Most common job interviews questions and possible answers

1. Tell me about yourself

This is probably the most common question used to start a job interview and
you’ll have to respond giving personal information, details about your career,
your skills, and your studies. Try to talk about PAST, PRESENT and FUTURE
in a SUCCINCT WAY. In this case you can give your answer starting with the
following:

 I was born and raised in …

 I attended the University of …
 I’ve just graduated from the University of …
 I’ve worked for seven years as a …
 I’ve worked for various companies including …
 I enjoy playing …
 I started my career in Marketing after graduating with a Business degree
in 2013. I’ve spent my entire career at Microsoft, receiving two
promotions and three awards for outstanding performance. I’m looking to
join a smaller company now, and take on more leadership and project
management.

2. Why are you interested in this job?

“Why are you interested in this position?” “Why do you want to work for
‘X’?” The answers to these questions should focus on the reasons that pushed
you to apply for the position. For example, do you want to have a new
professional challenge? Do you want a job that can guarantee the chance to
grow? You could structure your answers starting with:

 I want to take on more responsibility

 In line with my qualifications …
 I’m convinced that ‘company name’ is becoming one of the market
leaders
 I’m impressed by the quality of your products
 What excites me about this position is the opportunity to interview
customers on their experience with our product. I’ve always been skilled
at understanding what people want or need. So, I look forward to using
that skill to understand the user experience and consider how to improve
it so that the company stands out among its competitors.

3. Why should we hire you?

Why would you be the right choice for this position?
What makes you the best candidate for this position/this job?

In order to choose the right candidate, your potential employer will want to
understand why you are the right person to hire, and therefore could ask you
– “Why should we give you the job?”. To get the job you must be able to give a
valid answer to convince the interviewer that you are the right choice. Here are
some possible answers to help give you an idea of what you can say:

 You should hire me because I’m confident and ….

 I’m a perfect fit for this job because …
 I should be hired because I’m …
 I think I’m a great match for this position.
 “I read on the job description that you’re looking for someone with
experience in ____. I’ve done that for 3 years and can immediately help
you accomplish ____”.

4. What are your strengths?

Explain your strengths
Describe what a successful day looks like for you.
What do you think your top strength is?
What are you good at?

Sticking with the theme “Why should we hire you?” you have to reply

explaining what your strengths are and how your skills can represent real
added value for the company. You could answer using phrases like the ones
below, remembering always to contextualize them:

 I’ve always been a team player

 I believe my strongest trait is my attention to details
 I pay close attention to my customers’ needs
 I’m an excellent communicator
 I’m a trouble shooter
 I’m good at problem solving
 I’m good at multitasking
 I’m self-motivated
 I have very good time management skills
 “I’d say I’m definitely good at noticing patterns in numbers and identifying
anomalies, which is essential in tax preparation. I love that I’m able to
use this skill to help our clients save money.”

5. Describe your weaknesses

What are your weaknesses?

It can seem counterproductive to describe your weaknesses in an interview,

but it’s not. Knowing your own limits and being able to describe them in an
interview will make you seem honest and trustworthy in the eyes of the
interviewer. Use these sentences to help you:

 I always try to solve my own problems instead of asking a colleague

who might know the answer
 I become nervous when …
 Sometimes I have trouble delegating duties to others
 6. What experience have you had?
Tell me about your professional background

You’ll be asked questions about your work experience. In this case you can
start your answers using the following phrases:

 I have four years of experience as a …

 I’ve worked in retail for six years and was promoted to manager in my
second year
 I studied at the University of XX (if you haven’t had any work
experience yet you can talk about your studies)
 I worked for XX as a …

7. Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?

An employer is usually looking for someone who is ambitious and knows how
to find solutions to any problems that may arise. You could therefore be asked
– “Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?” or “What are your career
goals?” or “What would you do in your first three or four months
here?” or “What would your first 30 days in this job look like?” The answers will
be personal, but you can find inspiration from these sentences as a start:

 I’m aiming to improve my skills as a …

 I want to boost my career
 I believe your company is an important player in its industry
 I feel my skills set is a perfect fit for your team and I can contribute by
…

8. What do you know about our company?

The answers don’t have to be limited to repeating what’s written on their

website, but they should demonstrate something more. For example, find out
who the main competitors are, or what their marketing strategies are, or
something regarding their corporate culture. Here are some useful phrases:

 Your company has proven to be …

 The company is famous for …
“From what I read, your company is one of the leaders in providing
security software to other businesses. I read the list of clients on your
website. Do you mostly serve Fortune 500 clients? I saw a couple big
Fortune 500 companies mentioned on the list, including ___ and ___.”
 “You’re one of the largest investment banks in the US. Your
headquarters is in Raleigh, NC, and you have 25,000 employees
worldwide based on what I read on your website.”

9. What salary do you expect to earn? How much money are you
looking to earn?

Even questions related to your salary will be part of the conversation – “How
much do you expect to earn?” – and they’ll definitely represent a point on
 which you’ll want to have more information. The sentences that can help you
are:

 I’ll need information about the job responsibilities before we can

discuss the salary
 I’m sure that your company offers a fair, competitive salary for someone
with my experience
 My salary expectations are in line with my qualifications and education
 The typical salary range for this position is $XX,XXX to $XX,XXX, so I
would expect something within that.

10. Is there anything else you’d like to discuss? / Do you have any
questions for us?

At a certain point the interviewer might ask if you have any questions or if you
need more information – “Is there anything else you’d like to discuss?”. Don’t
simply say ‘no’ because you might give the impression of being superficial
and uninterested. On the contrary, prepare some questions, for example:

 How soon do you expect to make a decision?

 Do you have a training and development program?
 If you were to offer me the job, how soon would you want me to
start?
 When could I expect to hear from you?
 Are there any further steps in the interview process?
 What are the major responsibilities of this position?
 Are there possibilities for advancement?

11. Behavioral Questions

Example Questions:
Tell me about…
 A time you dealt successfully with a complaint or difficult customer successfully.
 Your highest accomplishments or the accomplishment you are most proud of.
 A time you made a mistake in your job. How did you handle it?
 A time you handled a high-pressure situation.
 A situation in which you showed real leadership.
 A time when you disagreed with your boss.
Behavioral questions are challenging because you don’t always know what to
expect.  With these questions, the interviewer is looking for specific examples of
how you have performed in the past. They want a real story, a concrete
example.
 They also want answers that are quantifiable. What does that mean? It means
to show the quantity of something or something that is measurable.

Examples include:
 I increased sales by 6% in 3 months by…
 I reduced the wait time for customers by 11% by…
 I signed on 3 new high-end clients by…

To prepare for behavioral questions, review the responsibilities of the position.

The interviewer will probably ask questions related to those specific areas and
about the skills needed to perform them well. 

12. Why did you leave your last company/position?

Why are you leaving your current company/position?

Some common reasons you might have for leaving a job include:
 Looking for a new challenge 
 Looking for an opportunity to grow your career 
 Current company is struggling financially (it is ok to mention this if is true and
known publicly)
 Recent or upcoming move to a new location

Example:
 “My last company reorganized it customer service department and as a result,
they reduced the department by 10%, letting go of their most recent hires.
Unfortunately, I was one of them but I’m grateful for the time I had there to
sharpen my skills in customer experience and I look forward to using those
skills in this new position.

13. Hypothetical questions

What would you do if you had a different opinion from your boss about how to
do something? I would…

How would you deal with a large volume of work with several staff members off
work? I would…

What would you do if you had to introduce a new policy that you knew was
going to be unpopular in your team? I would…