So, you’ve submitted an application, maybe completed a skills test, and now you’ve secured an interview. Great start. The best thing you can do for an upcoming job interview is be fully prepared and ready to answer the questions to the best of your ability.
At Proactive, we understand that the interview can be a little daunting. That’s why, leveraging the collective experience of our 100+ expert recruiters, we’ve compiled the ultimate cheat sheet by determining the most common questions asked during a job interview.
While exact questions will depend entirely on the industry or job role, these questions are ones we’ve seen pop up the most. And knowing how to answer them will set you apart from the average interviewee.
Interview Question #1: Tell Us About Yourself
Arguably the most common interview question we see, “tell us about yourself”; it’s the opener in the interviewee getting to know you. It’s not an opportunity to discuss your life story, but rather, your professional one. When answering this question, you should focus on highlighting your wins across your career, and emphasise how your experience can aid you in the role you’re interviewing for.
If you’re struggling to think of something, we recommend going with the present-past-future structure, like so:
Present: Discuss who you are now, what your current role is, and some key skills you’ve developed to complete the job well.
Past: Talk about who you were that led you to your current role, the experience you’ve gained, and how you got to where you are right now.
Future: Explain what you want going forward and why you’re excited about the role you’re interviewing for.
Interview Question #2: Why Are You Leaving Your Current Role?
Employers are genuinely curious about this one, and are looking for honest, professional reasons for leaving. There are a few dos and don’ts when answering this question:
Do: frame your answer in terms of seeking a new challenge, career advancement, or wanting to work for a company that better aligns with your goals and aspirations. Something like, “While I’m grateful for the opportunity at my current place of work, I feel as though I’m ready to take the next professional step and bring my experience to a new role while learning new things along the way.”
Don’t: complain about your current job or use this as an opportunity to talk maliciously, this can actually hinder your chances if the interviewee doesn’t agree with your statements. So, it’s best to avoid any negative talk and, instead, focus on the professional positives.
Interview Question #3: What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?
If you’ve ever had a job interview, you’ve probably heard these questions before. And despite how common they are, many applicants still get it wrong. The interviewee isn’t looking for generic answers here, they want genuine strengths and weaknesses that are relevant to the role you’re applying for, with evidence if possible.
Strengths: When discussing your strengths, think back to positive feedback you’ve gotten in your current or historical roles. Project management, client-facing communication, and increased sales figures are all great mentions that go beyond the average ‘hardworking’ and ‘team player’ responses that they’re used to hearing.
Weaknesses: The average person would likely be able to list a few weaknesses about themselves, but the key is to demonstrate self awareness and improvement with your answer. The worst answer you can give is, “I don’t have any” as that suggests you’ve never felt the need to improve – which is a bad trait in any situation. Likewise, you should also avoid mentioning any weaknesses that directly relate to the job you’re applying for. For example, it would be inadvisable to admit to struggling with being a team player if you’re applying for a Team Leader role. The best way to answer this is to pick a genuine, non-self-jeopardising response and immediately discuss the steps you’re taking to improve or move past this.
A good response to being asked about your weaknesses is, “I sometimes struggle with task delegation because I like to ensure any project with my name attached is the best it can be. However, instead of micro-managing or taking on all the tasks myself, I now prioritise regular check-ins which increase trust and my delegation skills.”
Interview Question #4: Why Do You Want To Work For Us?
Our expert recruiters have seen this question pop up time and time again, and it’s essential you do your homework to ace it. Being underprepared for an interview is one of the worst things you can do.
To answer this question to the best of your ability, we advise researching the company you’re applying to and picking some qualities that resonate with your own beliefs and aspirations.
A vague answer will signal to the interviewer that you’re not that interested in the company or the job, so it’s good to mention a few things about the company, their products or services, and how it connects with your own values. A great place to start (if their website has one) is their case studies, followed by their about section, and then any positive news articles about the company.
For example, “I saw recently that your company donated a significant amount of profits towards local homelessness, and as someone who firmly believes in helping the less fortunate, your company stood out during my job search.”
By demonstrating your competence in researching the business, you show the interviewee your dedication and how your values also align with theirs – which is a recipe for a successful hire.
Interview Question #5: Describe a Time You Faced Conflict
A classic behavioural question, by asking you to describe a time you faced conflict, the interviewee is looking to see how you handled and dealt with a difficult situation.
The best way to ace this question is by using the STAR method to help you generate a structured response.
Situation: Set the scene and provide only important details about the event. For example, a disgruntled customer received the wrong size item of clothing for an event on the day, and the correct size was out of stock.
Task: Describe your role in the scenario and what your job was. For example, you were the team lead on shift that day and were responsible for positive customer interactions.
Action: Outline the steps you took to remedy the situation. For example, you apologised and found another similar dress the customer liked, and then offered a full refund for the incorrectly sized dress and delivery fee.
Result: Showcase what happened as a result of your intervention, what you learned, and how you learned from the experience. For example, the previously disgruntled customer left completely satisfied, with a positive impression of the business.
Recruiter Top Top: The ‘Action’ step of the STAR method is the most important, and this showcases how you dealt with the situation and how you’d likely deal with conflict or difficult situations in the future.
