The Workosaur Blog

When this question is thrown at you during the interview, there are two things you need to remember:

1. Do not project the opportunity, which you are being interviewed for, as a short-term arrangement. Organizations exist to make profits and are not training institutes. They will only be interested in recruiting you if you show a long-term commitment.

2. Do not be presumptuous. While there is nothing wrong in being ambitious and setting goals, the last thing the interviewer wants to hear from you is that you would soon be their boss and CEO. Read the rest of this entry »

This question is frequently posed by interviewers to check if you’ve done your homework before the interview. If you haven’t, you lose because it indicates that you are not truly motivated and excited about the opportunity. On the other hand, if you have done your homework, you can use this question to nail the interview.

Here are a few suggestions for research:

1. Search for contacts in the company (use LinkedIn for this) who could give you a first-hand account of its operations and work culture. Ideally, you should speak to at least 2-3 people on the inside to get a true picture. Try to know what they personally think is great about the company. Make note of seemingly insignificant but interesting anecdotes from their experiences. Read the rest of this entry »

A sure shot question at most interviews (even till the middle management level) is, ‘What are your strengths/weaknesses?’ In many ways it is the most honest question asked at interviews. The question could be simple or challenging based on whether you have thought it through. Hence do prepare for it.

Seasoned interviewers have certain expectations when they ask the question, hence here are some tips! Read the rest of this entry »

Some interviewers employ techniques to intimidate jobseekers and gauge how they respond when under stress. Silence is one such technique. The situation generally arises when you are done answering a pointed or difficult question. Then as though you’ve spoken a lie, the interviewer stares back at you and maintains an extended silence. This is designed to ruffle your feathers, and most candidates are seduced into this trap and fill the void of silence with an irrelevant rambling that botches up whatever was spoken earlier. Read the rest of this entry »

In the article Explaining Time Gaps in your Resume, we touched upon the changes that one should make to their resume when they are starting work after a break. While these changes help you get an interview shortlist, you are most likely to be asked ‘Why have you been out of work so long?’ during the interview. Obviously, you don’t want to end up looking like a book that’s gathered dust. Here’s our take on how you should tackle this question. Read the rest of this entry »

Whenever I’ve attended an interview for a job, I always had a fair sense of whether I had made the cut. However, there are times when you just don’t know whether you’ve cracked it. Here’s what one can do in such a situation. Read the rest of this entry »

How many square feet of chapatis are eaten in India each day?
What is the size of the market for contact lens in the world?
How many kilometers of road are there in India?

Guesstimate questions like the ones above are amongst the most unnerving questions that one may have to answer in an interview situation. They have the ability of shaking up an otherwise calm, collected candidate. What one should realize is that the interviewers ask such questions with a specific objective. They wish to test the candidate’s approach to guesstimates rather than the knowledge of the actual answer. Since guesstimate questions require the candidate to think out loud, it showcases the candidate’s ability to analyze a situation and form conclusions based on sound rationale. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s interview time. You do all the preparatory work. This includes researching the company, getting a critical insight into the job profile, checking for the fit, visualizing the interview panel and even practicing before the mirror! Yet the first basic question could throw you out of gear if you do not anticipate it. Read the rest of this entry »