Video: 8 Common Job Interview Questions & Answers

We’ve got plenty of articles and slide decks on our website that touch on all sorts of material that relates to job interviews.

Here, you can watch a great 12 minute video on some of the most common job interview questions and answers.

Video and information courtesy of Let’s talk.

1. “Tell me a little about yourself.”

You should take this opportunity to show your communication skills by speaking clearly and concisely in an organized manner. Because there is no right or wrong answer for this question, it is important to appear friendly.

2. “What are your strengths?”

This is a popular interview question. They want to know what you think of yourself. Although this is a general question, there is a wrong and right answer. The wrong answer is a generic answer saying you are organized and friendly. Although it will not hurt you during the interview, it will certainly not help you either. Answer this question based on the type of job you are applying for.

3. “What are your weaknesses?”

For this answer, you should display a weakness that can be seen as a strength. There are many types of answers that will work. Some answers will be good answers for certain jobs, while the same answer will be a bad answer for a different job. Select an answer that will work for the position you are applying for.

4. “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

This question primarily depends on where you are in your career. A person with 5 years of experience will have different goals than a person with no work experience.This question is asked to see how serious a candidate is about his or her career. Some people might not know their goals, and some people might have goals of becoming rich and retiring early. Those are incorrect answers for this question. The type of answer you want to give is an ambitious answer that shows you really love your career. A good interviewer will read between the lines and find out if a person is going to be a hard worker or just a mediocre one. Being descriptive and shooting for a big goal is something interviewers want to hear.

5. “What do you know about our company?”

A typical job interview question, asked to find out how much company research you have conducted, is “What do you know about this company?” Prepare in advance, and in a word, research, so you can provide relevant and current information about your prospective employer to the interviewer.

6. “Are you good at dealing with change?”

Dealing with change is common in the work place. A simple yes will not be sufficient to impress the interviewer. This is another type of question where everyone will have similar answers. Of course everyone is going to claim being excellent dealing with change. You got to communicate that you are really good at dealing with change.

7. “Do you work well under pressure?”

In most cases, the best answer to this question is answering yes. Working well under pressure is a good trait to have. However, I think if you answer that you work the same with pressure and without pressure, the interviewer will be more impressed. However, you will need to explain in words why this is better.

8. “How do you make important decisions?”

There are many ways to answer this question, and if you have a reasonable method of making decisions, it will probably be sufficient. One answer I thought of included not being afraid of asking your manager. You can follow up by saying even the best needs mentoring, and you always want to improve. So basically, this could work as an answer, but depending on the job, you might have a better shot with an answer like my example.