job interview questions you will be asked

If you are reading this, you probably are preparing for an upcoming interview or you have been interviewed in the past and were asked one or more of these questions. We recommend you treat this list as something you would study rather than read. Have your answers written out and practiced before you go to your interview. You will feel more prepared and confident going into the interview and it will show.

The first question below is typically what you can expect as the opening question in most interviews. The remaining questions are examples of what you may be asked. As well, be prepared to be asked the same question twice, of course worded differently.

• So, tell me a little about yourself.

Questions about your background

• Why are you thinking about leaving your current job?
• Are you still employed at the last organization listed on your resume?
• After being with the same organization for so long, don’t you think you might have a difficult time getting accustomed to another?
• You’ve changed jobs frequently. How do we know you will stay if we hire you?
• You’ve been with your current employer only for a short amount of time. Is this an indication that you will be moving around a lot throughout your career?
• Have you managed people in any of the previous jobs you have held?
• Have you been in charge of budgeting, approving expenses and monitoring progress against financial goals? Are you qualified in this area?
• How long have you been looking for a job?
• Have you received any offers? Why haven’t you received offers so far? Why haven’t you accepted any?
• Who made you an offer? For what type of job?

Questions about you in the workplace

• What are your strengths as an employee?
• Why should I consider you a strong applicant for the position?
• What are you biggest weaknesses as an employee and what are you doing to correct them?
• What are you biggest failures you’ve had during your career? What are you doing to ensure they won’t occur again?
• What are the skills you need most to develop to advance your career?
• What do you supervisors tend to criticized most about your performance?
• How did you do on your last performance appraisal? What were the key strengths and weaknesses mentioned by your supervisor?
• Tell me about the best/worst boss you have ever had?
• Looking back on you experience now, do you think there was anything you could have done to improve your relationship with that one bad boss?
• Are you an organized person?
• Do you manage your time well?
• How do you handle change?
• How do you go about making important decisions?
• Do you work well under pressure?
• Do you anticipate problems well or merely react to them?
• Would you describe yourself as a risk-taker or someone who plays it safe?
• If you could start your career all over again, what would you do differently?
• What is the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in choosing a job? Why?
• Do you prefer to work with others, or by yourself?
• Do you get along with superiors?
• How do you get along with co-workers?
• How do you get along with people you’ve supervised?
• What is your management style? (this applies where you are or were a manager or not)

Where are you coming from?

• What were your most memorable accomplishments in your last job? Of your career?
• Was there anything your company (your team) could have done to be more successful?
• Did you inaugurate any new procedures (or systems) in any positions you’ve held?
• Describe the way your department/division is organized. Also, what is the title of the person you report to and what are their responsibilities?
• If you don’t leave your current job, what do you think will happen to you in your career? How far to you expect to advance with you current company?
• If you’re happy at your current job, why are you looking for another job? Will your current company be surprised that you’re leaving?
• If you have these complaints about your present company and they think highly of you, why haven’t you brought your concerns to their attention?

What are you looking for?

• What interests you most about this company and this job?
• What have you heard/read about our company that you don’t like?
• This is a much smaller/larger company than you’ve ever worked for. How do you feel about that?
• What are you looking for in your next job?
• What aspect of the job appeals to you least?
• Based on what you know about our industry, how does your ideal job compare to the job you are applying for?
• What do you feel an employer owes an employee?
• What types of people do you find it most difficult to get along with?
• Are there any people who have trouble getting along with you?
• Have you ever hired anyone? Why did you choose this person?
• Have you ever fired anyone? Why?
• What does the word “success” mean to you?
• What does the word “failure” mean to you?
• What do you want to be doing in five years? What ar you most important long-term goals?
• Have you recently established any new goals?
• How would you describe your management philosophy?

Your Personal Style:

• What do you do to keep healthy?
• Do you have any physical problems that may limit your ability to perform this job?
• What do you like to do outside of office hours?
• How do you co-workers describe you?
• How do you generally handle conflict?
• How do you behave when you’re having a problem with a co-worker?
• If you could change one thing about your personality with a snap of your fingers, what would it be? Why?
• Describe your best friend and what they do for a living? In what ways are you similar to and different from them?

Situational Questions:

• Say your supervisor left an assignment in your “in” box and then left town for a week. You can’t reach him and you don’t fully understand the assignment. What would you do?
• The successful candidate for this position will be working with some highly trained individuals who have been with the company for a long time. How will you fit in with them?
• Your supervisor tells you to do something in a way you know is dead wrong. What would you do?
• If you were unfairly criticized by your supervisor, what would you do?
• Would you like to have your boss’s job? Why or why not?
• How will you handle the least interesting or least pleasant tasks of this job?
• You’ve had little experience with budgeting / sales / marketing, etc. How do you intend to learn what you need to know to perform well on this job?

Your educational and training background:

• What extracurricular activities were you involved in? Why did you choose them?
• What led you to select your college/university? Your major? Your minor?
• Which courses did you like most? Least?
• How were your grades?
• If you were to start college over again, what courses would you take? Why?
• Do you have plans to go back to school? For what? Why?
• What did you learn from interships listed on your resume?
• In what courses did you get your worst grades? Why? How do you think that will affect your performance on the jobs?
• Why are you applying for a job in a field other than the one in which you have your diploma/degree in?

The innocent, yet not so innocent questions:

• How are you today?
• Did you have any trouble finding us?
• Do you know much about our company?
• What’s the last book you have read?
• What was the last movie you saw?

Coming to the end of the interview:

• Do you have any questions? (this question is an almost guarantee during an interview – have a list ready)
• Are you willing to travel?
• Are you willing to relocate?
• May I contact your current employer?
• May I contact your references?
• Is there anything else I should know about you?

Leaving the money until last:

• What salary are you looking for?
• The salary you are asking for is near the top of the range for the job. Why should we pay you so much?
• When can you start?

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