It is more common for people to have multiple jobs throughout their careers. Changing jobs, losing jobs, and entering and re-entering the workplace means all of us are experiencing more interviews than ever before.
The ability to succeed at interviews is a learned skill. I have never encountered a person yet who was really effective in an interview situation who hadn’t practiced and prepared. Practicing sample questions, roleplaying with a friend, or even rehearsing in front of a mirror can help.
I suggest that jobseekers do not memorize answers to interview questions, but instead become comfortable listening to the questions and crafting responses to match their skills, experiences, and perspectives to the question asked.
To help, I have included interview questions I have asked and have encountered, as well as other common questions to help guide you through the process of creating answers for you to use.
Before we begin, remember It is okay to “blow your horn” in an interview. Modesty and humility are important attributes, but in an interview, it is important to be a strong advocate for yourself. You have skills, experiences, and attitudes that are important to showcase for the interviewer.
Tell us* about yourself. – The ice-breaker question and how I start most of my interviews. This is your first chance to set the tone for the interview by talking about the person you know the most about. Keep your answer to between 2-4 minutes and try to speak briefly about how your skills, experiences, and attitudes match what the employer is seeking.
(*Paul’s note – Expect to be interviewed by more than one person. Try to keep good eye contact when you are answering questions and be sure to address all interviewers. If you feel uncomfortable with eye contact, imagine a point about 4 inches from their left ear and look there, from the interviewer’s perspective it will appear that you have great eye contact.)
What do you know about our company? – This question catches those applicants who did not do their homework. On average, many interviews are 20-30 minutes in length, do at least that much research before your interview. Look at websites, social media, and online news articles, and learn about the organization and what they do. You will be glad you did.
Why do you want to work for us? – I like this question and I am continually amazed at how few people can provide more than 1 or 2 reasons to answer this question. Good answers could include comments about their community reputation, the work they do, and/or the positive reviews of former employees.
How would you rate your skills as “blank” on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being very poor, and 10 being excellent, and why? – I use this question to gauge an interviewee’s skill in everything from using software (Excel, Word, SharePoint, PowerPoint) to driving abilities to how organized they are, to how well they handle changing work environments. As an interviewee, the key element to remember is to justify why you score yourself the way you do. I will also use the interviewee’s answers for their ratings to “dive deeper” into those skills that are of particular importance to the job or career being discussed.
These questions or questions very similar to them will be the primary focus of the interviewers for the interview.
Tell me about a challenge or conflict you overcame at work. – This is a great question because of the importance interaction plays in almost every workplace. Sometimes it might be asked “Describe your relationship with your current colleagues,” but what the interviewer is asking for is how well you handle conflict at work, it might be with a coworker, a client, or a supervisor; but your answer can tell the interviewer if you are a “good” fit. Workplace conflict and challenges are quite common and how you have handled situations in the past is a good indicator of how you will handle them in the future. For your answer choose a situation that you were able to resolve.
What is the most recent thing you’ve learned? (Or what have you done to upgrade your skills recently?) – In a world that is constantly changing, regardless of your age, experience, or education you owe it to yourself to be constantly learning and upgrading. Protect yourself and your family by always improving your skills.
What are your salary expectations? – Fortunately, this very difficult question has largely disappeared from interviews because many organizations post the salary range in the job advertisements. My advice is to research salary ranges online before the interview and calculate the least amount of money you need to survive and if asked, offer a range with the latter being your base amount. Know that everyone finds this question difficult to answer.
Describe a time you failed and had to alter course and adopt a new approach. How did you know change was necessary? What actions did you take? What was the result? – This is a good example of a multi-pronged question that is a great opportunity for you to shine. Dealing with failure is a common occurrence but not one that many people ever discuss openly. Understanding your willingness to discuss what you did, how you discovered the failure, and what you did about it is the kind of answer that helps an interviewer decide who will get the job.
Where do you see yourself in five years? – I don’t ask this question but many interviewers do. I think the best way to answer this question is to divide your goals into four segments. Short-term which is today and maybe this week; these goals are very well defined and should be achievable. Medium-term goals are for this month, maybe the next quarter; these goals are relatively well defined but less completely defined. Next are long-term goals which are for this year and maybe next and are within a 20–25-degree arc of your short and medium-term goals. Lastly are longer-range goals, these are only roughly defined although they are within the same arc as the other three segments.
What is your biggest weakness? Or tell me why I shouldn’t hire you? Interviewers may ask the first question but they really mean the second one. As an interviewer, people have told me the most horrible things about themselves when I have asked this question. The best answer is to consider a weakness you have overcome and explain how you overcame it. This is definitely a “trick” question.
What are your greatest strengths? Or What would your co-workers say is your greatest strength? – I like to phrase this question using the latter approach. My recommendation is to prepare by looking for the top 1 or 2 requirements in the job posting and match your skills to those points.
What do you enjoy doing when you are not working? – I like this question because I have always wanted to hire people who know how to achieve balance in their lives. We work so we can live not the other way around. Someone who appreciates this belief, I think brings a wider perspective to the workplace and can more readily empathize with their coworkers and clients. Good answers to this question include volunteering (community), family activities, and playing sports (teamwork).
What are you most proud of in your life so far? – I like this question and it is one I usually ask near the end of an interview. I believe the answer provides an insight into what kind of person the interviewee is and it is a nice way to see how they “fit” the culture of the organization.
If you could redo your career, what would you change? – We all have made decisions we wish we could change; this question is an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to apply the concept of “lessons learned” to the interviewer. Having the ability to objectively appreciate your mistakes and acknowledge better ways of doing things, makes this question another opportunity to stand out from the rest of the applicants.
What would be your strategy for surviving a zombie apocalypse? – I have never used this particular question; I have, however, asked similar seemingly weird questions to see how an applicant handles an unexpected situation. Before dismissing this question as something you might never encounter remember, if asked, your answer is less important than how you handle the question and how your thought process works. Sometimes an interviewer will ask, “If you were an animal what kind would you be?” It is your reaction and your reasoning that is important.
Do you have any questions for us? This question is another excellent opportunity for an interviewee to stand out from other applicants. Before the interview, prepare a list of 3-5 questions and bring them to the interview, if the interviewer discusses your questions as part of the interview, you could say, “I did have questions about “blank” but you already addressed them,” and you could also ask for clarification of points they discussed during the interview.
Why should we hire you? – A great question to summarize how your skills, experiences, and attitudes are what the employer is looking for. Usually, one of the last questions asked in an interview.
A final point for today, remember the purpose of the interview questions is to help interviewers narrow their choices and find the best person available for their opportunity. Help yourself excel by practicing these questions, role-playing, don’t memorize answers but learn to appreciate why interviewers ask the questions they do and answer the question accordingly. After each interview, take a moment to reflect on the questions you were asked, ask yourself: Which ones did I answer well, which didn’t I, and then think about what you would do differently next time.
Good luck,
Paul.
ps. In preparing this post, there were several questions that I did not include that might be helpful and I will do a “Part 2” in the next few weeks.