Interview Question Guide: Food & Beverage Professionals

October 26, 2020 in Interview Tips

 

 

The Go-To Food & Beverage Interview Question Guide

It is not always the most qualified person who gets hired; it is often the person who interviews the best. During an interview you need to effectively answer questions, stress your accomplishments, overcome any areas of concern, and know what questions to ask.

An interview is the opportunity to show the talents you bring to the table. Your goal is to get an offer or advance to the next step in the interview process.

We’ve helped prepare thousands of professional to c-suite food and beverage industry candidates for interviews over the last 35 years, and know what questions you’ll likely be asked! Prepare and practice your answers to the sample questions below, and have these 15 questions ready for the interviewer when they ask, “What questions do you have for me?”.

Interview Question Guide

  1. Tell me about yourself.
  2. Beyond education and experience, what has shaped you as a person?
  3. What compensation are you looking for?
  4. What do you know about our company?
  5. Why are you looking to change jobs?
  6. Why did you leave your last job?
  7. What are your strengths?
  8. What are your weaknesses?
  9. What would your boss say about you?
  10. What is your management style?
  11. What are your career goals?
  12. Are you planning on having children?
  13. How do you handle difficult employees / difficult situations?
  14. Are you responsible for department/company budget/P&L?
  15. What accomplishment are you most proud of?
  16. What is the first thing you would do if you got this position?
  17. What do you like to do for fun?
  18. What type of work environment appeals to you?
  19. If we’re sitting here a year from now celebrating what a great year it’s been for you in this role, what did we achieve together?
  20. Tell me about a project or accomplishment that you consider to be the most significant in your career.
  21. If we hired you, you loved everything about your job, and we paid you the salary you asked for, what kind of offer from another company would it take to make you consider leaving?
  22. What things do you NOT like to do?
  23. Why have you had (X) amount of jobs in (Y) years?
  24. Tell me about a time when things didn’t go the way you wanted – like a promotion you wanted and didn’t get, or a project that didn’t turn out how you had hoped.
  25. Tell us the most effective approaches for managing you.
  26. How would this job opportunity help your future career progression or help you build your resume?
  27. Why have you chosen to pursue this career opportunity with us?

Your Turn – Ask The Interviewer These Questions

  1. How would you describe your company’s culture and values?
  2. What would a successful first year in this position look like?
  3. How long have you been with the company and what keeps you here?
  4. What are the primary factors you will use to select the right person for this job?
  5. What is the biggest project in the pipeline for this year, and how will the person in this position help achieve that goal?
  6. How well does the company’s vision line up with its actual activities?
  7. How have the organization’s goals changed over the past three years?
  8. What obstacles does the organization anticipate in meeting its current goals?
  9. How do you see this position evolving over the next few years?
  10. What would constitute success in this job?
  11. How would you know that it has been achieved?
  12. What is the desired time frame for reaching these objectives?
  13. What obstacles are commonly encountered in reaching these objectives?
  14. Is there anything you are still questioning about my candidacy that would prevent you from offering me this position? – or- Can I clarify anything about my skills, experience or work style further for you?
  15. What are the next few steps in the interviewing process?
Get More Interview Tips

We’ve written over 40 blogs on interviewing for food or beverage industry roles alone! If you have an interviewing question you can likely find the answer there.

Important reminder: within 24 hours of the interview, send a thank-you note! If you are unsure about what you should put in your thank you note or email, follow these pointers to help you get started.