Interview Question – How Are You?

One of the most popular questions in English is “how are you?”. Whether you’re meeting someone for the first time or meeting someone after a long time, the question acts as an effective conversation starter. But how is it different when interviewers ask this question? More importantly, what is the best reply for “how are you”?

Job interviews aren’t only about gauging your employment history, your academic qualifications and your knowledge or skills. Interviewers often ask personal questions about your life, work ethic and your ability to handle stress. By doing so, they’re determining whether you’re a good fit for the job as well as workplace culture. For example, “are you a team player?” is a fairly common question. Your potential employers want to know whether you can work well in teams and keep an open mind.

A crucial thing to remember while answering personal interview questions is that there are no right or wrong answers. Organizations are looking for candidates who fulfill their requirements and the more you match, the better your chances are. Moreover, personal interview questions work both ways. You get an opportunity to come up with honest answers to the questions—helping you determine what you’re looking for in your job.

How To Answer Personal Interview Questions

Before your interview, it’s useful to prepare for standard personal questions that are geared toward your personality, work styles and other aspects of your character. To leave a lasting impression on your interviewers, you need to answer in ways that’ll help you stand out from the rest. Here are some useful tips and strategies to help you make an impact on the interviewer.

Take Your Time

Don’t be in a rush to answer the questions. Always take time to collect your thoughts and present them in a confident manner. However, this doesn’t mean that you take too long to answer; the interviewer will think that you lack confidence.

Practice Non-Verbal Communication

Your body language is of the utmost importance when it comes to captivating your audience’s attention. Make sure that you stand straight, maintain eye contact and smile during appropriate moments. Never sit with your arms or legs crossed as it looks like you’re holding something back. Even tone and attitude matter when you’re building rapport during an interview.

Listen Attentively

Oftentimes, interviewers provide you with information—either directly or indirectly. When you pay close attention to what they have to share about the organization or the position, you can pick up on things that are expected from an ideal candidate. Communication is a two-way street; listen attentively and show the interviewer that you’re paying attention.

Honesty? Best Policy!

In the hope of impressing potential employers, candidates often present an unreal version of themselves. Hiring managers can tell when you’re not being honest because they’ve been interviewing individuals and studying their body language for a long time. Always be genuine while answering and present the honest version of yourself.

Do Your Homework

The most useful trick to impress a hiring manager is to research the employer. In addition to the job listing, learn more about the organization’s mission, vision, goals and objectives. You can align your answers with the specific requirements and expectations of the organization.

Demonstrate Self-Knowledge

The primary purpose of asking personal questions during an interview is to gauge whether someone is self-aware and has given thought to their individual strengths and weaknesses. Be ready to elaborate on your strengths and how you overcame setbacks in your past professional experience(s).

Here’s Why Your Ex Is Asking How You’re Doing

In other words, your ex-girlfriend is asking how you are with a reason – not to just chit-chat and disappear. If that was what she wanted, chances are she never would have reached out to you in the first place.

There Are 4 Main Reasons Why Your Ex Asked You How You Are Doing

She is reaching out to you because she wants something from you. Sometimes it can be an innocent reason, like wanting to divide shared possessions. Other times it can be for attention, or just out of boredom. You should always assume that her reason for asking how you are is innocent – because most women, especially women that care about you don’t want to hurt your feelings

1: She Still Cares About You

The most common reason your ex-girlfriend will reach out to ask how you are doing is to make sure you are doing okay because she still cares about you, and loves you as a person.

Some studies have shown that women report more negative emotions after the breakup, particularly feeling sad, confused, scared, and guilty. This is true even if she was the one who left you – though often less so than if she was the one who was left. [1]

The takeaway here is that if she’s feeling overwhelmed or feeling that you are overwhelmed, she may reach out to check on you and make sure that you are okay. Regardless of how things ended, she’s not just going to stop caring about you overnight unless it was a short-term relationship (and perhaps not even then).

2: She’s Checking On You To See If You Are Single

The second most common reason your ex-girlfriend will ask how you are is to check if you are still single because she’s either having a rough time on the dating market, or things with her new guy aren’t going great.

While it’s easy to think she has a ton of other options, the dating market sucks as much for women as it does for men. Her Tinder and Hinge profiles might be getting plenty of hits, but I promise you she’s ignoring most of them.

Most of these guys are either boring, damaged, creepy, or just plain unskilled with women. All you need to do is ask one of your female friends to show your her Tinder DMs for you to get an idea of how badly most men handle things.

It’s also possible that the guy she initially left you for is finally showing his true colors. Science has already proven that if she’s dating someone else right after she broke up with you, she’s going to be comparing him to you. That doesn’t mean she will leave him immediately, though.

During NRE most men and women are on their best behavior for the first 3-5 months of the relationship. During NRE, everything seems perfect. You’re as compatible as can be, and everything is going great. Red flags get ignored because of the intense attraction and overabundance of the so-called “love” hormones like dopamine and norepinephrine.

Your Ex Girlfriend Asked About Your Dating Life Because She’s May Be Curious About Getting Back Together

If she asks about your dating life, she’s not asking just to make idle conversation. She’s asking because she is either still curious about you, or because she is at least thinking about coming back into your life.

It’s also possible that she is just checking to see if you have moved on, or because she is jealous. If she’s jealous – likely she either wants to get back together with you or is pissed that you’re treating the new girl better than you treated her during the relationship.

To be clear – just because she is asking about what you are up to is no excuse to jump the gun. If you follow what I teach, begging her to get back together at this point is a no-no. Instead, you want to give her the freedom to walk back into your life if she chooses. Remember – she may only be thinking about coming back into your life. Do you really want to overcook things and chase her right back out of it?

That’s why it’s so important to be committed to building a life of masculine happiness before you even think about trying to get back together with her. Otherwise, it’s incredibly easy to get swept off-center with her and end up ruining things because you are either too needy or too aggressive in your pursuit of her.

How To Confirm She’s At Least Thinking About Getting Back Together

The one thing you want to avoid is making the date seem like a booty call. Don’t invite her over to Netflix and Chill. She’ll immediately know what you’re doing and most likely decline.

If she tries to change the plans you should just mention that you’ve had a long day at work/school and just want to cook dinner at home. If she still refuses, then tell her to get back in contact with you when she’s free. After that, go back to no contact.

3: Your Ex Girlfriend Is Seeking Validation

If she falls into this camp, she’s just looking for you to kiss her ass and make her feel good about herself. She might be bored, lonely, or just seeking a little bit of excitement. It’s also possible things are going sidewise with her current guy. She’s not evil for doing it, because we all seek validation in one way or another.

Depersonalize it

Whatever your friend might tell you, rather than spiraling out of control about how you may be a bad friend, succumbing to the imaginary conclusion that they hate you, or convincing yourself that may be too [insert negative adjective here], frame it as information instead.

“At the risk of oversimplifying this, I wonder how much we’d be able to salvage our friendships if we took a breath and said, ‘Okay. That’s not mean. This is data,’” Jackson says. If a friend conjures up the courage to tell you they don’t like how you spoke to them or that a joke hurt their feelings, remember that it is simply their preference. A certain word or action may trigger them, but it might not trigger you, and vice versa. It’s simply about respecting and honoring your friend’s request next time.

Resource:

https://harappa.education/harappa-diaries/interview-question-how-are-you/
https://mensbreakup.com/why-your-ex-girlfriend-asks-how-you-are/
https://www.shondaland.com/live/family/a40436785/art-of-friendship-how-to-handle-conflict/