COMMON Interview Questions ::
1. Tell me about yourself.
Keep your answer short and focused on your professional life. This is not
the time to bring up relationships, childhood experiences, family etc. A brief
history of education, career and special interests is what is called for here.
End it with why you are interested in this particular job.
2. Why are you applying for this particular job?
Show interest and demonstrate that you have researched the job and know
what you are getting into. Bring up evidence from past work/ studies that
supports your interest in this role and any skills you have acquired in
preparation for the role. You can say something like 'I would like to work for
a leader in innovative network and telecommunications solutions and my college
degree in computational mathematics has given me a solid background for this
role. Mention the value-added you can bring to the job.
3. What do you know about our company?
Indicate what you have learnt from your research activities - from their
annual reports,
newspapers, word of mouth, other employees etc. Use this to flatter them
and show that you have done your homework.
4. What makes you qualified for this particular job?
Again, explain that you are very interested in the job and demonstrate what
it is about your past experiences, education and qualifications that makes you
ideal for the job. Show enthusiasm and support your answers with evidence
wherever you can (e.g. my summer internship at Citibank gave me broad exposure
to the area of equity analysis and I think I can apply many of the tools I learnt
there in this job). Elaborate on all the past experiences and skill sets that
make you suitable for the job. In cases where your past experience is not
directly relevant, you can still find elements of it that can be useful. Play
up team skills, computer skills, leadership roles, specific courses and
independent research activities that can be useful to the job at hand to show
your initiative even where you don't have directly relevant job experience.
5. What can you do for us that someone else can't?
Demonstrate key strengths, skills and personal characteristics.
6. Why should we hire you?
See 3. Because you have all the experience/ traits/ credentials
demonstrated in 3 and in addition to being qualified, you are enthusiastic,
intelligent, hardworking, flexible and willing to learn. Also mention any key
relationships you may have that may assist you in the job.
7. What do you look for in a job?
Be honest. Also mention keywords such as challenging, steep learning curve,
good work culture, demanding, rewarding, opportunities for advancement and
growth, team environment, opportunity to build and maintain client
relationships etc.
8. Why are you looking to make a career change?
Mention your interests and make sure you bring up all skills/ experience
however insignificant that can support your move in this new direction. It is
quite common in this day and age to make a career switch. You need however to
show that you have very carefully thought about the change, have a strong
interest in the new career and can use some of your previous skills/ education/
relationships to make that move.
9. Why did you leave your last job?
Do NOT use this as an opportunity to badmouth past employers or peers or
talk about a failure of any sort. Any of these answers are acceptable: you were
looking for a new challenge, your learning curve had flattened out in the
previous job and you were looking for a new learning opportunity, the company
or department were restructuring, you were ready to start something new after
achieving your career goals at the previous company etc.
10. Why do you want to work for us (as opposed to the competitor
companies)?
Demonstrate that you know something about the company, that you believe
they are leaders/ innovators in what they do, or you think their work culture
is exactly what you are looking for, or you like their product(s) or you have
friends who work there and have always been attracted to the company etc.
Flatter the company and show you know something about it.
11. How long will it take you to start making a meaningful contribution?
Show that you are enthusiastic and willing to learn and will put in all the
hours and effort necessary to learn the ropes and start making an immediate
contribution. Indicate that your past experiences/ skills/ credentials will
enable you to make an immediate contribution at some level while you quickly
learn all new aspects of the job. An Interviewer wants someone who is willing
and able to learn and will make a return on his investment sooner rather than
later.
12. What are your strengths?
See 14 below. In addition, keywords such as good team player, work very well
under pressure, very creative, very strong quantitative or computer skills, and
very strong client relationship skills may be appropriate depending on your
chosen field.
13. What are your weaknesses?
Do NOT mention key weaknesses here. This is not the place to say you are
bad at meeting deadlines or you never mastered high school mathematics etc. Turn
this question around to your benefit. For example, you are 'overambitious' or
'extremely attentive to detail' or 'like to take on too many projects'. Make it
sound positive.
14. What are your career goals?
Show you have thought forward and are committed to your career.
15. How would you describe yourself?
Any of these are good examples of attributes employers are looking for:
intelligent, hardworking, quick to learn, enthusiastic, honest, efficient,
productive, ambitious, successful, compassionate (in the medical fields).
16. How would your colleagues describe you?
Do not bring up anything negative here.
17. How would your boss describe you?
They will check references anyways so bring up the most positive attribute
you can think of about yourself e.g. hardworking, honest etc. and leave it to
your Boss to say anything to the contrary.
18. What did you most like/ dislike about your past job?
Do not use this to badmouth past jobs/ employers. Keep it light and in your
favor eg I outgrew the job, there wasn't a clear career progression, I wasn't
learning anything new etc. Ideally, you will have loved your last job and would
like to achieve the same kind of success and job satisfaction in a more
challenging area as you have now 'outgrown' that job and are ready for 'new
challenges'.
19. Describe a situation in your past where you showed initiative?
You could describe any new methods you came up with to do your job or to
save money for the company or to turn around a bad situation. It can be
something as simple as changing a filing system, or establishing a relationship
with a vendor that saved your department a lot of money. If you are in sales,
you may want to talk about how you brought in that big account. Creatives may
talk about how they came up with that cutthroat image or design that brought in
the business.
20. What were your main responsibilities in your last job?
Have these ready and list them all. Dwell on the ones that are most
relevant to the new job. This answer should be smooth and practiced.
21. What do you consider your greatest accomplishments?
Many of us have one or two milestones in our career that we are very proud
of e.g. that early promotion, that 'huge' deal we brought in, the design we
came up with, the costs we saved, the revenues we increased, the people we
trained, a new invention or process we came up with etc.
Examples of accomplishments may be: 'Reduced costs by X%; or renamed and
repositioned a product at the end of its lifecycle, or organized and led a team
to do do XYZ, or achieved sales increase of
X% etc. If you are a fresh college graduate, talk about extracurricular
activities, leadership roles and grades.
22. Describe your management style (if relevant)
No answer
23. Do you work better in teams or independently?
Show that you are a proactive team player and like to bounce ideas off
others and get input; however you are very capable of working independently
(give examples).
24. How do you work under pressure?
Well. Give evidence.
25. What other jobs have you applied for?
Don't mention jobs in different career directions (e.g. advertising and
investment banking). Do however bring up any other offers or Interviews from
competing firms.
26. How did you do in college?
Keep it positive. It's okay to say you were very busy making the most of
college and were very involved in sports, activities, social life etc.
Employers want human beings not robots. Mention the areas you did very well in
even if it was just one or two courses you excelled in. They will check for
themselves.
27. What kind of hours would you like to work?
Employers want to see flexibility. Indicate you are willing to put in
whatever hours are necessary to finish the job. Do however mention any
constraints you have e.g. you would like to be home to pick your kids up from
school at 3:30. Most employers are willing to work around your constraints if
you show flexibility on your side as well.
28. Do you have any questions for me?
YES you do. Questions engage the Interviewer and show your interest. Ask
questions that show you know something about the company or the job, that you
are planning ahead, that you are anxious and willing to learn the ropes and
that you are committed to the position.
