Job Interviews
Frequently Asked Questions about Job Interviews
- What are some common job interview questions?
- What are some examples of personality interview questions?
- What questions should I ask in an interview?
- What are Behavioural Interview Questions?
- What are some unique interview questions, I should prepare for?
- What kind of answers create Red Flags?
- How to Answer Behavioral Interview Questions?
- How should I prepare for a job interview?
- How do you answer job interview questions?
- What are the key preparations for a job interview?
- What should I take to a job interview?
- How should I follow up after the job interview?
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
– Albert Einstein
Job Interviews
A job interview is a conversation between a job applicant and the employer or recruiter, which is conducted to assess whether the applicant is suitable to be hired for a specific job. Job interviews are one of the most commonly used processes for employee selection.
Interviews vary in the extent to which the questions are structured. The interview may be totally unstructured and a free-wheeling conversation or a structured interview in which an applicant is asked a predetermined list of questions in a specified order.
The job interview is usually preceded by the evaluation of résumés from interested candidates. Typically, only a small number of candidates will be interviewed from all the resumes or CVs submitted.
What are the Most Common Job Interview Questions?
You got past the resume stage and got the opportunity for a job interview. One of the most important things is to prepare for are the likely questions you will get asked in a job interview. Most questions fall into these broad categories:
- Questions About You
- Questions about your Motivation
- Questions about your Strength
- Questions about your Weakness
- Questions about the Details in your Resume or CV
- Experience and Behavioural Questions
- Questions to understand your Personality
- Questions about your Expectations
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”
– Henry David Thoreau
Questions about You?
- Tell me about yourself?
- What is your most significant professional achievement?
- What was your most significant professional setback?
- Why do you want to leave your current job?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- What kind of work environment do you like best?
- Why do you want to leave your current job?
- How do you think other people would describe you?
- What are your goals for the future?
- What do you like to do outside of work?
- What types of hobbies do you enjoy outside of work?
- Have you ever played on a sports team?
- If I went to your Facebook page, what would I see?
Questions about your Motivation?
- How did you hear about the position?
- Why do you want this job?
- Describe your dream job?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- Why should we hire you?
- What do you know about our company and culture?
- What are you passionate about?
- Do you already know anybody who works in our organization?
- What do you expect me to accomplish in the first 90 days?
- What are the most important things you are looking for in your next role?
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
– Confucius
Questions about your Strength?
- What are your greatest professional strengths?
- What is your leadership style?
- How do you motivate team members?
- What is your preferred communication style?
- What have you learned from your mistakes?
- What is your preferred learning style?
- What motivates you?
- What makes you unique?
- On your LinkedIn profile, which skills have you received the most endorsements?
Questions about your Weakness?
- What do you consider to be your weaknesses?
- What do you think you could do better or differently?
- What are your most significant weaknesses?
- What do people most often criticize about you?
- What areas would you like to develop further?
- If you could change one thing about the way you approach challenges, what would it be?
- In which skills areas do you think our company can help you develop further?
- If we assigned you a Coach, what would you like the Coach to help you with?
“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”
– Benjamin Franklin
Questions about your Resume or CV?
- Tell me about your Education?
- Tell me about your first job?
- Why have you moved job every “X” years?
- Were you ever fired?
- Why were you let go?
- Tell me about your accreditations?
- Why was there a gap in your employment?
- Can you explain why you changed career paths?
- Tell me about your most recent jobs?
- Who would be some of your references?
Experience and Behavioural Interview Questions?
- Tell me about the toughest decision you had to make in the last year?
- Tell me about the last time a co-worker or customer got angry with you. What happened?
- Tell me about a time you disagreed with a decision. What did you do?
- Tell me about what we can expect from you in your first few months?
- Tell me about a time you exercised leadership?
- How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?
- Tell me about an email you sent that you would take back if you could?
- How do you feel when someone interrupts you when you’re in the middle of a task?
- We recently had X issue occur. How would you have dealt with this?
- Tell me about a successful team project that you have been involved in, and what was your role?
- How do you respond to working under pressure?
- Do you prefer working in a team or on your own?
- How do you prefer to manage your work-life balance?
- Tell me about a time that you did more than what was required on the job?
- Describe a typical work week?
- Describe a time when your workload was heavy, and how you handled it?
- When was the last time you were angry? What happened?
- Tell me about your favorite past manager and why he was your favorite?
- Tell me about your worst past manager and why they were so bad?
- What would you do if there were no promotion opportunities in the next three years?
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
– Winston Churchill
Questions to understand your Personality?
- If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?
- What does customer service mean to you?
- What sort of things irritates you the most?
- How would your last manager describe you in three words?
- What gets you down?
- How many tennis balls can you fit into this room?
- How do you like to use Social Media?
- What do you do if someone gets on your nerves?
- Do you regard yourself as an extrovert or an introvert?
- If you knew your manager was 100% wrong about something, how would you handle it?
- What is your life philosophy?
- What do you find are the most difficult decisions to make?
- How do you evaluate success?
- Tell me about a time when you relied on your creativity to solve a problem?
- If you could meet a celebrity, who would it be and why?
Questions about your Expectations?
- What would your first 30, 60, or 90 days look like in this role?
- What was your salary in your last job?
- What are your salary requirements?
- How quickly do you need to move jobs?
- How long have you been out of work?
- What other companies are you interviewing with?
- If you weren’t the right fit for this position, what other roles would you be interested in with our company?
- What questions do you have for me?
“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”
– Alexander Graham Bell
What kind of answers create Red Flags?
- Inappropriate Answers: Respect for the law, ethics, diversity, and inclusion are standard corporate cultural requirements.
- Lack of Passion: During a job interview, you need to demonstrate high levels of energy and engagement. You need to show enthusiasm for the opportunity.
- Avoid Extremes: Do not over exaggerate achievements or underplay your strengths.
- Credible Career Journey: Have a concise “elevator pitch” for your career journey that explains your previous roles and the changes in your jobs or career.
- Avoid Canned Answers: Be authentic with answers by using specific details from your career and experience.
- Not Managing Emotions: Topics about wrongful termination, horrible bosses, financial, and job struggles, can leave us feeling emotional. Unfortunately, in a job interview, not managing your emotions may be a red flag to some interviewers.
- Mistaking Arrogance for Confidence: In a job interview, you need to sell yourself; however, if your confidence is perceived as arrogance, this may be counterproductive.
What questions should You Ask?
- What are the company’s highest-priority goals this year?
- How would this role contribute to the company’s goals?
Other questions you may consider asking depending on the circumstances?
- Does my experience fit your requirements?
- Do you have any concerns about my ability to do the job?
- What is your process for making a decision after this interview?
- Will there be any follow-up interviews?
- When should I expect to hear back?
“I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.”
– Thomas Jefferson
What are Behavioural Interview Questions?
Behavioral (experience-based) interview questions ask respondents to relate what they have done in past jobs situations that are relevant to the particular job that the interviewer seeks to fill. The questions are targeted to understand the relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities required for success in the job.
The vital idea is that past behavior is the best predictor of future performance in similar situations. By asking questions about how job applicants have handled situations in the past, that are similar to those they will face on the job, employers can gauge how they might perform in future situations.
Behavioral interview questions include:
- Describe a situation in which you were able to use persuasion to convince someone to your point of view.
- Give me an example of a time when you set a goal and were able to achieve it.
- Tell me about a time when you had to use your presentation skills to influence someone.
- Give me an example of a time when you had to follow a directive with which you did not agree.
How to Answer Behavioral Interview Questions?
The STAR technique is a useful technique for answering interview questions that require an anecdote. It’s a helpful way to organize your thoughts and structure your answer. There are four steps to answering Behavioral Interview Questions using this technique:
- Situation: Describe the challenge and situation in which you found yourself.
- Task: Describe what you were required to achieve. The interviewer will be looking to see what you were trying to achieve from the situation. (BONUS POINTS: Job candidates who describe a “Target” they set themselves instead of an externally imposed “Task” emphasize their own intrinsic motivation to perform.)
- Action: Explain what action you took to complete the task or solve the problem. (BONUS POINTS: The interviewer will be looking for information on what you did, why you did it and did you consider the alternatives.)
- Results: Explain the result of your actions. (BONUS POINTS: What did you learn from this experience and have you used this learning since?)
The STAR technique which stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result, is a format used by interviewers to gather the relevant information about a specific capability that the job requires.
The SOARA (Situation, Objective, Action, Results, Aftermath) is another job interview answer technique. The SOARA technique is similar to the Situation, Task, Action, Result technique, but is broader in a few dimensions. The “Aftermath” component of the answer captures the learning from the experience and how the learning has been used since. Also, the “Objective” part allows for a broader intrinsic motivation dimension compared to the “Task” response.
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.”
– Maya Angelou
How should I prepare for a job interview?
- Confirm date, time, and location.
- Research the company.
- Research the job.
- Consider your answers to common interview questions.
- Prepare several thoughtful questions for the interviewer(s).
- Prepare an “elevator pitch” that explains your resume or CV.
- Do a mock interview with a friend.
- Plan what you will wear to the interview
- Plan what you will take with you to the interview.
- Take care of personal grooming before the day of the interview.
- Get accurate directions for the interview location.
- Plan your schedule to get to the job location at least 30 minutes earlier than required and have a coffee or tea, nearby until the appointed time.
- Review your research for 20 minutes before the interview.
- Arrive 5 minutes early at reception.
- Be Positive and Confident.
- Get ready to follow up after the interview.
Job Interview – FAQs – to be covered with our Next Instalment
- What are useful job interview strategies?
- How do you answer challenging job interview questions?
- What are the critical preparation tasks for a job interview?
- What should I take to a job interview?
- How should I follow up after the job interview?
“It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get back up.”
– Vince Lombardi
Are these Coaching Tips on “Job Interview FAQs” useful?
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Books About Job Interviews
- Cracking the Code to a Successful Interview: 15 Insider Secrets from a Top-Level Recruiter, by Evan Pellett, 2016
- Interview: The Art of the Interview: The Perfect Answers to Every Interview Question, by James Storey, 2016
- Get That Job!: The Quick and Complete Guide to a Winning Interview Kindle Edition, by Thea Kelley, 2017
- Smart Answers to Tricky Interview Questions: How to prepare for a job-winning interview, by Rob Yeung, 2015
- Knock ’em Dead Job Interview: How to Turn Job Interviews Into Job Offers, by Yate CPC, Martin, 2012
- Answers to the Top 20 Interview Questions: Conquering the Job Interview Process Paperback, by Katie Weiser, 2017
- Ladders 2019 Interviews Guide: 74 Questions That Will Land You The Job (Ladders 2019 Guide), by Marc Cenedella, 2019
- How to Answer Interview Questions: 101 Tough Interview Questions, by Peggy McKee, 2012
- Amazon Interview Secrets: How to Respond to 101 Popular Amazon Leadership Principles Interview Questions, by Martha Gage, 2019
- Steal the Show: From Speeches to Job Interviews to Deal-Closing Pitches, How to Guarantee a Standing Ovation for All the Performances in Your Life Paperback, by Michael Port, 2016
- Case Interview Secrets: A Former McKinsey Interviewer Reveals How to Get Multiple Job Offers in Consulting Paperback, by Victor Cheng, 2012
- You Majored in What?: Designing Your Path from College to Career Paperback, by Katharine Brooks, 2010
- What Color Is Your Parachute? Job-Hunter’s Workbook, Fifth Edition: A Companion to the Best-selling Job-Hunting Book in the World, by Richard N. Bolles, 2018
- Hacking the Case Interview: Your Shortcut Guide to Mastering Consulting Interviews Paperback, by Taylor Warfield, 2017
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill
Photo Credits:Image by rawpixel from Pixabay /photos/agreement-business-businessman-3489902/
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