Campus Placement
Questions & Answers for Freshers
- Oliveboard
Dear Aspirants,
A lot of college-going
students may have never faced an interview before. Therefore, in the following
article, we are providing the most common interview questions and their answers
to help them prepare themselves before facing it during their college
campus placements.
Make sure you look presentable
for the interview and have done your homework on the company you’re applying
for. Ask permission before entering the interview room, give them a firm
handshake, introduce yourself with a smile and sit when they ask you to. Here
are some general questions asked in the interviews:
Personal
questions
1.
Tell us something about yourself.
This is perhaps the most common
question asked and almost always the first thing asked in an interview. This is
your chance to talk about yourself. When the interviewer asks you to tell about
yourself, he/she wants to know details about you that you haven’t mentioned in
your resume. Therefore, do not include your name/qualification/extra-curricular
activities. You could however speak about your hobbies, interests, etc.
2.
Have you taken part in extra-curricular activities?
Do not talk about your hobbies
here. There’s a difference between hobbies and extra-curricular activities.
While hobbies are activities you do in your spare time, extra-curricular
activities are activities you do at school/college-level where you have a
certificate to back it up. It could be voluntary work like organizing an event
or participating in sports, theatre and other competitions.
3.
What newspapers/books/magazines do you read?
Make sure you answer this
honestly. There’s a chance the interviewer will ask you the headline on the
front page. By the bye, if you are an IT student, refer to Data Quest available
in the College Library/ Reading Room. Other subject oriented journals are also
available. Have a look at them periodically.
4.
What’s your greatest achievement?
This need not always be
academic achievement. It could be from your social life in the past too. Think
and answer it.
5.
Are you an introvert or extrovert?
Saying that you’re an introvert
or an extrovert can classify you as an extreme, which is bad for you. When at
work, your behavior needs to be as per the requirement. You can say that you
behave as per the requirement and can be both.
6.
Do you have plans for further studies?
This could be a tricky question
to answer. If you answer with a yes, the company might feel that your further
studies and work life may not complement each other. They might also feel that
you would be working with them for a limited time. Be diplomatic here and say
that you haven’t thought about it yet and will probably consider it after
gaining some work experience in the industry and gaining some insights.
7.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
You can definitely expect this
question in every interview, so be prepared for it. Do a SWOT (Strength,
Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of yourself at home. Talk to your
friends and family members, ask them about your good qualities and bad. Take an
honest feedback from them. Everyone has weaknesses, however, you can’t mention
a weakness that can be an obstacle for the role you’re applying for. For
example, if your job is sales, you can’t say you aren’t fluent in communicating
or aren’t persuasive, etc. You could offer a strength of yours as a weakness,
or mention weakness that is not related to your work.
8.
Where do you see yourself 5 years from now?
Learn about the industry you’re
in and do an analysis. Talk to experienced professionals from the industry and
understand it’s future as well as the growth pattern and how much time it’s
going to take to get promoted from one position to another and whether you have
the skills required. You need to be brutally honest with yourself here. If you
don’t already have the skills, are you willing to develop them and how?
9.
What is success for you?
Success is a subjective thing
and can mean different things to different people. Don’t give them a cliched
answer to this question. There’s not definitive answer to what success it, so
tell them what it means to you.
Questions
about the role
1.
Why does this role interest you? why have you applied?
This is asked to assess your
interest levels in the role you’ve applied for. The interviewee wants to know
if you’re really interested or have applied because you were jobless. Try and
relate the job requirements with your candidature and explain to the interviewee
why you’re suitable for the post.
2.
What skills do you want to develop to success in the role?
Mention and talk about the
roles necessary for the role you have applied for. This will show the
interviewee that you’re ready to learn and also that you’re aware of your
shortcomings. Tell them that, as a fresher, you have the ability to work hard
but require a formal training to enhance the skills you have for professional
environment.
3.
Can you work comfortably in a team?
Almost every organizations have
teams and they focus on team works which requires a lot of adjustments. The
interviewee here wants to know if you can work in teams comfortably. If
you have prior experience of working in teams in your school/college projects,
you can mention them here and share the experience with the. Know that in a
team, every one’s thought process is different and everyone thinks differently.
You need to have the ability to handle this and lead the team. The interviewee
wants to know how good you’re at interacting with team and coordinating.
4.
Are there any kind of people you cannot work with?
As we mentioned above, it’s
important that you adjust when you’re working in teams.
5.
Are you willing to relocate in India?
Answer this honestly and tell
them if you have any plans to relocate in India and explain why.
6.
Do you mind working in shifts?
You don’t have to agree just
for the sake of it. Answer honestly and tell them if whether you’re ready to
work in shifts or not. Mention if you have any inhibitions about working in
shifts.
7.
Do you have a valid passport?
A lot of companies send their employees
to foreign countries for training. It’s a plus point if you have a passport. If
you have a passport, do mention it on your resume. If you don’t, then tell them
you will get it done as soon as possible in case it’s required.
8.
Would you be open to change your project/profile when required?
The interviewer wants to know
if you’re ready to change roles and if you’re versatile enough for that. This
is important for the company as they want their employees to be adaptable and
willing to change roles as per business requirements. Your answer typically
should be yes and that you understand it will be in the best interest of the
business and if your manager wants you to develop skills to take up another
role, you’d do it.
9.
Why do you want to join our organization?
This is asked to check whether
you have done your homework on the organization. Make sure you have read
thoroughly about the organization through their website and social media and
have gathered all their details before the interview. Tell them why you think
their organization is great and how it is going to help you grow in your
career.
10.
How long will you work for us?
Every company knows that every
professional working in their company will aspire a change as some point in
their career. You could however, be diplomatic and tell them you haven’t
thought about it or you could answer honestly too.
11.
Are you speaking to other companies too?
Honestly answer this and say
yes if you are.
12.
Which companies?
Don’t reveal the names of the companies.
You can say that you respect the confidentiality of that company and you
wouldn’t like to name them and say this politely.
13.
Why have you been turning down jobs?
Tell them that you did not find
those jobs suitable for your candidature. Also, never bad mouth other
organizations. That could give the interviewer a bad impression about you.
14.
What can you contribute for the organization?
The organization expects you to
be an asset to them. You need to put in your 100% in everything you do for the
betterment of the organization. You need to work with loyalty, integrity, have
excellent knowledge, ability to work, coordinate with teams, meet deadlines,
work hard, be goal oriented and have an encouraging and supportive nature.
15.
Why should we hire you?
This is asked almost in every
interview. You can talk about your greatest strengths here and link it with
your job requirements. The company will hire you if they see that you can add
value to the job. Tell them how your skills will help that position and about
your ability to grasp things and learn quickly and your flexible attitude.
These are some of the qualities interviewers look for in freshers.
16.
What salary are you expecting?
Be frank about your
expectations in terms of salary, perks, career and future plans. Before the
interview find out the average salary paid in that industry by leading
organizations depending on post you’ve applied for. If you’re a fresher, tell
them the salary is negotiable and put the ball in their court.
17.
How soon can you join us?
Think and answer this question
and tell them frankly if you need time. Sometimes if you need to relocate for
the job you will need some time for your commitments. A lot of freshers commit
to an early joining date due to anxiety and face problems later. If you
post-pone the joining it will give them a bad impression even before you join
the company. Therefore give a practical answer.
18.
Do you have any questions for us?
Saying no and not asking any
questions could be seen as lack of interest in the job or dullness or even lack
of research on your part. Do ask about the growth opportunities you will get
while working and about their plans to expand and whether their company
encourages learning and the development of their employees. You could also
discuss your role in detail.
We hope the above common
interview questions and their answers helps you in your interview. You can save
this as a PDF to use as a handy guide for your interview
preparation.
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