The most commonly asked personal job interview question is ‘Tell me about yourself.’ This question is a perfect opportunity for you to demonstrate your suitability for the job. Once this question is asked, you have the power to guide the interviewer in such a way that suits you best. In general, personal job interview questions are not considered as being ‘difficult.’ However, it’s important that you do your homework upfront so that you ensure that you have a great story to tell during your job interview.
- What makes you angry at work? This doozy of a question will reveal some real insight into what makes the candidate tick. …
- When did you last embarrass yourself? I’ve got to admit… …
- Describe a time you had a positive impact on someone. …
- Describe a time when you resolved a conflict at work.
Self-awareness & resilience interview questions
1. “You’re asking how they would describe me? Um … “
In some cases, its clear that the candidate has never considered the other persons perspective and/or has significant difficulty seeing themselves from someone elses point of view. This signifies that empathy might not be the candidates first response to conflict, for better or worse.
In this category, I credit those who eventually come up with an honest answer, even if they stumble at first — but its a serious red flag if the candidate either cant come up with an answer at all, or resorts to bashing the other person (it happens more often than youd think).
Frequently Asked Personal Interview Questions
Below you can find commonly asked performance-based interview questions:
2. Tell Me About a Time You Experienced a Setback and How You Dealt With It.
This question is an indicator of resilience, Thompson says. Someone with high EQ tends to use setbacks to learn and ultimately gain the advantage of new knowledge about themselves, others, and workplace processes that will help them avoid similar issues and set them up to succeed the next time around. Those with low EQ might wallow for an extended time, blame others, try to change the circumstances, or fail to see the lesson or bigger picture.
Future employers looking for high EQ are trying to see how you reacted to the setback in the moment: Did you get agitated and snap at your coworker? Did you let the problem fester and grow because you didn’t want to deal with it? Or did you handle it gracefully and see it as a learning opportunity for you and your team? If you can choose a time when a setback actually resulted in a better outcome, or led to an improved process in the future, all the better. Once again, you can use the STAR method to structure your answer—just avoid speaking negatively about your colleagues and don’t forget to emphasize the results and learnings.
3. How Do You Respond When a Coworker Challenges You in a Meeting?
A key element to EQ is identifying when you feel yourself getting upset and strategically choosing what to do about it, when, and how, instead of going with your first knee-jerk reaction. This question is the perfect opportunity for future employers to understand how you assess and address a situation, says Kimberly Prescott, President of Prescott HR, a consulting firm for small to midsize businesses. How you answer this interview question reveals your ability to regulate your emotions when the stakes are high and the situation is charged, Prescott says. “If they say, ‘If I know I’m right I’m going to make sure people understand it,’” that communicates one type of employee, she says, versus someone else who says, for example, “I make sure I let people know the points I have and that I understand they will make their decisions based on all the information they have, and I’m always available for questions.” Prescott watches out for someone who is “easily frustrated who may try to shove their opinion down peoples’ throats.”
To succeed at communicating EQ in your answer, ideally pick a real example (you can turn to the STAR method yet again) and don’t shy away from explaining the emotions you did feel at the time. Remember, EQ isn’t a lack of emotions but rather the ability to regulate and handle them in a productive way. To that end, if you were stressed or angry that you were being publicly questioned, you can say so, but then take the interviewer through your personal process of managing those emotions. Maybe you practice deep breaths. Maybe you take a walk and reengage later. Or perhaps in this particular situation, you asked a question to clarify if the tone you were sensing was actually what the person intended, which shows you’re able to pause and ensure you fully understand before reacting, a key trait for future employees at any company.
