Interview questions at Danone
We analyzed 461 interview reviews for Danone from various job sites, social network groups and forums.
Here are the most frequent job interview questions asked by HR managers during initial phone or onsite interviews. This list does not include technical or factual questions.
12 frequent non-technical questions at Danone:
According to our research, hiring managers at Danone ask soft skills interview questions 32% less than at other companies.
1. How would you describe yourself? top question
How to answer
This question is like the Tell me about yourself question usually asked at the beginning of an interview, but there are some subtle differences. It belongs to the family of reflective questions where the interviewer is assessing your cognitive abilities, as opposed to the more factual and matter-of-fact “Tell Me About Yourself” question.
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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.
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About The Company
Research the company's values, standards and policies. Make a list of keywords or short key phrases.
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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
If you haven’t yet received any LinkedIn recommendations, try to obtain them. Also, offer to write your own recommendations for them - both received and given recommendations will be visible in your profile and will tell the interviewer exactly what you want to be known about your values, your attitude towards work and relationships.
Statistics
This question is asked 6.3x more frequently at Danone than at other companies.
2. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
How to answer
This question belongs to a family of behavioral, or even more precisely, reflective questions.
The interviewer wants to learn two things about you by asking this question.
- They want to know what you think about the job you are applying for. Remember, they are interviewing you for the job that's open right now. Are you a good fit and will you do a good job for them?
- Just as important, they want to get an idea of your ambitions and goals for yourself and if your goals align with their needs, especially going into the future.
In this way the employer should see how you see yourself today, and whether you are ambitious and strive to grow as a professional, and whether you like to learn and develop your skills.
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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.
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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!
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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
This question gives you a good opportunity to showcase your Key Selling Points (e.g. “As I am very good at delegating tasks, I can easily see myself leading a team of software testers in the future…”), and end your statement by asking about current initiatives and goals at the company.
In thinking about the possibilities that may lie ahead, you also might want to consider taking a personality test (I recommend 16Personalities which is based on the Myers-Briggs test), research the internet on what career paths are possible with your skills and current job.
It is generally NOT a good idea to say something like:
“Oh, I cannot imagine what happens to me tomorrow, let alone in 5 years”.
This will show you as a person who is unimaginative and not forward-thinking enough to grow with and be a good fit for the company.
Statistics
This question is asked 26% more frequently at Danone than at other companies.
3. Tell me about yourself
How to answer
Most job candidates expect this to be one of the first interview questions and probably think of it as an “icebreaker” to get the interview started. It is much more than that! It is your opportunity to show the interviewer your relevance for the job. You want the employer to know that you are qualified to do the job, you are interested in doing the job and capable of getting it done.
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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.
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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?
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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
You can also end with a question like:
“Do you know what the current needs in the company/department are, where my skills and experience can help?”
That can help you learn more about the company and the job, turn the “interrogation” into a conversation and will allow you to relax some tension.
Read our blog post to learn more about how to answer this question.
Statistics
This question is asked 23% less frequently at Danone than at other companies.
4. Tell me about your greatest professional accomplishment
How to answer
Of all your accomplishments (and I am sure you’ve had a great many of them!), you should choose the one most relevant to this job position.
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About Yourself
In preparation for answering this question, list the top 3 professional accomplishments that you are most proud of. No need for lengthy descriptions, just a sentence or two for each one to help you recall each situation.
Write down your Key Selling Points - your top 3-5 skills that make you a strong professional.
Make sure you have developed the story behind each accomplishment and have a strong command of the details of what happened so that you can tell the story clearly and distinctly.
Along with each accomplishment, mark which of your Key Selling Points they showcase. How exactly?
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About The Company
Based on your research of the company, what are their current needs?
- What are the major projects going on?
- What are the expectations for the position you are applying for?
- Think about which of your accomplishment stories best fit their needs and expectations?
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About The Fit
Once you have decided on the appropriate accomplishment story, think how you will relate it in an interview and how you will make it relevant to the the job you are seeking. One approach is to use the Present-Past-Present technique.
Let's say that the accomplishment was leading your team in installing a new billing system and bringing it in on time and under budget.
You might start off in the Present by talking about the importance of having good leadership skills.
Then move to the Past to relate your story about how you successfully lead your team in accomplishing the objective.
Finally, come back to the Present to address how you will be able to help them reach their goals (the ones you learned about when researching the company) going forward.
Be sure to keep practicing your accomplishment story until it flows naturally and convincingly.
Pro Tip
Most enterprises are now going through major transformations, often called Digital Transformation.
Do your research on what it means and what is often involved, to get a better idea of the current goals and environments in companies. But one thing that definitely characterizes this transformation is striving for agility.
Whether the prospective employer is a long-established company or a startup, they are looking for people who demonstrate qualities like agility and adaptability, which are generally considered to be both helpful and quite a safe choice in most circumstances today.
Statistics
This question is asked 4.4x more frequently at Danone than at other companies.
5. What is your greatest weakness?
How to answer
This question ranks as the most challenging for many people. Fortunately, Mr. Simon is here to help!
Interviewers are not out to trick or trap you! They ask this question to gauge your level of self-awareness, your honesty and openness, and your capability for self-improvement.
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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.
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About The Company
Research the company (website, social media, etc) to learn about the company culture.
What personal and professional qualities do they value?
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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
Use this question to sell yourself!
Statistics
This question is asked 16% more frequently at Danone than at other companies.
6. Describe the most challenging work problem you faced in your last job
How to answer
Everyone faces problems in the workplace, it’s how we deal with them that matters most.
The problems you faced in your previous workplace actually tell future employers a lot about your problem-solving strategies and abilities.
You can expect that some employers – especially those that consider themselves high stress or those that are replacing someone that struggled with problem-solving – are going to ask you questions about workplace problems to learn more about how you reacted.
It’s a complicated question to answer because different people handle challenges in different ways.
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About Yourself
So, how should you talk about your strategy to approach tough situations?
Try to think about the actual most challenging thing you did, or just pick something that was really difficult, but you succeed at it in the end.
The situation should be real. Perhaps you went above and beyond to meet a tight deadline while taking over the responsibilities of a coworker who was out sick? Or you took a course, completed an online training, or attended seminars on a topic that was new for you, but necessary to match your qualifications to the position's requirements?
Make sure your story isn't boring: interesting is a keyword here. Use the STAR method to demonstrate your positive approach to problem-solving.
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About The Company
Take a moment to consider the role and the daily tasks you’d be engaged with.
- What kind of problems might come about?
- What difficulties can you possibly encounter because you will be working directly with clients or in a big team?
- Do you have to communicate a lot, or would problems be more technical in nature?
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About The Fit
Your answer is an opportunity to highlight your fit for the role and the work environment.
This question allows the interviewer to reflect on how you handled past challenges and use this to make predictions about your future capabilities. It might help them to realize you’re a good fit.
When employers ask such questions, they are looking for some specific details relevant to the job.
For example, if you are interviewing for a customer service role, highlight how you’ve managed to deal with a difficult situation in customer service.
On the other hand, if your future role would be very technical, you might talk about a technical challenge you’ve overcome.
Pro Tip
Sometimes it is hard to come up with “Big” challenges but that does not mean you never had to face down a problem.
I’m sure that you have solved problems in the past, you might just have to dig deep to come up with a few that you resolved to make your point.
Statistics
This question is asked 6.2x more frequently at Danone than at other companies.
7. Who has inspired you in your life, and why?
How to answer
By prompting you to answer this question, the employer wants to understand your character, your value system, and your personality and how these qualities were influenced by someone you look up to and admire.
Many people may have inspired you, but it is probably best to focus on one that has been the most important to you personally. It might be confusing to the interviewer if you tried to name several influencers given the amount of time you have to properly answer this question.
It would be helpful (but not a deal-breaker) if the personal values you speak about have relevance to the job you are applying for.
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About Yourself
The answer to this question is completely at your discretion.
- Who encouraged you to become who you are today?
- What qualities do they have that you admire most?
- What are the common values between you and this person that you can use strategically in your career and life?
- How did they help you to do proper introspection that influenced your life?
Maybe it’s your parents, someone else from your family, a teacher or a mentor, a researcher, or a writer you admire. Maybe it’s a public figure that inspires you. Whoever this inspiring person is, remember that the interviewer is looking for a heartfelt response.
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About The Company
Read the job description carefully and research the company to learn as much as you can about the company’s culture.
What qualities does the company value in their employees? See if you are able to match their values to those of the person that inspired you.
You should not only identify the person who inspires you but, if possible, also tell why and how their influence may have relevance to the company you are interviewing with.
Be extra cautious while naming anyone that might be controversial (for example a politician or a celebrity) as your inspirer. The interviewer might have preconceived thoughts or ideas about certain people that you might be unaware of. This might lead them to judge you unfarily about your choice.
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About The Fit
Be prepared to give examples of how the words, actions or teachings of your inspirer have helped to motivate you in achieving your goals.
As always, prepare an answer which highlights qualities that would be highly valuable in the position you are seeking.
Most employers look for characteristics such as adaptability, good interpersonal communication, leadership, creativity, innovativeness, honesty and dedication. Ask yourself, what ‘specific’ attributes have you learned from your motivator? Mention how learning such attributes helped you in your career.
You should provide a specific example that shows the above-mentioned attribute of the inspirer.
Pro Tip
Remember that inspiration comes not only from others, but from yourself too.
Let the interviewer know that you are a self-confident person, who listens to yourself and is inspired by the challenges faced every day, both in your life and your career.
Statistics
This question is asked 6.3x more frequently at Danone than at other companies.
8. What have you learned from mistakes on the job?
How to answer
It’s important to know how to answer a job interview question about mistakes.
They ask questions like this to learn how you handle challenges. They also want to determine your weaknesses, and decide if you have what it takes to do the job well.
It’s a chance for the interviewer to see that you can learn from your mistakes and use the experience to get better.
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About Yourself
Do your best to tell a positive story about how the mistake was made, how you dealt with it and what you learned from it.
We all make mistakes from time-to-time.
Answering some of the following questions will help you understand your own view of dealing with mistakes and their consequences.
For instance:
- How do you use a mistake to improve your abilities?
- Are you self-aware enough to acknowledge failure and weakness?
- Do you take smart risks?
- How do you view success, failure, and risk in general?
- Do you take responsibility for past mistakes instead of putting the blame on others?
- If the situation repeats, what would you do differently? What would you do again?
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About The Company
Before the interview, look over the job listing, research the company. Try to think of a mistake you have made in the past that is not too closely related to the requirements of the job you are interviewing for.
What kind of challenges might you face if you get the job here?
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About The Fit
It’s your opportunity to emphasize the skills or qualities you gained from your past negative experience that are important for the job you’re interviewing for now.
Put a positive spin on your response by defining the “mistake” as a “learning experience” that led to your increased competency in the workplace.
Talk about a specific example of a time you made a mistake.
Briefly explain what the mistake was; quickly switch over to what you learned, or how you improved after making that mistake.
You might also explain the steps you took to make sure that the mistake never happened again. Say that something you may have struggled with in the past has actually now become one of your strengths.
Pick a story that ends with a compelling example of a lesson learned. Tell your story using the STAR method.
Pro Tip
Make absolutely sure that the interviewer understands that you learned from the experience.
Never blame others for what you did (however, if you were part of a team failure, you could relate this experience, just be sure to own up to your part in it).
Always be accountable for what you could have done differently in the failure.
Demonstrate that you’ve had the maturity to benefit from previous “lessons learned” and you can move on with increased wisdom and competency.
Statistics
This question is asked 20.5x more frequently at Danone than at other companies.
9. What experience do you have in this field?
How to answer
This question may help you convince the interviewer how smoothly you would fit into the position to which you are applying. It's your chance to WOW them! Be sure to focus on the experience that is relevant to the company and position.
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About Yourself
Start with defining your Key Selling Points you want to emphasize for this position.
- What job experiences brought you to those points?
- What were the job titles and the most relevant responsibilities?
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About The Company
Do your research of the company and the requirements for the position.
- What is the company looking for in terms of experiences and qualifications?
- What problems are they trying to solve with this position?
Most importantly, make sure you are able to highlight and speak about at least 3-5 of your key experiences that match up with the requirements listed in the job description.
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About The Fit
Using the Present-Past-Present method is a perfect way to answer this question.
Starting with the Present, speak about your experience as it relates to one of the key requirements in the job description. You might say "I noted that the job description requires experience in employee training and this is an area in which I have a great deal of knowledge and skill."
Then go back to the Past to describe how you improved overall training of staff from 82% to over 97% within your first year on the job. Senior leadership took note of this accomplishment for which you received a company commendation.
Finally, come back to the Present to describe how you will help ensure that the company maintains the highest possible compliance with all employee training requirements.
Nowadays, every hiring manager wants results, so think in terms of specific achievements and try to structure your example accordingly.
Pro Tip
When telling your story, remember to talk about your STARs!
S - What was the Situation?
T - What was your Task?
A - What Action did you take?
R - Talk about the Results.
Statistics
This question is asked 10% more frequently at Danone than at other companies.
10. What are your current professional goals?
How to answer
This question is your chance to show yourself as a focused and results-oriented person (and this is exactly who you are, aren’t you?)
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About Yourself
Define up to 3 goals. Think about each goal:
- Why is it important to you?
- What are you doing to achieve it?
Imagine a company where you would like to work, ideally. How can working in that company help you achieve your goal? And what about the opposite - how can the company benefit from your reaching your goal?
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About The Company
Based on the research you did on the company, what are their current goals and initiatives? How would its goals and initiatives help lead you to achieve your goals?
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About The Fit
From your list of goals choose the one with the most synergy between yourself and the company. Explain how your professional passions will help the company achieve its success.
Craft your story around these 4 points:
- The Why: Why is this goal important to you, what makes it so exciting?
- The What: What steps are you taking to reach your goal?
- What’s in it for you? How can this company and job role help you reach your goal?
- What’s in it for them? How can the company benefit?
Pro Tip
Try to validate your assumptions by asking the interviewer what they think.
For example, you can end your answer with this question: “And do you know what current goals the company/department is trying to achieve?”
It can help you learn more about the company and the job, turn the "interrogation" into a conversation and will allow you to relax some tension.
Statistics
This question is asked 2.9x more frequently at Danone than at other companies.
11. What are the most difficult decisions you have had to make?
How to answer
Employers ask this question because they want to see that when you face a difficult decision or situation you’re able to handle it.
They also want to see what kind of decisions you consider difficult.
For sure, they are looking for a reply that relates to your career or education.
This question is designed to discover how you have managed certain situations and how you behaved in the past, to help predict what you’ll do in the future.
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About Yourself
Refresh your memory and reflect on some specific situations you have dealt with or projects you have worked on.
- Are you confident and capable when making big decisions?
- What is your approach to decision-making?
- Can you stay calm and rational?
- How strong are your critical thinking skills?
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About The Company
Research the company and its culture, and try to find out what kind of challenges they are facing.
Search for online reviews and any other useful resources.
- What will your responsibilities be?
- What problems and obstacles can you expect to face with this position?
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About The Fit
This is a great opportunity to show exactly how you would perform as an employee under a new boss and to highlight your Key Selling Points!
Make sure that your approaches meet the standards of the company you are applying to.
If you know that the quality is important for the company – show how your decisions worked for quality; if it is the speed – give examples of how quickly you could solve these problems; if it is about independent decision-making - emphasize how you made the correct decision by yourself.
Answering this question, give one or two concrete examples of difficult situations you have actually faced at work.
Then discuss what decisions you made to remedy the situations.
Use examples such as changing majors in university, quitting a job, leaving the family business, terminating an employee, relocating to a new city for better opportunities, or even starting a venture.
Be sure to highlight how things have worked out for you since making this challenging decision.
Using the STAR method will help you to make your story concise and logical.
Pro Tip
Avoid examples that make you seem indecisive or uncertain.
Be specific. Itemize what you did, how you did it, and how your difficult decision ultimately benefited you, your team and your employer.
You can end your answer with this question:
“And do you know what principles the company uses in decision-making?"
It can help you learn more about the company’s priorities, turn the "interrogation" into a conversation and let the interviewer see you have strong intentions to work for them.
Statistics
This question is asked 11.5x more frequently at Danone than at other companies.
12. Walk me through your resume
How to answer
This question is often asked at the beginning of the interview.
The interviewer wants to hear a brief overview, a summary of your professional experience, in order to have a starting point from which they can dig deeper.
Structuring your answer wisely gives you a good chance to emphasize your Key Selling Points and to channel the conversation in the direction you want.
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About Yourself
Print out your resume. For each of your recent job experiences (at this point do not go back more than 5 years), write down 3-5 key points at which you feel you are strong.
For example, for your current (or previous) job, you may want to list skills like “Excellent presentation skills,” “Employee Engagement guru,” “Analytical skills,” “Attention to detail” (they don’t have to be all soft skills, but being aware of at least a few of your strong soft skills is important). Make sure you have examples for each of your statements.
If you have difficulties to think of these points, search online for job descriptions for similar job roles, and figure out which of those keywords appeal to you. Look for people on LinkedIn that have jobs similar to the one you are applying for. Their profiles often contain many keywords that you can use in response to this question.
Now that you’ve gone through all your recent experiences, are there any points that repeat more often than others, or are especially important to you? These are candidates to be your Key Selling Points -highlight 3-5 of them.
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About The Company
Research the company and the role for which you're being interviewed. When researching the company, find out what skills and qualities they value the most. Carefully consider the job requirements. What is it that you will be responsible for?
Now, write down 3-5 keywords from the job description that you find of utmost importance for this job role.
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About The Fit
Try to establish the match between your own highlighted keywords, and those of the job description. These are your Key Selling Points! You should normally limit yourself by 3-5 such keywords or phrases.
Now, craft a story based on your career history. You don’t have to go in chronological order - you can start with your current or last job experience, and then go back to your previous ones, or focus on just the experiences that are relevant to your story, and only briefly mention the less relevant ones and only if needed.
Select one point to highlight for each phase of your career. Make sure you ingrain your Key Selling Points in the interviewer’s memory - after the interview is over, you want them to remember you as someone who is strong at XYZ, or experienced in A, B and C.
It's okay to focus more on stellar achievements and brag a little bit about them.
Pro Tip
Don't bore the interviewer by going through your resume line-by-line.
Instead, WOW them by succinctly (keep it within 2 minutes) telling a story of how your career path has brought you to this point and how you are the best candidate for this role.
Super tip: The more you practice with Mr. Simon, the better you'll be at telling WOW-worthy succinct stories!
Statistics
This question is asked 72% more frequently at Danone than at other companies.
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This page has been updated on February 23, 2024.
