Top 10 Interview Questions
This article provides you with the top 10 interview questions and the best ways to answer them. We have all been there, in an interview, confident and ready to go. Then the interviewer asks you a question and your mind goes blank. You just can’t find a good answer. The best way to stop this from happening is to be prepared for anything. By having a list of common questions and answers that you have learnt, you eliminate them interview nerves and come across well prepared and professional.
So here is a look at the most common interview questions:
Tell Me About Yourself
You need to be work-specific, quick to the point and try to use a brief success story from a past experience. Make sure that you highlight your strengths, preferably strengths that will help you in the job you are going for.
Remember, your potential employer doesn’t want to hear about your last holiday, your friends from school or how you love your nephew. They are here to judge you on how well you can perform at the job in hand.
Why Should We Hire You?
This is a great opportunity for you to sell yourself! You need to highlight your skills, experience and anything else positive you have to give them. They are looking for reasons to say YES, so give them those reasons.
This question is perfect for you to praise yourself and make it clear that they not only want you, they NEED you!
What is Your Greatest Strength?
It’s important you pick a strength that will lend well to the job you want. If you have amazing coffee making skills, that is not going to help you as a sales manager. So make sure before the interview you have your greatest strength planned. Explain the strength in terms of how it benefits you for the role you are going for.
It’s great to give an example of how you have used this strength in a past situation that can be related to this new job. Don’t be shy to sell yourself as that is what they are looking for.
What is Your Greatest Weakness?
This clearly sounds like a trick question, and in a way it is. No decent candidate is going to really give their greatest weakness. You certainly shouldn’t give answers like “I find it hard to get up in the morning and am often late” or “I don’t really like people very much at all” – This question is all about seeing how creative you can be with your answer, how you can turn a supposed weakness in to a positive, For example “My biggest weakness is that I can be a perfectionist at times, and find it hard to submit work until it is perfect”! You have given them a weakness that has a slight positive slant to it. You can make it even better but explaining “However, I know I have this weakness and set myself deadlines. If a piece of work isn’t perfect by that deadline but is acceptable I will hand it in unless I have time to improve it.”
So a weakness isn’t really a weakness at all if you are aware of it, can control and have processes in place to work around your weakness. Spend some time looking at any weaknesses you have and how you control that weakness or make it a positive.
Interview Question Advice
Why Do You Want To Work Here?
This is your moment to show off how much you know about the company. This is why we do our research beforehand. You need to be specific and try not to be too vague about why you want to work there. You need to mention aspects of the organisation that interest you. Perhaps mention the company’s mission statement and how you feel about it.
Try to mention how your skills and ambitions fit with the structure of the company, how the company has impacted you personally or in your career.
You want them to believe you are there for career reasons, not financial. Never answer with “the money is good” or “I just saw it advertised and thought I would give it a go”.
Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?
This can sometimes be a tricky question. The last thing you want to do is to insult or put down your last employer. The interviewer knows that at some point if they hire you, you will be asked the same question about this job! Remain professional and be honest.
If you left, then give your reasons for leaving, or mention the reasons you are attracted to this job and what it has to offer that your old job didn’t. You can simply say that you are looking to progress in your chosen career and the company you are or was with didn’t offer a career path you were interested in.
If you have been let go from your old job then be truthful about that as it will be mentioned in your references. You can turn this into a positive, but explain what you have learnt from the experience and what you might have done different with hindsight.
What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment?
However proud you are of kicking some disgusting habit, or how much time and love you have put into your stamp collection, this is not to the time to start gushing about it. Your interviewer wants to hear how you have succeeded at a work task, what you learnt while doing it and what skills you displayed.
Make sure before your interview you have something in mind you can talk about. It could be a new process you implemented in a past job that improved efficiency or drove down costs. Show how this kind of skill will benefit them if they hire you.
Do not be scared to boast! Mention any recognition you got for it also.
Describe a Difficult Work Situation and What You Did To Overcome It
It is always good to have this worked out before you enter your interview. It is likely to be asked too so be prepared. The interviewer wants to hear about a work situation that you used your own initiative to overcome. Be it something you struggled to learn, so you did research in your own time. Or maybe it was a task given to you that you had no experience of and so you sort advice. This shows you are resourceful and can overcome difficult situations.
Remember to keep this professional and don’t use examples that may make you look like a problem employee. If you have experienced a difficult situation of bullying or office politics, this is not the time to share. Keep it strictly job related.
Job Interview Tips
Where Do You See Yourself In 5 Years?
This question is used to see what goals and direction you have. They want to hear what it is you want and expect from them. It’s a great time for you to show how you see yourself advancing at the company you are interviewing with.
It is important that you don’t overdo it here, if you are going for an entry-level position, then looking to be CEO in 5 years is very unrealistic and it will put you in a bad light.
Do You Have Any Questions For Me?
This is usually the end of the interview, but it is not time for you to relax just yet. You can make an impression here by showing your knowledge and passion for the company. You can ask about recent events such as a company restructure or the appointment of a new CEO. By asking questions that show off you know about the company, will help you stand out from the rest.
Make sure you have your questions ready before you go in and stick to just one or two questions.
By doing your homework before the interview allows you to go in fully prepared and you will stand out from the rest. Give yourself time to prepare your answers and you will shine and impress.
Recruitment Avenue have years of interviewing experience and have come across every trick in the book. We are here to help and before you go for any interviews we are happy to do some prep with you and point you in the right direction. Often we are familiar with who will be interviewing you and we can give you tips on what they are like and what they are looking for.
It is up to you to do your homework but we can certainly help you along the away. Take a look at why you should use us.
Good luck in your interview.