Are you having an interview? Do you know the most common interview questions with answers? It would be great if you know them already and prepare yourself. This will help to reduce your interview stress.
You can check my tips and tricks guide on interviews.
No one is sure about the questions which you will be asked in your interview but there are some basic questions that are common for almost all types of interviews.
So, in this article, I will provide you a list of typical job interview questions along with advice on how to answer them.
Common Interview Questions with Answers
- Tell me about yourself.
- What is your greatest strength?
- What is your greatest weakness?
- What is your greatest professional achievement?
- How did you hear about this position?
- Why do you want to work at this company?
- Tell me about something that’s not on your resume.
- Why should we hire you?
- How would you adjust to working for a new company?
- What can you bring to the company?
- What do you find are the most difficult decisions to make?
- What has been the greatest disappointment in your life?
- Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership skills.
- Tell me about a time you failed.
- What’s a time you disagreed with a decision that was made at work?
- Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
- Why were you fired?
- What do you like least about your job?
- Why are you leaving your current job?
- Why was there a gap in your employment?
- What’s your current salary?
- What are your salary expectations?
- What are you looking for in a new position?
- What’s your work style?
- What type of work environment do you prefer?
- What’s your management style?
- How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?
- How would your boss and coworkers describe you?
- What do you like to do outside of work?
- How do you prioritize your work?
- What motivates you?
- What are you passionate about?
Best Answers to the Most Asked Questions
- Tell me about yourself – This question is one of the most common questions that the interviewer asked at the beginning of the interview. Many candidates did not prepare for this question as it seems to be very simple to answer. But you should prepare for this question. Do not describe a whole lot in your response just try to be short in your intro keep it compelling. Give a short summary of your experience which is relevant for the job profile.
- What is your greatest strength? – This question gives you a chance to demonstrate your strengths which are fit for the role. If you have something to tell but didn’t have a chance for it describe that in this answer. Try to tell a short story with the support of your statement it will work here.
- What is your greatest weakness? – The interviewer asked this question to know how much self-awareness you have about yourself. Do not answer this question by saying that I do not have any weaknesses. Yes, you must have some nobody is perfect. Check before answering this question that it will not affect your application. For example, if your job demands public speaking do not answer like I am a shy person or an introvert. I have written a separate article on how to answer about your weaknesses you can read it to understand more.
- What is your greatest professional achievement? – You must answer this by following this way provide a situation, your actions, and the result. You can tell the hiring manager about any situation which you have faced and then the actions which you took after analyzing the situation and what are the results that you get.
- How did you hear about this position? – This is another question where you can tell the hiring manager how much you are interested in the role. If you found out about the company from some job board tell that and also mention what caught your eye. If you discovered the company through social media or through some event mention that. Whatever you mention do not forget to tell that what makes you interested in the role.
- Why do you want to work at this company? – When you are answering this question do your research about the company. Check how the company grows and what are your future goals try to align your career goals with the company. And mention your interests in the company and how you love what they do.
- Tell me about something that’s not on your resume – When the interviewer asked this question it means he/she is interested in your profile and after reading your resume the recruiter thinks that you are a good fit for the role. Deliver a good answer to this question to improve your chances. For example, tell a story that demonstrates your skills and achievement or your behavioral skills which will help in your role.
- Why should we hire you? – This answer is your selling point. You can mention in your answer how well you fit in the company culture and deliver great results. You have to convenience the recruiter that you are the perfect fit for the role.
- How would you adjust to working for a new company? – Through this question, the employer wanted to know about your adaptability. You have to tell in your answer that how likely you are adaptable to new things and the environment. You can also provide an example of past where you have gone through any kind of situation or face any such challenges.
- What can you bring to the company? – When you have asked this question check what problem does the department facing or any other issues for which you are hired. Try to tell the employer what you can do in this situation. Read your job description properly and then prepare your answer and align it with your job responsibilities.
- What do you find are the most difficult decisions to make? – Such a question lets the hiring manager know about your decision-making ability. Give an example of the past where you have taken some decision in the organization and how did you do it. For example deciding whom to promote when there are many suitable candidates, deciding whether to cut extra benefits of employees when the company is facing challenges, etc.
- What has been the greatest disappointment in your life? – Here employer wants to know how to deal with challenges and how you react to them. You can talk about any disappointment you face in your professional or personal life. It is ok to talk about any personal challenges that you had faced. If you are talking about your professional disappointment make sure it is not related to your role.
- Tell me about a time you demonstrated leadership skills – You do not have to prepare a fancy answer for this question. Just tell the past experience where you have been acted as a leader took a project on your own and lead a team. Demonstrate how you guide your team through and help each other to make the project successful.
- Tell me about a time you failed – Everyone fails and that’s ok. Learning from the failures is important. Say something from your past that you faced and you failed but how you learn from it tell that in brief.
- What’s a time you disagreed with a decision that was made at work? – You can demonstrate some past experience when you disagree with some decision made at work and how you put your point back up with data. It is ok you might feel some other way on a decision unlike the rest do but you do have a strong opinion to disagree and why do you disagree? You can mention what you learn from this experience.
- Tell me about a time you made a mistake – Everyone does make mistakes. So no worries! Acceptance and your learning from them are important. You can tell your story when you made a mistake and how you learn from it.
- Why were you fired? – The questions about why you left your previous job must come up. Now, if you lost your job due to layoff you can simply tell that your department is eliminated or whatever will be the reason, or if you are fired from your position you should tell this truth and tell how you are improving and making changes in yourself.
- What do you like least about your job? – You should not provide answers by saying that you do not like some of your coworkers, boss, or the office. Instead, say something like the opportunities which the role you are interviewing for is providing but the current role is lacking in such opportunities this show you are eager to learn and grow more.
- Why are you leaving your current job? – You must keep things positive while answering this question. You can say something like you are eager to take new opportunities and state something which you can do here and you always wish to do. This way it proves you want to grow further by taking on new challenges.
- Why was there a gap in your employment? – If you are having a gap in your employment due to many reasons like you are busy parenting, you are dealing with health issues, traveling the world, or have any other issues can talk about it. If you learn any new skills within this time mention that. Make sure it does relate to your work.
- What’s your current salary? – This question looks awkward whenever asked. You can tweak these questions if you do not want to provide a straight answer by saying that you want to look into the role and check your responsibilities and then if you agree with the numbers provided you can look further into it.
- What are your salary expectations? – The number one tip to answer this question is to find out your financial requirements and check the salary range in your field at your experience. This will help you to analyze what salary at your stage can you get and also consider what roles and responsibilities you are handling. Then you can state a range or otherwise tweak this question and by asking you want to know more about your role and discuss salary later.
- What are you looking for in a new position? – Be to the point with this question. Just simply say what the position is offering.
- What’s your work style? – This question comes at a later part when the interviewer considering you for the position. Does the employer want to know how you perform your work? Do you mix well with the team? How you act with your other colleagues, How you lead a team? etc. Just try to be positive with your answer and provide a story in support of your answer.
- What type of work environment do you prefer? – This is another straightforward answer. Tell the environment which the company is having. Of course you want this job and you must like all things about it so say it.
- What’s your management style? – You should be flexible with your answer that what the employer looks for. You can mention your past managerial activities like how you grow your team from 10 to 20 and how you train your team members etc.
- How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations? – This is an important thing to know about you. How do you deal with pressure? You can state something like I do meditate for 10 minutes for calming myself down and then think about it away. I used to keep my team calms down so that instead of freaking out at the situation we can solve it. Share any of your past experiences where you deal with such situations.
- How would your boss and coworkers describe you? – You can say something here which you did not discuss earlier check your strengths which enhance your personality more. Do not lie try to be honest with your response.
- What do you like to do outside of work? – You will face this question when the interviewer wants to know more about your personality. You can tell me about your hobbies and interests but be mindful. Mention something which shines your personality be true to your words. Say whatever your hobby is but make sure it is worth it. Do not mention things like I love watching TV, Netflix, etc. it does not outshine your personality be creative with your response.
- How do you prioritize your work? – You can share how you work. Try to mention the way in which you organize your things like making a to-do list or set a priority to the tasks etc. Share some experiences where you suddenly get tasks and have to manage them with your work. Then how do you prioritize your things to set everything keeps in place.
- What motivates you? – You should think before answering this question. Think what makes your eyes lit up when you read the job description. It should be relevant to your role and the company. Tell how you feel energetic about your work and illustrate your point. You can pick one thing and describe your view on it.
- What are you passionate about? – It is ok to provide an answer to this question which doesn’t really relatable to your role. But make sure it does prove a good point. Like if you are someone who are an artist then it is not necessary that you do make designs and painting all the time. You may have some other passion outside your work which boosts your creativity. So can mention them appropriately.
Conclusion
Preparing for an interview sometimes seems like you are preparing for a school test. And in some sense yes it is true. You have to prepare your best response to impress the recruiter.
I hope the above list of questions helped you for cracking your interview. All the best!
Over to You
Did you face some of the questions from the above list? Did the above-mentioned tips help you in making a good response?
I would love to hear from you.