Frequently Asked Interview Questions
January 23, 2008
Handling frequently asked interview questions
Tell Me About Yourself
- Don’t give the story of your life.
- Give a very brief rundown including education, previous job titles targeted very specifically toward how your experience and/or education will be useful in the position for which you’re applying.
What are Your Strengths?
Talk about strengths that are very specific to the job you’re interviewing for.
What are Your Weaknesses?
Choices for responding to weakness question:
Give a negative that’s really a positive:
- “I am sometimes impatient, which drives me to work excessively.”
- “If I start on a project, I sometimes forget to go to lunch.”
- “Since I’m such a perfectionist, I sometimes find it hard to delegate because I’m concerned others won’t do the job as well as I can.”
Caution: The perfectionist response is overused.
Give a negative that is really inconsequential and has little to do with how well you would perform the job:
- “I am not a good speller, so I keep a dictionary handy.”
More choices for responding to weakness question:
- Simply reassure the interviewer that you know of no weaknesses that would stand in the way of your performing this job.
- Reveal a trait that once was a weakness, but explain how you overcame it and learned from it.
Where do you want to be in 5 (or 10 or 15) years?
What do you want to do with your life?
Strike a delicate balance when responding to this kind of question: Honesty/Ambition/Your desire to be working at this company.
· Avoid responses like starting your own business, running for Congress.
· Not totally inappropriate to mention the personal (marriage, family), but focus should be on professional goals.
Response could be: “I’m here to let you know that I am the best person for the job. If in the future you feel I would be a candidate for a higher level position, I know I wouldn’t be passed up.”
OR: “I hope to stay at the company and expect that in five years, I’ll make a significant advance in the organization.”
OR: “I would like to become the very best ______________ your company has.”
Have you ever had a conflict with a boss or professor?
Employer may want to see whether you will trash a professor or former employer.
Don’t fall into the trap.
And if you truly have NOT had a conflict, tell how you would handle it if you did.
Why should we hire you?
The unspoken part of the question is: . . . above all other candidates?
Tell what sets you apart — your unique selling proposition, among other things. Be specific about how your qualities match the employer’s needs.
There’s an advertising term that you should think about when you are composing the body of your cover letter: the Unique Selling Proposition, or USP. When companies are trying to determine how to market a product, they focus on the Unique Selling Proposition, the one thing that makes that product different than any other. It’s the one reason they think consumers will buy the product even though it may seem no different from many others just like it. It may be that the product has a lower price or more convenient packaging, or it may taste or smell better, or last longer.
When preparing to write a cover letter, you may find it helpful to think about your Unique Selling Proposition. What is the one thing that makes you unique? What makes you better than other candidates applying for a similar position with this company? What can you offer that no other applicant can? What is the one reason the employer should want to hire you above all other candidates? If you can determine your Unique Selling Proposition and build it into a dynamic paragraph, you will have a real advantage in creating a dynamic cover letter.
How would you describe your ideal job?
Your description of your ideal job should sound like the job you’re interviewing for.
Would your rather work with information or with people?
Ideally, both, but tailor response to job and describe strengths in each area.
Don’t make yourself sound weak in either area.
What qualities do you feel a successful manager should have?
The question has a two-fold purpose:
- How you will get along with management.
- How you see yourself as a manager.
How has your education prepared you for your career?
Describe your educational preparation as very specific to the job. Provide concrete examples, when possible.
How much training do you think you’ll need to become a productive employee?
Key word is productive.
You can be productive immediately. Make sure you express confidence in your ability to make an impact immediately.
Why is your GPA not higher?
Don’t whine or make excuses. Response should enhance your value as employee.
- You were very involved with sports, extracurriculars that may have hurt your grades, but made you more well-rounded.
- You held a job while in school, which hurt your grades but gave you great experience.
- You made some mistakes early on, but you’ve worked hard to improve and have learned from the experience.
YES or NO Questions:
- Are you a team player?
- Are you a goal-oriented person?
- Do you handle conflict well?
- Do you handle pressure well?
Never respond with just “yes” or “no.”
- Always elaborate and be prepared to give specific examples.
- Use fairly current examples. Examples from high school and before are probably too old.
- Use a variety of examples. Not all from sports, or being an RA, or fraternity/sorority.
Questions that require knowledge of the company:
- What do you think it takes to be successful in this career?
- Do you enjoy doing independent research?
- Do you have any plans for further education?
- Why do you want to work in the _____________ industry?
- What do you know about our company?
- Why are you interested in our company?
If you’ve researched the company… you’ll have no trouble with this kind of question.
“Thought” questions:
- What goals do you have in your career?
- What motivates you?
- What changes would you make at your college?
- What were your favorite classes? Why?
- Who were your favorite professors? Why?
These questions require:
- Thoughtful responses
- Responses that are not self-serving
- Responses that are specific to the job, if possible
Money questions:
- Is money important to you?
- How much money do you need to make to be happy?
- What kind of salary are you looking for?
Answering money questions:
- Strike a balance. Money’s important, but so are other things, such as job satisfaction and the total compensation package.
- Don’t talk about needs such as student loans. They are not the employer’s problem, and you should be paid based on what you’re worth, not what you need.
- Delay salary talk as long as possible and try not to give specifics until after an offer is made.
- If you do talk specifics, be sure you know what you’re talking about. Know your competitive market value.
Questions that target your decision-making skills:
- Why did you choose this career?
- How do you plan to achieve your goals?
Be sure your responses demonstrate sound decision-making processes.
Answering “off-the-wall” questions:
Example: If you had to live your life over again, what would you change?
Example: If you were a color, what color would you be — and why?
Example: If they were making a movie of your life, who should be hired to play you in it?
“Off-the-wall” questions — also referred to as Wild Card questions — are asked by interviewers to see how well you think on your feet, whether you will get flustered.
The trick is to keep your cool and your sense of humor.
Generally speaking, there are no wrong answers.
An important question that most college students answer inadequately:
Why did you choose to attend this college?
- Tell what makes your college experience worthwhile from the employer’s point of view? How will the employer benefit from your specific education at your college?
- Show thoughtful decision-making skills.
Do you have any actual work experience — in this field?
Discuss the key skills you have gained from your work experiences — and how these skills will help the employer.
This question also gives a good opportunity to talk about your transferable skills if you have minimal experience. What are transferable skills? Simply put, they are skills you have acquired during any activity in your life —- jobs, classes, projects, parenting, hobbies, sports, virtually anything -— that are transferable and applicable to what you want to do in your next job.
In resumes, cover letters, and during interviews, you should always portray your skills as applicable to the job you seek. If you have good experience and you’re seeking in a job in the same field you’ve pursued in the past, portraying your skills as transferable is relatively easy. But if you are changing careers and seeking to do something entirely different from what you’ve done in the past, or you are a college student or other entry-level jobseeker without much experience, you have a much more difficult task ahead of you.
How should you respond if you are asked about technical expertise that you lack?
“With my experience and background, I feel certain I’ll have no problems getting up to speed.”
We hope you found this article helpful. When you are ready to take the next step in your career, start a new career, or are simply looking to supplement your income, we can help. Take the first step and register with us today.Â