If you are called in for an interview, it is normal to have some semblance of nervousness. After all, it’s clear that you’re close to landing the job but the final, difficult step is to fully convince the company that you should be their #1 pick.
Although some companies are notorious for asking left field questions, you’ll find that most organisations stick to a tried and trusted formula. We have sifted through thousands of interview questions in order to come up with the most commonly asked. While this may not be an exhaustive list, it should provide you with enough information to get prepared for the big interview.
Instead of providing you with a list, we have placed the interview questions and answers into different ‘groups’ which should make it easier for you to digest the information.
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Skills
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Tell Me About Yourself
This is often the opening question in an interview and while it seems innocuous, it is extremely important as it enables you to immediately provide a positive first impression that will stay with the interviewer throughout.There is a danger of allowing yourself to waffle here so follow the rules of the CV and keep things concise yet informative. Instead of providing the interviewer with your entire personal or employment history, offer a pitch that shows why you’re the best fit for the job. This can include details of 2 or 3 accomplishments/experiences relevant to the role before finishing up by discussing how that experience has helped you prepare for the job at hand.
For more advice, check out our article on how to answer the question “Tell me about yourself“.
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What Are Your Strengths?
Instead of saying what you think the interviewer wants to hear, do the following:
- Be Accurate: Mention up to 3 strengths you actually possess.
- Be Relevant: Pick the strengths best suited to the position.
- Be Specific: Avoid generic terminology such as ‘people skills; and instead say something like ‘relationship building’.
Conclude by discussing how you have used your strengths in a work environment.
Here are examples of some strengths that may apply to you:- Communication
- IT Skills
- Flexibility
- Quick Learner
- Enthusiasm
- Problem Solving
- Determination
- Good attitude
For more advice, check out our article on how to answer “What are your strengths?“
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What Are Your Weaknesses?
Please avoid using tired clichés such as ‘I care too much’ or ‘I work too hard’. These answers will more or less get you kicked out of the running! This is a question interviewers use to determine your honesty and self-awareness. Your best bet is to think of something you are having issues with but are eagerly trying to improve upon.For instance, you may not be very good at public speaking but you are actively trying to change things by volunteering to take charge of meetings in order to help you get more comfortable when talking to rooms full of people.
For more advice, check out our article on how to answer the greatest weakness interview question.
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Why Should We Hire You?
This may seem like an intimidating question but it’s one you should be hoping to get asked as it offers you the opportunity to sell your skills to the interviewer. The content of your answer obviously depends on the industry and the role but should be comprised of the following:
- You will get results.
- You will be a great fit with the company culture and its employees.
- You are a better hire than any other candidate.
For more advice, check out our article on how to answer “Why should we hire you?“
Previous Employment
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Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?
Regardless of the circumstances surrounding your departure from previous roles, it is crucial that you provide a positive response. The last thing an interviewer wants to hear is talk about how awful your last job was. First of all, they will wonder if you will badmouth their company in future interviews and of course they will deem you to be a negative individual. The key here is to ‘reframe’ your answers. For example, if you were made redundant you can say that your old company decided to ‘restructure’; this is a good answer because it steers the conversation away from your personal situation and makes it seem as if you fully understand the decision of your old employer.
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Can You Give Me An Example of a Difficult Situation You Faced In A Previous Job & Tell Me How You Dealt With It?
This is a chance to show off your storytelling abilities (just a little)! The interviewer wants to know how you overcome conflict or a challenge at work to get an idea of what you’re like when the going gets tough. The age old ‘STAR’ method works wonders in this situation:
- Situation: Set up your story’s context. For example, you had to give a presentation but John, who was supposed to do it, got stuck in traffic and wouldn’t make it in time.
- Task: Outline what your responsibilities were in this situation. For instance, you had to come up with an alternative to ensure the company didn’t waste a great opportunity to improve its brand identity.
- Activity: Tell the interviewer what you did. For example, you asked the organisers of the event to move your company to the last spot in the running order while also choosing Mary as a replacement speaker just in case John couldn’t make it at the later time.
- Result: What was the final outcome? In the above example, John didn’t make it at the start but Mary did an excellent job. In fact, the company got some good leads, three of which ended up becoming paying clients.
No matter what story you decide to tell, make sure it has a happy ending and involves you being proactive in order to help the company.
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Why Is There A Gap In Your Employment History?
In the event that you were unemployed for a spell, be honest about it or else the lie will come back and bite you. If you were engaged in activities such as volunteering or else you went back to education, be direct and upfront about it. If possible, reframe it so that your time off was designed to improve your existing skill-set to prepare you for a climb up the career ladder. It is best if you manoeuvre the conversation towards how you will do the job and positively contribute to the company. For example, you could say that you took a break at that time but now you are fully refreshed and ready to help the organisation in the following ways.
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Why Did You Change Career Paths?
Remain calm and explain why you made the decision to change careers. The most important thing here is to provide examples of skills learned in your old career that can be transferred to your new one. Don’t think these skills must have a direct connection; indeed, it is more impressive if you can tie seemingly irrelevant skills and experience to the job on the table.
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What Is Your Best Professional Achievement To Date?
There are few better ways to showcase your suitability than by pointing to great past job performance so don’t be shy! Again, the STAR method is a great way to answer the question. Begin by outlining the situation and your task before explaining your actions and providing the interviewer with the end result.For instance, you may have been a junior analyst who had to manage the invoicing process. You elected to change the process which reduced invoice errors by 15% within two months. If you can provide cold, hard data to back up your claims, all the better.
About The Role
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Why Do You Want To Work For Us?
It is important you show the interviewer that you have performed research on the company and have given this particular question a great deal of thought. Remember, organisations only want employees who are genuinely passionate about the role so you need to emphasis your desire to land the job.Begin by coming up with a few factors that make you the best choice. In a customer service job for example, you could say you derive great satisfaction from helping people and enjoy constantly interacting with them. Finish by explaining what you like about the company and praise its impact upon its industry; you can then say you wish to become part of it.
For more advice, check out our article on how to answer “Why do you want to work here?“
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What Would Your First 30 (or 60 or 90) Days In This Job Look Like?
The cost of training new employees is high so organisations want self-starters. Outline how you would get ramped up in your new role by explaining the information you would need to get started along with the areas of the company you must to become familiar with. This is where your in-depth research of the organisation really comes in handy.Your next step is to choose a couple of areas where you may be able to make a significant impact almost immediately. Although you may end up starting in a different part of the company, at least you have showed the interviewer that you’re ready and excited to begin.
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What Are Your Salary Expectations?
This can be an awkward question if you’re not fully prepared. It’s a good idea to check out our salary guides to determine the right range; there are also a number of publications online that provide ballpark figures for jobs based on experience, education and skills. It’s a good idea to choose a figure close to the top of that range but let the interviewer know that you’re flexible. It is also important to show you know how valuable your skills are while also communicating the fact that you want the job and are prepared to negotiate.
Your Ambitions
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Where Do You See Yourself in 5/10/15 Years?
While you should 100% be honest about your goals and ambitions, remember that the interviewer is looking to know the following:
- Whether you have realistic career expectations.
- If you are an ambitious individual; those who haven’t thought about their future will not be favoured by employers and a hesitant answer to this question will suggest you are NOT ambitious.
- If the position is in alignment with your goals and ambitions.
It’s best if you consider where this position will take you and form an answer based on that information. In the event that you’re not sure of your ambitions or how the role plays a part in your future; be sure to say that this experience will be extremely important in helping you make that decision.
For more advice, check out our article on how to answer the question “Where do you see yourself in 5 years“?
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Describe Your Dream Role?
Again, the interviewer wants to know if the position aligns with your goals. You’re not likely to become an astronaut by taking a job as an accountant for example! For this question, you should discuss your ambitions and how the job can get you one step closer.
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What Other Organisations Are You Taking An Interview With?
This question is asked to see whether you are serious about pursuing a career in the industry and are also looking to find out the level of competition the company faces from rivals when it comes to hiring new employees. The best approach is to say you are exploring a number of similar roles within the industry. It is a great idea to say that you’re looking to apply to jobs where certain critical abilities and skills you have can be used. For instance, if you are looking for a job as an IT consultant, you can say that you’re seeking employment in a position where you get to analyse the needs of clients and bring them to development teams in order to solve technology problems.
Your Personality
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What Do You Like To Do Outside Of Work?
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How Would Your Friends Describe You?
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What Was The Last Film You Watched/Book You Read Etc.?
These questions are designed to determine whether or not you are a well-rounded individual. The interviewer is trying to find out more about your level of self-awareness as this trait enables you to critically analyse yourself to find areas where you excel and areas where you can improve. Essentially, the interviewer wants to know if you are an active individual that gets the most out of life. The company wants an energetic, enthusiastic and positive person so this is your opportunity to show that you’re a fun person. It is better for you to quote mainstream literature and movies rather than obscure ones and look to provide a wide range to show that you have balanced tastes.
Odd Questions
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If You Were An Animal, What One Would You Choose?
The above is just one example of an odd question and a quick Google search will reveal many more. For example, Google asked one employee: “How many cows are in Canada?” while Amazon asked someone what they would do if owner Jeff Bozos offered them $1 million to start up their best entrepreneurial idea. The reason for odd questions is to see if you can think of something on the spot. While there is no ‘good’ answer necessarily, it is best to consider the question for a moment to find something that reflects on you but also has positives that can be applied to the role.
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What Could The Company Do Differently?
This question will find out whether you have performed any research on the company. The interviewer is also looking for you to think critically and come up with new ideas on improving some aspects of the organisation. For this question, you should be prepared and have an idea of new features you would like to see and new plans such as improving customer service or increasing the company’s conversion rate. The most important thing here is to show how your skills and experience can help the organisation.
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Do You Have Any Questions For Us?
The interviewer is likely to ask some version of this question at the end of the interview. You need to remember that the interview is as much about you finding out if the job is right for you as it is about the company finding out if you’re right for the job.
The company WANTS you to ask some questions! Find out more about the department, the team and the position for example. You should also ask the interviewer:- His/her favourite aspect of working for the company.
- For information about the company’s growth and products.
For more advice, check out our article about questions to ask at the end of an interview.
6 Quick Fire Tips
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Do Your Homework
The #1 complaint among hiring managers is the lack of preparation undertaken by applicants. With Google at your fingertips there is no excuse not to have a reasonable degree of information about the organisation. So, research the company. Go to its corporate website to learn more about its core values, mission, locations and top executives. You should also look at its most recent press releases.
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Know The Needs & Wants Of The Organisation
The best responses during interviews always focus on the needs of the hiring manager. When talking about yourself, always make sure your skills & strengths are relatable to the job at hand.
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Research Yourself
You need to find out what the organisation knows about you. If there is something negative about you online, be prepared to respond but don’t get defensive.
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The Right Way To Discuss Ambitions
While you need to show ambition, you have to avoid sounding overly aggressive and unrealistic. For instance, you don’t want to speak about your goal of becoming the youngest managing director in the company’s history. Instead, divide things into short and long term goals. Getting the job is a short-term goal; talk about that first before looking to aim higher.
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Always Be Positive
This begins from the moment you walk into the building let alone the interview room. When you feel comfortable and relaxed, you will also feel confidence and this will be noticed by the interviewer. When discussing negative things during the interview (the reason you left your last job for example), always spin things in a positive light. If you are already relaxed and confident, you will sound natural and the interviewer is less likely to focus on these negative things. In contrast, if you are edgy and nervous, negativity will ooze from your answers and the interviewer may seize upon it and probe deeper.
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Know Your CV
This is a very basic thing yet so many people fall at this hurdle. Know your CV intimately because you will be asked questions about it. If you can’t answer them clearly, it will appear as if the CV is not 100% accurate and this will be the death knell for your chances of getting the job.
We hope the above 21 most common interview questions and answers helps you prepare for the big interview; good luck!
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