Interview preparations are a tough task, given the varied and weird nature of questions one could face in job interviews. Proper preparation and research is the key to excel. JobBuzz a company rating platform powered by TimesJobs reveals the most awkward questions asked in an interview.

June 27, 2017 : Most people walk into a job interview expecting questions such as “tell me about yourself”, or “what are your strengths and weaknesses”, or “why do you think we should hire you”. And they burn the midnight oil to prepare how best to respond to such questions, but the truth is job interviews are at most times crazy and awkward, to say the least.

A whopping 90% of the 820 employees who participated in a study confessed that they have faced inappropriate or awkward questions in job interviews as admitted to JobBuzz, a company rating platform powered by TimesJobs.

Women face more inappropriate questions
Further demographical analysis shows that 80% female and 60% male respondents admit to having faced inconvenient questions during interviews. In addition, 40% of junior level employees, 65% middle level employees and 55% senior level employees, have had to deal with inappropriate questions in their interviews.

Shockingly, 20% of employees stated that they have been asked inappropriate questions in all their interviews. ֲNearly 40% of them said that more than 10% of the job interviews they have been through, till date, had inappropriate questions. About 25% employees said they have faced such questions in 5-10% of their interviews, and 15% employees said nearly 5% of their job interviews were plagued by such questions.

“Companies do ask questions related to personal inclinations and habits because they too want to gauge the person coming on board. However, it is absolutely incorrect to ask things like when are you planning to have kids, is marriage on your mind etc. Such questions reflect the mind-set or culture of the employers. The HR folks should keep in mind that when they are assessing prospective employees, at the same time candidates are also trying to get a hang of the company they could be working in near future. Unnecessary questions create a bad impression.” says Pallavi Jha, Chairperson and Managing Director of Dale Carnegie Training India

Ramathreya Krishnamurthi, Business Head, TimesJobs says, “An interviewer may ask awkward questions for two reasons, either out of inexperience, or to catch you off guard. While this practice is not acceptable it is unfortunately quite common. While interviewees have the full right to refuse to answer any such questions, it may also provide an opportunity to showcase their personality and attitude. With a keen mind, an inappropriate question can sometimes be reworded appropriately by the jobseekers into a more professional context.”

“For instance, interviewees can respond to questions regarding their plans for marriage and children by reassuring the interviewer of their ability to keep their personal and professional life separate, their focus on the job and commitment to the organization. However, that being said, sometimes it is necessary to take a tough stand and reassess whether you would want to work in a company that projects this kind of culture,” adds Ramathreya.

Questions about family planning and habits are most common

Responding to JobBuzz.in, on the common awkward interview questions faced in job interviews, male and female employees gave distinctive replies.

For female employees, the most common awkward questions were:

• Related to family planning – 40%
• Related to marital/relationship status – 35%
• Related to childcare – 30%
• Related to age/weight/size – 20%
• Related to religious/social and other personal preferences – 15%
• Related to lifestyle habits (drinking, smoking, etc.) – 10%
• Related appearance preferences (tattoo, piercing, etc.) – 5%

For male employees, the most common awkward questions were:

• Related to lifestyle habits (drinking, smoking, etc.) – 35%
• Related to religious/social and other personal preferences – 30%
• Related to marital/relationship status – 25%
• Related appearance preferences (tattoo, piercing, etc.) – 20%
• Related to age/weight/size – 15%
• Related to family planning – 10%
• Related to childcare – 5%

Diplomatic answers are the usual response

Nearly 40% employees said that they respond diplomatically to inappropriate or awkward interview questions. About 30% employees said they prefer to politely refuse to respond to such questions, 20% said they respond with honesty and 10% said they had walked-out during such instances.

A gender-wise analysis shows that the majority of both male (40%) and female (35%) employees choose to respond with diplomacy to such questions. Nearly 25% males respond with honesty while 30% female employees politely refuse to answer such questions.

Pallavi Jha further suggests, “For candidates, it helps to be honest but a little diplomatic and polite when answering awkward questions. Also, it helps to have a feel of the general company policies. For example, when asked if you are planning another child any time soon, you can politely say – ‘not anytime soon’. If asked – do you drink/smoke, one can politely say I just indulge very occasionally and just in my limits.”

About TimesJobs.com:

TimesJobs.com, a flagship business of Times Business Solutions (TBS), is a platform to help competent professionals make smarter career decisions. With over 25 million registered jobseekers across the board and more than 60 million page views every month, it is fast becoming the most preferred career portal among the candidates.

TimesJobs is leading in the recruitment and employment space with its pioneering and dynamic divisions because it successfully meets all the needs of the jobseekers. Its major platforms include:

• TechGig: India’s biggest dais for tech professionals to help them Learn, Showcase & Compete in the IT industry.
• JobBuzz: A well-known portal that provides information & insights about different companies, job profiles and interview processes.
• StepAhead: StepAhead offers Professional Resume writing and distribution services, career astrology, resume improvement to help jobseekers accelerate their career.

Also, TimesJobs has the largest collection of jobs in the market, which ensures that whenever and wherever there is a great opportunity, jobseekers will discover it on the platform.

In the recruitment market as well, being the biggest platform for competent professionals who think of their careers first, TimesJobs has become the destination of choice for recruiters who seek to engage with the right talent.

The post 90% Employees face awkward interview questions: JobBuzz Study appeared first on Core Sector Communique.

60% of the 660 professionals surveyed – research an organization before accepting their job offer. Further 35% of them rely on company review sites to do this research about the company, reveals JobBuzz.

April 25, 2017: Today’s professionals no longer look for jobs, they are looking for career development and long-term growth. With a host of information channels available to them, they carefully review any job opportunity by scanning company reviews to assess the reputation of the organization and the career growth offered.

Most professionals research companies online

In a recent study conducted by the recently revamped JobBuzz, (a company rating platform powered by TimesJobs) the clear majority of working professionals agreed that whether one is at the beginning of job search, preparing for an interview or contemplating a job offer, being armed with information about the prospective company is in one’s best interest. Among the 660 working professionals who participated in the study 60% of working admitted to checking up on the company before accepting a job offer.

Over 35% of professionals rely on company review platforms to check out and research a prospective company. About 30% them use web search and scan through articles, stories, media mentions and Wikipedia to gather insights about the organization they are looking to work with.

About 19% of the surveyed professionals rely on word-of-mouth to get an understanding about the work culture, leadership and other aspects of the organization and 16% scan the company website for relevant information.

“The quality of talent an organization is able to attract and retain is crucial to its success in today’s highly competitive environment. TimesJobs’ study clearly shows that companies that are active on employer review sites are able to engage with top talent and build their reputation as one of the best places to work – giving them the critical edge as an employer of choice,” says Nilanjan Roy, Head of Strategy, Times Business Solutions.

Company Reviews help assess organizations candidly

Emphasizing the importance of company review platforms 35% professionals say that they could assess the company comprehensively – across multiple parameters. Nearly 30% feel they are a big benefit when you are unsure of which company to select, since they give you a lot of information and provide suggestions. Another 15% say they do not rely on only on company reviews, but seek out other sources as well while making career decisions. Interestingly 20% professionals felt that most reviews on such websites were planted or fake.

However, the significance of having a good number of positive reviews on a company rating website must not be discounted. This is further supported by the fact that 25% of professionals use company rating websites every time they get a job offer. About 45% say they use it sometimes, when they are not very knowledgeable about the company, while 20% say they rarely use it and 10% say they access other sources for company information. Incidentally besides reading reviews about future employers nearly 70% professionals also say that they also post their own reviews about their current & previous organizations.

Company Culture is the most important factor

TimesJobs Study also revealed the checklist of parameters on which professionals use to assess a potential employer. Among the factors mentioned, company culture is the most crucial factor for almost 40% professionals, for 35% of them work-life balance is their focus while checking company reviews. Nearly 30% professionals say salary scales are of high importance for them. Rewards and recognition is a decisive factor for another 30% professionals and 25% look at the learning & development opportunities critically.

Reviews impact Employee Perceptions

The impact of company reviews on a professional’s decision can be gauged by the fact that 90% of the surveyed professionals’ perceptions had been altered after reading a company review. For 50% professionals, it had positively impacted their decision to take up the job at a specific company, implying the review has created good impression about the company. For 40% professionals, it has negatively impacted their decision and created a bad impression about the company. Another 10% professionals said their career decisions were not impacted by reading reviews.

This JobBuzz study clearly reiterates that the days of indiscriminately applying to jobs through newspapers, or depending on friends and family for recommendations are passֳ©. In today’s highly competitive business environment online and social media are the new modes of recruitment, the critical aspect is how effectively companies can engage and respond to past, present and future employees on these platforms.

JobBuzz itself was recently revamped with a slew of new features that significantly enhance engagement and the insights it provides into companies. A brief description of the newly launched features:

• Top 5 reasons to work: Surveyed feedback from employees working in that company. It highlights what the employees feel positively about their company.
• Top 5 reasons to leave: This is also a survey result of the employees. It tells the parameters employee does not like or enjoy in their company.
• Average job tenure: Job tenure in a company speaks a lot regarding the work culture, career growth, salary standards, etc. This is a unique feature available only on JobBuzz. Here candidates can find a comparative analysis with respect to industry standards.
• Employee strength by Education: It speaks of the mix of employees with respect to various educational qualifications. Candidates can compare the company with the respective industry standard.
• Employee’s Feedback for New Joinees: Feedback from the employees for new joinees. Includes suggestions, advice and tips for them to settle into the organization.
• Employee’s Feedback for company/management: Feedback, advice or suggestions from the employees for improvement/betterment in certain areas of the management/company.
• Rating Trends: Rating trends across the year provides very important insights about the company. Candidates can find how the company is perceived among its employees in terms of Career Growth, Work Culture, Salary Hikes and Work-Life Balance over a period.
• Insights from employees: Provides insider information regarding the company. Includes candid experiences regarding certain sensitive information like salary hike, frequency of promotions, etc.
• Compare with competitors: Provides a comparison between two companies with respect to different HR policy parameters.
• Interview Tips: With the widest range of potential interview questions, TimesJobs further helps professionals understand different employer’s interview methods and help them prepare to ace their interviews.

Visit http://jobbuzz.timesjobs.com/ to discover more about the company of your interest.

About TimesJobs.com:

TimesJobs.com, a flagship business of Times Business Solutions (TBS), is a platform to help competent professionals make smarter career decisions. With over 25 million registered jobseekers across the board and more than 60 million page views every month, it is fast becoming the most preferred career portal among the candidates.

TimesJobs is leading in the recruitment and employment space with its pioneering and dynamic divisions because it successfully meets all the needs of the jobseekers. Its major platforms include:

• TechGig: India’s biggest dais for tech professionals to help them Learn, Showcase & Compete in the IT industry.
• JobBuzz: A well-known portal that provides information & insights about different companies, job profiles and interview processes.
• StepAhead: StepAhead offers Professional Resume writing and distribution services, career astrology, resume improvement to help jobseekers accelerate their career.

Also, TimesJobs has the largest collection of jobs in the market, which ensures that whenever and wherever there is a great opportunity, jobseekers will discover it on the platform.

In the recruitment market as well, being the biggest platform for competent professionals who think of their careers first, TimesJobs has become the destination of choice for recruiters who seek to engage with the right talent.

The post Companies that leverage Review Platforms attract Top Talent: JobBuzz Study appeared first on Core Sector Communique.