Interviewing is one of the most universally dreaded processes. The interviewing process can be extremely stressful. The best way to mitigate this stress and anxiety is to be prepared for any interview questions that can come your way.
The good news is that each and every interview question that can come your way is already out there on the internet. If you spend enough time gathering interview questions and laying out elaborate answers, you will be bulletproof during your interviews.
There might be many questions that are specific to your career field, but there are behavioral questions that are common in all interviews. These are the interview questions that you should be able to answer flawlessly even in your sleep. The first basic step during your interview preparation process should be to prepare and perfect these questions.
Now that we know the importance of these questions, let’s discuss what they are and what are the best approaches to answering these questions according to experts.
1. Tell Me About Yourself.
This is one of the easiest interview questions to answer, yet it’s also the most important question. It’s actually such a seemingly easy question that many people fail to prepare for it. This is the question with which you make your first impression. Here, you set a benchmark for the rest of the interview.
You want to keep your answer to this question brief and concise without giving your entire employment history.
- First, talk about what you do now.
- Then, talk about how you got to where you are now.
- Finally, tell them why you are pursuing this new job and why you would be a good fit.
2. Why do you think you would be a great fit for this position?
You need to have a solid answer to this interview question with no hesitation. Think back to what made you apply for the job in the first place.
This answer requires you to form connections between your own experience/skills and the job description. From the job description, extract 4-5 job duties that seem essential. Now, form 5-6 sentences showing the relationship between your skills with each of the job duties. This is exactly what the interviewer is looking for when he/she asks this question.
Another bonus point to mention here would be your qualities that show you’d be a great fit with the current team and company culture.
3. Why do you want to work at this company?
You have to be very careful not to give a generic answer to this question. You don’t want to blend in with the rest of the candidates with your answer. Be sure not to simply reiterate the company information you found on the website. Your answer shouldn’t be able to describe a bunch of companies in that field. Your answer should be very specific and tailored to describe the company you are interviewing at.
You want to come up with something unique about the company that intrigues you. Do you know anyone that works at the company that has described the company to you? Hush-hush, this is a great opportunity for a name drop.
Is there an article your read about the company that got you intrigued? You must ensure that your answer stands out from the rest of the candidates.
4. Tell me about a time you failed
This question is a great opportunity for you to show how you get back on the horse after falling.
This is the time you talk about a time you experienced a fallback. More importantly, even if the question doesn’t ask for it, it is essential to talk about how you got over the fallback or what you learned from this fallback, and how you will avoid such a failure in the future.
Don’t feel apologetic for having experienced a failure. Companies actually want to hire people that have experienced setbacks and know how to get over them.
I interview tutors for my tutoring company. I can assure you that I would not hire a tutor that has never had a difficult student or a failure in fulfilling promises to their clients.
Remember that failures and setbacks are a result of stepping out of your comfort zone and attempting difficult tasks for the first time. Companies don’t want to hire people that are afraid to take on duties that force them out of their comfort zone.
5. Tell me about a problem that you have solved
This is a question that is very commonly asked in the STEM field. Talk about a complex problem that required a novel solution. This shows your creativity and innovation.
This is the time to be very detail-oriented. Provide a detailed description of the problem and walk the interviewer through your thinking process in solving the problem. This problem could be anything that you took charge of solving. It could be a technical problem, a document-related problem, or an organization-related problem; the possibilities are endless.
Being a good interviewee is basically being a great storyteller. Even though your interviewer might be in the same field of study as you, he might not know the background of the product you worked on or the context in which you solved the problem. Thus, it is very important for you to be detailed when describing experiences.
6. Tell me about a time you showed leadership
You don’t need the title of a leader to show your leadership skills. You don’t have to be a manager, a team lead, or a supervisor to have shown leadership skills at your job. Think back to a time when you took charge of a project and excelled at the task at hand. Think about a time when the team experienced a setback, and you came up with a plan that allowed the team to get back on track. You could also talk about a time you went above and beyond your job duties for the betterment of the team.
There are two types of leadership: 1) you are appointed to be a leader for a task, and 2) you step up and take on the leadership role when the situation requires a leader. Trust me, the latter is much more impressive than the former.
Once you have picked the perfect topic to talk about, use the STAR method to tell your story.
- Situation: This is where you provide the background of your story.
- Task: This is where you talk about your role. What was the task at hand and what challenges did you expect?
- Action: Talk about the actions you took to fulfill your role. How did you accomplish the task at hand?
- Result: What were the results of your actions? Talk about the impact that your accomplishment of this task had.
Side Note: The STAR method actually applies to most of the interview questions that require a story-like answer.
7. Tell me about a time you resolved a conflict/ disagreement at work
Answer this question very carefully. This answer must be given in a brief manner without too many details. Your answer should not come off as if you are venting about a problem to your friend. (We have all had conflicts at work; talking about these conflicts may bring up an emotional response, thus, be ready to answer this question and keep the answer brief).
Interviewers only ask this question to ensure that you are able to face such situations and come up with a solution to resolve the conflict. The trick is to very briefly state the conflict, and elaborate on and emphasize your process of resolving that conflict.
8. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
This is a critical question. Your answer to this question might make or break the interview for you. The interviewer is asking you questions to find out the answers to the below questions:
- Are you passionate about your career?
- Do you have a realistic understanding of the job you are applying for?
- Does the growth chart of this position match your career goals?
Your answer should be able to satisfy the interviewers’ above-mentioned questions. Try to think about where this job could realistically take you in 5 years and form your answer accordingly.
9. What are Your biggest weaknesses?
It might seem that the perfect way to answer this question is to pick a weakness that is actually a strength in disguise. Unfortunately, all candidates will take on this strategy. You will just feel the interviewer’s eyes rolling if you decide to go ahead with this strategy. (Even if they are not visibly rolling their eyes)
An even better way to answer this question is to pick an actual weakness that you are actually trying to improve upon. For example, I tend to take on too much on my plate as I want to learn as much as I can, but in the past, this has led to long working hours. It actually created an issue; my work quality was declining. Now, I am actively working on keeping track of my bandwidth. This allows me to properly assess my availability before saying yes to a new project. You can add to this by talking about how much progress you have made and what you plan on doing in the future to improve even further.
The honesty here will help you stand out from the other candidates. Nobody is perfect! Your willingness to not only accept your flaws but actually seek out ways to improve yourself is respectable.
10. What are your biggest strengths?
This is actually one of my least favorite interview questions to answer; the interviewer’s job is to infer this information from your other answer and your resume. They shouldn’t have to directly ask you what your strengths are.
The best way to answer this question is to accompany examples with your answers. Providing examples will allow you to provide more substance to this bland question. Besides, you saying that you are a great problem solver doesn’t mean anything if you can’t back it up. For example, you could say, “I am a quick learner. In my previous job, I was all up to date on the job duties within my first week.”
11. What is your biggest professional achievement?
The trick to making this question tilt the interview in your favor is to talk about an achievement that is most relevant to the job you are interviewing for (even if it might not be your BIGGEST professional achievement). For example, if you are applying for a leadership position, you wouldn’t want to talk about big professional achievements that don’t light a shine upon your leadership skills. Your achievement might be impressive, but might be irrelevant in the context.
Basically, you want to talk about an achievement that will help the interviewer imagine you in the position you are interviewing for. You want to lead the interviewer into thinking that you will replicate your previous achievements in this job as well. Therefore, it is essential for you to talk about a relevant achievement.
If you think there are any interview questions that I missed out on or anything else that I should have included to make this blog post even more useful, leave them down below in the comment section. I will try to update the post accordingly.