Sample Interview Questions - Part 4

This is the fourth part in the series looking at some of the potential questions and scenarios you may encounter during your interview process when seeking a position in the logistics field. Hopefully these types of questions will get your mental juices flowing to help you start thinking and preparing for the types of questions that may not have been in the forefront of your mind.

Here is another potentially revealing question you might come across, "describe for me what you would consider your ideal job." Now sure, we all have that dream job we'd love to see ourselves in, but the interview process is not a time to verbalize your dreams of plans per se, as it might reveal more than just your desires. You may be giving them clues not just to what you really want and enjoy, but in turn could be revealing areas that you are less desirous of being in. Some of those less desirous areas might just be part of the job you are applying for, and this would reveal that you might be quickly dissatisfied with the job in the future.

Keep your discussion in the current real world, and formulate the answer to appear that the current position in question is part of your ideal career path. You may be asked the general related question of "where would you like to be career wise in five years," and both of these type questions could be used to reveal a long time goal, which is good. Just be sure your answers do not make the current job position appear to be nothing more than a short term "stepping stone." Try to answer in a way that shows where you would like to be in five years with the company you are interviewing for, and keep the answer short and professional as always.

Another tricky question is "do you have any blind spots," which is somewhat similar to the more common "what are your weaknesses" but with a slightly different angle. Obviously if you do have "blind spots" you are probably unaware of what they are anyway, so frame your answer in a way that avoids admitting past failures. Failures are not blind spots. Do not make a snide comment about not being able to really know if you have blind spots, but keep it simple and state something along the lines of "I may not always be aware of my blind spots, but I always work to be a better employee, and if a potential blind spot is pointed out to me, I make every effort to deal with it." This shows a willingness to listen, learn, and change to improve yourself and therefore being a benefit to the company.

More to come.

Jeff McCormack resides in Virginia Beach, VA. where he works as a web designer by day. In his off time he is a husband, father, mail order book store manager, and musician. Aside from being a freelance writer for this Logistics Jobsite blog, he also seeks to assist in career choices and information by contributing to other Nexxt blog sites.