I don’t think many of us actually enjoy being interviewed. This process often feels more like an interrogation than an interview. However, if you are prepared the process of interviewing can be much more enjoyable than if you are not ready at all. There is nothing worse than being caught off guard, or feeling like you just gave a really bad answer to a rather standard interview question. In order to ace an interview it doesn’t actually take that much practice time. By reviewing, and taking the time to answer the most common interview questions which are usually asked, you will be in a better place when heading in for your interview. We’ve put together a comprehensive list of the 15 most commonly asked interview questions with tips and answers for you to review.
1. Tell us about yourself?
This interview question is commonly asked to open an interview. You don’t want to give too little or too much information here. Don’t give your whole life story, but at the same time don’t give so little information it seems like there is no substance there.
Answer: I have an bachelor degree in finance, and 5 years of experience working in corporate finance. I really like challenges and solving problems using my analytical skills. I’ve always liked numbers and this is why I became an analyst, I love challenges. I’m very detail oriented, a team player, resourceful and willing to work hard.
2. What are your strengths?
This is your opportunity to impress them, so don’t be shy. This is your chance to tell them all about how you are the perfect fit for the job and how you are going to save them from the heartache of hiring the wrong candidate. Throw every strength you have out on the table which they are looking for regarding the job description for the position. Remember to leave out any strengths which aren’t going to help you out here, like “I’m great at Angry Birds on my iPhone”, keep it to strengths that are applicable.
Answer: I would say one of my biggest strengths is my ability to quickly learn and adapt. At my last job, a team member had to go on maternity leave, and we weren’t able to find a replacement for over a month, I was able to step in and take over her responsibilities in less than a week. I love taking on new challenges and I love learning new skills.
3. What are your weaknesses?
Answer: I like to turn my weaknesses into strengths by continually focusing to improve them. I love working, I’m a bit of a perfectionist and this leads me to not take as much downtime as I should; I end up working nights and over the weekends when I should be relaxing.
4. What are you salary requirements?
Answer: I am willing to negotiate on salary. If you could tell me the range for this position, then based on the requirements I will be able to tell you where I believe I fall in the spectrum.
Don’t come out and give a number like $15 per hour, because then you are stuck even if they would have been willing to pay more. Also don’t give them a range, or you’re stuck in the range you’ve provided. Let them give you the range, then you can decide where you stack up based on your qualifications.
5. Tell us about a problem you may have had with a manger in the past and how you resolved it?
Answer: I’ve never had any problems with any of my managers in the past. We may have had some creative differences, or different ideas about how something should have been executed, but it was only my job to supply the information and he/she was responsible for making the final decision, and I respect that. There is no situation that cannot be resolved through verbal communication, and I believe in having open and honest relationships with my co-workers and mangers.
6. What do you know about our company?
This will be one of the easier questions to answer as long as you’ve prepared and put in the research. Typically the job description will come with an synopsis of the company; if it doesn’t jump on the internet and do some research. Most companies have an internet website where you can get more information than you need to answer this question.
7. Why or for what reasons did you leave your last job?
Ideally you will want to have a job when interviewing for a new job; as this always gives you more leverage. Like anything else in life, people want things they can’t have and if you are already employed it makes you seem unavailable. Don’t mention that you want to leave your job to make more money (if this is the case), this is a cutthroat answer and doesn’t exactly have a nice ring to it. If you got fired from your last job, you’ll need to be creative here. If you got laid off because of budget cuts, give it a positive spin, about how it gave you time off to acquire new skills.
8. Why do you think you would be a good fit for this job?
It would be great if you could just come out and say “Because I’m the best”, unfortunately this isn’t the answer most people are looking for. Mention your skills and accomplishments which match up to the items they are looking for in the job description. Don’t be bashful, be enthusiastic and let them know exactly how you can help them out.
9. Why do you want to work here?
The research you have done in regards to their company should have given you some good reasons for wanting to work for their company. You can say things like “I want to work with the most cutting edge company in (insert field here)”, or “I really believe in the principles this company was founded on because (insert your own values here)”, and so forth. You can also explain how you are up to the challenges of helping them achieve their goals.
10. Tell me about your biggest accomplishments?
Remember to keep it relevant to work, and not about how you ate the most hot dogs at the county fair. In all of your past work there should be a few things that stand out, that you are proud of, and that you can speak about with enthusiasm. Being proud and enthusiastic about past accomplishments will show on your face and in your demeanor if they really happened as opposed to some fictional story.
11. What would past co-workers say about you?
Remember, you don’t have to disclose everything here, if there were people you didn’t get along with, you can omit these stories. Focus on the positive experiences you had with past co-workers and offer up explanations like “They would say I’m a good friend, hard working, patient, a good listener, detail oriented, persistent, and punctual.” This would then be the perfect moment to offer up some work-related references “who would be more than happy to talk to you.”
12. Are you currently working to improve your skills or your experience?
If you aren’t working on anything related to improving your work skills, then mention hobbies you might have. You can put a positive work-related spin on your hobbies by saying that they are teaching you how to manage your time better, learning new things, meeting new people, and so forth. I always like to be reading a new book in my field of work, not only does this help me to improve my work skills, but it is the perfect thing to mention when interviewing.
13. Where do you see yourself in 1 year?
This is easy to answer, you see yourself excelling at your work at their company, providing value and helping the team to succeed. You also see yourself acquiring more work experience and skills, and helping to mentor other team members and/or new hires. You can also mention that you would like to grow with the company; this is a great way of saying I’m hoping to get promoted, but without making the hiring manager feel like you are gunning for his job.
14. How long do you see yourself at this company?
Don’t get specific in terms of time frames. Just mention that you would like to be working at the company for as long as possible and for as long as there is mutual benefit for everyone involved.
15. Do you have any questions?
Last and not least.
You should always have questions; even if they don’t ask this question you should ask them if you can ask some questions about the job.
Answer: I do have some questions, thanks for asking. How would you describe the ideal candidate and how do you feel I stack up the ideal candidate? What are your short term goals for this department, let’s say in the next 6 months and what will you need to do to achieve these goals? I am very excited about this job position, what are the next steps in your hiring process?
If they have concerns about you, this is the time to deal with these objections, and explain to them why those shouldn’t be concerns.
Conclusion
You should now have a really good idea about how to handle the 15 most common interview questions that you may possibly be asked at your next interview. In addition to these most commonly asked interview questions you may also want to review job specific interview questions. Our website also provides articles on job specific interview questions, resume samples, cover letters and much more, so feel free to look around.
