When you’re called in for an interview, there are a few questions that you’re likely to be asked regardless of the industry, the position, or the contents of your application. These universal questions should be expected no matter what. But some employers also like to round out the interview process with additional questions designed to assess how your behavior and personal decisions might affect your success with the position at hand. How you respond to behavioral questions may reveal how well you’ll fit in and get along with your team.

Universal Questions

Wise hiring mangers know that some interview questions are indispensable. If you’re adequately prepared for your interview, then you’re ready to respond to universal inquiries like these:

What can you tell me about your background in this field?
Why have you applied for this specific job?
Where would you like your career to take you within the next five years?
This job may involve (insert specific challenge). Are you prepared to handle this on a daily basis?

Behavioral Questions

While the questions above are straightforward, rarely will an interviewer come right out and say something like “We need a follower for this job, not a leader” or “This job is not social. We need someone who can handle long periods of solitude.” Instead, he or she may simply ask you how well you handle extended alone time, or how eager you are to take orders. When you encounter behavioral questions like the following, answer openly and honestly, but listen carefully and read between the lines, since these questions may provide some additional information about the job and the company. At the very least, behavioral questions can help you understand what might later be expected of you.

Tell me about a moment at work when you were asked to do something that went against your beliefs. How did you resolve this conflict?

Describe the worst interpersonal disagreement you’ve ever faced in the workplace. How did you overcome this challenge?

Have you ever worked with a team that failed to meet its budget goals or deadlines? How did this happen and how was the issue resolved?

When you’re asked to complete a task but not given all of the resources you need to do so, how do you typically respond? Explain using an example.

Describe a time when you were faced with an overarching goal, but no clear instructions or guidance as to its execution.

These are just a few examples of common behavioral questions. For a longer list of typical questions, additional job search help, or more interview preparation tips, contact the experts at RPC.

For a small business owner, excellent customer service requires almost no overhead, very little time, and minimal financial investment. And while costing practically nothing, a great customer service policy can give a company a disproportionate leg-up on the ladder to success. 

In these challenging times, your customer service philosophy may even mean the difference between thriving growth and bankruptcy. If you haven’t taken a close look at your customer relationship strategy in a while, it may be time to conduct a review and make some necessary changes. Keep these considerations in mind as you move forward.

Customer Service: A Business Tool Based on Simple Principles

A customer service plan should accomplish two things: First, every single customer interaction you have should help you gather the information you need to shape the direction of your business. When you receive feedback of any kind, in any format, whether happy, angry, confused, elated, or curious, don’t just respond and move on. Use that feedback to inform your business strategy. A customer who wants better options, more flavors, special discounts, or easier returns is actually a business professor in disguise. She’s a mentor who can help you gain valuable information about your target audience. Listen carefully to what she has to say.

Second, satisfied customers come back. And they represent something that’s worth more than gold to business owners: word-of-mouth advertising. In earlier times, word-of-mouth travelled from person to person, one conversation at a time. But in the internet age, one review can be read by thousands of potential customers in an instant. Strong customer feelings now have unprecedented power to make or break small businesses. Do what you must to make sure those strong feelings are positive.

A Few Helpful Customer Service Tips
 
Keep communication channels easy and open. Make sure customers know exactly where to find you and how to make their feelings and desires known.

Control confusion. Speak to customers with clarity and confidence. Nothing makes a communication problem worse than halting dialogue, unfulfilled promises, or an employee who doesn’t know enough about the business.

Be friendly, be patient and be kind. We learned these rules in kindergarten and they still apply. If your customer service reps have trouble with this, act decisively. Replace them, or get them the training and coaching they need.

Listen. Again, an angry customer isn’t just an angry customer. She’s a free lesson. She can teach you volumes about the needs and expectations of your target audience. But her lessons will only have value if you keep your ears open. 

For more information and small business management advice, contact the experts at RPC and arrange a consultation today.

When most of us think of the word “internship”, we envision a short-term program for college or high school students with mutual benefits for both the student and the organization that sponsors her. The most productive internships are those in which everybody wins.

For the student, great internships offer exposure to a real-life, real-time workplace in a chosen field. Ideally, interns use the opportunity to replace their preconceived ideas about an industry with a glimpse of the real deal and a sense of how all the pieces of a business fit together. In the meantime, they can pick up a few simple skills and gain connections that can help them land a full time job down the road.

Companies profit through internships as well, since connecting with promising students can give a company the advantage in a later competition for talent. The more appealing the internship seems, the more talented students will be willing to line up for the opportunity. The more talented students line up, the better pickings the company will have later, as long as the interns leave with positive feelings about the experience.

But can an internship benefit a mid-career adult? Can adults gain just as much from a summer of illusion-busting and connection-building in exchange for little or no compensation? The answer depends on a few factors. Pursue an adult internship if you fit any of these descriptors:

You know how to navigate the delicate subject of money.

Internships are typically unpaid gigs. So if the experience, exposure and contacts you’ll gain are worth the time you’re ready to spend away from your family, volunteer work, classes, or job search, then go for it. Working for free is fine if you aren’t making any painful sacrifices. If you are, reconsider.

You’re comfortable with the expectations placed upon you.

Full time employees often aren’t sure what to make of interns, how to manage them, or what tasks to place upon them. This confusion is common and reasonable, but as an unpaid intern, you’re responsible for your own experience. If expectations become awkward or communication problems creep into your day, sit with your “boss” or coordinator to discuss the situation.  

You’re ready to control your own destiny.

This means not waiting to be told what to do. Ask for specific tasks and introductions. If you’ve been told to file reports all afternoon, but you’d rather gain some experience over in the marketing department, don’t sit there suffering in mute obedience. Speak up, reach out, and get what you need.  

You know what you want from the next chapter of your life.

Internships are great opportunities for soul searching, but only if you know what you’re searching for. Ask questions like these before you commit to an internship: Do I want to learn something specific about this field? Which specific job in this field would I like to learn more about? Am I in this for the contacts alone, and if so, is there a more effective way to gain those contacts?

To find out more about the adult internship process or to find an adult internship that meets your needs, contact RPC today.

Here’s a common dialogue between two managers making a final hiring decision:

 Manager A: How about this one?

 Manager B: I like her confidence. And she has an impressive background. Look at her education! She has more  letters after her name than I do, that’s for sure.

 Manager A: She wants to join this team as a junior member, but she’s managed entire teams far bigger than  this one. Her most recent salary was 20,000 dollars more than what we’re offering. I wonder why she would  apply here?

 Manager B: I think it’s obvious. She needs work. But when she gets in the door, she’ll probably be bored  and unhappy. And I bet she won’t take orders or criticism very well. I don’t want her showing me up in  front of the team. I’m only 29, and this is my first real job in management. She makes me nervous.

 Manager A: Me too. There’s something suspicious about this. I know she needs work, but why here? It might  be easier to just choose this recent graduate. Or, hey, how about this guy? He has no experience at all and  he’s willing to work for almost nothing.

 Manager B: We can definitely afford that. High five!

If this conversation sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone. Hiring managers all over the country are seeing the effects of an imbalanced job market, which often means an applicant pool flooded with overqualified candidates. While experienced employers tend to take this in stride and respond appropriately, weaker hiring managers can easily become overwhelmed or confused by candidates with curiously strong qualifications.

Don’t let this happen to you. And don’t dismiss valuable talent or let your personal fears undermine the success of your company. If you spy an excellent, possibly overqualified candidate in your pool, take these steps before you make a final decision:

Ask questions. Don’t just assume an overqualified candidate will get bored and leave in a week.  Ask her to describe her long term plans and goals. You might find out that she’s pursuing passion instead of money, or that she’s decided to make a mid-life career shift. She has her reasons for making this decision. It’s a good idea to find out what they are before you act. 

Don’t be afraid of her. That’s just plain silly. Good managers place the interests of the company ahead of their own, and if an overqualified candidate has the ability to move the company forward, don’t pass on that opportunity because you fear she might show you up.

Consider her personality. Obviously, she can handle the requirements of the position. But is she a good match for your culture? Will she fit in well and be easy to get along with? Answer honestly. And if she’s likable, friendly and great at what she does, stop overthinking and act before your competitors do.

For more guidance with the candidate selection process, contact RPC and schedule a consultation with our staffing experts.