Reviewing and answering the following list of commonly asked interview questions is a great way to prepare for an interview. Typically, employers have a limited amount of time to gain an understanding of prospective employees. Your answers to these questions help employers make informed decisions and enable them to learn more about you as an individual. They are therefore an integral part of the hiring process.
GENERAL QUESTIONS
• What do you do for fun?
• What do you like to do when you are not at work?
• Why did you leave your last job?
ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE
• Describe the job you have held in the past that was most gratifying.
• How can you help our company be more profitable?
• Tell me how you would handle multiple projects in the job.
• What aspects of your job do you consider most crucial?
ABOUT YOUR SKILLS
• Describe a professional skill you have developed in your most recent job.
• Describe a situation in which you have applied your skills to solve a problem.
• Describe your ability to solve problems in the workplace.
• How well can you multi-task?
• How would you rate your communication skills?
• What new skills or ideas do you bring to the job that other candidates aren't likely to offer?
• What would your colleagues tell me about your attention to detail?
ABOUT YOUR WORK STYLE
• Are you able to meet aggressive deadlines? Do you have experience doing so in the past?
• Do you like working alone or in a team environment?
• Do you prefer continuity in structure or frequent change in your daily work?
• Do you work well under pressure?
• How do you go about making important decisions?
• How do you measure the success of your work?
• Tell me about the way you work.
ABOUT YOUR RESUME
• Are you involved with any professional affiliations?
• Tell me something about yourself that I didn't know from reading your resume.
• Why are you currently unemployed?
• Why have you held so many jobs in recent times?
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
• Have you taken any classes since college to bring your skills up to date?
• Is there anything you would change about your college education?
SOME ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Have you ever managed a project for your previous employer? What was the result?
• Tell me about a contribution you have made to a team.
• Tell me about a project you completed ahead of schedule.
• Tell me about any honors or awards that you have received in the past.
• Tell me about the most significant accomplishment in your career?
ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER
• How do you maintain your composure when you are in the hot seat?
• How do you usually handle criticism?
• Is there anything else about you that I should know?
• What are your top strengths? Weaknesses?
• What is your definition of success? How have you been successful in the past?
• What one word best describes you?
CAREER GOAL QUESTIONS
• Describe your ideal job.
• What are your work-related goals for the next few years?
• What motivated you to change careers at this time?
• What prompted you to choose your current career?
• Where do you see yourself in five years? In ten years?
MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS
• Describe a situation in which you demonstrated independent initiative.
• Describe a time when you had to alter your leadership style to be more effective.
• Describe the situation in which you are most comfortable as a leader.
• Describe your management style.
• Have you ever hired anyone? What qualities do you seek?
• Have you managed people in any of the positions you have held?
• How do you deal with difficult people?
• How would you define "leadership?" How would you rate yourself as a leader?
• How would you describe your philosophy about management?
• Tell me about a time that you made a critical decision without supervision?
• Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a challenging project in your job.
Commonly Asked Interview Questions
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Estella W •Having only interviewed twice in 25 yrs I am a bit rusty. Questions were very helpful and I think I will be better prepared when I finally do get a call for an interview. -
Rita T •Going through this practice interview gave me the chance to prepare for when I am actually in an interview. These questions caused me to think and to assess my past experiences in life, education, and work. I'm sure this will be extremely helpful.
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Varsha S •Excellent questions. Working for same company for 22 years no idea how much the world chage. Thans a lot. Sure very helpful.
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Marcia g •Good guidelines offered here in helping to land a position
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Renee W •Outstanding questions; really give you something to think about before an interview. Thanks this really does help.
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Donna N •Thanks. Knowing the questions to anticipate takes a good bit of the fear out of the interview.
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Mounir B •Many thanks again.Indeed this is definitely most common questions asked by interviewers and would be great to learn how to reply effeciently and shortly.
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The questions given on your survey were very useful in anticipating future job application situations. Most questions I would be able to answer at a job interview setting and are useful in anticipating what an employer might want to know about myself and my job skills. Thank you for providing areas to consider during my job search
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Rene W •This article is a great tool for effective interviewing preparation. How well you do in a job interview will depend on how well you can elaborate on your accomplishments and qualifications as they relate to what the employer wants and needs.
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Joseph K •These are great questions. Very real world.
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Katherine R •I find the questions most helpful but would like answers to them as well to make sure I'm within the guidelines. With being at a company for 25 years I find the questions to be quite challenging when not being prepared to be out looking to interview. Thanks
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sheela P •I appreciate your article on interview. I am looking for nursing job and I need some nursing tips for interview.
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Esther R •After having to look for full time employment since August 2012, I pretty much have been asked majority of these questions. Practice does make perfect but more importantly is asking questions on the first interview AND asking questions on the SECOND interview that you haven't already asked. I noticed in some case, on the second interview, the interviewer has a copy of the notes, responses that were asked and given from the first interview. so it's important that you don't ask the same questions from the first interview and if it's possible, give more in-depth responses to previously asked questions instead of reciting your answers. Hint: if you are stumped for an answer to a question, it's okay to take a minute to answer and to repeat the question to show that you understand the question. It's like when you are in a spelling bee and you ask to use the word in a sentence, sometimes, I find using technique allows the interviewer to ask the question in their own words instead of using a script that they are following. Also, remember, the interview is not only about you landing a job but also a chance for you to learn if the job is for you...you are also interviewing the organization and the people you may work with. Many interviews consist of your supervisor, their supervisor or your peers and you want to make sure that you can work well together. Good luck and be optimistic of finding the right job for you...it's a new year and the possibilities are endless!!
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Lissette D •Great questions and were very helpful. Thank you.
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Codjo V •i think those questions give the general idea of questions an recruiter may ask.But it will be also great to have some general answers guideline, I mean typical answers sheet
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Terri B •I found this list of questions a very helpful reminder as it has been quite a while since I have gone through the interview process. I found it very useful.
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Charlene H •I found the order and way in which you organized the questions into categories to be very helpful. I would have also liked to sample answers or a section of how not to respond to questions.
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Ludivino C •This is very helpful ,the questionnaire is very informative and useful for an interview
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Laila S •It will be more help if answer the interview questions with examples, because sometimes we don't know what we can say or what we cannot say. We can compare the answers with our experience and we can make a good impression with employers.
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Terry S •I found this refreshing as it brought back some interesting questions that if I was to be interviewed on without seeing them here I would have been slightly unprepared to answer. So it has made me think ahead of time to definately prepare myself for them just in case they are asked.
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Sam K •This is a very helpful article. I have always been in the practice of researching a company before I apply if a company is always interviewing that is not a good sign. I have interviewed with a company twice just for the experience and had numerous calls for more interviews. this has been going on for 3 years. What does that tell ya?
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This information is good building foundation for preparation for an interview. I need planning for job of substitute teacher interview right now and then for CNA job.Thanks.
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Nicholas M •It would be helpful to have answers to the question asked. over all this information will be helpfull
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Michael T •I would like to learn how to answer those. If you can please give me the answer. Thank you very much Mike
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Vernon O •Very imformative. Being employed for over 20 years in the same industry and not having looked for new work nor interviewing in the period, i never thought of the challenges of re-creating myself or interviewing against other qualified candidates. Thank You for the insight.
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