TYPICAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Prepare for all interviews

• Tell us about yourself

• Talk me through your CV

• Why do you want this role?

• Why do you want to work for us?

• Why have you chosen this sector?

• Why should we hire you?

• What is your weakness?

• Where do you see yourself in your career in 5 years time?

• What questions do you have for us?

Competency questions

• Give an example of a time you demonstrated good communication skills

• Give an example of a time you had to pay attention to detail

• Give an example of a time you had to optimise a process

• Tell us about a time you were innovative

• Can you give us an example where you dealt with a difficult client?

• Tell me about a time you made a mistake

About you

• What is your proudest achievement in your current role?

• Why are you leaving your current position?

• What motivates you?

• What are your strengths?

• What is your weakness?

• How do you handle pressure?

• What is your salary expectation?

• Why do you not want to continue working in research?

• Tell me about an activity or task that comes easily to you.

• What energises you?

• What is always left on your to do list at the end of the day?

• Can you tell me about some everyday things you enjoy doing?

• Are you more of a details person or a big picture person?

Business awareness

• Who are our major competitors?

• Tell me about a major development in the field of XYZ. Why does this interest you?

• How should our industry respond to the demand to reduce carbon emissions?

• Referring to events reported in the media, what would you do? Technical questions Could be…

• In depth questions about aspects of your research

• Theories and processes which are particularly relevant to the company’s work/ research/ products

• A real life or imaginary scenario/problem

• Explaining a piece of equipment or diagram (Patent Attorney)

ADVICE FOR DIFFERENT TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

Video interviews

These interviews are commonly used in recruitment for graduate jobs. You are asked to go to a website
and record your answers to pre-set questions. The videos you record are then sent to the company to be
reviewed by a selector. Tips are:

• Prepare for typical competency and motivation questions

• Check your technical set up works properly beforehand

• Choose a time to record the interview that suits you and when you are energised • Look at the camera
not your own face on the screen

• Put a sign on the door to stop people coming in

• Use a good camera angle – not looking down onto the camera, but level with your eyes

• Think about what is behind you in the room, especially bright lights or distractions
Case study interviews

Commonly used in the consultancy sector. You are given a business problem or scenario and asked to
talk through your recommendations. These are specialised and require a lot of preparation. It’s a good
idea to practice as many as you can and attend presentations by consultancy firms (hosted by the
Careers Service, advertised on JobsLive) as they often talk through case studies in these. Resources can
be found at: Case study activities | Administration and support services | Imperial College London

Quant/Technical interviews

Technical interviews are common for research jobs in industry or any technical role such as software
development. If you are going for a job in finance you may get a quantitative finance interview.
Interviews like these test your technical knowledge. Typically you are asked to solve a problem relating
to the technical content of the role. They are testing your knowledge and how you think. For quant
finance job interviews use the book ‘Heard on the Street’ – contains lots of example questions and
worked through answers. In general:

• Talk the interviewer through your approach, allow them to see how you think

• Don’t try to pretend you know things you don’t

• Expect to get to a point in the interview where you don’t know the answer – this is normal and not
necessarily a bad thing

Academic interviews

Examples of typical academic interview questions:

• Tell us about your PhD research

• What contribution did you make to this publication?

• What is your publication plan for your PhD?

• Why did you choose this technique for this project?

• What areas of our course/curriculum do you feel confident to teach on?

• If a student was struggling on a course, what would you do?

• How do you ensure your teaching is high quality?

• Why should we fund your project?

Postdoc Questions focussed on the project, your research skills, knowledge, motivation for this project,
future plans and often a short presentation about your research achievements.

Tip is to engage fully with their research, understand what they are trying to achieve, read their papers
etc. Think about what you will bring to them. Be ready to talk about your past projects, how you made
them successful and what impact they have had.
Teaching

Teaching focussed questions and may ask you to teach a class/give a teaching presentation. Tip is to
understand who their students are and what is being taught. Reflect on your own teaching experience
and be ready to talk about it. Show enthusiasm for teaching.

Research Fellowship

Often start with short presentation. Questions focused on:

• Is the proposed project worth doing and achievable? Can it be achieved in the timeframe, what might
go wrong, what impact will it have on the field?

• Are you the best person to do this project, do you have the skills, what are your future career goals?

• Is the host institution the best place to do this research