Interview questions at 24 Hr Home Care

1. What is your greatest weakness? top question

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   No one is perfect and your interviewer doesn't expect you to be perfect either.

   While it is good to be honest and open, it will not help you to put yourself down.

   What's important is to find a weakness that you have overcome. How you turned what might be considered a negative into a positive.

2. About The Company

   Research the company (website, social media, etc) to learn about the company culture.

   What personal and professional qualities do they value?

3. About The Fit

   This is the time to clearly state a true weakness that you have overcome.

   Be as specific as possible and stay away from vague cliches like “I work too hard.” It would be difficult for anyone to try and explain how they overcame a weakness like that

   Mr. Simon emphasizes the Present-Past-Present method of responding to behavioral questions. When you are asked about your greatest weakness, you should be able to successfully use this approach as well. Here is an example of how someone might answer this question.

   Present - "I have always had a fear of public speaking, and believe this may have held me back in my career, especially when having to make presentations to management."

   Past - "Last year I learned about Toastmasters International and decided to join this group to help me gain confidence in myself and improve my ability to present to others in just about any situation."

   Present - "By overcoming this weakness I believe that it has made me a much stronger candidate for this position, someone you can count on to make presentations to management, conduct training and communicate at a high level."

   It's important to show how well you've overcome a weakness by motivating yourself and learning a new skill to grow professionally.

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 2.6x more frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.

2. Tell me about yourself

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   What is your current occupation? Define yourself professionally in one statement.

   Pick 3 key skills that make you great at your work (your Key Selling Points). How have you applied these skills?

   Try to give some numbers to support your statement.

2. About The Company

   Your first step is to Research the company to find out as much as you can about what they do and their approach to their business and their employees.

   Based on what you know about the company and the job description, why are you interested in the position you are applying for?

3. About The Fit

   Now is the right time to show the fit between your skills and the company's requirements. Your answer works best if you emphasize your relevance. How do you do this? You will have already researched the company, studied the job description to identify their needs and possible pain points and prepared the relevant Star Stories that show how you addressed similar issues in the past. Your next step is to develop your Present-Past-Present approach.

   Start with the Present. Focus on the skills and experience from your most recent positions. What has enabled you to get the job done successfully and how this relates to what the employer is looking to accomplish.

   Next go back to the Past. Here is where your Star story comes in. Explain how you were able to use your skills and experience to accomplish a task that relates to an area of concern for the employer.

   Finally come back to the Present – summarizing the lessons you learned and how they shaped your response and approach today.

   Remember, the whole conversation is about the present, not the past. Just one sentence can summarize why your approach works, and its applicability and relevance to this position.

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 4% more frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.

3. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   What challenges do you like overcoming? Where are you starting from and where might you be going?

   For example, let's say the position you are applying for is junior accountant. It includes a wide range of tasks such as basic bookkeeping, financial analysis, and reporting. If accounting is your chosen field, then you would most likely want to move in the direction of obtaining your CPA so that you might step up to more responsibility as an accounting manager or senior auditor within the next 5 years. Your responses should make sense in how you see yourself growing in your professional career.

   However, at this point, if you are happy just where you are and want to further your current skills, that is also fine as long as there is a growth path for you that can be imagined and described.

2. About The Company

   Research the company to learn what career opportunities may be available in the department you are applying to, and what the trends are in the company in general.

   • Is the business expanding, are they opening new locations, or starting new projects?
   • Or are they heavily automating and cutting staff?

   Let’s say you are applying for a UX designer position for a brand-new product.

   In the future, if the product becomes a success - which is what the company hopes for - the company will hire more designers and you may become a lead designer, or you may become a product manager.

   On a side note: If you train your mind to be open to opportunities you will be amazed at how much this world has to offer to you!

3. About The Fit

   And, of course, try to see where the perfect fit lies between your own potential and aspirations, and the company’s trends and hopes.

   However, beware of the risk of showing too much excitement for future opportunities compared to your attitude towards the current position.

   As we said earlier, you must show interest and enthusiasm for the position you are applying for. If the interviewer senses that you are more enthusiastic about future growth than about the current position, they may conclude that you are not the right person for the job at hand.

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 4% less frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.

4. What negative thing would your last boss say about you?

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   While it is good to be honest and open, it will not help you to put yourself down. What's important is to focus on a weakness or shortcoming that you have overcome.

   Be certain not to mention something that is vital to (or related to) the position for which you are applying.

   Think of something that may have been noted by a past supervisor that was, perhaps, mentioned in your performance reviews as a developmental area.

2. About The Company

   Research the company (website, social media, etc.) to learn about the company’s culture. What personal and professional qualities do they value?

   Carefully check the job description to avoid speaking about any past weaknesses that may touch upon key areas of responsibility for the position that you are applying for.

3. About The Fit

   Despite what may seem to be a negative question, you can actually turn this into a positive one! You do this by stating a negative trait or a weakness, unrelated to the position you are applying for, and explain how you have either already overcome it or are working to improve it.

   Be careful with your choices, if you mention any weaknesses that are needed to be successful in the position you are interviewing for, you probably won’t get hired!

   For example, if you're applying for a front-end developer position, do not talk about how you are taking classes to improve your HTML coding skills. Even if you think you are succeeding in your studies, this will look to the hiring manager to be a shortcoming on your part.

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 16.5x more frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.

5. Tell me about a stressful situation and how you dealt with it

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   In order to form a response to this question, think back to a time when you encountered a stressful situation at work, and answer the following questions.

   • Was the situation a challenge just to you personally or to your entire team?
   • What was your approach to the problem and how did you handle it?
   • What role if any did emotions play in the process of dealing with this situation?
   • What was the outcome, was it successful?
   • Did the outcome meet the company’s expectations as well as your own?

2. About The Company

   • What do you know about the company, where you may encounter a stressful situation?
   • Are they working on a major project which is approaching a due date?
   • Are they going through what appears to be a difficult time where cost-saving is a top priority? Perhaps the company culture is full of negativity and mistrust, or they have gone through massive layoffs. Is there any chance that customers are being neglected?

   Any of these situations may lead to stressful times at the company, and you should try to know more about their expectations, and how realistic those expectations are.

   Or, are they just a dynamic, highly agile company run by smart and creative folks, which may work excellently for some people and be confusing and mind-blowing for others?

   Do your research.

3. About The Fit

   Once you have determined which STAR story will best answer this question, use the Present-Past-Present method for your response. The following is an example of how someone might apply this method.

   The candidate started with the Present by telling the interviewer that she is able to rise to the challenge of the situation regardless of the level of stress that may come with an assignment.

   She then went back to the Past to describe when she and her team had to hit a tight timeline for a customer that depended on the outcome of her team's work. It was an emotional time in which the team worked long, hard hours with lots of overtime. As hard as it was at the time, in the end they successfully completed the assignment and the customer was so pleased with the results that it increased its business with her company.

   Finally, the candidate came back to the Present to explain how much she enjoys taking on challenges because they help her grow as a professional and she knows that she can successfully complete assignments for the company, no matter how stressful or difficult.

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 2.5x more frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.

6. How would you handle a customer with difficult behavior?

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   Look back on your experience. Have you dealt with a difficult or disruptive customer? Remember how you diffused the situation and how you turned things around.

   • Do you have certain principles, or methodology, to deal with difficult people?
   • Do you have strong people skills, are you good at conflict resolution?
   • Are you high on emotional intelligence? Can you give an example?

2. About The Company

   • What have you found about the company and its culture?
   • What have you learned about how the employees value each other?
   • How do they treat their customers?
   • Knowing their line of business or industry, what can be some examples of difficult customers?

   Do your research.

3. About The Fit

   When a question like this asked in an interview, it is an indication that you will probably encounter difficult customers, or other difficult stakeholders while working for this company.

   This would be an excellent opportunity to use the Present-Past-Present approach to respond to this question.

   Start with the Present. Speak about your “conflict resolution” skills and how you apply these today.

   Next go back to a Past situation - remember your Star Stories to relate a relevant situation that happened in a previous job where you resolved a problem for a difficult customer.

   Finally, come back to the Present, summarizing what you learned from past experiences and how you will apply them to the job you are interviewing for today.

   If you can give an example of how you handled a difficult person in the past in a situation similar to what this company may require from you, this will strongly increase your chances of showing yourself as a good fit.

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 10% less frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.

7. What will make you leave a company?

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   Think of your goals for your career. Think of what you need right now. Are you and the company on the same path?

   Remember why you left your last job.

   • Was it relocation of the company? 
   • Changes in working conditions: changing of schedule, increasing of duties without a corresponding increase in salary, sharp reduction or delay of salary?
   • Change in leadership?
   • Downsizing?
   • Bullying by colleagues?
   • Non-recognition of achievements?

   If any of these conditions repeat themselves in the new company, would you be prepared to leave?

2. About The Company

   Research the company and the role.

   • Can they offer you the kind of duties that would make you want to stay?
   • Do you see people with longevity in the company?
   • Is this the role and the company you see for yourself?
   • Do you feel it’s a strong match with your strengths, goals and experience?

3. About The Fit

   Let the interviewer know how ambitious and eager to get to work you are, particularly in this company.

   Showcase how your skills and experience match the role and let them know how you see yourself growing with the company.

   Here is a smart example of answering this question:

   “I truly value growth and I see the opportunity to improve my skills and progress in this company. As long as I can accomplish this with this team, there would be no need to consider leaving.”

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 18.0x more frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.

8. What skills are you looking to develop on your next job? Why?

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   Answering the question, reflect on yourself. Show that you are concerned and active about your own evolution.

   You can indicate how development has worked for you in the past, give examples.

   • What qualities do you wish to develop in yourself both professionally and personally?
   • What kind of culture do you want to work in?
   • What motivates you?
   • What qualities do you feel make strong, healthy relationships?
   • What skills do you admire most in your role models?

   And probably the most important is: What will help you to achieve your future goals?

   Choose something you’re already pretty good at, but still trying to improve even more. Maybe it is something that you learned a long time ago but haven’t used in recent jobs very often?

2. About The Company

   Do your research and learn as much as possible about the organization and the career path you might forge there. Read the company’s story on their website, review their LinkedIn page, explore their blog.

   What personal and professional qualities do they value and what can you learn if they hire you?

3. About The Fit

   No matter what skills you say you want to improve, however, make sure that you follow it up with what you’re doing about it.

   Focus on a work skill that may not be critical to your industry or job level and demonstrate how you would like to develop this skill further, implying you already have a level of competency. This way you won't be sounding negative about yourself.

   You could say something like “Coworkers often come to me for advice on how to write or format a document they are working on. I know that I am good at this (that’s why they come to me in the first place), but I have no formal training on mentoring others. I would like to take a course or two on mentoring others that would help them while also improving my own skills in this area.”

   Say you are willing to learn new things and take on new challenges. Show employers that you’re self-motivated and actively looking for ways to improve your skills and value in your career.

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 4.3x more frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.

9. What are your top 3 skills?

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   First, come up with a list of skills that you know you are good at – as many as you can think of. If you find this exercise difficult, use the helpful questions below:

   • What skills are you better at than your peer X? Your peer Y? Your boss Z?
   • What positive feedback could your manager, colleagues, clients, or even friends give about working with you?
   • What positive points were made about you in your last review(s) that involve the skills you demonstrated?
   • In which areas do you have professional knowledge and/or experience?
   • What records of achievement do you have?
   • What was the most impressive recent achievement you can think of? Which skills of yours made this success possible?

2. About The Company

   Research the company to help identify the kinds of skills needed.

   Carefully review the job description, this should detail the types of skills required for the job.

3. About The Fit

   Highlight the skills from your list that match the list from the job description.

   Pick 3 top skills. These are your Key Selling Points, and be sure to communicate them to your interviewer when asked this question.

   To bring these skills home to the interviewer you should use the Present-Past-Present method to tell your interviewer how any one of your 3 top skills will benefit their company.

   Let's say that working well in teams is one of the 3 skills you spoke about. As an example of how this works, starting with the Present, you might say "Although I can take on many projects on my own, I have always loved working as part of a team, collaborating with others, and learning from them to reach a positive outcome for the company."

   Then go back to the Past to relate a specific Star story, for instance: "At my last job, my team was asked to help an important customer set up and install the latest update to its inventory management system. Due to a tight timeline, we had to put in a lot of extra hours to meet the client's deadline. The team pulled it off within the timeframe and under budget. I was particularly proud of my role in this effort, which was noted by both the customer and my manager."

   Then come back to the Present to say, "In reviewing the company's website I noticed the importance that it places on teamwork and based on my skills and experience in working in teams, I am certain that I would be a great fit going forward."

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 5.0x more frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.

10. What are your long-term goals?

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   Start with honestly assessing yourself. (At this moment, you are not sharing these thoughts with anyone, so be as open as you can).

   Imagine that you have all the resources in the world and that all roads are open for you.

   • How would you use them?
   • Which road(s) would you choose?
   • What do you see on the horizon in that direction?

   Be audacious and don’t limit yourself. There is no longer a perspective than “long-term,” so be as futuristic as you possibly can.

   List a few “road” options that you would be enthusiastic about going down.

   For example, this list may be as broad as the following:

   • writer
   • choir director
   • software engineer and architect
   • CEO of a unicorn startup company,
   • entrepreneur.

   As William Shakespeare once said, “We know what we are, but we know not what we may be.”

2. About The Company

   Now, look at the company.

   • What is the industry they operate in?
   • What is the position you are applying for, and what are potential career growth possibilities within the department, company, and industry?

3. About The Fit

   Which of your “road” options correspond best with the opportunities presented by this company?

   Highlight this option and focus on it. Imagine, in as much detail as you can, going down this road.

   What would be the major milestones for you, in order to move towards your goal?

   Describe the chosen option by focusing on the first 1-2 milestones, and by presenting it in light of company goals and current initiatives.

   For example, if you are applying for a project manager position in a corporation engaged in the education industry, and your “road” option is “CEO,” your next career step may be a program manager, or an innovations and research manager.

   Explain why you are enthusiastic about reaching these goals, and what makes you think you have the necessary traits and skills to reach them.

   How can the company benefit from these traits and skills of yours already today, in the current role you are applying for?

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 66% more frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.

11. What are your drivers? What motivates you?

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   This question requires serious self-examination; you should be asking it yourself long before the interviewer does.

   Look back on everything you’ve done in your life, job, and career so far.

   • What was it about your best days that made them the best?
   • Can you take those feelings and apply them to specific moments from your life and past work experiences?
   • Are you ready for tough projects or for being asked to do something that isn’t quite on your job description, or for having to stay at work till late instead of another team member?
   • Will meeting deadlines, learning new things, finding a way to solve problems or overcoming a challenge inspire you and make you want even more?
   • What gives you a sense of accomplishment when you can look back on and say "I achieved that"?

   Look deep inside.

   Analyze your experience by types of tasks, by type of environment, type of feedback, level of responsibility and stakes? Do you prefer independence, or being part of a team?

   1. Task type: if you were given a whole day or even week at work to focus on just one of your tasks, without interruptions or multitasking, which one would that be? Why?
   2. Environment: do you feel motivated in a dynamic environment with lots of action, communications, deadlines? Or would you rather disconnect from the outside world and immerse into a single task, with your headphones on?
   3. Feedback: are you better motivated by positive feedback, or by healthy criticism? Or maybe by customers’ smiles and “Thank you” messages?
   4. Responsibility and stakes: are you motivated to do your best when you know that the stakes are high and your contribution will make a great impact on the bottom line? Or do you feel better in a more safe and relaxed environment when someone else is responsible for making big decisions?
   5. Financials: what is the salary range that makes you feel comfortable and respect yourself? Let’s be realistic, this is one (although definitely shouldn’t be the first) of the drivers.

   Be creative, this list is not exhaustive.

2. About The Company

   Take a long look at the job you’re applying for.

   • What kinds of tasks will you be responsible for?
   • What will the environment be?
   • What do you know about the possible kinds of feedback you will be receiving?
   • What is the level of stakes in this role?
   • What do you know about the salary they can possibly offer?

3. About The Fit

   How comfortable are you with the drivers the company can offer, comparing to those of your own? Pick those that have a match and give some examples.

   For instance, if you’re applying for a software engineer job, describe how you are motivated by solving complex technical challenges.

   If the job involves teamwork, give an example showing that you love collaborating and accomplishing big things as a part of a team.

   That is what drives you to do your best each day. You can say you enjoy meaningful work creating products that change people’s lives, if this is relevant to the company.

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 4.0x more frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.

12. How would you describe yourself?

How to answer

1. About Yourself

   Think of how your bosses and peers would describe you.

   Throughout your professional experience, you have probably heard them giving you some labels – try to remember the exact words they used.

   If you have received LinkedIn recommendations from someone, read those and think why people wrote them and what work situations prompted those descriptions. Remember the context of those situations and frame them as stories.

   Make a list of keywords, or short key phrases, that can describe you. Your Key Selling Points should definitely appear on this list, but try to also use some adjectives here, to add a positive emotional touch.

2. About The Company

   Research the company's values, standards and policies. Make a list of keywords or short key phrases.

3. About The Fit

   Which of your keywords correspond best with those of the company? Highlight 3-4 matches. Now try to imagine being a peer or a boss of yours and compile statements about yourself, in the 3rd person, mentioning these keywords. Remember to use adjectives, and don’t be afraid to mention real references from real people.

   For example, if you are applying for a position that requires good people skills, and your boss at your previous job called you a “conflict resolution guru,” don’t be shy to mention this reference, and provide a brief context that caused your boss’s praise. Use the STAR method to craft your story.

   Don’t limit yourself with just one keyword. If you are concise and don’t ramble with your answer, your interviewer will probably want to hear more than one. Just be observant and watch the interviewer’s reaction. You want to keep them interested.

Pro Tip

Statistics

This question is asked 53% more frequently at 24 Hr Home Care than at other companies.