assignment on interview

You’ve made it past the interview phase and you’re feeling good about your chances of landing the role! Before you can make it any further in the process, however, the hiring manager wants you to complete an interview assignment. This may come as a big surprise, and you may be wondering why taking this extra step is even necessary.

Job interviews help the employer get to know you and assess whether you would be a good fit, but an interview assignment can give them a more tangible idea of your skills, how you think, and your work ethic. They can vary from a writing assignment, a technical assessment, or a presentation, and typically come toward the end of the hiring process when the employer is closer to making a decision.

Whether you decide to move forward on an interview assignment is entirely up to you and how good you feel about the employer and their hiring process. If this is something you are considering, here are five ways to handle interview assignments.

Understand expectations

Make sure you clearly understand the employer’s expectations for the interview assignment. Before you get started, you should be able to answer these questions:

• What is the deadline to complete the interview assignment?
• How much time should you spend working on the assignment?
• What exactly should you be including in the final piece? A high-level overview or specific details or ideas?
• How will this be evaluated?

Ensure you have enough time to complete the task

Make sure you are able to complete the assignment (and do a good job) within the deadline you are given. At the same time, it’s important to consider how much time the assignment will actually take. If it’s simply too much work or you have been given an unreasonable deadline, you’re within your rights to reconsider. If the employer is not being respectful of your time, you may want to ask yourself if the opportunity would ultimately be the right one for you.

Ask for more information

If you feel like your interview assignment would be improved with more context about the company or specific departmental processes and goals, don’t be afraid to ask for more information or data. This can help demonstrate your interest in the role, as well as help you work on a more custom project, proposal, or presentation. If this additional information is not available, don’t stress about it! Do your best to work with the information you were given or have found through your research. The hiring manager will understand.

Don’t go overboard

While interview assignments can be a great way to prove yourself, avoid going overboard. If you feel like you are starting to go above and beyond, it’s important to take a pause. Remember, you are not an employee just yet. It is not your job to do actual work for the company. While you want to demonstrate that you are a strategic thinker and that you have good ideas that can be valuable to the organization, you need to walk a fine line. It should raise some red flags if the employer has unrealistic expectations about what you can and should accomplish.

Review your work

Make sure you take the time to review your work before you submit, and if applicable, practice your presentation or proposal. During this stage in the process, it may also be helpful to enlist the help of a friend. They may be able to catch any issues in the written assignment, and give you tips for perfecting your body language and presentation skills—helping you boost your confidence for the big day.

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8 Examples of How to Answer “Tell Me About Yourself”

By Biron Clark

Published: November 16, 2023

In this article, I’m going to walk you through steps and examples of how to answer the “Tell me about yourself” interview question to impress employers and get more job offers . We’ll also cover the  costly mistakes you NEED to avoid if you want to pass this question. 

Here’s exactly what you’re going to get:

• The most-recommended method of how to answer “tell me about yourself”
• 8 examples of good answers to “tell me about yourself” for various industries
• A shorter, newer method for experienced candidates
• How to practice your answer to make sure you’re 100% ready for the interview

Let’s get started…

Why Do Interviewers Ask “Tell Me About Yourself”

“Can you tell me about yourself ?” is a common interview question that’s generally delivered as an icebreaker or pathfinder question, right at the start of an interview. It can catch you off your guard because it may seem vague, broad, and somewhat tricky. Honestly though, understanding a bit more about why interviewers ask this question (which is often framed as a command) will give you a clear insight into how to answer.

Interviewers ask this question to ease you out of those introductory jitters (that you both feel) and into the nitty-gritty of why you’re there. It’s their way of establishing a direction for the interview because it shows them how you summarize your experience and show its relevance to the job you’re applying for, which in turn tells them what to ask next. Trust me though, your answer needs to be relevant, the interviewer is likely not asking whether you’re a dog or a cat person but rather what background, skills, qualifications and experiences brought you to this interview today. 

Watch: How to Answer “Tell Me About Yourself?”

Different ways of asking the same question.

I mentioned how this question can sometimes be framed as a command, i.e: “tell me about yourself,” and so on. There are numerous ways this question might be framed, but all express the same intention on the part of the interviewer, so they should all be answered the same way. Common variants include:

• “Take me through your resume.”
• “Tell me about your background”
• “Describe yourself.”
•   “Can you tell me more about why you’re here?”
• “What brings you here today?”

When it comes to describing yourself, you may wonder where to start, how personal to be, and how far to get into it. “Describe yourself” certainly feels a little more personal than the rest. For insight into how to answer that variant, Read This Article .

How to Answer “Tell Me About Yourself” in an Interview:

1. choose the right starting point for your story (important).

Your goal when answering, “tell me about yourself,” is to give a brief, concise walkthrough of your career story that will show off relevant pieces of experience. You want to start at a point in the past (like how you began working in this field), and end up in your current situation. So the first thing to decide is where you’ll begin the story… If you’re a recent graduate: Start with the fact that you just graduated, and explain why you chose this career path or field of area of study.  

For example, you might start your answer like this:

“I graduated with my degree in Economics two months ago. I chose that field of study because I’ve always been interested in finance and money, and a couple of family members told me it leads to great career options, too.”

If you have 1-8 years of experience, start with the moment you graduated and walk them through your employment experience since then.

Here’s an example of how you’d start your interview answer in this situation:

“I graduated with my degree in Industrial Engineering six years ago and immediately went to work for a small design firm in Chicago. Since then, I’ve…”

And if you have 8-20+ years of experience, you can start with a mid-point in your career. This will keep your answer from getting too long.

For example, if you’re a manager, you could start with how you first became a manager. If you’ve been working for 25 years but have only been a sales professional for 12 years, you could begin with how you got started in sales.

Here is an example of how to begin your answer to “tell me about yourself” as a very experienced candidate:

“I first started managing people twelve years ago, when I was promoted from Customer Service Associate to Customer Service Supervisor. Since then, I’ve…”

2. Highlight Impressive Experience and Accomplishments

As you tell your career story, explain key accomplishments you’ve achieved, work you’ve done, skills you’ve learned, and key career moves you’ve made.

• Were you promoted? That’s always a great sign and worth mentioning.
• Did you accomplish something significant like solving a big problem for your last employer?  That’s great to mention, too.
• Did you build new skills or overcome challenges? Get specific! Tell details.

But random impressive facts aren’t enough. You should be thinking about how this ties in with the company you’re talking to.

• You should always research the company before going into the interview . Study their job description in particular so you know what skills THEY care most about.
• What does this particular job involve? Is there a lot of leadership? Talk about your experiences leading (no matter how small!), how it went, and what you learned.
• Does the job involve a high level of technical skill? Talk about how you learned and advanced in that area through each step of your career!
• You need to “tailor” your answer for, “tell me about yourself,” for their job description and their needs. Try to talk about experiences and qualifications that are relevant to this job you’ve applied for.

3. Conclude by Explaining Your Current Situation

Finally, the best way to finish your story is to bring them up to speed on your current situation. Why you wanted to apply for their job , what you’re looking to do next, etc.

For example you might end your answer by saying:

“…and that’s why I wanted to interview with your firm. This position seems like a great opportunity to advance those skills I just talked about, and continue building my career and challenging myself”.

4. Keep Your Answer Work-Related

When employers ask, “tell me about yourself,” in an interview, they usually want to hear about you as a professional. So the safest approach is to keep your answer work-related and share your career story, rather than personal details. You can show more personality as the interview goes on, but it’s risky to share too much personal info when answering, “tell me about yourself.” It could lead to your answer getting too long, or it could cause you to leave out important professional information that the interviewer was looking to know!

5. Be Concise When Answering (2 Minutes or Less!)

When they say “tell me about yourself,” it’s going to be tempting to give a long-winded answer. It’s such an open-ended question. And we covered a lot above, but there’s something just as important as any of that. You need to be concise.  Your communication and ability to stay on track with your answer are two things they are watching closely. The interviewer wants to see that you can tell your story from Point A (the beginning) to Point B (the end) without getting sidetracked, distracted, or scattered. Because it tells them how you’ll communicate as an employee… when there’s a problem, when there’s a disagreement, or when you simply need to share your knowledge or opinion. If you take this answer beyond 2 minutes you are shooting yourself in the foot. In fact, below 90 seconds is ideal. Practice at home with a timer! That’s why I recommend choosing a starting point based on your experience (Step 1 above)… because if you have 25 years of experience and you start at the moment you graduated from college, your answer will be too long.

“Tell Me About Yourself” Example Answers:

Now that we’ve covered the key steps to answering, “tell me about yourself,” let’s look at some full answer examples to this interview question .

Example Answer for Experienced Candidates:

“I graduated with a Business degree in 2010, and was offered an account management position at a telecommunications company I had interned with. I loved working with customers and managing and growing my accounts, but the industry we were in just wasn’t very appealing to me. After that, I stayed a full year and learned a ton about how to build and manage accounts successfully and  I ended up becoming a top performer in my group before leaving. I left at the 1-year-mark to pursue a very similar position within an industry I’m much more excited about- healthcare. I’ve been at this healthcare startup space for 2 years with this company and I feel ready to take my career to the next level so that’s why I’m currently looking for a new opportunity.”

That first example showed you how to answer “tell me about yourself” for experienced job seekers (at least a few years of experience). Now let’s look at an example for entry-level job seekers and job seekers with no experience .

Example Answer With No Experience:

“I graduated with a degree in Engineering two months ago. I chose that field of study because I’ve always been interested in math and physics , and a couple of family members told me it leads to great career options. One of my key accomplishments during my academic career was speaking at a conference on the topic of energy-efficient window design, based on research I had done for one of my senior-level classes. This led to an internship that I just wrapped up, so I’m actively looking for a full-time position now.”

Stand Out by “Tailoring” Your Answer to the Company

The end of your interview answer is a big opportunity to customize your answer for the company and job you’re interviewing for. When you talk about what you’re looking to do next in your career, try to mention whatever you see this company providing for your career (leadership, technical challenges, exposure to new areas, etc.) That shows them why you’re excited about their job, which will help you get hired! (I explain more about why this is true here ). Before we move on to more tips and a HUGE mistake to avoid, here’s one more example interview answer for this question.

Shorter Method for How to Answer “Tell Me About Yourself” (For Experienced Candidates Only)

The method I gave you above is the standard way most recruiters recommend answering “tell me about yourself.”  It’s how I coached job seekers to answer this question for years. There’s another way you can answer, though… and it has some benefits. I’ll explain…Many experts have pointed out that if the interviewer wanted your career story, they could have looked at your resume or your LinkedIn , or asked a question like, “can you walk me through your background?” So there’s another approach for answering, “tell me about yourself,” that skips the career story and just cuts right to the chase: Why you’re awesome and why they should hire you !

Let’s look at 2 word-for-word templates that accomplish this.

After this, you’ll have two proven methods for answering, “tell me about yourself” in interviews, and in the next section, I’ll reveal how to decide which method is best for YOU.

Example answer if you’re job searching while employed:

“Well, I’m currently working at XYZ Company and I specialize in doing ___. The reason I applied for this job is I saw ___ on the job description and I think I would be able to help you ___ and ___. One of my key accomplishments in my current role was helping my employer do ___, and I’m confident I can help your team get similar results here.”

Example answer template if unemployed:

“In my most recent position at XYZ Company, I specialized in doing ___. The reason I applied for this job is I saw ___ on the job description and I think I would be able to help you ___ and ___. One of my key accomplishments in my last role for XYZ Company was helping them  ___, and I’m confident I can help your team get similar results here.”

Which Method Should You Use for Your Answer?

If you have work experience, both options we’ve covered are very good, and it really depends on what you feel most comfortable with. Choose the one you like best. They’re both excellent ways to answer the question, so don’t stress over it! However, if you are entry-level and have no work experience… or internships at the very least…  then I would go back to the top of this article and use the first, 5-step method for answering, “tell me about yourself.”

This second method we just covered is really best if you want to give a unique, concise answer and you have some relevant work experience to share in the interview!

“Tell Me About Yourself” Example Answers For Different Industries:

Healthcare:.

“After being licensed six years ago, I immediately entered a busy E.R. setting where I progressed to the point of triaging as many as 50 patients a shift. I’m skilled in patient record-keeping, stabilizing incoming patients, diagnosing injuries, administering meds, doing stitches, starting I.V.s, setting bones and offering emotional support to family members behind the scenes. I’ve adapted to the pressure but feel that, in the long term, I’d be better suited to a slower-paced environment with more focus on establishing lasting patient relationships. I’m ready to take on this post in your busy day clinic and believe that my advanced patient triage skills, along with my empathic nature, would be a great benefit to your team.”

This works because:   This answer outlines your qualifications and extensive background in incoming patient care, triage, diagnosing and record-keeping. Your honesty about long term goals is appreciated. The answer shows how your skills have progressed since you were licensed, and it inspires confidence in your ability to handle a hands-on post at a busy clinic.

Service Industry:

“Having spent eight years in the food and beverage industry, I progressed from head waiter to front of house manager four years ago. I’ve held so many posts in the industry, from runner to waiter to head waiter to manager, but my dedication to quality service has never changed. I believe in knowing my product and process inside and out, uplifting my team members and demonstrating focused positivity throughout. It’s easy to fall into the temper trap when things get busy, but I prefer to knuckle down, smile and get it done. I want my customers to come back for more!”

This works because: This answer makes an impact because of how your personality shines through. The service industry is incredibly stressful, but it’s refreshing to know that you have a proactive, positive attitude to stressful situations, backed up with strong product knowledge and professionalism.

“I’m an accredited software engineer and systems integrator with more than ten years of active development experience. I’m proficient in Ruby, Python, Java, C++ and a wide range of associated languages and frameworks. I’m a team player, and I love bouncing ideas off my colleagues and engaging with diverse perspectives. I like to stay abreast of the latest tech and I’m wildly competitive when it comes to troubleshooting. I’ve also got an eye for detail and clean design and I’m dedicated to delivering a seamless, streamlined experience to the end-user.”

This works because: From this answer, it’s clear that you’re accredited and boast a diversified programming portfolio with plenty of experience in the field. It’s noted that you’re a team player, as teamwork is essential when developing and managing systems for a busy tech enterprise. And your attitude to problem solving , as being competitive will help you find fast and effective solutions.

“I’ve been a retail cosmetic artist and sales assistant for six years and I’m passionate about making clients feel utterly gorgeous! I have a strong knowledge of retail processes, including stock-take, merchandising and sales targeting. If I have to describe my stand-out quality it’s that I love to build up the team, make my colleagues smile and get them motivated to break targets for our department. Above all though, the customer comes first and I’m dedicated to building brand and store loyalty in the customer.”

  This works because: From this answer, it’s obvious you know retail like the back of your hand and that you take pride in breaking targets and boosting the team morale. Your positivity shines through, and you highlight your passion for making clients feel special.

Practice Your Answer Before the Interview

As a final tip – make sure you go practice everything you plan on saying when the interviewer asks, “what can you tell me about yourself?” Nothing comes out perfect the first time, and you don’t want to appear nervous and stumble when they ask.  So I’d recommend grabbing a piece of paper and writing down the key points you want to talk about in your answer. I like to write them in bullet format. Then, use your smartphone’s voice recorder app to record a few practice answers and see how you sound. Don’t look at your notes as you give your answer. The idea is to try to remember what you want to talk about without reading off the paper. Then glance at the paper AFTER to make sure you covered everything. Keep practicing until you can give a smooth answer without forgetting anything important.

Note: If you’re having a phone interview , you can use notes/bullet points to help guide you through your answer. Nobody can see you on the phone, so take advantage!

About the Author

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Interview Projects and Assignments

Interviewing in today’s job market can sometimes feel like a never-ending process. You’ll likely be called for a virtual interview first. Then you’ll go through at least three in-person interviews, if not more. Then, you must wait for references to be verified, and a background check to be completed.

The latest statistics say it can take 43 days for the average candidate to go from first interview to job offer. In 2017, it was just 24 days according to research conducted by Glassdoor .

The time from first interview to hire is likely to increase because employers are requiring candidates to take on a sample assignments or projects as part of the interview process.

What is a Job Interview Assignment?  

A job interview assignment is a task that’s similar to the type of work you’d be doing if hired for the job. The hiring manager will use the assignment to further assess your skills and abilities. It gives them tangible evidence of your ability to perform the job at a satisfactory level if hired.

If you knock the assignment out the park, it may help you land the job. However, if you fail to impress your potential employer, then you might not get the offer, no matter how well you did on your interviews.

How Do You Handle a Job Interview Assignment?

No matter how you might feel about interview assignments, it looks like they are here to stay so you have to know how to succeed.

Here are some tips to keep in mind:

1. Do understand the expectations of your industry

There are some roles where interview assignments have always been the rule rather than the exception. If you’re applying for a position as a graphic designer, copywriter, proofreader, then you should expect an assignment.

Beyond that, it’s becoming increasingly popular for employers to ask candidates to create a marketing plan for a certain product. If you’re going for a process management role, employers may want to see your take on a process-improvement plan. If you’re into data analysis, then you may be asked to give a report on a set of numbers they provide.

It’s hard to predict what type of assignment you’ll get from each employer. The point is to have a general expectation that you’ll be asked to complete a project, so you’re not surprised when it comes.

2. Do follow the instructions

Read the instructions of the assignment carefully. Avoid the temptation to go “above and beyond” to try and wow the hiring manager. That approach may backfire. Turning in a solid product that demonstrates your understanding of the assignment should be your priority.

3. Do ask questions

It’s perfectly okay for you to ask questions. In fact, it shows that you’re engaged and really want to do a quality job. You don’t want to fail the assignment just because you didn’t ask a simple question.

Remember to ask about the deadline. Are they expecting you to hand in a report or present your work to the hiring manager? What criteria will they use to assess your work?

4. Do protect your intellectual property

You want to do your best, but at the same time you don’t want the company to just take your work and use it. It sounds unethical, but it does happen.

Ask how your work will be used once you provide it. Is the work for evaluation purposes only? Or will any work you do become property of the company? Knowing the answer may influence whether you want to do the assignment.

Some jobseekers may ask employers to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to ensure they don’t use the work without consent. That could be a turnoff for some employers, but don’t hesitate to request that one be signed if you’re truly concerned.

5. Do research the company

You want your final product to reflect the tone, style, and values of the firm you’re interviewing for. Ask for a copy of the company’s style guide to use while completing the assignment. They may not want to give you that proprietary information, but it’s worth asking.

Whether or not you get the style guide, reading the company’s website, looking up press releases, and reviewing marketing materials can give you a sense of the company’s culture. Showing that you did a bit of “homework” before you completed the assignment will surely impress the hiring manager.

6. Do set aside time for the assignment

 Give yourself plenty of time. You don’t want to wait until the night before the assignment is due to start the assignment. Put time on your calendar well before the due date to start. You may need to complete the assignment over two or more sessions.

7. Do complete the work yourself

If you’re not too sure about the assignment you may be tempted to ask a friend or colleague to do it for you. While it’s okay to ask for a bit of advice or an opinion on your work, make sure you do it yourself. Handing in someone else’s work is not only dishonest, but if you get the job and can’t do similar tasks, you might not hang onto the job for very long.

8. Do proofread your work

Make sure you have time to thoroughly proofread your work before handing it in. You may also want to have a friend or colleague review your work as well. You don’t want a careless typo or mistake to sink your chances of landing the job.

9. Do show enthusiasm about the project

When submitting the assignment, take a moment to include a note. Thank the hiring manager for the opportunity to complete the project. Remind them why you’d be a good fit for the role. And, put in at least one thing you learned while doing the assignment to entice the hiring manager to look further.

Here’s an example of a note you could include:

Thank you for the opportunity to complete this assignment. I really enjoyed the challenge. You’ll see that I’ve made three low-cost recommendations that I believe would increase paid subscribers by 10% over the next quarter.  

Completing the assignment confirmed to me that I have the passion and skill set to be successful in this role.

10. Do be prepared to walk away

Interview assignments shouldn’t take more than four hours to complete. You may review the assignment and decide that it would take up too much of your time and energy. You may have second thoughts about even doing it. That’s perfectly okay.

You can decline the assignment by writing an email to the hiring manager that says something like this:

Thank you for offering me the opportunity to interview with your company. I’ve enjoyed the experience, but I’ve decided to pursue other job opportunities at this time and won’t be completing the assignment given to me at the end of the last interview.

It may be hard to walk away from a job opportunity when you’ve come so close. But think of it like this: if a company is asking you to do a lot of work and you haven’t even been hired yet, then just imagine what they ask their paid employees to do.

What are Examples of Job Interview Assignments?

Here are three examples of job interview assignments that you might receive from a potential employer. 

1. You’re interviewing with Scheer & Douglass Marketing Group. They’re looking for a new Director of Content Management who understands SEO best practices and long-form blog writing.

For your assignment, you’ll receive a topic, keywords, the audience you’re writing for, and a company style guide. You’ll also receive several samples of the company’s best-performing blogs. Your assignment is to provide a 1,500-word blog that includes at least five mentions of each keyword and a strong call to action.

2. Save the Date, Inc. is a software company that develops and sells scheduling and dispatch software for pest control companies, cable installation companies, and more.

You’ve applied for a sales position with the company. For your assignment, your potential manager gives you information about their latest software, a spec sheet, and a price list. Your assignment is to create a 10-minute presentation to help sell the company’s latest software to a flower delivery franchise that’s reluctant to upgrade.

3. Cumulous Software, LLC needs a software engineer who can oversee ongoing updates and improvements to their brand-new mobile app.

The hiring manager is interested in testing your coding skills. You receive several pages of sample code that’s not working properly. You’re given limited instructions and access to the company’s source code library. Your assignment is to find the problems within the code provided and write the simplest, most practical code possible to solve the issues.

Interview Projects and Assignments are Here to Stay  

Like it or not, interview assignments are the new normal, and it’s best to assume that you’ll be asked to do one sooner or later. Use the tips above to make sure you turn in the best work possible.

Maria Gold is a Content Manager/Writer for Empire Resume. She is dedicated to helping educate and motivate people with the latest career articles and job search advice. Her interests range from writing to programming and design. She is also passionate about innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology.

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• HR Toolkit |
• HR Templates |
• Recruiting email templates |

Sending an interview assignment: example email

This is an email template you can use when you want to send an assignment to your candidates as part of your hiring process. For some positions, especially technical roles, adding a written assignment or test will help you evaluate your candidates’ skills through a real work project and screen people who approach problems the best way.

Email subject line: Assignment for the [ Job_title ] position

Hi [ Candidate_Name ] / Dear [ Candidate_Name ],

Please find attached an assignment as part of our interview process. I’m also attaching some instructions to help you complete the assignment.

Keep in mind that there are no ‘right answers.’ This assignment is designed is to gauge your skills and give us an idea of how you approach tasks relevant to the [ Job_Title ] role. It would be great if you could send this over to us [ within X time frame or by Y date ].

Please do not hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Best of luck with the assignment,

[ Your name ] [ Signature ]

[When you receive the assignment]

Thank you for completing the assignment. Our team will review it and get back to you with feedback as soon as possible.

I hope you enjoy your day,

• Read about smart interview techniques to hire the right people.
• Read about common mistakes to avoid when interviewing top candidates .

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Interview Assignment Example-Template-Format | Pocket HRMS

Interview assignments are an integral part of contemporary interviews. They help the recruiters with brilliant insights as to the thinking pattern of candidates and understand their aptitude for working. On the other hand, it is a great avenue for the candidate to showcase their skill set as well as stand out from the crowd.

Since the assignment helps the interviewer understand the candidate’s problem solving and analytical skills better, it is used by recruiters whenever a technical position is being filled. Irrespective of how the candidate fares during the interview, the recruiter might still go ahead and hire a poorly performing candidate solely due to the fact that they were able to complete the assignment on time and were able to explain it well.

Importance of The Assignment

Interview and interview questions are an essential part of any recruitment process. However, what really helps the recruiter narrow down their search is the assignments and the way they are completed. If you are a candidate applying for any position where analytical skills and problem-solving is involved, then you can be sure that you will be asked to complete some form of assignment by the recruiter. Nowadays, even positions requiring creative thinking also requires the candidates to fulfil some assignments for their interview.

The assignments help the HRs understand the thinking pattern of candidates. It also gives them a good overview of their abilities. This helps them weed out others who might not be suited for the vacant position. The way the candidate approaches the problem at hand also helps in understanding whether they would enjoy the daily challenges of their job while they work in the company. Hence, based on how they complete the assignment, the HRs can make a sound decision.

On the other end, the candidates themselves can benefit from the assignments given by their recruiters. It provides a window for them to understand the kind of challenges they might face while undertaking their daily duties. It is also a chance for them to showcase their talents and abilities in a practical situation and hence, it would also help those candidates who might be a bit reserved.

Why is an Assignment requested by The Hiring Manager?

As we have established, the interview assignment and the way it is completed helps HR understand various kinds of parameters and abilities of candidates. However, there are other reasons too where the recruiter might request the candidate to complete some assignment for their interview.

One common example is to verify whether the aptitude and qualifications mentioned in the resume are legitimate. A candidate might have the necessary qualifications, yet, may not be capable enough to face the daily challenges while working in the company. Hence, providing them with a challenge will expose them to the daily work which would help them make the right choice.

If you are being asked to submit an assignment towards the end of a hiring process, you can be almost sure that you have stiff competition and you are being asked to complete the assignment by the recruiter to help them decide between you and your competition. In this case, it is vital that you understand what the company is looking for and tweak your assignment accordingly to increase your chances of being placed.

Email Template for Requesting Intake Meeting | Pocket HRMS

Interview Assignment Email Checklist

Before furnishing your candidate with the assignment email, kindly check whether the following pointers are covered and conveyed clearly:

1. The expected outcome

2. the deadline to submit the assignment, 3. contact information for resolving any doubts related to the assignment, 4. an example, a link or an attachment with all required instructions, 5. the exact timeline of the assignment, 6. the instructions for submitting the assignment, the interview assignment template.

Email Subject Line: Assignment for the position of [Job title]

Dear [Candidate Name]

Thank you once again for applying for the role of [Job title]. As part of our hiring process, we have decided to send assignments to talented candidates such as yourself!

In the attachment, you will find the assignment along with detailed instructions about completing and submitting it. Kindly read and follow the instructions in order to complete it successfully.

I wish you to understand that there are no right or wrong answers in this assignment. It mostly consists of situations relevant to the position being offered, and we want to evaluate your behaviour when facing situations like that during the course of your work here.

Kindly note that the due date to return the assignment is [Due Date].

If you have any questions or doubts about your assignment, make sure you contact me here. Wishing you the very best with the assignment, and I am looking forward to reading your insights.

[Your name]

[Email Signature]

Reply To Job Application Acknowledgement Template | Pocket HRMS

Template for informing Candidates about the receipt of Assignment

Dear [Candidate Name],

Thank you for completing and sending over the assignment within the defined timeframe. I hope you have followed all the instructions of this assignment.

Our team will review and evaluate the answers to your assignment. Once it is done, we will get back to you with detailed feedback and any further information we may have. I hope your insights help us understand you better and moves you forward with the hiring process.

Wishing you a good day, and please don’t hesitate to contact us with any doubts you may have!

[Signature]

Download Interview Assignment Template[FREE]

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When Hiring, Prioritize Assignments Over Interviews

• Geoff Tuff,
• Steve Goldbach,
• Jeff Johnson

Small projects can help ensure you’re hiring for skills — not just connection.

Companies over-rely on interviews when hiring, which has been shown to be a poor predictor of future performance and introduces opportunities for bias. As an alternative, try giving candidates who make it past an initial screening test a small test of the primary skill the job requires. For instance, ask a coder to solve a small coding project. This “minimally viable demonstration of competence,” and a follow-up discussion that debriefs the exercise, can be a powerful tool for moving beyond the resume to find qualified candidates that hiring bots might have passed over.

As a hiring manager, you want to bring on the “best” person for a job (whatever that means for the given role), but how do you know who’s right?

• GT Geoff Tuff is a principal and leads Deloitte’s sustainability work in U.S. energy and industrials. He is co-author of the bestselling books Detonate (2018) and Provoke (2021 ).
• SG Steve Goldbach a principal and leads Deloitte’s Sustainability practice in the US. He is a co-author of the books Detonate (2018) and Provoke (2021).
• JJ Jeff Johnson is a managing director at Deloitte Consulting LLP who coaches leaders through sales and relationship-building with a focus on human connection, insight, and the art of communication.

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Completing an Assignment

1. start your assignment.

3. Assignment Code

9. Submit Assignment

Updated on: 16/08/2023

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Called Back for a Second Interview? Prepare to Answer These 10 Questions

After submitting a polished resume and cover letter, you aced the answers to common interview questions during your phone screen and/or first-round interview and got invited back for the second interview—in other words, the real deal.

Second interviews can take many different forms, but there are a few things you can count on. You’ll likely be speaking with the hiring manager, either one-on-one or as part of a panel interview, and either as a standalone meeting or part of a series of interviews. Many phone screens are with a recruiter, so this could be the first time you speak directly with the person who will ultimately decide if you get the job and who might become your boss. A second interview might also involve meeting with other team members or even your future boss’s boss—or it might be your second conversation with the hiring manager after you’ve completed other interviews or steps in the process (such as an interview assignment).

How you do in the second interview is often what the hiring manager will base their final hiring decision on, so if there was ever a time to shine it would be now. Wondering what’s the best way to make sure you dazzle your future employer?

Be prepared. Practice answering questions you’ll likely get in a second interview. Or, in other words, read on.

How to Prepare for a Second Interview

So what exactly does being prepared involve? In short, reflect on what you learned from your first interview to help you prep for your second.

First, consider what caught your first interviewer’s attention. Was there a specific skill or experience of yours they were especially keen to learn more about? Generate “examples of how you’ve navigated challenging work scenarios in the past and what projects or accomplishments you’re proudest of” that are relevant to what you’ve learned about the role, says Shanna Hocking, founder of Be Yourself Boldly and the host of the career development podcast One Bold Move a Day . These are what you’ll use to help make the case that you’re the best hire.

Next, review what you learned about the upcoming goals or the vision of the team or company. How does this role fit into that picture? “ Do your research on the company and the problems they’re working to solve,” Hocking says. Spend time thinking about ideas or potential solutions. How might your experiences make you uniquely equipped to solve this problem?

Once you have some good examples and ideas lined up, the next step is to practice answering sample questions aloud. “Preparing and practicing ahead of time will make you feel much more comfortable and confident when you’re face to face with the interviewer,” says Muse career coach Jennifer Smith , founder of Flourish Careers .

It can be especially helpful to go ahead and structure the examples you’ve prepped in a way that highlights the relevant parts of each story. “Outline your stories with the following framework: objective, actions you took, and result. And then practice them over and over,” Smith says. Knowing what details to include and what to cut before you go into your interview will help you make the points you want to make and sound more polished.

With all that in mind, here are 10 questions that you may be asked in a second interview—plus some pointers on how to best answer them.

1. Tell Me About Yourself.

No surprises here. A lot of interviews start this way. Interviewers want not only to find out who you are, but also to learn about you in the context of the job you’ve applied for. In other words, this is your opportunity to introduce yourself to your interviewer and connect your story to the company’s needs.

How to Answer

My go-to strategy for this interview opener is to start with your present, talk about your past, and then finish with your future. Your present is what your current role is along with any specific expertise or interests you have. Your past is the previous experience you bring and how you acquired your skills (your education, for example). And finally, your future is how you’re hoping the rest of your career is going to play out, at least for the foreseeable future.

For a second interview though, you’re going to want to center your response a bit more on the company and what you’ve learned about the role from earlier interviews. The obvious place to pepper in what you’ve learned about the role is in the “future” part of your answer, but you can also add a bit in the “present” in the form of things you are currently working on or excited about that pertain to the new role or the “past” by highlighting relevant experiences or skills.

For example:

“I’m a product manager at Alpha Tech with an interdisciplinary background and a soft spot for the design side of things, which is why this role at Beta Tech is so interesting to me—since design thinking is the foundation that Beta Tech was built on. In the six years I’ve been at Alpha Tech, I’ve led teams, pushed products through to their launch, and kept communication channels clear. When I joined Alpha Tech, I did a rotational program where I got to see how several different teams worked before settling into my current role, an experience that I think would help me get up to speed more quickly at Beta Tech given how the role oversees many of the same kinds of teams I’ve worked on before. Before that, I got my bachelors and masters in EECS [electrical engineering and computer science]—which gave me a background in coding that will help me with some of the more technical aspects of this role that Sahil mentioned on the phone. Now I’m really looking forward to taking on a more senior product management role in a place where I can work with industry leaders known for thoughtfully integrating the design and tech sides of their business.”

Read More: A Complete Guide to Answering “Tell Me About Yourself” in an Interview (Plus Examples!)

2. What Makes You a Good Fit for This Role?

More likely than not you’ve already been asked some version of this question in round one, but in your second round you’ll likely be talking to different people so there’s bound to be some repetition. A repeat interviewer may also be interested in knowing your answer now that you’ve learned more about the role and the company in earlier interview rounds and conversations. Either way, your interviewer wants to know how your qualifications connect to their job opening directly and to make sure that you understand what the role entails. So don’t short change this question just because you’ve answered it before.

Your goal is to respond in a way that is more specific to the role and company now that you know more about what the job is and what kinds of challenges the team or organization is facing. Find the intersection of what you have to offer and what the company needs. Hopefully at this point you have some idea what that might be. If you’re not sure where to start, Smith suggests leading with a “service mindset and enthusiasm for the job.” You want to get across to the hiring manager that you not only have the right skills and the right attitude for the job, but also that you’re intrinsically motivated based on the trajectory of your career. In other words, talk about what you can do for the company, not what the company can do for you.

“In our last conversation, we talked about how fast the company is growing. It’s definitely an exciting time to join, but I know one challenge will be the process of onboarding and training a lot of new account managers. Aside from having over a decade of experience as an account manager, I’ve spent a lot of time training and mentoring new staff—first because it was just something I enjoyed doing, but then later more formally as my supervisor noticed that it’s something I’m good at. I’d be thrilled to help formalize a thorough and supportive training program for new account managers in addition to being one myself.”

3. What Would You Hope to Accomplish in the First Few Months?

Here the interviewer is trying to suss out which candidate will hit the ground running. This question is intimidating, but also a truly excellent opportunity to show off all the research you’ve done about the role and company. That said, you obviously don’t know everything about the job, so your interviewer will also be interested in how you’d fill in those gaps in your knowledge.

Giving the interviewer an idea of how you plan on learning about the issues they’re working on and how you plan on acting on what you’ve learned is key here. Your goals are to show what you already know about the role, how you would learn the rest (including who you’d talk to), and how you’d contribute once you’re up to speed.

"It’s been exciting to hear about some of the new initiatives the company has started in our previous conversations—like the database project and the company-wide sync, but I know there’s still a lot for me to learn. The first thing I’d do is line up meetings with the stakeholders involved in the projects I’d be tackling to help me figure out what I don’t know and then go from there. Hopping into a database project halfway through can be tricky, but I’m confident that once I know what all the stakeholders are looking for, I’ll be able to efficiently plot out our next steps and set appropriate deadlines. From there, I’ll be focused on hitting the milestones that I’ve set for the team.”

4. What Is Your Experience With or How Would You Deal With [Challenge or New Initiative the Company or Team Is Currently Tackling]?

When interview questions get specific like this, it means this is a critical piece of the job. The hiring manager is really trying to envision you in the role and how you might help them. So go into detail how you would tackle their immediate challenges. Do yourself a favor and answer as comprehensively as possible. Answering something like this poorly can be a dealbreaker.

It can be tricky to answer a question about a new initiative (or the like) at a company you don’t work for yet. Rather than diving into hypotheticals or specifics, you’re much better off talking about your own experience with a similar situation. Start your response off by connecting what their company is going through with something you’ve worked on in the past and then focus on what you did and the takeaways from that experience.

“It’s been interesting to learn more about the plan to give employees an opportunity to ‘share’ jobs to create more flexibility for working parents. I’d definitely like to learn more about how this initiative started and what work has been done around it already. From what I know though, it seems somewhat similar—in terms of execution—to my experience spearheading a new career track for administrative assistants at my current company. I led our people ops team in developing new training, creating new policies, and implementing new procedures. It was difficult to get something brand new off the ground, but ultimately this program not only improved retention, but also became something we started talking about when recruiting. Throughout the process, I’ve seen how important it is to get buy-in for any new program, not just from management but from the employees it’s supposed to benefit. The program itself was different from the one you’re working on, but I think there’s a lot of overlap in terms of implementation that I’d be happy to discuss further.”

5. What Management Style Works Best for You?

Aside from using the second interview to see if you’ll be able to do the job, the hiring manager is going to want to make sure you’ll work well with the existing team. This question is an attempt to understand what kind of manager or boss suits you best and whether or not your preferences match up with their work style (or the work style of whomever the position reports to).

Be honest about what type of boss works best for you. You don’t want to work somewhere where you won’t thrive. Questions like this might seem like they’re begging for answers filled with platitudes and buzzwords like “lead by example” and “team player,” and it’s fine to include them, but make sure you take it one step further and give an example of a management style that worked well for you.

“I’m not really a ‘beg for forgiveness rather than ask for permission’ kind of person. I really value clear, upfront communication with my manager and try to be as open as possible about what I’m working on. I’ve been lucky in my current role and have had a really great relationship with my manager. Even though she trusts me to do my own thing, she makes it a point to really lay out her expectations at the beginning of every project and make sure that we’re on the same page. Other than our weekly check-in, she gives me the freedom I need to work independently. She trusts my judgment, which I appreciate, but she also makes it clear she’s available for questions or to help out with any unanticipated roadblocks. So overall I’d say I work best with a manager who allows me to work independently because they trust that I’ll always keep them up to date on what I’m working on, but is willing to check in and answer questions when I need it.”

Read More: 3 Easy Steps to Answer “How Do You Like to Be Managed?” in an Interview

6. Tell Me About a Time You Disagreed with a Colleague.

Similar to the previous question, this question also gets at how you’d work with the current team, but the interviewer is also looking for some additional insight into your problem solving strategies. More specifically, they’re trying to find out what kind of conflict resolution skills you have.

Don’t tiptoe around this by giving an example where there isn’t really a disagreement. Conflicts happen at work and by avoiding the question you’re showing that you might be the kind of person who is afraid to voice their opinion or, worse, is oblivious to conflict happening around them.

For most “Tell me about a time when” questions , you’ll want to tell a story and include a moral—or what the interviewer should take away from the story. You never really know what the interviewer is going to focus on in your answer, so you’re best off telling them what to focus on. You can do this either at the beginning of your answer or at the end.

“You’re probably familiar with the phenomenon that happens in all labs: Everyone needs the same piece of equipment at the same time. So in my current lab there’s a calendar system where you book time on a piece of equipment’s calendar to claim it. It works pretty well, but there’s an unspoken protocol where if you need to use something urgently enough, you can basically boot someone out of their slot. I did this once, when I was newer to the lab. I thought I was following the rules, but the person I booted was absolutely livid. I was not aware that there was another aspect of this loophole that involved seniority. When confronted, I tried to explain why I needed to use the piece of equipment and why it was time sensitive, but I also mentioned what lab rule I was following. That’s when I found out that lab members didn’t invoke this protocol for someone more senior than them. If I hadn’t gone back and specified exactly what rules I was following, my colleague would never have told me the bit about seniority. Once I figured out what I did wrong, I apologized. In general, when I’m dealing with conflict with a coworker, I try to really understand what the actual issue is—this one being an information gap on my end and not knowing where I was coming from on my colleague’s end—so that we can solve it together rather than talk around it and past one another.”

7. Why Do You Want to Leave Your Current Job? (Or: Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?)

Don’t be alarmed. Second-round interviews tend to get a bit more probing than first-round interviews, so you should be prepared for interviewers to want to dig a bit deeper. The interviewer is going to try to find any red flags from your previous experience, including why you are leaving or have left your most recent role. Were you fired or are you just looking for a more challenging role? Was there something else you weren’t getting from your last job that this job will offer you? Or are you likely to leave this job quickly for similar reasons?

Try to be honest without going negative. Even if you literally only have bad things to say about your current or previous employer, keep your answer neutral to positive. It almost doesn’t matter what your story is, going negative only makes you and your own experience look bad. Instead, focus on what this job has to offer that your previous job did not.

“I learned a lot in my last role and I enjoyed the work that I did—it was really an incredible introduction to the publishing industry—but I’m also looking for ways to expand my understanding of the field, so I began searching for roles related to the marketing side of things. This role seems to be the perfect way to build on the foundation my last role gave me, while focusing more on marketing.”

Read More: 4 Better Ways to Answer "Why Are You Leaving Your Job?"

8. What Are Your Short- and Long-Term Career Goals?

Again, this is an attempt to figure out if your career path and the company’s goals overlap—one of the company’s goals being that this role stays filled for a long time. So it’s not surprising that they’ll be wondering how likely it is you’ll want to stick around for a while. Onboarding and training a new employee, even if they have relevant skills, is a labor intensive and costly process. Hiring managers are generally not that interested in investing in someone who plans on leaving in the next year or two. Goals that indicate a strong match and your willingness to stay put could be the things that give you a leg up over the other candidates brought in for a second interview.

You can be pretty specific with your short-term goals. And they should obviously align very closely with the role you are applying for. For your long-term goal, you can be a bit more vague. Go for something that implies an upward trajectory—like managing a team or leading a project—but you don’t necessarily need to say you want it to be at the company you’re applying for unless that really is your goal. In other words, be honest—just not so honest that you disqualify yourself.

“I feel like there is always more to learn in supply chain management. In the next couple of years, I’d like to continue learning the ins and outs of the field, pick a specialty, and really become an expert in that speciality. For that reason, I was especially excited about how large and varied your supply-chain management operations are. In terms of the future, one of the things I’m definitely looking forward to doing—hopefully within the next few years—is getting more management experience. I’ve only ever managed interns at this point, but I’d love to lead my own team one day.”

9. What Is Your Target Salary?

It’s likely you’ve already talked about salary in your first interview. Most hiring managers want to make sure they can afford you before bringing you in to meet the team, so if you’ve gotten this far, you’re probably more or less on the same page. Still, it may come up again—particularly if you didn’t really give a firm number—and you should have something ready to go.

Money is always a little awkward to talk about, but you can blunt the awkwardness and leave some room for future negotiation by giving a salary range. There are several online resources that you can peruse to get an idea of what your salary should be, such as the LinkedIn Salary Tool or PayScale. From there, take into account your own experience and current salary.

Don’t forget that you can always demur and ask the interviewer what the salary range for the role is first.

“Based on my previous experience in marketing and the job duties we’ve discussed, I would expect something around $65,000 to $75,000. But I know salary is just one component of a job offer — I’m definitely open to talking about this in more detail later on.”

Read More: 3 Strategies for Answering “What Are Your Salary Expectations?” in an Interview

10. Is There Anything From Your Earlier Interview(s) That You’d Like to Discuss?

Interviews are, in theory, a continuing conversation between two parties. The hiring manager isn’t just evaluating you, you’re also scoping out the company. This question is a way to continue the conversation from your first interview and is actually a nice gesture from the interviewer. They’re giving you a chance to lead the conversation.

It can be very tempting to just say, “Nope!” and call it a day. After all, interviews are generally nerve-racking and not fun. But I would encourage you to resist cutting your interview short and really consider if there was anything you could have answered more comprehensively or something that you forgot to mention entirely. This is one of those questions where you can really make it anything you want it to be. If you could say anything to the hiring manager, what would you say? This is another chance to make your case—or a second chance to say what you meant to say the first time around.

Remember when you were preparing for this interview and you came up with a few good stories to talk about that really represented your work and experience and skills well? If you haven’t already talked about all of them, semi-open questions like this one or “Is there anything else you’d like me to know?” are golden opportunities to share the ones you haven’t gotten to yet. You just need to find the right transition into the story.

“Since our first conversation, I’ve been thinking a lot about the way you spoke about the company’s commitment to diversity. I’ve been a co-lead of my company’s Asian American ERG for a couple years now and it’s really important to me that diversity is valued in the workplace. I’ve been really impressed to see how even the recruitment process has reflected this commitment. Given the opportunity, I’d love to help continue pushing the needle forward, whether it’s through another ERG or some other avenue at the company.”

Questions to Ask in a Second Interview

Aside from being prepared to answer questions, you should also be ready to ask some yourself. “It shows you’re prepared and want to learn—and remember, you’re interviewing the company, too!” Hocking says.

Typically, you’ll be given the opportunity to ask at least a couple questions toward the end of the interview. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the role or team, but also to show off some of the homework you’ve done on the company since your last interview. Don’t be afraid to bring up what you already know—it’s a great way to further demonstrate how interested you are. Ideally, your questions can show that you’re already catching on to what the role is going to call for based on your previous interviews or even networking conversations. An excellent way to end the interview is for the interviewer to think you’d be quick to train.

Just don’t forget to also ask any questions you’d like to know the answer to before deciding to accept the role if it’s offered to you!

A few general favorites from Smith include:

• What is your favorite and least favorite thing about working for your company?
• Is risk-taking encouraged?
• What happens when people fail?
• How would you describe organizational politics?

You can also get specific with questions like:

• You mentioned [new project], what would this position’s role be in that?
• When I spoke with [team member], it sounded like the team is looking for someone who can [skill]. Could you tell me more about how you see this role interacting with the rest of the team?

Read More: 51 Great Questions to Ask in an Interview

What to Do After the Interview

Let’s assume you knocked that second interview out of the park thanks to all that prep work you did. Don’t mess it up now by forgetting this important final step: writing a thank you note.

The thank you note is likely the last bit of communication you have with the hiring manager before they make a decision about who to hire (or at least who to move to the final stages of the process). It can be tempting to just dash off a quick email or go the opposite direction and write a novel rehashing all the ways you are qualified for the job. Instead, try to strike a happy medium and write a note—an email is fine—that thanks them for their time, highlights the parts of the conversation you especially enjoyed, and concludes with how what you learned makes you even more enthusiastic about the opportunity. Or, you know, just follow this thank you note template . That’s it. Now go prepare. Good luck!

Why Take-Home Assignments are the Biggest Mistake for Hiring Managers

There’s no “right” way to hire.

Some companies are comfortable having a 30-minute conversation and pulling the trigger, while others might want a couple of steps and additional interviewers involved in the process to ensure they’re getting multiple opinions on who to hire. 

And while some employers make it a point to stay on top of the latest industry trends like the ones found in our 2023 Salary Guide , others fall short and — time and time again — make the same mistakes.

Why the take-home assignment interview is a big mistake

Different interview processes work for different companies. But there is one interview mistake I’ve seen across various industries — for both contract and full-time hires — that creates a major bottleneck in the interview process, and that is the take-home assignment .

Take-home assignments can be called something different depending on what the role is.

• For a marketing position, it might be a case study .
• For a software development position, it might be a coding test .
• For a client-facing role, it might be a presentation .

Regardless of the name, the outcome is often the same: candidates you were excited about drop out of the interview process, and you find yourself back at square one again and again. 

From my experience in staffing, I strongly advise my clients against incorporating a take-home assignment into their interview process. 

Why You Shouldn’t Assign a Take-Home Assignment

No one likes to do take-home assignments for free..

When asking candidates to do an assignment during the interview process, it’s often the work that they will be doing once they get hired, so it’s essentially asking them to work for free.

For candidates, time is money, and it’s time that can be spent working for their clients who are paying them. 

This interview mistake doesn’t respect people’s personal time.

Imagine you’re working 9-5 and looking for a new job. You also have two kids who need to be picked up from school, fed, bathed, and put to bed every night.

You are so overloaded in your job that you sometimes have to work after hours. When would you have the time to also fit in doing an assignment that can take anywhere from 2-10 hours?

Candidates often cannot prioritize doing additional work because it will take time away from something else they need to get done. The longer it will take a candidate to find the time to complete the take-home assignment, the more likely their interest in the job opportunity will wane. 

Other companies aren’t making this interview mistake.

As much as you want to vet candidates for the right skill level, it’s important to be competitive with how other companies are hiring, so you don’t lose out on top talent.

Creatives often get hired based on their portfolios—without an interview. Developers get hired off of a single Zoom interview.

Higher-level roles get hired after multiple rounds of interviews, which function as conversations with various stakeholders at a company, without being asked to do homework for an interview other than preparing.

If you ask a candidate to do an assignment before engaging them in the next step of an interview process, they might say they are happy to do it, but the truth is they will usually wait to start it until completing any other interviews they have lined up in hopes of getting a decision from another employer sooner.

This interview mistake fails to filter out people who aren’t serious about the role.

Many companies think these assignments will show how much a candidate wants to work at their company.

I strongly caution against this logic. The post-COVID job market is more competitive than ever, as companies with once-traditional mindsets around employees working onsite have adapted to now offer fully remote roles.

This means that candidates now have access to nationwide job opportunities and are getting job offers faster than ever before.

If seeing how serious someone is about a role at your specific company is important to you, gauging how much they researched the company before the interview is a great way to find that out.

Hiring Managers Should Avoid the Take-Home Assignment

Making the common interview mistake of requiring a take-home assignment most often results in the assignment not getting completed and the candidate pursuing a different employment opportunity that doesn’t require an additional assignment. 

It’s understandable that a hiring manager would want to test a person’s skill before offering them a job. The good news is that there are ways to do this that don’t involve asking a candidate to do extra work.

Ways to Avoid Making this Interview Mistake

Ask to see sample work from potential candidates..

Copywriters and designers have portfolios, developers have GitHubs, and high-level individuals can often pull sample proposals and plans they’ve put together in the past to exhibit their work.

If you have questions about how much they did themselves, what went into the decisions they made, or other related questions, the interview is the perfect place to dive in and find out. 

Ask your job candidate to do a test in real-time on the interview.

Some hiring managers prefer not to do this because candidates might feel “put on the spot” and not perform their best.

However, I can’t think of a single employer I have worked with who didn’t care equally about the candidate getting to the right answer, as they did about how they got to the right answer and what that showed about their thought process.

Doing a test or exercise together, and being able to speak with the candidate during it, is a great way to understand their logic.

Ask your job candidate scenario-based questions.

If you have a concern about how a candidate would handle a situation—whether it’s technical, about communication, or how they work with a team—ask specific, pointed questions to find out your answers. 

Requesting references is a great way to avoid this interview mistake.

It is completely acceptable to extend an offer pending reference checks so you’re able to get background information from someone who worked with this person before and can vouch for the candidate’s expertise.

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By Sarah Magazzo

Digital Marketing Manager for Mondo National Staffing Agency | AI Drafted & Human Crafted

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Watch CBS News

Trump and Harris' first presidential debate of 2024 is tomorrow. Here's what to know.

By Caitlin Yilek

Updated on: September 9, 2024 / 12:14 PM EDT / CBS News

Washington — Former President Donald Trump was supposed to face off against President Biden in their second, and possibly final, debate before the election. Then came the unexpected twist in July. 

Mr. Biden announced on July 21 that he was suspending his campaign as he faced growing skepticism within his own party about his ability to handle the job for another term after his rambling debate performance against Trump in June. 

The debate, hosted by ABC News  at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center , is now a showdown between Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump , who both agreed to move forward with it after weeks of back-and-forth about the event's specifics. 

Here's what to know: 

What time is the debate? 

The debate begins at 9 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, Sept. 10. 

Who is moderating the presidential debate? 

"World News Tonight" anchor David Muir and ABC News Live "Prime" anchor Linsey Davis will moderate the debate. 

Where is the presidential debate taking place? 

The debate will be held at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania is one of seven battleground states that could help determine the outcome of the election. According to the latest CBS News estimate, Harris and Trump are tied in the state , which has 19 electoral votes. 

The last debate between Mr. Biden and Trump also took place in a battleground state, Georgia. The two met in Atlanta at CNN's studios on June 27.

What are the rules for the debate? 

The campaigns and the network were hashing out the final rules in the days leading up to the debate. The final sticking point was over the microphones. 

Harris' campaign wanted both microphones unmuted for the entire event. Trump's team wanted a candidate's microphone to be muted when their opponent is speaking — a rule the Biden campaign requested during the last debate. The Harris campaign ultimately relented . 

"Vice President Harris, a former prosecutor, will be fundamentally disadvantaged by this format, which will serve to shield Donald Trump from direct exchanges with the Vice President. We suspect this is the primary reason for his campaign's insistence on muted microphones," Harris' campaign said in a letter to ABC News. 

"Notwithstanding our concerns, we understand that Donald Trump is a risk to skip the debate altogether, as he has threatened to do previously, if we do not accede to his preferred format," the letter read. "We do not want to jeopardize the debate. For this reason, we accepted the full set of rules proposed by ABC, including muted microphones." 

According to the Harris campaign, it was offered assurances as to how any crosstalk may be handled. The microphones may be unmuted if there is significant crosstalk between the candidates. A candidate who constantly interrupts their opponent will be warned by the moderator and their comments may be relayed to the audience. And, if the microphones don't pick up the exchanges, a group of reporters who will be in the room would report anything noteworthy.   

ABC News said the microphones "will be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak and muted when the time belongs to another candidate." Harris and Trump will not be allowed to ask each other questions. 

Last month while campaigning in Virginia, Trump said he would "rather have it probably on, but the agreement was that it would be the same as it was last time." 

A coin flip determined where Trump and Harris will stand on stage and the order of closing statements. Trump won the coin toss and chose to give the last closing statement. Harris selected the lectern on the left of the stage, meaning viewers will see her on the right side of their screens. 

Candidates will have two minutes each for their closing statements. There are no opening statements. They will have two minutes to answer moderators' questions, two minutes for rebuttals and an extra minute for follow-ups or clarifications. 

Harris and Trump will not be allowed to bring prewritten notes on stage, but will have a pen, notepad and bottle of water at their lecterns. 

Campaign staff cannot interact with candidates during the commercial breaks, and there will be no live audience. 

Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump, said the campaign was "thrilled" that Harris' team, which is mostly carryovers from Mr. Biden's campaign, "finally accepted the already agreed upon rules of the debate that they wrote in the first place." 

What topics are on the table for the debate? 

Any topic is on the table. The network has not revealed potential topics and isn't expected to. 

How to watch the presidential debate with cable

ABC has allowed other networks to simulcast the debate. It will air on a number of broadcast and cable networks, including CBS. Check your local listings. CBS News prime-time coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET.

Where to stream the presidential debate 

Viewers can also watch the debate on ABC News Live ,  Disney+  and  Hulu . It will also stream on  CBS News 24/7 ,  CBSNews.com  and Paramount+ , with pre-debate coverage beginning on CBS News 24/7 at 5 p.m. ET.  

How long will the debate last? 

The 90-minute debate will end at 10:30 p.m. ET and have two commercial breaks. 

When will the next 2024 debates take place? 

As of now, there is just one more debate scheduled before the election, and it's between the vice presidential nominees, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance. 

CBS News is hosting the vice presidential debate , which is set for Oct. 1 in New York City. It will be moderated by "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell and "Face the Nation" moderator and CBS News chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Brennan.

There could still be one more debate between Harris and Trump. Trump had proposed two other debates in September in addition to the ABC News debate. Harris' campaign said she would agree to one more meeting sometime in October. The two have not settled on a potential rematch date. 

• Presidential Debate
• Kamala Harris
• Donald Trump
• 2024 Elections

Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at CBSNews.com, based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.

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Full transcript of "Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan," Sept. 8, 2024