5 Commonly Asked Interview Questions
You’ve made it through the first hurdle, your CV grabbed the attention of the company or organisation that you are hoping to work for. You’ve been invited to attend an interview and you’ve done your background research on the company. So, now what?
Time to practice answering some of the most common questions that get asked at interview.
Although there is no guaranteed set formula that a job interview will follow, there are a number of questions that almost always crop up and being prepared for these questions will set you up to stand out from your competing interviewees.
Being prepared for these questions gives you a great head start.
Below is a list of 5 Job Interview Questions, commonly asked and ideas on how you should answer them.
- Tell Us About Yourself
This is usually one of the opening questions and so your answer will set up the interviewers first impressions of you. Your answer should be broad and under 3-4 minutes long. You could cover a little bit about your personal life; where you are from, the type of person you are, but the bulk of your answer should focus on your educational and job background. Give an overview of your highest qualification and then run through the jobs you’ve held in your career so far. Using the same structure as your CV is often helpful. Try to bring the best of your personality to these opening questions.
- What Would You Say Are Your Strong Points?
In answering this question, you should try to focus on 8-10 attributes that are very much “you” but that also align with the job you are going for. These might be tangible skills like a proficiency in a particular computer software or intangible skills like being a great ‘people person’! Have a good read through the job description before going for interview. You will usually see a section that highlights the required attributes or qualities of the ideal candidate. This will give you some ideas on how to approach this question. Once you have identified your key strengths, you should then try to have some simple but clear examples of where you have demonstrated these attributes or qualities.
- What Would You Say Are Your Weak Points?
This is always a difficult question to answer. Try to choose something that you have made positive steps to redress. For example – ‘My excel skills are probably not as strong as they could be, so I decided to take an online course in excel recently and I am hoping to improve them’. Try to demonstrate your willingness to address your weaknesses and spend time working to improve yourself.
- Why Do You Want This Job?
Think carefully about this one. Your answer is very important to the interviewer as you are an investment to them. Talk about the positive aspects of the job and how these line up with your strengths, passions, beliefs etc. Do not talk about the negative aspects of your current job or why you want to leave.
- Why Do You Want To Work For This Company?
With this question, the interviewer wants to see that you have given this answer some thought and that you have researched the company well. If you have prepared well, you should have a good idea of the company’s mission statement and values. Use this information to align with your own career ambitions and explain to the interviewer what you think you could bring to the company.
