Jessica Javier

The top ten online freelancing interview questions and how you can answer them. Hi there my name is Grace and I am the co-founder, owner and creator of Filipino Virtual Assistance and today we are going to talk about the top frequently asked questions during the online freelancing interview and how you can answer them. These questions are number 1. Tell me about yourself. number 2. Why should we hire you? number 3. What is your greatest strength? Number 4. What is your greatest weakness? Number 5. Why do you want to leave your current job or why have you left your old job? Number 6. What is your salary expectation? Number 7. Why do you want this job? Number 8. How do you handle stress and pressure? Number 9. Describe a difficult work situation or project and how did you overcome it. and Number 10. What are your goals for the future? Doing an online freelancing interview is considered by many as one of the most difficult stages before you get hired. It's easy to learn your lessons, it’s easy to create your portfolios, it’s easy to send applications but a lot have difficulties in or not confidence when it comes to doing an online freelancing interview. However you can go and conquer that fear by preparation. You can go and really give your best if you're ready, you're prepared and you know what are the common questions that might be asked and prepare them in advance. So here are the frequently asked questions and how you can answer them. Number 1 on the tell me about yourself. The interviewer wants to know why you're an excellent fit for the job. So try to answer questions about yourself without giving too much or too little personal information. You can start by sharing some of your personal interests and experiences. A brief account of your childhood, your education, what motivates you, what are your fashions and maybe you can share some fun facts that will showcase your personality to make your interview a little bit more interesting. So the keyword here is your personality. You don't have to share, you know, too much information about yourself but you need to communicate your personality. What type of person are you? Because in, here the interviewer can see if you are fit for the job or not through your personality. Number 2 is Why should we hire you? Are you the best candidate for the job? The hiring manager wants to know whether you have it all when it comes to your requirements you know based on the description that they’ve posted. What are the qualifications that you have? So they would ask you why should we hire you? So be prepared and explain as an applicant why should you be hired. So give some information on previous work, and your qualification and proofs and a sales speech that explains what you have to offer and why you should get the job. Number 3 is What is your greatest strength? This is one of the questions that employers most always ask to determine how well you’re qualified for the position. When you’re asked about your greatest strength it's important to discuss the attributes that qualify you to a specific job that will set you apart from the other candidates. So you have to check what the job description is all about, what’s the company all about, what's the branding, who is there target market. So when you're discussing your greatest strength, you're not just sharing that I’m good in writing and the job that they need is more on marketing. You don't just say that you are good in graphics design and all they need is actually SEO so you have to share your greatest strength you know that is related to job as well. Number 4 is what is your greatest weakness? Another difficult question interviewers will ask is about your weaknesses. Do your best to frame your answers around positive aspects of your skills and abilities as an employee turning seemingly you know your weaknesses into strengths. You can also share examples of skills you have improved providing specific instances on how you recognize weakness and have taken steps to correct it. So for example you can share that you are not good in design however you also found apps like for example fotor.com or canva.com and have utilized these apps or the sites and it empowers you to grow in your graphics design skills because the templates are there. So you can bring out your creativity, your personality, your fashion and what you want to achieve in the contents that you desire for the business. So it’s seemingly your weakness, you know you share that your graphics design is my weakness however you have taken steps on how to correct it. See you’re not sharing your weakness alone but you're also sharing you know your problem solving skills and the opportunity that you are turning your weakness into something positive. So when they will hire you, they know that you can solve problems and you can be on top of your weaknesses and turn them into something positive. Number 5 is why do you want to leave your current position or current job? The interviewer wants to know why you want to work for their company and when you are being asked why you are moving on for your current position stick to the facts, be direct and focus your answer on the future. Especially if your current situation right now is the best, is not the best circumstance. So for example you might want to share that you need a better working time like for example you are currently in a graveyard shift and you want to be able to be there for your family during days. You need a job that would allow you to work during daytime or the hourly rate in that old job is not sustaining you and your families needs so it's something that’s concise, direct and is very transparent. So it's something that would stick to the facts and it's also concise and direct. However you are focusing on the future because you want something better for your family, for yourself and have a good working condition as a freelancer. Number 6 is what are your salary expectations? The hiring manager wants to know what you expect to earn. It seems like a simple question but the answers connect you out to the competition. If you overprice yourself that something that would give them a bad impression that they can’t afford you. However if you also underprice yourself they would think that you may not be that qualified. So you need to be realistic when your pricing with regards to the job description, your training, your certifications and your experience. So when you are experienced you can go and start from 6 dollars , 7 dollars. If you are trained and you have no experience at all that you can probably start lower than that but not too low like 2 dollars, 1 dollar or 3 dollars because they would think that you are not qualified and you don't have what takes in order for you to do the jobs. So you have to really just give the best pricing that will indicate or would communicate that you have what it takes and the qualifications as well. So usually when i did this in the past I usually would go up like for example if I would price this at 7 dollars per hour I usually would say I usually would ask 10 dollars per hour on this job but I can go and lower down for you and start at 7 dollars per hour. So they think that they’re actually getting a cut out of your pricing but that's actually your real pricing and and you also have a buffer when it comes to them lowering it down at least you would go to 6 dollars , 5 dollars and you need also to determine you know what is your lowest hourly rate and won’t go and compromise if they would go lower than that. So again give something that would not be unfair for the business owners or for the hiring managers but will not also compromise your motivation or will not compromise your qualifications. Number 7 is why do you want this job? The question gives you an opportunity to show the interviewer what you know about the job in the company. So take your time beforehand to thoroughly research the company, study the job description, its products, services, culture, the offers that they’re giving, their mission so you can be specific when you are giving an answer why you are a good fit for the role. And mention aspects of the company's mission on how you can be a part of it by positioning yourself as a part you know doing her role. So for example the company is into water sanitation and the mission is, you know, giving and providing water facilities for the poor and you would serve as the Marketing Manager. So you would know they have a heart for the poor so you can communicate situations and you can communicate your living condition, you know the country that you’re in and how you know you have the heart to be a part of that mission so with the qualifications that you have and the heart and you know, knowing the company's mission you will be a good fit. Number 8 is how do you handle stress and pressure? This is a question that would identify what do you do when things you know within your responsibility don’t go smoothly. How do you deal with difficult situations? The employer wants to know how do you handle workplace stress or you know the online freelancing, communication, operations and management, pressures and stress. So avoid claiming that you never or had rarely undergone stress or a situation that we adding pressure into your work condition. So you can formulate your answers in a way that would acknowledges the stress and the pressure and explain how you overcame it. You can use the situations in the past that you are very stressed and you're under so much pressure and how you made it and you know still successful. So probably you would say that I just communicated properly, I just asked questions properly and when I had clarity on what I need to what I’ve been doing the stress was gone and the pressure was out and I was able to handle it properly. Number 9 is describe a difficult situation in, you know, in work and in a project and how you overcame it. The interviewer wants to know how you respond when faced with the difficult situation. As the question about trust be prepared to share examples on what you did you know during a top situation. It’s important to share details to make the story believable and engaging. So you share something real, you share something that happened you know in the past. Probably an experience in your home or in your workplace or during your online freelancing and how you really overcame it. So for example you know the work situation that was difficult for you was like transitioning with the team and the team was difficult with you so how do you overcome it. Probably you establish rapport, probably you communicated you know and you and probably understood the team you know how you can work together or probably you are being patient and then overtime went better. So you need to prepare a particular difficult situation and how you handle it. Number 10 is what are your goals for the future? The question is the sign to find out if you are going to stick around or move as soon as you find a better opportunity. Keep your answer focus on the job and the company and redirect to the interviewer the position that aligns your long term goal. So for example you studied the company in advance or before the interview and again you found out that they are a company that gives water facilities to poor people and again you know it's something you're passionate about. It’s something that you know will bring out motivation in you and you want a part of that mission. So again it’s focus on the company, it’s focus on the job, and it’s focus on your long term goals and being long term in the company as well. So this is the top 10 online freelancing questions and how you can answer them. So for who were able to go through the top ten questions and these are share you know something about yourself, why should we hire you, what is your greatest strength, what is your greatest weakness, why do you want to leave your current job, what are your salary expectations, why do you want this job, how do you handle stress and pressure, describe a difficult situation, work situation or project and how you overcame it, and number 10 what are your goals for the future. I hope that this has helped you and will help you become more prepared and become more confident in your next online job interview. You can go and practice the very answers of all these questions in a mirror and become more confident communicating these answers so it becomes a part of you. So later on when you’re doing a real job interview it’s going to be just running smooth because you prepared in advance and if you want to just add more information it’s easy for you, why, because you prepared in advance and have mastered, you know, possible answers. If you want a PDF copy of these top 10 online freelancing interviews and how to answer them please comment “ I LOVE FVA” on the comment section and we will send it directly to your inbox. We want to continue giving you free training and guidance for you to become a better freelancer, that’s effective in your own services and you can earn more for you and for your family. That will be all for today. I will see you again on next video. God Bless you today.