. It is only when you start reaching scale that you need to start talking about creating a culture of leadership. The clarity of purpose as to why it is important to create such a culture must be established.   Walk the Talk- Merely defining and laying down components of a successful culture is not sufficient. In fact following and believing in it is very crucial for its success, which is why should be - 'Walk the Talk'. A culture of leadership thrives best when employees are recognized for their contribution and where applauses and rewards follow suit.       Content Source: Internet Written by Amit Kumar http://www.assuredjob.in/blog/the-one-thing-every-employer-wants-to-see-on-your-resume_5864.htm http://www.assuredjob.in/blog/the-one-thing-every-employer-wants-to-see-on-your-resume_5864.htm Sat, 13 Feb 2016 00:00:00 +0530 It’s tough out there in the job market. And it may be getting tougher if you are following the news. You are elbow-to-elbow with the competition, jostling for attention. To make matters worse, some companies are still hunting and slowing down the hiring process for everyone.    Your goal is to grab the hiring manager’s attention without embarrassing yourself and land the interview — you can take it from there.   With such a competitive environment, it is no surprise that hiring managers only spend an average six seconds on each resume. You know your resume needs to stand out if you want to get noticed.   Your resume and LinkedIn profile are airtight — really as close to perfect as you can get them. Your work history is solid, your credentials are impressive and your references are ready to sing your praises.   But for all of your effort, your resume might still be missing the one thing that employers really want to see.   One thing companies are really looking for. What is it?   Results.  Many job seekers use descriptors like “conscientious,” “self-motivated” or detail-oriented” to share the details of their career. But resumes that focus on results tell a different story altogether.   To be effective, a resume must be more than a recitation of every job you have held the last 10 years.   If you want to make that indelible first impression on a hiring manager, you must show movement and real progress, and quantify your accomplishments with real, hard data.   Here is an example. You could say that you “successfully trained the customer success team to improve customer communications.” Or, you “created 25 template responses and trained the customer success team, reducing average response time to under two hours.” See how the details can make all the difference?   Here is why sharing results is the best way for you to stand out. Results will demonstrate:   Past successThe best predictor of future success is past success, and that is what hiring managers are on the hunt for. When you include this evidence, they will be confident that you have the experience and potential to excel in a brand-new role.   Goal-first mentalityA results-driven resume shows that you understand the company's goals and you work to achieve them. When you make sure that your resume is crisp, short on fluff and filler, and loaded with valuable data, you will stand out as a serious candidate.   ConfidenceThe resume is no place to be shy about your accomplishments throughout your career. You are smart to use this opportunity to toot your own horn, presenting yourself as a person who is comfortable in their own skin and takes pride in their accomplishments.   AmbitionWhen you share the results of your hard work, you paint a picture of a no-nonsense professional who understands the value of time and will not waste it. It shows that you know how to get things done and that you understand what matters most.   CredibilityWith every resume they review, a hiring manager must decide whether they trust it to be the truth or not. A willingness to share results will make you more genuine and help establish that trust with a hiring manager.   Now that you know what hiring managers really want to see, take a fresh look at your own resume through their eyes.   What jumps out at you in those important six seconds?   If you do not see results, start over. Think about what is most important to share, and if necessary, take time to research your own accomplishments. Then draft a brand-new resume that lays out the details that hiring managers really want to see.   Your results-focused resume will present a more accurate snapshot of who you are and what you can do — and clear the way for others to see that too.   What do you think about focusing on results?     Content Soucre: Internet http://www.assuredjob.in/blog/busted-no-show-reasons_6294.htm http://www.assuredjob.in/blog/busted-no-show-reasons_6294.htm Mon, 05 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0530 “I met with an accident!”, “My best friend is hospitalized”, “I am unwell”, “My grandparent expired”, “important meeting at office scheduled and I got the update last night”, either the number which you try is not reachable or it is just switched off, list goes on. I always think “why all these happen to candidates on the day of Interview?” Few are just reasons which we cannot buy, while the others might be genuine which will get overshadowed.     We have different categories of people. One set of them sound dicey in the initial discussions itself for their availability on interview. Another set of them confirm every time and finally backs out. And few recruiters will schedule for the sake of numbers. Let’s play a fair game. List out candidates who are genuinely interested for the opportunity. There will be a lesser amount of back outs in this case.     Reasons for No Shows: – Candidate is not keen about the opportunity. Candidate has multiple interviews lined up on the same day. Candidates may not be interested in Recruitment Drives. Candidate may have heard from his/her friends that interview process is hard/bad impression about company/may have read some reviews in social media etc…   Let’s analyze them: –   Candidate is not keen about the opportunity –    Candidate may say yes to the opportunity but it might not be the same as what s/he is looking out for. It is a duty of a recruiter to understand their interests and priorities. We often would want them to say YES to the opportunity irrespective of their interests. This will be one of our biggest mistakes if we do so. If candidate is not interested in the opportunity s/he will not definitely turn up for the interview.     Candidate has multiple interviews lined up on the same day –    If s/he is an active job seeker, it is obvious to have multiple interviews lined up on the same day. Your competitors may also conduct interviews on the same day. We can look upon different ways to make them prioritize, else we can always look for a backup as we could sense a chance of his or her No Show. Else we can schedule them some other day.     Candidates might not be interested in Recruitment Drives –    Recruitment Drives are apt for Mass hiring, vanilla requirements, entry level and mid-level positions where the talent pool is huge. We have few set of people who are not interested to spend their time in recruitment drives. Especially senior folks. Reasons may be *Number of people who are attending the interview *Time consuming *Different filtering process *a “mass game” *and not ready for written/online tests. We can try scheduling this set of people to off drives/scheduled interviews.     Candidate may have heard from his/her friends that interview process is hard/bad impression about company/may have read some reviews in social media etc… What I believe is every organization has its own pros and cons, they can be unicorns or cockroaches or big brands. A wiser candidate would personally experience it rather than just listening to others. S/he may like something to work with them.   Perceptions may be anything but experience can change perceptions. It is one of our duties to give the best experience throughout the process irrespective of the results. To make sure candidates’ best experience we have to be responsive, continuous guidance, transparent process, and proper feedback. We often neglect candidates whose result is not positive. We are equally responsible to give them the feedback. It is not that if a candidate fails to crack interview at one place couldn’t crack anywhere else. Being transparent in giving feedback makes more sense.     To Add up: No shows are quite common in recruitment drives. As compared to recruitment drives, regular scheduled interviews have lesser number of back outs. There will be few exceptions where we can find very impressive turn outs and on the other hand it may be lesser than what we expect.     P.S.- The more you understand your candidates, the better chances for you to reduce “No Shows”.     Content Source: Internet