An innocent question. But a question that if answered improperly, can be a deal breaker. While many individuals will be looking to a new job as a means of increasing their salary, “not being paid well enough at your last job” is not something you want to mention to your interviewer. After all, are you not likely to leave this particular job if you found you could make more down the street?
If you're currently employed and leaving of your own accord, craft your response around enhancing your career development and a seeking out of new challenges.
If your current employer is downsizing, be honest about it, remain positive, but keep it brief. If your employer fired you or let you go for cause, be prepared to give a brief – but honest – reply. No matter how tempting it may be, or how “unfair it was that they let you go” steer clear away from any and all drama and negativity. Any experienced employer understands that sometimes things happen. Staying positive is key here.
2. Tell us what is the essence of an operations coordinator's work?
Putting people and objects together to provide goods and services is the essence of an operation coordinator's work. Working at this position means that you blend skills in human resource management, administration and customer service to bring about operational smoothness of an organization.
3. Explain me how deep is your interaction with people in the role of an operations coordinator?
Working as an operations coordinator is all about working with people. Since you have to create and maintain effective working relationships with several departments (both internal and external), people are your key to everything. Interaction is all in a day's work.
I would gladly take up front-end work because I feel that I have it in me to interact positively with different types of people on a regular basis. I like working at the forefront because of all the challenges that it has to offer.
This role requires one to possess exceptional follow-up abilities as there are many avenues through which one has to follow up on payments.
6. Explain me do you value recognition or pay more? Why?
Either preference is fine, but just remember you have to be able to explain why. If you say recognition, then back that up by describing how achievement really carries weight with you and how you like to feel valued in the work that you do because it validates that you're helping your teammates / customers and so forth. If you choose money, you can also explain that is important to you as validation and you can highlight how money is important to you because of your goals (financial security, providing for your family, and so forth). The key is to be authentic with your answer. However, if you say you value pay more because you're greedy - know that doesn't align usually to most company's values/vision.
7. Tell us what general trends do you see in our industry?
Examine what's happened in the industry in the last 5 - 10 years and how it's evolved and then look at what both the company and analysts are saying about the future of that industry in which that company competes in. Read trade magazines / online sources in that industry as well to make sure you stay up to date on trends.
Definitely don't give an example of a time when you were dishonest, because the company doesn't want to hire a liar. Give an example of a time when someone else lied and it resulted in a difficult situation at work or school. Explain how you handled the situation.
9. Tell me about your teamwork skills in relation as Operations Coordinator?
Operations coordinator's have to play important roles in a team or group. Your ability in setting relationships with other team members should be appeared in your interview answers and you should mention your contribution into the success of the team.
10. What are your weaknesses as Operations Coordinator?
Another tricky one. The purpose of this question is to see how you view and evaluate yourself.
One the one hand, if you suggest you don't have any weaknesses, your interviewer will almost certainly see you as a lair, egotistical, or both.
Don't fall into the trap of trying to present a positive skill in disguise as a weakness, like “I work too hard” or “I am a perfectionist”. Any experienced interviewer will see through this in a heartbeat.
Additionally, revealing that “I'm not really a morning person and have been known to come in late” raises immediate and obvious red flags.
Yes, I have worked extensively in a factory setting. The idea behind working at this position is the same no matter which industry you work for. However, working in a factory setting requires one to possess insight into manufacturing processes and how to link them with operations to ensure smoothness of work processes.
To do justice to the position of a front office coordinator, one has to possess exceptional coordination and communication skills. Since people working at this position are at the forefront, it is important for them to have a pleasant personality and the ability to handle difficult situations. Knowledge of scheduling is one of the most important skills that an individual needs to possess if he or she wants to work as an office coordinator, as most people working at this position handle the organization's calendars as well.
13. Explain me what are your thoughts on social media for this role?
Without a doubt, social media is becoming more and more pervasive in our jobs. You should stress that social media is not appropriate for personal use at work. However, if the company embraces social media in certain departments (for example marketing), then you may want to discuss how you could use it for work (as long as it applies to your role).
14. Tell me how would you feel about working for someone who knows less than you?
The reality is, the majority of the time someone is in a management/leadership position is because of their experience and past success. So they probably possess at least a unique set of knowledge from you. So you'll want to learn from them as much as possible. If it's not the case, then discuss how you would look for mentors in different departments to help your personal career development.
15. Tell me how has school prepared you for this job role as Operations Coordinator?
Think back to how you've interacted with your peers to develop social skills, how you've worked with classmates on projects to develop teamwork and collaborative skills, how you've developed discipline through studying, how the courses have helped your creativity, and how the classes you've taken have impacted your analytical / problem solving / reasoning skills.
16. Top 19 Operations Coordinator Job Interview Questions:
☛ 1. Please tell me about your self?
☛ 2. Where would you like to be in 3 years? 5 years?
☛ 3. What tertiary qualifications have you attained that related to your Operations coordinator position?
☛ 4. Tell me some of the tasks you've handled daily as an operation manager.
☛ 5. What skills do you consider crucial for success in this position?
☛ 6. How might an operations manager be involved with individual employees?
☛ 7. How to do each Operations coordinator position task/function?
☛ 8. How to control each task/function of Operations coordinator?
☛ 9. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
☛ 10. What are top 3 skills for Operations coordinator?
☛ 11. How to measure job performance of your position: Operations coordinator?
☛ 12. What made you choose to apply to Operations coordinator?
☛ 13. What are key tasks for Operations coordinator?
☛ 14. What have you learned from your past jobs that related to Operations coordinator?
☛ 15. Why did you leave your last job?
☛ 16. What tertiary qualifications have you attained that related to Operations coordinator?
☛ 17. What is the most recent skill you have learned that related to Operations coordinator?
☛ 18. What do you know about this company?
☛ 19. What is the most recent skill you have learned that related to your Operations coordinator position?
17. Basic Operations Coordinator Job Interview Questions:
☛ If you report to multiple people, how do you prioritize your projects?
☛ What would be the first thing you would do in the office if you were hired?
☛ How do you feel about handling multiple phone lines simultaneously? What do you do to avoid confusion?
☛ If I asked you to find ways to improve efficiency in the office, where would you start?
18. Top Operations Coordinator Job Interview Questions:
☛ What daily duties does an office coordinator have? How would you prioritize them?
☛ What office software are you familiar with?
☛ How do you use technology to stay organized?
☛ How fast can you type?
☛ What do you do to protect confidential information?
☛ How do you ensure accuracy in routine tasks such as processing expenses and preparing reports?
☛ Who would you consider your most challenging customer (internal or external)?
☛ How do you ensure all company policies are implemented in the office?
19. What do you see yourself doing in five years as Operations Coordinator?
This one is all about job commitment.
Some people make job hopping a career in of itself, and your answer here can be telling. Here, your interviewer is determining if you are:
☛ someone who sets goals
☛ someone who has a vision
☛ someone who is reliable
☛ someone who demonstrates commitment
☛ someone who is loyal
While no interviewer expects someone to stay at a company forever, try and craft your response in such a way that shows progression in your career, and alignment with the Company's needs and future. Again, self awareness is key – your employer doesn't want to send you down an unwanted path, resulting in wasted time and energy for everyone.
Ever since my first paper route at age 10 I've been doing something to keep myself busy and earn money. Back then, it was obviously about earning some spending money. What I didn't realize was that I was actually starting the journey of establishing what I liked to do and how I fit in to the grand scheme of things. I then worked as a junior computer tech in my last 2 summers of high school. It was here that I discovered what I was passionate about and what I wanted to do. I enrolled in college to get my degree in computer sciences, and I have been working around technology ever since.
Working with team members to identify and respond to needs such as financial and budgeting was a great part of my work. Apart from this, I have been involved in receiving and dispatching of work requests to technical staff and vendors, along with coordinating special events and scheduling maintenance services. Furthermore, my duties involved acting as an interface with clients and visitors and ensuring delivery of committed services in accordance to the company's practices and procedures.
22. Please explain what qualities do you believe are important to have as a manager?
Great managers tend to empower their employees to be successful through strong coaching. They understand how to manage relationships - this is commonly referred to emotional intelligence. They have to be able to handle both client and staff situations that require them to be calm under pressure to clearly think of solutions to complex problems. Most importantly they must be able to articulate the vision to the team and inspire them to work together to collectively achieve that goal
The skills set that one needs to work flawlessly in the role of an operations coordinator include ability to handle work order generation duties, expertise in performance management programs, capability to coordinate utilization of support staff, and supervision acumen. Apart from this, you will need to maintain professional decorum at all times and ensure that each step you take is carefully thought out and in sync with the company's practices.
24. What are your strengths as Operations Coordinator?
While this question is an invitation to do some chest pounding, remember to illustrate strengths that will benefit the employer and are relative to the position. For example:
☛ being a problem solver
☛ being a motivator
☛ being a natural leader
☛ the ability to perform under pressure
☛ a positive attitude
☛ loyalty
25. Tell us as far as billing is concerned, what has been your experience?
While billing work is not something that I have done extensively, I have worked in a medical facility setting where handling copays and calculating costs was part of my work.
