Are you ready to ace your next job interview? It’s always important to prepare ahead of time so you can effectively respond to questions and impress a potential employer with your answers. While there’s no way of knowing exactly what questions your interviewer will ask, it’s a pretty sure bet that you will run across one or more of these interview questions. So be prepared. Practice these 10 common interview questions and land your dream job!
1. Tell me about yourself.
Some variation of this question often kicks off the interview and sets the groundwork for your discussion. Focus on work related topics, emphasizing who you are as an employee and what your accomplishments have been. Be sure to provide examples whenever possible. You can end you answer with an interesting personal fact or describe how your personal constitution has influenced you as a worker.
2. What are your strengths?
Take advantage of this question! Now it’s your time to shine and guide the interview in the direction you want it to go. Be sure to address strengths that are crucial to the position you are interviewing for and explain how they can make a positive impact for the company.
3. What are your weaknesses (or areas of opportunity)?
Ah, the dreaded question and one you absolutely need to practice and have a good answer for. Your goal is to show the interviewer that you are self-aware. No one is perfect. We all have things that we are trying to improve, so pick one that you have identified and are working on. Your response should describe a weakness that you feel is keeping you from being your best professionally and talk through the process of how you are addressing it.
4. What motivates you?
Whether you are working in the office or from a remote location, you need to prove to your interviewer that you are motivated and self-driven. Link your response to the ways the job and company will make you strive for success. Also explain your personal techniques for staying engaged and how you plan on meeting your goals and becoming a leading employee.
5. What has been your biggest accomplishment?
Talk about something you are genuinely proud of so that your passion shows through! Discuss an accomplishment that exhibits how you will be a perfect fit for the company and the position you’ve applied for.
6. Why did you leave/do you want to leave your job?
Be careful with this question, especially if you left you past organization on bad terms or are in a less than ideal situation at work. You should always be truthful when responding but be sure not to disparage or be too critical of your employer. If you were fired, own up to it and show what you have learned from the experience. If you are leaving voluntarily, be sure to explain why. Relate this to why you are applying for the job and explain a specific characteristic that the new company has that the old one may not have.
7. What did you like least about your last job?
Tact is required to answer this question. This is not an open invitation to criticize your old boss or rant about all the things that were wrong with the company. Instead you should focus on something about the new position that the last one did not offer you. Keep the conversation positive and talk about how excited about the new job you are.
8. What do you know about our company?
Just do your research! The interviewer is going to gauge your interest on the position based on how well you can answer this question. You’ll want to go further than just the company website. Review their social media accounts including Linkedin. See what others are saying about them on Yelp and LinkedIn. Do a Google search and see if anything pops up in recent news. Try to remember at least 5 key points that you can describe during the interview and link that to the reason you are applying with the company.
9. Why do you want this job?
The best way to answer this question is to be honest about what interests you most about the company and the work you will be doing. This is the perfect opportunity to come in with a strong close and show how serious you are about the role you have applied for. Bring up the work the company has done in the past and stress the ways you will make an impact.
10. Do you have questions for me?
You will be asked this question in 99.9% of your interviews and the answer is always YES! This is your opportunity to highlight your knowledge and enthusiasm for the company you are interviewing for. Bring in the research you’ve done about the company – perhaps ask about projects or exciting things they are working on at the moment. You could also ask about how the employer feels about being an employee of the company.
Practicing the answers to these 10 common interview questions is just the first step of many in preparing for an interview. When you work with Greysmith, your personal recruiter will help guide you through the entire interview process using our Ultimate Interview Guide and make sure you are ready to ace your next interview!