Tell me about yourself?

1. I have excellent communication skills and fully understand how important it is to deliver
outstanding customer care - after all, without the customer, there would be no business and I
would not have a job. I also have exceptionally good organisational skills and always plan my
week' work in advance to make sure I perform to a high standard.

2. Having studied the person specification for this job in detail, I strongly believe I can perform the
role to a high standard and would very much appreciate the opportunity to work for your
company. If I am successful today, I can assure you that I will bring a great deal of experience,
loyalty, and positive qualities to your team.

Q2. Why do you want to work here?

Having studied the person specification and job description for this role, I feel I have the skills, qualities
and attributes to carry out the job to a very high standard. I also feel the role will give me a new, fresh
challenge; something which I have been looking for some time now.

Having also studied your company in detail, there seems to be a very positive approach to the work you
carry out and I also very much like the way you strive to deliver a high standard of customer care. High
levels of customer care are not common nowadays, and I certainly want to work in a company that looks
after its customers as I enjoy seeing positive customer interaction, feedback and testimonials within my
job.

Also, during my research I manged to speak to two current employees who work for you, and they had
nothing but positive things to say about your company. Both have worked for you for quite a few years
now and they appeared very happy in their work. If I am successful, I plan to stay with you for a long
time, so it was good to see that you employ happy, positive people within your team.

Finally, after reading the job description I understand there will be opportunities to both train, develop
and take on further qualifications within the company - this is something that is very much appealing to
me as I always like to grow and improve as an employee.
Q3. What are your strengths?

I have many positive qualities and attributes to bring to this role, but I believe my main key strengths
are:

V I have a hard-working nature;

V I have an enthusiastic demeanour;

I am always looking for the positive in every situation;

V I am a great team player;

V I like to support and help develop others;

✓ I am dependable.

One thing that I feel makes me stand out from most employees is that I am always looking for ways to
improve the way I perform at work.

For example, following an appraisal last year, my line manager identified that she wanted me to develop
my negotiating skills.

As soon as the appraisal was complete, I searched online for a distance learning negotiating course and
studied hard in this area to improve my skills.

Once I had completed the course, and I had the opportunity to put into practice what I had learnt, my
line manager commented that she had noticed a significant improvement in this area and congratulated
me for taking the positive approach to the feedback she gave me at the appraisal.
Q4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years' time?

If I am successful today, the first thing I plan to do is get competent in the role as soon as possible. I have
no idea how long this will take; however, based on my high levels of enthusiasm, I aim to get trained up
very quickly.

Once I am trained up in the role to a good standard, I would like to consolidate my skills and become
experienced within the team. It is particularly important to me to be accepted and respected by my
work colleagues and peers and I also want to do well in my appraisal.

So, I guess the short answer to this question is that I want to become good at my job, be accepted by my
team and line managers and enjoy my work as much as possible.

If the opportunity presents itself for me to progress within the organisation, that would be amazing. All
in all, I plan to stay with the company long-term if I am successful at interview.

Q5. What are your weaknesses?

I do have one weakness, and that is I sometimes get slightly irritated when people don't carry out their
work to a high standard.

Because I set myself high standards, I expect others to have them too, and this is not always the case.
Although it can irritate me at times, I have learnt to just focus on my own job and do it to a consistent
high standard. Having said that, I have recently been trying to turn this weakness into something
positive by helping other people within the working environment to improve. So, if I notice a member of
the team struggling, or not performing to the required standard, I will always offer to help them
improve, which I feel can only serve to have a positive impact on the organisation and its goals overall.

Q7. Can you give an example of when you have worked well under pressure?

Yes, I can. I am often required to carry out time-sensitive tasks under pressure, but one particular
incident springs to mind. I work in a large retail shop just outside of town. One Friday a few weeks ago,
my manager called a team meeting and he explained to us all that a large delivery was due to arrive
within a couple of hours' time. Unfortunately, the delivery was a week early and he'd not had time to
prepare. We were understaffed and it was already 4pm on Friday, so we only had one hour after the
store had closed at 5pm to get the stock take accepted, loaded in store and checked for accuracy. We
decided to play to each others strengths. I would utilise my organisational and accuracy skills to check
the stock as it came off the lorry, whilst my colleague would carry it all to the stock room, as he was
physically strong and extremely fit. As we progressed with the task we communicated with each other to
make sure we were working to the required standards and time frame. The end result was that we
completed the task thoroughly with just 6 minutes to spare. This gave us time to report back to our
manager who thanked us for volunteering and working hard to achieve the goal.