Job interviews represent great challenges for us. The interest in making a good impression and adequately telling our trajectory in a short period of time, can generate stress. Knowing what they ask in a job interview and thinking about possible answers are two important keys to avoid nervousness and to be confident and calm.
There are some questions that are basic when planning job interviews. First, it is key to know if it is an interview in English or in another language. Also, it will be helpful to make a list of key ideas and impressions that you would like to leave with the recruiter.
Also, don’t lose sight of the fact that there are several types of job interviews. If it is a technical interview, you should know that your knowledge will be evaluated. Therefore, it would be good for you to study or review the potential concepts that you may be required to replace.
HOW TO PREPARE FOR A JOB INTERVIEW
Preparation and research make a difference in job interviews. Knowing your potential employer, their mission and vision, as well as their history, will be one of the issues that determines your chances of reaching the next stage.
In addition, it will be very useful if you can anticipate the questions and answers of the interview that you will have. One of the best ways to get ready for a job interview is to practice answering all questions, even those that seem strange.
WHAT DO THEY ASK IN A JOB INTERVIEW
To help you get started, we’ve selected the 50 most common questions from thousands of job interviews. So if you have a job interview on the way, practice in front of a mirror or ask a friend or family member to listen to your answers to the following questions.
- Which are your strenghts?
- What are your weaknesses?
- Why are you interested in working for this company?
- Where do you see yourself in 5 years? and 10 years?
- Why do you want to quit your current job?
- Why was there a gap in your job between [date] and [date]?
- What can you offer that someone else can’t?
- Can you name three things your former manager would like to improve about you?
- Are you willing to relocate?
- Are you willing to travel?
- Tell me about the achievement of which you are most proud.
- Tell me about a time when you made a mistake and how you fixed it / how you got ahead.
- What is your ideal job?
- How did you find out about this position?
- What are you looking to achieve in the first 30 days / 60 days / 90 days at work?
- Tell me about your resume.
- Tell me about your academic training.
- Describe yourself.
- Tell me how you handle a difficult situation.
- Why should we hire you?
- Why are you looking for a new job?
- Would you work holidays / weekends?
- How would you deal with an angry or irate customer?
- What are your salary requirements? (Hint: If you are unsure of the salary and / or benefits range, try to find out before going to the interview.)
- Tell me about a time when you’ve been beyond the requirements of a project.
- Who are our competitors?
- What was your biggest failure?
- What motivates you?
- What is your availability?
- Who is your mentor?
- Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss.
- How do you handle the pressure?
- What is the name of our CEO?
- What are your career goals?
- What gets you up in the morning?
- What could your direct reports say about you?
- What were the strengths / weaknesses of your bosses?
- If I called your boss right now and asked him what area you could improve in, what would he say?
- Are you a leader or a follower?
- What was the last book you read for fun?
- What are your coworkers’ hobbies that irritate you?
- What are your hobbies or hobbies?
- What is your favorite website?
- What bothers you?
- What are some of your experiences with leadership?
- How would you fire someone?
- What do you like best and what do you like least about working for this company?
- Would you work more than 40 hours per week?
- What questions haven’t I asked you?
- Do you have any questions for me?
In addition to the commonly asked questions there will also be unexpected and frankly strange questions that can also come up, as there are many types of job interviews.
Here is a list of some strange questions that were asked in job interviews of well-known multinational companies.
- What would you do if you were the only survivor of a plane crash? Airbnb
- What is your favorite song from the 90’s? Squarespace
- If you wake up to find 2,000 unread emails, and you can only reply to 300, how do you choose which ones to reply to? Dropbox
- Who would win in a fight between Spiderman and Batman? Stanford University
- If there was a machine that produced $ 100 bills for life, how much would you pay for it today? Aksia
- What did you have for breakfast today? Banana Republic
- Describe the color yellow to someone who is blind. Spirit Airlines
- If you were asked to unload a Jumbo 747 full of goodies, what would you do? Bose
- How many people flew in from Chicago last year? Redbox
- What is your favorite Disney princess? Cold Stone Creamery
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
The questions we list above are extremely personal. There are no right and wrong answers, but candidates who prepared their presentation better than others.
However, since many job interview questions are quite predictable, take this opportunity to think about possible answers. In particular, there are two questions that come up most of the time. It will be very useful if you take time to think about their possible answers
“Why do you want to work with us?” The idea is that you can give account of a motivation that goes beyond the salary. Think about your trajectory, about the coincidence between your values and those of the company, and put forward different types of arguments to give a solid answer.
If you want to know what to answer to the question why you are interested in this job, you can read more information about how to answer on our blog.
“Why should we hire you?”. Think about your qualities and the work and personal experiences that you have had that make you a good candidate for the position. The professional fit (focused on your CV), the cultural fit (focused on your values) and the personal fit (focused on your qualities) stand out.
