Unit 3.2
Interviewers' Motives to Ask a Question

Interviewers always expect to, within a limited period of time, know as much as possible about interviewees and decide whether he/she is the right choice for their hotel. Accordingly, the interview is a comprehensive test of interviewees. As a goal-oriented activity, the interview is quite well-organized, which means interviewers would never question interviewee casually but rather with a definite motive and goal. So interviewees not only have to prepare a resume, a unique self-introduction, for possibly raised questions but most importantly the motives of interviewers. In the following part, the motives will be analyzed in detail with the help of some typical questions.

(1) Q: Would you please say something about your family?

This is a very typical question. The interviewer does not intend to know where your hometown is or what your parents do but the influence of family environment on you. Focus on how your parents cultivate your personality and character in a subtle way. Questions of this kind are as follows.

① What kind of personality traits do you admire?

② What kind of people do you like to make friends with?

③ What kind of colleagues do you expect to work with?

④ How would your friends and classmates describe you?

⑤ How would your colleagues describe you?

⑥ If you were an animal, which animal would you choose? Why?

…

The motive involved here is to know what kind of personality you have from your family, friends or your expectation of other people and then decide whether you are suitable for the job. Consequently, state the personality necessary for the position. Do not go far away.

Answer for reference: There are three members in my family,my parents and me.My father works as a Chinese teacher in a Senior Middle School and he's busy all the year round. He always expects me to take care of myself and to make choices independently. As for my mom, she is kind and honest with neighbors, colleagues and friends .

(2) Q: In your spare time, what do you often do?

Through this question, the interviewer could know about your extracurricular life, but the real motive behind it is to test your English speaking ability and physical appearance. Could you handle everyday topic freely? Could you make eye contact while speaking? Could you wear a smile and use appropriate body language? What's more, make sure to state your answer in a clear and logical way.

Answer for reference: In my spare time, I often play badminton with friends, read English novels, for example, Jane Eyre, Great Expectations etc, or climb mountains. For me, spare time is necessary and I want to take good advantage of it to enrich my mind and build my body.

Questions of this kind are as follows.

① Describe a team or group of which you have been a member recently.

② Describe your role within the team.

③ What have you learned from your mistakes?

④ Would you tell us your greatest failure?

⑤ Would you tell us your experience when you were moved/when you made a big mistake?

⑥ What kind of books/magazines/TV programs do you like?

…

(3) Q: What did you benefit from your summer vacation work?

The interviewer intends to know about your work experience, which might be necessary for the position you applied for. Therefore, make sure your answer is in accord with interviewer's expectation. What's more, get prepared for follow-up questions, which are commonly asked of this sort of question.For example, Where/how long/what position did you work? What's the most important thing have you learned? Did you meet any difficult customer? How did you deal with that? How did your colleagues/your supervisor/boss describe you? …

For instance, you apply for the position of waiter, for which sense of service and responsibility are a necessity. Your answer to the above questions then should focus on the requirements to be a waiter.

Answer for reference: During summer vacation, I worked as a waiter in a three-star hotel in Jinan for more than one month. Sense of service and responsibility are the most important things that I have benefited from it. I should always pay close attention and offer satisfying service to customers from their entry to the hotel to their departure.

Similar questions are as follows.

① What do you think our customers expect in terms of service?

② Please describe your job duty.

③ Describe your ideal job.

④ What do you think is the difficult/challenging part in your job?

⑤ What suggestions have you made to your hotel?

⑥ Can you tell me some of the job responsibilities?

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(4) Q: Why do you want to work for our hotel instead of other hotels in Dubai?

The motive to ask such a question is to know your motivation and expectation while applying for the job. The most expected answer will always be what you can do for the hotel not what the hotel can do for you. Probably you could improve your English and make more friends in Dubai, but that's not the key points.

Answer for reference: Your hotel, with a spirit of enterprising and openness, plays a leading role in hotel industry. Your management is first-class and progressive. I believe I can make certain contribution to your hotel with my ability and talents.

In addition, full preparation is a must. Before the interview, try every possible way to collect information about the position applied and the hotel, including its management ideas, distinguishing features, history, location, market assessment and so on.

Questions of this kind are as follows.

① What motivated you to be in this interview?

② Why have you applied for this position in our hotel?

③ What do you know about our hotel?

④ What is your favorite job?

⑤ What kind of leaders do you like best?

⑥ What kind of company/hotel do you like? Why?

⑦ When you seek a job, which factor counts the most to you?

⑧ What contribution can you make to our hotel?

…

(5) Q: What do you see about yourself in about five years? / Tell me about your five-year plan.

As for your career development, you may have made a five-year plan or even a long term plan. Or you haven't any plan for the future, which you should spare some time and make a plan for. Anyway, this question concerns your ambition, confidence and enterprising spirit. Deliver the information of a proper ambition, confidence and enterprising spirit to interviewer through your answer. Do not overdo that.

Answer for reference: I hope I could become an F&B(Food and Beverage)Supervisor in five years with good professional skills, hard work and satisfactory performance .

In the meantime, get ready to answer the follow-up questions. For example, how do you plan to achieve that/make it come true?

Questions of this kind are as follows.

① How did you improve yourself last year?

② What is your life-long dream in career development?

③ Do you think you can pass this interview? What are your reasons?

④ If your boss assigns you a very difficult job, how do you handle that?

⑤ Do you have any plan for your career? How will you realize that?

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(6) Q: What is your opinion about doing extra work in the evening or at the weekend?

The motive to ask this question is to know about your attitude towards job, sense of discipline and honesty or loyalty to your job. Preference will be given to those who obey hotel regulations, keep loyal to the hotel and have a positive attitude towards their job.

Answer for reference: As far as I am concerned, if there is an urgent need, I will do extra work. I believe the hotel could manage time in a reasonable way and put work efficiency on the priority list.

Similar questions are as follows.

① What would be your reaction if a customer invited you to a nightclub?

② Do you always try to improve your work efficiency? How?

③ Have you ever made proper advice for your school or hotel you once worked in? Please give examples.

④ For how many years do you expect to work in our hotel?

…

(7) Q: What do you think is the key to success? Why?

This question is a test of your analytical and judging ability. You are supposed to be able to analyze needs of customers, difficult situations in you job and find corresponding solutions. Try to improve yourself in an all-around way and get yourself ready for the job opportunity.

Answer for reference: I think the key to success is full of preparation. No one can succeed without any preparation. Success does not come by itself, so we must make good preparation, work very hard and do everything that's needed to seize the opportunity and achieve success .

Similar questions are as follows.

① What do you think our customers expect in terms of service?

② How can you tell whether a customer is happy or not? If not, what steps can you take to solve his problem?

③ What do you see to being the key steps in organizing and completing a project?

④ How do you often handle criticism?

⑤ If your colleagues misunderstand you, what do you usually do?

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(8) Q: What can you do for us that other candidates can't?

The interviewer expects to hear your uniqueness compared with other candidates. Indeed, the motive to ask this type of questions is to know whether you really know yourself or have self-control. Knowing yourself completely might be the hardest thing in the world. However, you have to do this. Only when you have a clear picture of yourself, can you know your advantages and uniqueness.

Answer for reference: I have a unique combination of strong professional skills, and the ability to build strong customer relationships. This allows me to keep more regular customers for the hotel.

Questions of this kind are as follows.

① What is your greatest strength and weakness?

② If I were to tell you that I do not like you, how could you change my mind?

③ If you did not pass this interview, how will you improve yourself later?

④ Although you work very hard, you do not make as much money as your colleagues do. What would you do then?

⑤ What kind of job do you think you are fit for? Why?

⑥ Why do you think you are suitable for this job?

…

(9) Q: Are you a good team player and why?

The interviewer aims to know whether you have a good team spirit or not. Furthermore, by answering this sort of questions, your communicative skills, interpersonal relationships,adaptive and organizing abilities are also tested. In hotel industry, most of the time, team spirit counts more than individual ability, so cultivate your team spirit from now on.

Answer for reference: Yes,I am.I joined the Students'Council in our department and organizing the recreational and sports activities was my job duty. In order to organize the sports meeting and other activities, I often cooperated with my classmates, designing posters, arranging places and so on. They all enjoy working with me because I always have good ideas and I am very helpful.

Similar questions are as follows.

① When a colleague was in need of assistance, what, where, when, and how did you assist? Please give an example.

② Do you often talk with strangers? Do you often just talk with your close friends?

③ How do you get along with your classmates?

④ Which one do you prefer, work by yourself or work with others?

⑤ Do you think you are popular and welcome with your classmates? Why?

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(10) Q: How do your studies at school relate to this job?

This kind of questions is intended to find out your professional knowledge and skills. Prepare for these questions in advance, for instance, get to know the English names of those subjects you have learnt in college and related to the job.

Answer for reference: I have learnt such subjects as Modern Hotel Management, English for Hotels, Housekeeping Management and so on. What's more, I do the internship for one month in a four-star hotel in our school. All these studies benefit me and prepare me for this job .

Questions of this kind are as follows.

① How do you ensure the standards are implemented in the hotel?

② Quality is the prime dimension in the hospitality industry. What would your approach in maintaining quality?

③ What subjects or courses about hotel have you learnt in college?

④ Have you got any certificates about hotel industry?

⑤ Do you have any skills for the position of …?

⑥ Tell three things you learned in school that you could apply to this job.

⑦ What excited you most at school?

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In some interviews,you may encounter such a question form the interviewer, “Do you have any questions for us? ” Do not haste to ask interviewers about the payment or awards.It's better to ask questions about the training programs or learning opportunities provided by the hotel, which could reveal your enterprises and that you care more about the job opportunity itself rather than how much money you can get. uYBGTxkwdUti6AcLHfPJBUNCp7twTQG00neFmPw2l69buw5ScCgPtno8OHwyEioK