Interpersonal questions

If you are preparing for an interview to get a job or if you are the person interviewing the next candidate for a position in your company, you for sure want to learn about what interpersonal skills are.

Interpersonal skills are those that help people to communicate and interact efficiently with everyone, whether they are coworkers, managers or clients.

There are many different kind of those interpersonal skills that we want to acquire for both our personal life and professional life, and that we also want to be able to find on our team members. Things as simple and important as communication skills, negotiation, problem solving or decision making skill, will define our performance at work and how good we are as professionals, so if you are preparing for your next interview make sure to also prepare to answer interpersonal questions in a way that it will let your interpersonal skills shine.

So for both those preparing for their next job interview and those looking for the right candidate for their team, what are some important and information revealing interpersonal questions that you should prepare for? Here are some of the most common and interesting ones.

1. What do you expect from the person in charge of supervising your job?

This question can really reveal a lot of information. According to the answer given, the interviewer can know whether or not we are good with being managed and how do we understand the dynamics at work.

It will also say a lot about whether we are the kind of professional that needs a list of things to do everyday or if we are good at taking the initiative and running with it.

The right answer will only be defined by the type of job we are talking about and the company culture established at that specific workplace.

2. How do you resolve a work-related conflict?

Essentially here the question aims to see whether or not we can camly understand a conflictive situation and deal with it in a way that helps resolve it easily.

It is about how you can detach yourself from a hectic moment and actually have a cold mind to see the situation, observe all the options and react on time to find the best solution.

It is also a good idea to mention that in those situations you are humble enough to accept that you might not be the person with the key answer to solve it and can define who to reach out to and step back when it is necessary.

3. How would you motivate your team?

Again, this question aims to see whether you are a team oriented person or not.

It is always great to let the interviewer know that you believe in positive feedback and open communication. Make sure to state the importance of setting a communication culture at the beginning with your team.

Explain your perspective on what creates a good mood: fair payment, positive environment, recognition and welcoming space.

Also remember to mention the importance or not using punishment as a managing tool, but actually solving problems in private with your team to learn from mistakes.

4. When people criticize you, what is the thing that they bring up about you the most?

Now, this one is a tricky one. Prepare this answer carefully, as it might be a deal breaker.

You actually have two options, you either say that people has have a hard time in the past with your level of perfectionism and how much you expect from everyone, or (safer option) share something that you had difficulties with in the past (talking in public, dealing with unsatisfied clients…) and explain how you have prepared and worked to solve that issue and be better at that.