How should I answer an open-ended question for an online application?
When mentioning an online position application, you need to be familiar with it. As a manner for direct contact with the employers, the online application is more targeted than job seeking via the recruitment site, and more convenient. It leaves more time for preparation than participation in the recruitment activity. Now the online application has become a shortcut channel for college graduates to enter into famous enterprises. Do not take for granted that applying online is just filling in the resume table and answering a few seemingly useless questions. Instead realize that a wide variety of information to fill out and essay questions are a test for the applicant’s ability. And what reflects the applicant’s personal ability is the answer to the final open-ended questions in the online application, in addition to the education background in the resume and all kinds of certificates and rewards.
From the answers to a few short open-ended questions, the employer can see the applicant’s ability, and the applicant can also recognize what the very enterprise is concerned about. Many applicants find open-ended questions to be the most difficult part which often makes them puzzled, so many of them even give up answering the questions. In fact, each open-ended question has its own unique test point and purpose. For “What is your career plan?”, “By what experience are you impressed most in college” and other questions, many college students think that they have a lot to say yet they do not know where to start. Specifically, these questions aim to examine individual cooperation ability and skills, the ability to withstand pressure in work, and whether there are personality defects that are not conducive to the work and so on. From your answers, the HR can judge your view of values, that is, what are the most important things in your estimation.
Examples of classic questions and answers.
Q1: Please briefly introduce your usual ways for entertainment and recreation, including sports and hobbies.
A: I have a wide range of hobbies, especially a love of football, basketball and other sports activities; reading and writing are also my interest, and in my spare time, I also like surfing on the Internet, traveling and so on.
Comment on the answer:
It is indeed a wide range of hobbies in concise content. But after a second thought, every college boy seems to be interested in all these things. The answer undoubtedly tells HR: I am very common!
Analysis of the question:
Over 80% of online applications involve questions about the hobbies of job searchers, as HR wants to know the job searcher from different aspects. The preferences are the most simple and intuitive way to understand who you are, and your self-description is more vivid than that specified in your resume. In the introduction of your hobbies, there should be an emphasis and an explanation why these are your preferences. You mainly introduce those hobbies related to the job and teamwork, and you can also highlight your unique abilities to impress HR. Description should be as vivid and fluent as possible, after all, HR can be subjective some times.
Q2: Describe the most prominent non-academic achievement when you are in university.
Common answer:
The biggest non-academic achievement during my four years of university studies is to insist on writing diaries. Most of the time I was just recording daily trivia, but it wasn’t easy to stick to it for four years. The diary recorded four years of life, knowledge and some insights and feelings in university, which reflect my experience of growth, and will also be a huge wealth in the future.
Comment on the answer:
When it comes to a non-academic achievement, many students will be at a loss and just panic, let alone answer what “the most prominent” was. But even in the “trivial things”, the applicant can also turn it into a success by highlighting the significance of the incident and his/her feelings from it. Continuing to keep a diary for four years is a great achievement. The perseverance and serious attitude towards life of the respondent is vividly shown. For such “smart” applicants, how can HR ignore them?
Analysis fn the question:
By raising such a question, HR wants to know your view of value, that is, what is the most important thing in your eyes, and, for you, what is the achievement. Therefore, to highlight the successful experience is the most important element. The question is not just about the achievement though, as it is a non-academic achievement, then, HR really wants you to tell him/her how you got the achievement, through what process, and does not care what you specifically achieved. In addition, try not to talk about what you learn in school, but to highlight the achievements from daily life.
Q3: For career planning, talk about your plans for the next 3 to 5 years.
Common answer:
I hope to adapt to the company culture, integrate into the team and understand the business process within the first year, and spend 2 to 3 years mastering the work skills, enhancing the ability to work, becoming a manager, and getting promoted to a manager position within five years…
Comment on the answer:
You’d better talk about your great ambition with your parents. For a student who has not yet entered the workplace, to have a very clear career plan is not realistic. If you simply answer with a future work “schedule”, it is likely that the employer may think you lack forethought.
Analysis of the question:
By raising such a question, HR wants to find out the motivation of your application in case you are a job hopper. The answer should not be too specific, as any answer too specific is not wise when you do not know the ranks and promotion system of the employer. You need to highlight your career plan and development direction. For this kind of question, you should answer it according to the actual situation of each company, and find the direction of personnel training from its ideology as far as possible.
Q4: What is the most successful / regretful thing for you during university studies? Why?
Common answer:
The most successful experience in the university is that I organized XX large-scale activity, in which I played an important role. This successful experience made me understand many valuable ideas, and brought me confidence…
Comment on the answer:
A Leadership speech will never rouse the interest of HR, who naturally will not have a deep impression of you. This is a good opportunity to show your personal ability to HR, so how can you answer hastily?
Analysis of the question:
For the “event” kind of question, you should emphasize what a role you played in the event, and what kind of concepts you learned. Whether it was a success or a failure, you have to tell HR the problems that occurred and how you solved them; under what kind of background you completed something or made a decision; what kind of resources you had then; what hardships you were facing then and what was the ultimate goal; how you acted (using resources, overcoming difficulties, dealing with emergencies, etc.); what the final result was. For this type of question, there is a basic idea to answer, that is, “STAR” principle. S = Situation, T = Target, A = Action, R = Result.
If it was a failure, you need to analyze the cause and summarize the lessons you have learned.
Q5: What do you think is your biggest defect?
Common answer:
My biggest defect is that I am extreme and stubborn in work. The views of many questions are often different from people surrounding me, which often results in a disagreement and dispute…
Comment on the answer:
The subtext to the answer is: my work style is rigorous, my attitude towards work is meticulous, and I have my own unique insights. This answer fully interprets the skills of “self-criticism and self-expression”, i.e. a boasting in another way. But be careful not to be too obvious.
Analysis of the question:
About the “self-evaluation” question, HR hopes to get a deeper understanding of you, but probably not through your answer, but through the way you evaluate yourself.
Q6: Why did you choose our company?
Common answer:
As the world’s top 500 enterprises, the status of your company as a leader in the industry is admirable, and I hope to join this great group to promote my own development and achieve success. I am very optimistic about the industry your company is engaged in and I think your company attaches great importance to talent. This job is very suitable for me, and I believe I can do a good job…
Comment on the answer:
HR’s patience won’t allow a lengthy description, let alone the blind copy of the “reputation” in the business profile on the enterprise’s website without any “valuable” feedback on products. You are almost saying flatter words over the brand name.
Analysis on the question:
This kind of question is helpful for you in knowing yourself and clear positioning. Besides, the recruitment department wants to see your love of her products and hopes to hear your pertinent evaluation, which can never be a clichés downloaded from the website. To answer such questions, you need to be aware of: a, your motive to seek the job, wishes and attitude towards it. b, answer it from the industry, business and position these three angles.
Q7: What kind of qualities do you think the staff of the company should have?
Common answer:
Your company is a world-renowned enterprise, so your employees must first have a strong sense of group honor and ability for teamwork. They should be responsible for the work, and have a strong self-learning ability and innovation ability. At the same time, in order to be integrated into the culture of pursuing progress, the optimistic, progressive and proactive attitude is also essential.
Comment on the answer:
This answer can be used as an exemplar answer if not for any targeted specific company. The reason is that all the three sentences are related to the enterprise. Speaking of the quality of corporate employees, not only the positive words used are correct, what is more critical is that they reflect the “quality” of the enterprise.
Analysis on the question:
HR of course knows that people with what qualities are the most suitable for their company, then what about you? If you want to secure the position, of course, you have to say that you are just the very person suitable for their company. You should tell them why you are the most suitable for this position. When answering, you must quote cases and data to describe in detail, rather than a summary of points. These qualities can be found from the enterprise profile. But more importantly, you should show your ability by being directed to the above question. Finally, you are to indicate that you meet the requirements of the enterprise and show them what kind of contribution in what aspects you can make for the enterprise.
The open-ended question is an important part of the online application, and also the part the job-seekers spend most time on. It generally takes over half the time to answer the open-ended the open-ended questions.
The key to answering an open-ended question is to show your characteristics and ability, that is, why the enterprise needs you. Comparing the open-ended questions of each company, you will find they are similar, so we can prepare for them early. In addition, because there is no limit to answering open-ended questions, the candidates often answer freely. But the so-called “freedom” will often lead to mistakes you cannot easily detect, because “the more you say, the more mistakes you make”. So, you need to carefully deal with these types of application question.
