Last week I found an interesting book called Ultimate Guide To Job Interview Answers. Having myself hired many people I was intrigued what the book had to offer. Of course before being responsible for hiring people, I had been on the opposite side of the table -- being interviewed.

I have seen 90% of job interviews going over the same old questions, again and again. Sometimes the questions were funny and sometimes they were just irritating. This is because of "allocation of labor" -- the HR may not understand the exact requirements of R&D. Even if the candidate is perfect for R&D, the person may get screened out during the selection process.

Coming back to the book, I surfed through the authors comments, customer testimonials and table of contents of the book. When I went through some of the sample questions, I felt that this is what I would have asked if I were the interviewer.

Here are some interview question/answer I found interesting.

Q. What have you learned from your mistakes?

A. "Good question. Well, I have been successful at every job I have had, but I have had the normal ups and downs. I'd say that I do actively try to monitor my work habits and the quality of my work so that I can constantly be improving myself. FOR EXAMPLE, I have had one or two hiccups with customers where their satisfaction was not where I thought it was. I learned that I have to really monitor certain difficult customers closely and "take their temperature" so I can keep their satisfaction level as high as possible. Have you had any customers like that here?"

Q. Give me an example of a problem you faced on the job, and tell me how you solved it.

A. "I try to take a systematic approach to problem solving where I take the time to gather the relevant data, clearly define the problem or goal, then come up with possible solutions. I think it is important to get the information and clarify the problem first before you start coming up with possible solutions, or wasting other people's time. FOR INSTANCE, when I was at Job "X" ...

What kinds of challenges are you currently facing in your department? How tough a position does this put you in? What could the ideal candidate do to help solve this problem in his or her first three months on the job?"

Q. Describe a situation when working with a team produced more successful results than if you had completed the project on your own.

A. "Working with others allows you data-mine other people's skills and experiences, get perspectives and ideas that you would not have on your own, and check the quality of your own work before it goes out the door. FOR EXAMPLE, at Job "X" I worked with many great people. I was able to "pick their brains" -- so to speak -- about the effectiveness of various techniques, estimates on how long it would take to get various things done, etc. I would not have been able to do my job as effectively with out them. Will there be the opportunity to work in team situations at this job?"

I wish you all the best in your next job interview!