The 11 Most Common Questions Asked In Interviews And Why

Interviewers want to gather much of the same information about candidates, regardless of the particular job. That is why you will be asked the same questions in most of your interviews.

Interviewers are assessing three things:

• Can you do the job?

• Do you want to do the job?

• Do you fit with the team, manager, and organization?

There are certain questions that are asked that get to the heart of each question. Here are some of them.

Tell Me About Yourself

This is known as an icebreaker question. And it seems deceptively simple. Tell the interviewer about yourself. Yet, here is the thing. The interviewer doesn't really want to hear all about you. They want to hear about the parts of your life related to working with them. So if you were the grade school spelling champ, or the person with the most donations received for a charity bicycling event, unless this achievement is directly related to what you would be doing in the role, they don't care. Only discuss your education, knowledge, or experience relevant to solving this employer's problems.

Walk Me Through Your Resume

Like the Tell Me About Yourself question, this one is often asked at the start of an interview to get the interviewee talking. This question also seems like an easy one to answer. Start at the beginning of the resume and work through each job, discussing what you did until you get to the present day. But like the Tell Me About Yourself question, the interviewer only wants to hear about your work and accomplishments related to this role. Don't make the mistake of spending much time discussing what you did early in your career or unrelated jobs. You use up precious time that is better used to talk to the interviewer about the parts of the resume that concern them.

Why Do You Want To Leave Your Employer (Or Did Leave Them)?

This question is asked to understand the candidate's motivation for leaving a company. People go because the work situation is not meeting their needs or the employee isn't meeting the employer's expectations. An employer wants to know what happened and why the candidate is looking, so they can judge whether the job seeker would be happy in the role and with the organization or whether their employment might present an issue to the organization. For example, say that a person wants to leave because there is no upward mobility and states that to the interviewer. If it is important enough to the job seekers that they would leave their employer, and the interviewer cannot offer upward mobility, this could be a red flag.

Why Do You Want To Work Here? Why Are You Interested In This Job?

This is a question asked to assess whether the job seeker understands the role and if it is something that they want to do. If the candidate is really interested in the role, they likely have researched the role/organization. They can easily talk about what the position offers and how that matches their interests. Employers want employees to stick around. It helps employers with greater productivity and efficiency. When a person can explain why they want the job, what they offer, and how it aligns with their desires, it reduces the risk that the hire will not be engaged in the work and will be looking quickly for other opportunities.

Why Should We Hire You (What Value Do You Bring)?

What can you do for me? It's a direct question that gets to the heart of the buy-sell relationship. Through your research of the company and review of the job description, you should understand the problems that the person in the position will be asked to address or ambitions that the organization wants the person in this position to tackle. Address these.

What Makes You Unique?

This question is asked because many people that apply will have a similar background or experiences. Therefore, they want to know if something about you makes you different and could bring value. I recently worked with a job seeker with three crucial experiences that could be valuable for a consumer healthcare company. She had customer experience, she had government regulatory experience, and she had healthcare manufacturing experience. Her competition may have had one or two of these experiences, but having all three made her unique and valuable.

Where Do You See Yourself In X Years? 

This question is asked to gauge what is essential for you in terms of your own success. Is learning new things important? Is a specific title important? Are you looking to go into a different field? An organization will want to know if the role or organization can meet your expectations. Because if having a specific title is a goal, and there would be many people in line for it in the organization, you may get frustrated and leave quickly.

How Do You Deal With Conflict In The Workplace?

We are humans, and we will not always agree. Conflict of some sort is inevitable in the workplace. An employer may be very interested in how you have dealt with conflict in the past, which could indicate how you would deal with it in the future. Do you handle it directly? Do you shy away from conflict? A company might want to know this to see if how you handle conflict would work for the team and organization's culture.

How Do You Prioritize What You Do?

In many organizations, there is more to do than time to complete it. The ability to prioritize what to do based on the team, management, and business needs is an important skill. An organization may be very interested in how you assess what is essential to do first. They may additionally want to know how you deal with situations where what is a priority may not be apparent. 

Tell Me About Your Greatest Weakness

This is a question that I wish would go the way of buggy whips and rotary phones, but it is still often asked by interviewers, so be prepared. There are two reasons for asking this. One is to understand your biggest weakness and see if that would make your ability to be successful in the role a problem. Secondly, they are looking for self-awareness. Everyone has weaknesses. So, if you say you don't have any or use the cliche that your weakness is really a positive (I work too hard), then you may not be able to learn from mistakes or react positively to feedback.

Tell Me About The Biggest Mistake You Made

We all make mistakes. Your interviewer knows this and has probably made some huge ones in their career. They ask it to see how you view the mistakes you have made in your life. It tells a lot about your attitude and character. Did you use it as a learning opportunity? Do you own the mistake, or do you blame it on others? This question is less about the mistake (though I would not talk about one that might make the interviewer question your ability to do the job) and more about how you responded to it. 

Summary

Answering all 11 of these questions is crucial for a successful interview. You know they are coming, so be aware of why they are asked, so you can strategize on the most compelling answers you can provide. That way, you can demonstrate that you are competent and confident, a winning combination for any job seeker.

Here is an article by Bogdan Zlatkov that details how to prepare for an interview that you might find helpful.

Shelley Piedmont is a Career Coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. I help job seekers prepare for interviews. You can engage me to help you prep for any interview. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.