Preparing for an Interview Part 4 of 5- Interview
As mentioned in Parts 1-3, we’re covering all the aspects of applying for and attending a job interview in the hospitality industry. This post will cover interview questions.
In case you missed it, the stages of preparation an applicant should go through are:
- Pre-Application – part 1
- Curriculum Vitae – part 2
- Research – part 3
- Presentation – part 3
- Interview – part 4
- Notes/Achievements – part 5
- Follow up – part 5
Feel free to review the Pre-Application, CV, Research & Presentation posts before reading on.
The Interview
Usually the interviewer will ask questions based on what the company/organisation is looking for. Some of the categories of these questions include:
- Quality: in work and customer service
- Teamwork: how you influence others and develop relationships
- Leadership: how you inspire others to achieve
- Communication: with internal and external stakeholders at all levels
- Development: of yourself and others
- Problem Solving : understanding the issues, gathering facts & presenting solutions
- Achievements: what successes have you had
- Value Creation: process management and service provision
- Negative issues: how you hande complaints, rejection or pressure.
- Other Questions: What do you do in your current employment? Why are you applying for this position? What can you bring to this organisation?
One of the traits that many interviewers look for above all else is passion. Read an interview with former White House Chef, Walter Scheib and what he looks for when hiring Chefs: http://reluctantgourmet.com/tips-guides/chef-interviews/item/310-chef-walter-scheib
When it comes to Interview time, there can be many types of questions thrown at you. Some of the straight forward questions may be:
- How many employees report to you?
- What is your favourite cuisine to cook?
- Why did you choose to become a Chef?
- What do you do to educate yourself about new trends?
- What is your management style?
- What do you consider your strengths?
- How involved are you with the development and design of menus?
- How involved do you get with Purchasing and Receiving?
- How involved are you in risk management of the Business?
- How involved are you in managing the financials suchs as budgets and forecasting of a business?
- What is your experience with regards to managing labor and associated costs?
There are however other types of questions to prepare for which are called ‘situational’ style questions. These revolve around real situations that you may have encountered and helps interviewers assess how you have or would handle them.
Some example questions are:
- Tell us about a time when you helped to resolve a dispute between others.
- How have you handled it when the boss is wrong?
- Whoever else learned out of your mistakes, what did you do to share your learnings?
- What negative factor would your last boss say in regards to you?
- What good assignment which was given to you was too hard for you personally? How did you resolve the problem?
- Let us know about a situation when you faced a significant obstacle?
- Describe a hard decision you needed to make with or without the help of your superiors?
- You are working with a co-worker who is consistently making mistakes that affect customers and that impact your ability to do your own work. You have tried talking with this colleague, but you have seen no improvement in the quality of their work. What would you do next?
- You notice a co-worker stealing from the company. What would you do?
- Give us an example of a time when you were able to communicate successfully with another person, even when that individual may not have personally liked you?
The main thing we recommend is to be prepared for all of these and write down your answers to all or as many as you can that are relevant to you and the position you are applying for. It is always better to be prepared than to operate in a reactive way.
Of course at Mise En Place we will help you to get prepared for the interview with your potential new employer so that you have the best chance possible for success!
The next part of our series, we will talk about taking notes, your achievements and follow up after the interview.
If you have any further questions please don’ t hesitate to reply below or contact us via: info@miseenplace.co.uk or phone: in UK 020 7430 9811 or outside UK 0044 20 7430 9811.