Top 50 Job Interview Questions Best Answers for the Top 50 Job Interview Questions 1. Are you the best person for this job? Why? When an employer asks you, “Why should we hire you?” she is really asking, “What makes you the best fit for this position?” Your answer to this question should be a concise “sales pitch” that explains what you have to offer the employer. The best way to respond is to give concrete examples of why your skills and accomplishments make you the best candidate for the job. Take a few moments to compare the job description with your abilities, as well as mentioning what you have accomplished in your other positions. Be positive and reiterate your interest in the company and the position. Heres how to prepare your response. Think of the Job Listing To prepare an answer to this question, look at the job listing. Make a list of the requirements for the position, including personality traits, skills, and qualifications. Then, make a list of the qualities you have that fit these requirements. For each quality, think of a specific time that you used that trait to achieve something at work. For example, if you list that you are a “team player,” think of a time in which your ability to work well on a team resulted in a successfully completed project. Keep it Concise You want your answer to be brief – no more than a minute or two long. Therefore, select one or two specific qualities from the list you created to emphasize in your “sales pitch.” Begin by explaining what you believe the employer is looking for, and how you fulfill that need. Focus on your Uniqueness The interviewer wants to know how you stand out amongst the other applicants. Therefore, focus on one or two qualities you possess that might be unique, or more difficult to find, in other interviewees. For example, if you are very experienced with a certain skill that the job requires, say so. This is your chance to tell the interviewer why you would be an invaluable employee. Examples of Answers You have explained that you are looking for a sales executive who is able to effectively manage over a dozen employees. In my fifteen years of experience as a sales manager, I have developed strong motivational and team-building skills. I was twice awarded manager-of-the-year for my innovative strategies for motivating employees to meet and surpass quarterly deadlines. If hired, I will bring my leadership abilities and strategies for achieving profit gains to this position. You describe in the job listing that you are looking for a special education assistant teacher with an abundance of patience and compassion. Having served as a tutor at a summer school for dyslexic children for the past two years, I have developed my ability to be extremely patient while still achieving academic gains with my students. My experience teaching phonics to children ages 6 to 18 has taught me strategies for working with children of all ages and abilities, always with a smile. My previous employer often placed me with the students with the most severe learning disabilities because of my history of success. I will bring not only experience, but patience and creative problem-solving, to this position. Why Are You the Best Candidate? A related question is Why should we hire you instead of the other applicants? Here are tips on how to show the interviewer why youre the candidate who should get the job. Employers often ask a question like Why should we hire you instead of the other candidates for this position? as a way to discover the strengths of an interviewee. Since you will rarely know the strengths and weaknesses of the other candidates, this question is really just an opportunity for you to convey what qualifies you most for the job. Compare Your Resume to the Job Requirements The first step in preparing an effective response to this type of question is to carefully analyze the qualifications for your target job. Review the job advertisement and also check the job section of the employer website where there might be a longer job description. It’s actually a good idea to do this before you apply for a job. That way you can tailor your resume and cover letter so they are as close a match as possible to the job. Here’s how to match your resume to the job requirements. List the Employer’s Job Requirements If the employer has provided a detailed list of their requirements and preferences in the job description, then you are ready to proceed to the next step. If not, then search Indeed or SimplyHired by similar titles and look for ads which clearly delineate what employers are looking for in candidates for those kinds of jobs. Another way to gain a clear sense of employer preferences is to conduct informational interviews with professionals in the field to get their view of what it takes to be successful in that type of role. Also check the skills required for the job. Here’s a list of skills that employers seek for a variety of types of jobs. List Your Qualifications for the Job Make a list of the key qualifications for the job which you have uncovered through your research. For each item on your list, review your own work, volunteer and academic history to determine how you can show evidence of that qualification. Write down an example which shows how you have employed that strength to your advantage. Why You Should Get the Job Be prepared to describe the situation, project or challenge, actions you took which showcase the asset and any positive results. Your assets can be skills, areas of knowledge or expertise, personal qualities or relevant areas of experience. Select 5 - 7 of your strengths that correspond most closely to the job requirements, and use these as the core for your answer regarding what distinguishes you as a candidate. You can add a couple of your other special qualities which have generally helped you to be successful in productive endeavors and you will be ready to impress your interviewer. 2. Are you overqualified for this job? Are you overqualified for this job? Are you prepared to respond when an interviewer asks if youre overqualified? Career expert and author, Joyce Lain Kennedy, shares her best job interview answers to the question Are you overqualified for this job? Keep in mind that you can customize these answers to fit your particular circumstances and the job you are applying for. Joyce Lain Kennedys sample answers to the interview question Are you overqualified for this job? Overqualified? Some would say that Im not overqualified but fully qualified. With due respect, could you explain the problem with someone doing the job better than expected? Fortunately, Ive lived enough years to have developed the judgment that allows me to focus on the future. Before we speak of past years, past titles and past salaries, can we look at my strengths and abilities and how Ive stayed on the cutting edge of my career field, including its technology? I hope youre not concerned that hiring someone with my solid experience and competencies would look like age bias if once on the job you decided youd made a mistake and I had to go. Can I present a creative idea? Why dont I work on a trial basis for a month -- no strings -- which would give you a chance to view me up close? This immediately solves your staffing problem at no risk to you. I can hit the floor running and require less supervision than a less experienced worker. When can I start? I was proud to be a charge nurse but I really like getting back to working with patients. Im flattered that you think Im headhunter bait and will leap to another job when an offer appears. Not really. This job is so attractive to me that Im willing to sign a contract committing to stay for a minimum of 12 months. Theres no obligation on your part. How else can I convince you that Im the best person for this position? Im here because this is a company on the move and I want to move up with you. With more than the minimal experience to just skim by, I offer immediate returns on your investment. Dont you want a winner with the skill sets and attitudes to do just that? My familys grown. And I am no longer concerned with title and salary -- I like to keep busy. A reference check will show I do my work on time, and do it well as a team member. Im sure we can agree on a salary that fits your budget. When can we make my time your time? Downsizings have left generational memory gaps in the workforce and knowledge doesnt always get passed on to the people coming up. I could be an anchor or mentor -- calm, stable, reliable and providing day-to-day continuity to the younger team. For my last employer, I provided the history of a failed product launch to a new marketing manager, who then avoided making the same mistakes. As you note, Ive worked at a higher level but this position is exactly what Im looking for. You offer opportunity to achieve the magic word: balance. Im scouting for something challenging but a little less intense so I can spend more time with my family. Salary is not my top priority. Not that I have a trust fund but I will work for less money, will take direction from managers of any age, will continue to stay current on technology and will not leave you in the lurch if Hollywood calls to make me a star. And I dont insist that its my way or the highway. 3. Describe a difficult experience at work and how you handled it. There is no right or wrong answer to questions like What are the most difficult decisions to make? or Describe a difficult work situation / project and how you overcame it. These are behavioral interview questions designed to discover how you handled certain situations. The logic behind these types of questions is that how you behaved in the past is a predictor of what you will do in the future. Give concrete examples of difficult situations that actually happened at work. Then discuss what you did to solve the problem. Keep your answers positive (Even though it was difficult when Jane Doe quit without notice, we were able to rearrange the department workload to cover the position until a replacement was hired.) and be specific. Itemize what you did and how you did it. The best way to prepare for questions where you will need to recall events and actions is to refresh your memory and consider some special situations you have dealt with or projects you have worked on. You can use them to help frame responses. Prepare stories that illustrate times when you have successfully solved a difficult situation. 4. Describe yourself. You walk into the interview room, shake hands with your interviewer and sit down with your best interviewing smile on. Guess what their first question is? Tell me about yourself. Do you wing it and actually tell all manner of things about yourself? Will you spend the next 5 minutes rambling on about what an easy-going, loyal, dedicated, hard working employee youve been? If this is the case, you stand a good chance of having bored your interviewer to death thus creating a negative first impression. Tell Me About Yourself - Best Answers Because its such a common interview question, its strange that more candidates dont spend the time to prepare for exactly how to answer it. Perhaps because the question seems so disarming and informal, we drop our guard and shift into ramble mode. Resist all temptation to do so. Your interviewer is not looking for a 10-minute dissertation here. Instead, offer a razor sharp sentence or two that sets the stage for further discussion and sets you apart from your competitors. Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Give them your synopsis about you answer, specifically your Unique Selling Proposition. Known as a personal branding or a value-added statement, the USP is a succinct, one-sentence description of who you are, your biggest strength and the major benefit that a company will derive from this strength. Here is an example of a Unique Selling Proposition: Im a seasoned Retail Manager strong in developing training programs and loss prevention techniques that have resulted in revenue savings of over $2.3Million for (employers name) during the past 11 years. What a difference youve made with this statement. Your interviewer is now sitting forward in her chair giving you her full attention. At this point, you might add the following sentence: Id like to discuss how I might be able to do something like that for you. The ball is now back in her court and you have the beginnings of a real discussion and not an interrogation process. Be Specific The key is that you must lead with your strongest benefit to the employer. Be specific and dont wander about with some laundry list of skills or talents. Be sure to put a monetary value on your work if at all possible and be ready with details when youre called upon. Give an estimated value to the $$ youve either helped to make or save for your employer. Be Prepared When you walk into an interview, remember to always expect the tell me about yourself question. Prepare ahead of time by developing your own personal branding statement that clearly tells who you are, your major strength and the clear benefit that your employer received. The advantages of this approach are that youll quickly gain their attention and interest them in knowing more. Youll separate yourself from your competitors. Youll also have a higher chance of being positively remembered and hired. 5. Describe your best boss and your worst boss. With the question Who was your best boss and who was the worst? the interviewer is trying to discover if you assess blame or carry a grudge. The interviewer also wants to determine if you are match for the leadership style of the company. Best Answers Ive learned from each boss Ive had. From the good ones, what to do, from the challenging ones - what not to do. Early in my career, I had a mentor who helped me a great deal, we still stay in touch. Ive honestly learned something from each boss Ive had. 6. Describe your career goals. Job Interview Questions About Your Career Goals and Sample Answers The overall theme for each of the answers below is: have you thought about the impact of your decisions at the time you made them - or do you have a reactive response to most situations. Far too often, a persons career appears to have happened by chance. In todays fast-paced, ever changing world of work, employers want to know if they can count on you to make good decisions, not knee-jerk reactions. Start with your graduation from college and explain the rationale behind each of your career moves. When I graduated from college, I was immediately recruited by the ABC Company. As my resume reflects, I received two promotions and then a recruiter contacted for the position at the XYZ Company. Ive been there for the past 4 years and have learned a great deal, while making significant contributions to my department. Also, explain the thinking process that went into make each of those decisions. For my first job, I was happy to know I would be working in a job that utilized my education. It was exciting to know that within just a few weeks of graduation, I had my first paycheck. My thinking behind the XYZ position centered on the fact that they have a global presence, it was a definite promotion and positioned me to be a viable candidate for the marketing position with your company. How many hours a day/week do you need to work to get the job done? I use my time efficiently at work and, for the most part, its not the number of hours I work; but how effective my time has been to accomplish the job. Im sure my references will tell you I was more than willing to put in the time to be sure the job was completed as quickly and as professionally as possible. If you stayed with your current company, what would be your next move? The upward mobility at my current company would most likely be in the global marketing department. How do you measure success? I measure professional success by the standards of the company for which I work, the feedback I receive from my peers, supervisors and subordinates. Personally, it is to know Im regarded as a good husband, father and member of society. Describe your dream job. As a child, I dreamed of being the starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. When I realized I did not have a fast ball, or a change -up; I concentrated on my skills in marketing because I realized it is an area where I not only can make significant contributions, but I enjoy using my talent in a corporate environment. 7. Describe your work style. When you are asked about how you work during an interview, its important to impress the interviewer with your comptentency and accuracy, rather than just your speed. Here are sample answers to the interview question How would you describe your work style? I am very focused on my work, and consequently, am able to work quickly. I keep a steady pace, and check my work as I go along, to prevent mistakes from snowballing. Because I am very organized, I am able to accomplish a lot in a limited amount of time. Im organized and efficient and Im able to multi-task very well. Im always on top of my projects, but I do welcome input and will consult with team members to ensure were all on the same track. 8. Do you prefer to work alone or on a team? When the interviewer asks Do you prefer to work independently or on a team? he or she wants to know if youre a team player or would rather work on your own. Best Answers I am equally comfortable working as a member of a team and independently. In researching the LMN company, your mission statement and the job description, I could see similarities to my previous position where there were some assignments that required a great deal of independent work and research and others where the team effort was most effective. As I said, Im comfortable with both. In high school, I enjoyed playing soccer and performing with the marching band. Each required a different kind of team play, but the overall goal of learning to be a member of a group was invaluable. I continued to grow as team member while on my sororitys debate team and through my advanced marketing class where we had numerous team assignments. Im very comfortably working on a team, but I can also work independently, as well. 9. Do you take work home with you? Do you take work home with you is a tricky question, be ready. The longer the answer, the bigger the hole youve dug. Dont waffle and dont give an overly detailed answer with lots of ifs, ands, or buts. Best Answer When I need to, no problem. I realize the importance of meeting deadlines and getting work done on time. 10. Give some examples of teamwork. A typical interview question to discover how well you would work with other people is Give some examples of teamwork. Employers want to hire people who are team players, so respond in a way that will show the hiring manager that youre able to work well with others. Sample Answers In my last postion, I was part of a software implementation team. We all worked together to plan and manage the implementation schedule, to provide customer training, and ensure a smooth transition for our customers. Our team always completed our projects ahead of schedule with very positive reviews from our clients. I was part of team responsible for evaluating and selecting a new vendor for our office equipment and supplies. The inter-departmental team reviewed options, compared pricing and service, chose a vendor, and implemented the transition to the new vendor. In high school, I enjoyed playing soccer and performing with the marching band. Each required a different kind of team play, but the overall goal of learning to be a member of a group was invaluable. I continued to grow as team member while on my sororitys debate team and through my advanced marketing class where we had numerous team assignments.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 11:41:48 +0000
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