TOP TEN INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND HOW TO ANSWER

1. "Tell me about yourself."

If you're the interviewer, there's a lot you should already know: The candidate's
resume and cover letter should tell you plenty, and LinkedIn and Twitter and
Facebook and Google can tell you more.

The goal of an interview is to determine whether the candidate will be outstanding in

the job, and that means evaluating the skills and attitude required for that job. Does
she need to be an empathetic leader? Ask about that. Does she need to take your
company public? Ask about that.

If you're the candidate, talk about why you took certain jobs. Explain why you left.
Explain why you chose a certain school. Share why you decided to go to grad school.

When you answer this question, connect the dots on your resume so the interviewer
understands not just what you've done, but also why.

2. How would you describe yourself?

To help you decide how to describe yourself in an interview, consider these examples:

I am passionate about my work.

Every employer seeks to hire people who enjoy their work, but the word “passion”
evokes feelings of dedication and loyalty. When someone is passionate about the
work they’re doing, they’re naturally committed to quality and positive outcomes.

Example: “I am passionate about my work. Because I love what I do, I have a steady
source of motivation that drives me to do my best. In my last job, this passion led me
to challenge myself daily and learn new skills that helped me to do better work. For
example, I taught myself how to use Photoshop to improve the quality of our photos
and graphics. I soon became the go-to person for any design needs.”

I am ambitious and driven.

Ambition and drive are two qualities that are essential to success and growth in many
jobs. When an employer hires an ambitious candidate, they can rest assured this new
hire will consistently seek ways to improve themselves and keep their eyes firmly set
on their next goal.

Example: “I am ambitious and driven. I thrive on challenge and constantly set goals
for myself, so I have something to strive toward. I’m not comfortable with settling,
and I’m always looking for an opportunity to do better and achieve greatness. In my
previous role, I was promoted three times in less than two years.”

I am highly organized.

An organized candidate is a detail-oriented candidate and someone an employer can

trust to meet deadlines. This quality is especially important in administrative
positions, project management and other roles that require adherence to process and
quality.

Example: “I am highly organized. I always take notes, and I use a series of tools to
help myself stay on top of deadlines. I like to keep a clean workspace and create a
logical filing method so I’m always able to find what I need. I find this increases
efficiency and helps the rest of the team stay on track, too. In my last role, I created a
new filing process that increased departmental efficiency 25%.”

I’m a people-person.

Some people are naturally outgoing, conversational and quickly find ways to feel at
home in groups of complete strangers. This attribute is especially helpful for
professionals in customer service and sales positions.

Example: “I’m a people-person. I love meeting new people and learning about their
lives and their backgrounds. I can almost always find common ground with strangers,
and I like making people feel comfortable in my presence. I find this skill is especially
helpful when kicking off projects with new clients. In my previous job, my clients’
customer satisfaction scores were 15% over the company average.”

I’m a natural leader.

While you can teach people management skills, some people naturally take on the role
of a leader in group settings. Employers often seek natural leaders for leadership and
non-leadership positions because they set a good example and can boost team morale.

Example: “I’m a natural leader. I’ve eventually been promoted to a leadership role in

almost every job because I like to help people. I find co-workers usually come to me
with questions or concerns even when I’m not in a leadership role because if I don’t
know the answer, I’ll at least point them in the right direction. In my last two roles, I
was promoted to leadership positions after less than a year with the company.”

I am results-oriented.

A results-oriented candidate is someone who keeps the end goal in mind and knows
which resources it will take to get there. Employers know when they hire someone
who is results-oriented, they will do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Example: “I am results-oriented, constantly checking in with the goal to determine
how close or how far away we are and what it will take to make it happen. I find this
pressure inspiring and a great motivator for the rest of the team. In fact, over the past
year, I was able to help my team shorten our average product time to market by two
weeks.”

I am an excellent communicator.

Effective communication skills are necessary for ongoing success in almost any

position and every industry, but they don’t always come naturally to everyone. When
a candidate can communicate well, they help ensure messages aren’t muddled
internally or when delivering information to a customer.

Example: “I am an excellent communicator. I pride myself on making sure people

have the right information because it drives better results. Most business issues stem
from poor communication, so I feel a responsibility to keep everyone on the same
page. These skills helped increase my personal client retention rate by more than 40%
in a year, and helped the team deliver 100% of our projects by the original deadline.”

These are just a few examples of how to answer the question, “How would you
describe yourself?” but there are plenty of other qualities you could share. Take time
to review the job description and look for similarities between what’s required and
your natural strengths.

3. What makes you unique?

 Focus on what sets you apart from other candidates in terms of your skills or
experience.

 Keep your answer relevant. Use the job description as a starting point to

understand what the employer wants, and how you can add value.

 Use specific examples to illustrate how you have used your unique abilities in the
workplace.

 Don’t be blinded by the word ‘unique’ – the interviewer wants to find out what
makes you interesting, not completely off-the-wall.

4. Why do you want to work here?

 “I see this opportunity as a way to contribute to an exciting/forward-
thinking/fast-moving company/industry, and I feel I can do so by/with my … ”
 “I feel my skills are particularly well-suited to this position because … ”
 “I believe I have the type of knowledge to succeed in this role and at the
company because … ”
 “I’m excited about this job opportunity, as it would allow me to … ”

5. What interests you about this role?

Example: My previous experience and success would help me to achieve some quick
wins in certain areas, including XXX. I’m also excited at the prospect of learning
more about XXX. The company’s mission aligns with my own professional values and
I believe I’d be a great fit culturally. I loved what I read in the recent article by the
CEO about the initiatives the company is undertaking to ensure ongoing
enhancement to culture and employee engagement.

6. What motivates you?

Example: I have always been motivated by the desire to meet a deadline. Setting and
reaching deadlines gives me such a sense of accomplishment. I love creating an
organized schedule for completing a task and achieving my goals on time. For
example, when I ran a fundraising event last year, I set multiple deadlines for a
variety of tasks leading up to the event. Achieving each milestone motivated me to
keep working and helped me to ensure that the event ran smoothly.

7. What are you passionate about?

One thing that I’m passionate about is healthy living and healthy eating. I think it’s
something my parents taught me from a young age. So that’s why I enjoy working in
the fitness industry. It allows me to blend my personal interests and passions with my
career. I feel like I’m spending my time working on helping people with something
that’s important, and that motivates me to do great work.”

“One area that I’m passionate about is self-development and self-improvement in my

personal life. I’m always looking to challenge myself and learn new things. That’s
one reason I enjoy working in customer service; I’ve learned great communication
skills, listening skills, and problem-solving skills that help me in my day-to-day work
but also in my personal life in terms of confidence, communication, etc.”

8.  Why are you leaving your current job?

Let's start with what you shouldn't say (or, if you're the interviewer, what are definite
red flags).
Don't talk about how your boss is difficult. Don't talk about how you can't get along
with other employees. Don't bad-mouth your company.

Instead, focus on the positives a move will bring. Talk about what you want to
achieve. Talk about what you want to learn. Talk about ways you want to grow, about
things you want to accomplish; explain how a move will be great for you and for your
new company.

Complaining about your current employer is a little like people who gossip: If you're
willing to speak badly of someone else, you'll probably do the same to me.

9. What are your greatest strengths?

I'm not sure why interviewers ask this question; your resume and experience should
make your strengths readily apparent.

Even so, if you're asked, provide a sharp, on-point answer. Be clear and precise. If
you're a great problem solver, don't just say that: Provide a few examples, pertinent to
the opening, that prove you're a great problem solver. If you're an emotionally
intelligent leader, don't just say that: Provide a few examples that prove you know
how to answer the unasked question.

10. What are your greatest weaknesses?

Every candidate knows how to answer this question: Just pick a theoretical weakness
and magically transform that flaw into a strength in disguise!

For example: "My biggest weakness is getting so absorbed in my work that I lose all
track of time. Every day I look up and realize everyone has gone home! I know I
should be more aware of the clock, but when I love what I'm doing I just can't think of
anything else."

So your "biggest weakness" is that you'll put in more hours than everyone else? Great.

A better approach is to choose an actual weakness, but one you're working to

improve. Share what you're doing to overcome that weakness. No one is perfect, but
showing you're willing to honestly self-assess and then seek ways to improve comes
pretty darned close.