General Motor interview questions may seem intimidating, and the only way to overcome anxiety during the interview process is to keep practicing before the big day. It would be helpful to research and acquaint yourself with GM’s corporate culture and understand its value system. Having an idea of how to construct your responses will impress your recruiter, and you may be the one that gets hired.
This article will share tips on some top GM Interview questions and a sample of how to respond and make a lasting impression.
1. Why Should We Employ You?
Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been an automobile enthusiast. My manager and teammates keep telling me that I am a team player. I can take charge of any project and steer it to successful completion. My working experience has helped me polish my time management and communication skills. I believe my vast experience and leadership skills are a formidable combination that equips me to handle this advertised role.
2. What Do You Find Captivating About This Role?
After visiting your website and undertaking further research, I was pleased to learn that General Motor is a company with similar core values and principles that I live by. Working with your company will be a dream come true as I have always admired everything about your innovations.
3. Why Are You Leaving Your Current Job?
My last role was an assistant supervisor’s position I have held for the last four years. While I have enjoyed working in this role, I need to grow professionally and could no longer do it in that organization.
I believe it’s time for me to advance and handle a bigger role with more responsibilities. I have given my employer three months’ notice and am willing to train and mentor the new replacement. Before leaving, I will ensure that processes are running smoothly and my successor is fully trained.
4. Where Do You Desire To Be Five Years From Now?
As soon as I graduated, I started drafting my five-year career plan and updating it from time to time. Having a career plan has helped me focus and manage my time wisely. I want to start from an entry-level position to help me understand business operations from the bottom up.
Through hard work, I intend to progress and take up management roles. Later, I hope to enroll in a leadership course to help me sharpen and enhance my leadership skill. Five years from now, I want to hold a leadership role overseeing different departments. I know that opportunity meets preparation, so I must prepare myself academically and professionally.
5. Have You Ever Held Any Leadership Roles? What’s Your Leadership Style?
I was the school’s captain in high school, a position I held for two years. Leadership while young helped me learn responsibility early, which was a good thing because it created fantastic opportunities for me.
Recently, my supervisor appointed me to head a project our department has been handling. Collaborating with people with different views and skills has helped me appreciate the diverse talents of each person. When you allocate tasks to the right individuals with the right abilities, everything moves swiftly, no matter how tough or complex a project appears.
6. Share An Experience That Resulted In Conflict At Work. How Did You Handle It?
Once while working on a client’s project, my colleagues and I had a difference of opinion on the best way to successfully execute the task. While I thought that we needed to take time to research and strategize, my colleagues felt that that would take too long, so we should start and research as we moved along.
We ended up having a serious disagreement as we could not reach a workable agreement. The situation quickly spiraled out of hand, and we had a bitter exchange of words. My manager had to intervene and became the mediator who calmed the situation. It was a sad day at work as our bitter exchanges caused us to lose a lucrative business deal from a loyal customer. From that experience, our manager insisted that we attend anger management and conflict resolution classes. After that incident, I can confidently say that I’ve learned better ways of resolving conflict.
7. Are You Flexible About Travel For Work Or Relocate?
I know General Motors is an international company with a presence on different continents and employs a diverse workforce. I know that job openings can be available in any of the company’s out-of-town branches. I am interested in the position, and I know that business travel is part of the requirement for this role.
8. Share With Us An Experience Where You Erred At Work? What Did You Do About It?
Once while working on multiple projects, I felt overwhelmed, which led me to miss a deadline. The problem arose when my supervisor assigned me more work than I could handle. Instead of explaining that the workload was too much, I feared speaking up for fear of victimization or risking losing my job. After I missed that deadline, my supervisor realized I was suffering from burnout, which led to underperformance. He was very disappointed and wondered why I didn’t speak up earlier. I asked for forgiveness and have since learned to improve my communication skills.
9. Tell Us About A Situation Where You Had To Make A Tough Work-Related Choice?
In one of my previous roles, I worked in management, and my duties were directly linked to employees. One of my tasks was to hire or fire depending on their productivity or the company’s financial performance. That employee had been with the company for years and sacrificed many years of service working for the company.
Unfortunately, the company was downsizing, and he was on the list of those leaving. I felt so bad when I told him the sad news. I had come to appreciate him like family, and I had to do something about the situation. Through my networks, I immediately got him alternative employment with another company. Though it was hard to see him leave, I was happy that he got another job that offered better terms of service and paid better.
10. Why Do You Want To Work At General Motors?
General Motors is a prestigious automotive company with years of experience in service delivery. I have always been fascinated with cars, leading me to this career path. Working here will be a dream come as I want to be a part of the success associated with General Motors.
11. How Do Your Colleagues Describe You?
My colleagues have always appointed me to leadership positions in most of my roles. Whenever my team is working on a new project, I like to go above and beyond and not just do the bare minimum. I love to work with excellence, so when called upon, I ensure to give every task my full undivided attention.
That is what probably makes me stand out, and in most cases, I find myself leading the team. I believe leadership is not bossing people around but serving them. I love to serve those I lead and ensure I bring out the best in people. I have learned how to identify strengths in people, which improves productivity leading to successful completion of projects.
12. What Else Can You Share About Yourself Apart From What You’ve Stated In Your Resume?
My fascination with cars has enabled me to own a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray from General Motors. Built-in 1953, this car’s attractiveness and reliability drew me to it, and I am grateful I own such a classic car. Improvements made to it help enhance its productivity giving it a competitive advantage over similar brands. I create content about cars during my free time, which I’ve done for the last three years. My passion for automobiles drives me to create helpful content that I feel can benefit my audience.
13. How Will Your Strengths Benefit This Role?
Being a perfectionist is a strength because I don’t need anyone to supervise me. I like working with excellence which makes me push myself to perform better. Due to this trait, I have always given 100% to projects that have won me accolades, such as being the best employee of the year for three consecutive years. I credit this to commitment, discipline, and willingness to learn from others.
14. Tell Us About Your Greatest Work-Related Achievement.
Soon after graduating from college, I got an internship position at a large automobile garage in my hometown. The position lasted three months, where I volunteered while gaining experience in the assembling department.
For every task given, I worked to the best of my ability. Immediately after the three months, I was elated when the human resource manager summoned me to his office and inquired if I wanted to continue working permanently. I couldn’t hide my joy because my work is not just a duty but a passion. I love working on motorized gadgets, and finding a place to develop my passion is a great achievement.
15. What Is Your Greatest Weakness?
I must admit that I’ve had challenges meeting deadlines on several occasions. Whenever I work on a task, I tend to critique myself, which makes me overthink and occasionally suffer burnout. However, I recently enrolled in a time management course that taught me how to plan and streamline work processes.
During the last project at work, I organized myself better and completed a task two days before its due date. Early submission gave me ample time to review the project with my manager and make the necessary edits and adjustments.
16. What Do You Love Most About This Role?
One of my desires is to be part of a team working to create new inventions. I love the automobile innovations at General Motors, and being part of it is something I’ve always prayed and hoped for. As soon as I saw the job description, I realized I qualified. From my previous working experience and unique skillset, I believe I can contribute if given a chance.
17. What Is Your Greatest Inspiration?
Working hard to improve people’s lives through technology and innovations is something I love and I am passionate about. I hope one day to create a mechanism that improves efficiency, is cost-effective, and is readily available. I look forward to seeing motorists drive vehicles that meet their needs and are affordable.
18. What Are Your Future Goals?
Besides innovation and technology, I want to develop my marketing and leadership skills. I would love to work in a fast-growing international company like General Motors to sharpen my skills and collaborate with different departments. I believe this experience will give me exposure and help me achieve my goal of heading a marketing department someday.
19. Are You Interviewing With Other Employers?
I have several interview sessions for senior management positions. In a few days, I have upcoming interviews with Ampex Ventures and Flex Inc. But, I must confess that based on what I know, this position offers the exact kind of opportunities I would like to handle for my next role.
20. How Do You Spend Your Free Time?
I spend plenty of time perfecting my innovative skills. I love to work on car engines, but since I spend most of my time at work handling automobiles, I currently prefer expressing my passion for cooking.
Though it’s a big contrast with what I do at work, I can happily state that my kitchen is a new outlet that helps me express my love for innovation. My mother has always been a superb chef, and I draw a lot of inspiration from her.
While I started as a novice, I can proudly say that my culinary skills have improved within the last few weeks. I find cooking very therapeutic and look forward to sharing sumptuous meals with my friends and family once I perfect the art.
21. Why Do You Have A Gap In Your Work Progression?
I was fortunate to get a job immediately after completing my bachelor’s. My vast working experience helped me perfect my skills and get good jobs. After five years, I felt that I needed to progress and that the best way was to advance in academics.
Two years ago, I took study leave to concentrate on my studies. I have just completed my master’s, and I feel I am ready to resume the job market fully. I believe I can apply for higher positions and contribute positively to the job market.
22. Briefly Share Your Work Experience.
After graduation, I got a job in a manufacturing firm as an intern. It was an entry-level position that helped me learn every aspect of the business. Six months later, I got into the system, working in the engineering department as an assistant technician for three years.
Later, an opening to head the department opened up, and I got accepted as an assistant. My exemplary performance and confidence propelled me to a supervisory role after a short period. I have worked in this position for the last five years, but I feel it’s time to broaden my horizon and grow my skills at a different rank.
23. What Can You Do For Our Company That Others Can’t?
Having been in marketing for so long while managing a team of twelve people makes me have a unique skill combination. Apart from attracting new markets to the business, I can organize teams to be more productive in their areas of specialization.
24. How Did You Hear About This Job Opening?
As a General Motors loyal customer, I read about this job opening on your website in the careers section. Since I am your greatest fan, I have been following your brand and felt that this is a great opportunity to try my luck and tender my application.
25. What Working Environment Do You Thrive In Best?
My ideal working space is where each team member has the freedom to express their creativity and contribute to the project. While researching your organization’s culture, I noticed your commitment to developing employees’ skills was very impressive. I tend to thrive in an empowering environment that gives workers the autonomy to express themselves constructively. Given a chance, I hope to make a positive contribution to the success of General Motors.
Conclusion
To succeed in your GM interview, you’ll need to familiarize yourself with the company’s culture and have responses at your fingertips. Visiting the company’s website can offer invaluable information that can be extremely helpful in any interview session. Hiring managers appreciate applicants that take the time to structure their responses and not just blurt out responses for the sake of it.
Remember, practice makes perfect. One way to boost your confidence before any GM interview is to research the company and practice your responses. You needn’t know everything, but if you are confident and believe in yourself, nothing is impossible—all the best in your upcoming GM interview.
