Commonly Asked Interview Questions

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Posted By: Staff Editor In: Job Seeker - Interview
Reviewing and answering the following list of commonly asked interview questions is a great way to prepare for an interview.

Reviewing and answering the following list of commonly asked interview questions is a great way to prepare for an interview. Typically, employers have a limited amount of time to gain an understanding of prospective employees. Your answers to these questions help employers make informed decisions and enable them to learn more about you as an individual. They are therefore an integral part of the hiring process.

GENERAL QUESTIONS

• What do you do for fun?
• What do you like to do when you are not at work?
• Why did you leave your last job?

ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE

• Describe the job you have held in the past that was most gratifying.
• How can you help our company be more profitable?
• Tell me how you would handle multiple projects in the job.
• What aspects of your job do you consider most crucial?

ABOUT YOUR SKILLS

• Describe a professional skill you have developed in your most recent job.
• Describe a situation in which you have applied your skills to solve a problem.
• Describe your ability to solve problems in the workplace.
• How well can you multi-task?
• How would you rate your communication skills?
• What new skills or ideas do you bring to the job that other candidates aren't likely to offer?
• What would your colleagues tell me about your attention to detail?

ABOUT YOUR WORK STYLE

• Are you able to meet aggressive deadlines? Do you have experience doing so in the past?
• Do you like working alone or in a team environment?
• Do you prefer continuity in structure or frequent change in your daily work?
• Do you work well under pressure?
• How do you go about making important decisions?
• How do you measure the success of your work?
• Tell me about the way you work.

ABOUT YOUR RESUME

• Are you involved with any professional affiliations?
• Tell me something about yourself that I didn't know from reading your resume.
• Why are you currently unemployed?
• Why have you held so many jobs in recent times?

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

• Have you taken any classes since college to bring your skills up to date?
• Is there anything you would change about your college education?

SOME ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Have you ever managed a project for your previous employer? What was the result?
• Tell me about a contribution you have made to a team.
• Tell me about a project you completed ahead of schedule.
• Tell me about any honors or awards that you have received in the past.
• Tell me about the most significant accomplishment in your career?

ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER

• How do you maintain your composure when you are in the hot seat?
• How do you usually handle criticism?
• Is there anything else about you that I should know?
• What are your top strengths? Weaknesses?
• What is your definition of success? How have you been successful in the past?
• What one word best describes you?

CAREER GOAL QUESTIONS

• Describe your ideal job.
• What are your work-related goals for the next few years?
• What motivated you to change careers at this time?
• What prompted you to choose your current career?
• Where do you see yourself in five years? In ten years?

MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS

• Describe a situation in which you demonstrated independent initiative.
• Describe a time when you had to alter your leadership style to be more effective.
• Describe the situation in which you are most comfortable as a leader.
• Describe your management style.
• Have you ever hired anyone? What qualities do you seek?
• Have you managed people in any of the positions you have held?
• How do you deal with difficult people?
• How would you define "leadership?" How would you rate yourself as a leader?
• How would you describe your philosophy about management?
• Tell me about a time that you made a critical decision without supervision?
• Tell me about a time when you had to deal with a challenging project in your job.

Comments

Posted by: syed Give step by step

Posted by: John Minett thanks!

Posted by: Fran Buckley Thanks-- Though I have in one way or another heard these questions, both in interviews and in articles such as this, I've not seen them so succinctly and thoroughly covered so compactly and digestibly before. All of your helpful articles are great, some more than others. Thank you for bringing these tips to the fore!

Posted by: Alba Guerra Wonderful. Awesome. if you can give some examples on these questions it would be even better for some people like myself. I have gone to interviews and have been asked some of these questions. Some of them I think I do well, on others, I honesly think I did not answer as well as I should have. In other words, I don't know how to answer the question. please help. Thank you for your articles and your support.

Posted by: YENNAMANDRA VISWESWARAIAH Thanks.

Posted by: Shalini Chandran good

Posted by: Rutva Patel Excellent. This will help me a lot

Posted by: Kelly Underwood I agree with one of the previous comments...these Q are wonderful and would be even better if there could be some examples of appropriate answers (short and concise since we will want to use our own experience in the real interview). Thanks! Kelly

Posted by: ANTHONY LEWIS These are very good questions. I have been asked some of these questions before and I never thought of the possibility for the other questions being asked. Some of them require in-depth thoughts/answers which is good for an interview. Thanks for the help.

Posted by: Slobo Radin All your questions are realistic and need to be prepared for. A great guideline for any pro.Thanks

Posted by: Lisa L. These questions will be very helpful in future interviews, but I agree that some examples of generic answers would be helpful as well. It would clarify understanding of the question and give us somewhere to start in forming our own answers.

Posted by: Marc Belger How do you answer some of these questions, and how do you answer the statement by the interviewer that your over qualified for the position. You could respond by saying does this mean that you only hire under-qualified people?

Posted by: Yvonne I like to know what do i say to the following questions in an interview:What would your co-workers said is your weakness point? I've answered: They would say good things about me but they have insisted yes, ok, but I need to know one bad thing. thanks!

Posted by: Theresa Coburn These are great tips. The question: where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years? I consider this question out of date. I haven't been asked that at an interview in over 10 years. Five years ago a co-worker was asked that question by a regional manager when she was an asst mktg dir applying for the mktg dir position. She told the regional she would like to have her job by then. Needless to say, she didn't get the job.

Posted by: Marc Andrews Great questions they will make a difference in how well one might interview

Posted by: John Graber What about answers?Q: What are your top strengths? Weaknesses?A: I am a consistent improver, my weakness...well I spend to many hours at work and people have told me I'm a workaholic.Q: What one word best describes you?A: Enthusiasticand so forth....... Thanks.

Posted by: Victor Sedillo Thank you. You have helped in more ways than you can imagine.

Posted by: Sharon Rona Tengasantos Thanks for the sample interview questions. I have heard some of the questions before but I did not know there could me that much questions. The questions will help me when I go for my next interview.

Posted by: Anna Hoecherl These questions are extremely helpful. I have a interview on March 12th, and I had never thought of some of these questions, so now I have time to master my answers for my final( 3rd) interview and should land this job. Thank You so much, you have sent this to me right on time!

Posted by: Jaime Rabara The above questions are great Tips. I have encountered some of these questions in some of my interviews. Thanks for the great support.

Posted by: John Flynn I have on several occassions run into the "Where do you see yourself in 5 years", and I think that is the the question that has caused me to stumble. I am unsure whether to answer it literally or what. Any advice from any of you? Email me at jmfirs@hotmail.com if you can. Mike in Sacramento,CA

Posted by: Margaret McPherson Thanks,for the awakening. There were alot of things in preparing for an interview that I didn't realize I would be asked, it really made me think about what kind of person I was professionally and personally

Posted by: Nadija Mac Neil Q are great - AND I agree with many of the comments that sample answers would be appreciated and act as catalyst to further assist the job seeker to elaborate/expand on her/his responses. Will this be forthcoming soon?

Posted by: ngo Great questions they will make a difference in how well one might interview.Please let me introduce more interview questions athttp://www.humanresources.hrvinet.com/sample-interview-questions/I hope that it is useful for community users

Posted by: Velma DeLeon Thanks for the tips. I hope to use them for my interview today @ 3:30PM.

Posted by: Lisa Taylor thanks!!! i never felt so unprepared for an interview until i "tried" to answer these questions...lol i am practicing to sound better right when i'm done typing this.

Posted by: Paula Speller I've been on the other side of the interview, working in HR. Any advice on reversing the role?

Posted by: Bill Elliott Great list of questions!! We all have fielded these types of questions from time to time, but it is almost impossible (for most of us) to keep the exact questions asked in mind after an interview. This gives the list what we all need to prepare answers for. I would be hesitant to depend too much on canned answers, since this technique can be easily indentified by an interviewer and may be a big negative. Much better to take the time to formulate your own answers in advance and, as much as possible, use your own professional experiences in the process.

Posted by: George The one I hate is - Why are you the best candidate for the position? I always feel like saying, "I can't answer that because only you know exactly what qualities the company is looking for and I have no idea how I compare to the other candidates. However, I am an honest, dependable, intelligent worker who my past employers have appreciated."

Posted by: Charisse Drakeford good questions how shall you respond to some of them such as Why should I pick you over anyone else I've interview today?

Posted by: Pons chantal Thank you very much for taking the time to post this information.

Posted by: Linda Sutton Thank you for this information. I agree that examples would be most helpful.

Posted by: James Redmond Wow I'm glad that you gave me this email I'd never knew that there's alot to know about an interview.

Posted by: Irma Cabrera Thank you for all of this interview Q,they are very helpfull.

Posted by: Doris Dankert I agree that the questions are very helpfull in perparing for an interview but I also agree that getting some sample answers would be great. Thanks for being there to help us job seekers.

Posted by: Jean You can buy, or check out at libraries, books that give sample answers to questions like these. I have one of those books and it is helpful, but I still find it difficult to come up with acceptable answers. I wish the interviews weren't such a sham. I wish we could be honest about things.

Posted by: Linda Hauser When I am concerned about how I respond to the question, "Why did you leave your last job?"I put down that I quit. Sometimes I put I moved back to NY. The truth is I quit due to harrassment for over 11 years. My family all live in NY and so they told me just put your stuff in a car and drive back to NY. One day I did just that. I have good reason. I could of stayed and typed up a resignation but I was too upset. I was harrassed about not correcting legal information. I did and made a copy of it and kept it in my draw so if he told me again that I did not make the correction I will show him the copy of the original. One morning he told me I did not correct my error and I opened my draw to show him and I did not find my copy. I was so upset. I could of took the copy home but I would of been arrested than and he and my human resource of the state police also agreed that I would of been arrested. So quiting seemed to be the best for the moment in time.

Posted by: Aleth Ruiz-velez THESE QUESTIONS ARE GREAT IDEAS FOR PREPARATION ON JOB INTERVEIWS.IT WOULD BE NICE IF YOU CAN DEMENSTRATE SOME ANSWERS AS WELL, GIVE EXAMPLES ON MEDICAL ASSISTANT WITH ONLY EDUCATION BUT NO MEDICAL EXPERIEANCE.

Posted by: Joanna How do you explain in the interview any jobs in which a person was fired from? How you put it on the application if one was filled out?

Posted by: Carmen I agree that having some examples of responses would be very helpful. When I am asked these questions during an interview, its like I am unable to think of the proper responses without feeling pressured.

Posted by: Tammie B. On: 5/5/2009 11:41:56 AM Thanks for the heads up on the questions. These questions helped me out a lot and I need all the help I can get. I got an interview in a couple of weeks; so this info came in handy at the right time.

Posted by: Jacqueline Stevenson On: 5/7/2009 4:21:21 PM The information on interviewing is greatly appreciated. I recently just had one interview and hope to get called for the second interview and thank you once again.Sincerely, YoursJacqueline Stevenson

Posted by: Matthew Smith On: 5/10/2009 5:33:59 PM Hey thank you for this information. I would ask the same question another poster asked, It would be great to get a feel for what would be a positive answer to some of these questions (generalized one's).

Posted by: Ricot Chancy On: 5/10/2009 8:20:40 PM The are very nice questions. I think you should give some of the answers to practice better.

Posted by: Aides Rivera On: 5/21/2009 7:25:10 PM We need more examples they ask too many questions on a interview. Sometimes I get so nervious that I end up not getting the job. We need more examples answers.

Posted by: THERESA Jones On: 5/23/2009 2:50:06 AM I find this to be very helpful

Posted by: Syed Ali On: 5/24/2009 5:37:11 PM Excellent. i am sure this will help me alot to answer difficult question in more easy and confidnet way.Thanks

Posted by: Charles Sainer On: 5/27/2009 7:32:19 PM Many of these same questions were asked of my on an earlier interview, I wish I had seen them sooner. Sample answer would really be helpful. Thank you for this article !

Posted by: Tom On: 5/29/2009 12:50:58 AM A great set of questions that all of us should know the answers.

Posted by: Whitey Wang On: 5/29/2009 7:15:59 AM Wonderful. if you can give some examples on these questions it would be better.

Posted by: tijani asjaa On: 5/29/2009 12:00:19 PM most of these questions are similar to what i heard over and over in each interview i had. there are very helpful.

Posted by: Nancy Hume On: 5/29/2009 6:33:09 PM The questions were very appropriate and insightful. I am a seasoned employee and always open minded to new and different ideas! Because it has been a long time since I have unemployed, this gave me insight.

Posted by: Betty Shepherd On: 6/3/2009 5:14:03 AM Thank you for the questions but it would be helpful if you had examples on how to answer the question.

Posted by: Cheryl Parrish- Vinson On: 6/5/2009 2:58:03 PM Great questions. Many of which I have been asked. However, it would help, if you posted answers. They are looking for certain answers as matches for their company.

Posted by: Lizzette Diaz On: 6/11/2009 1:28:50 PM Thank you very much for these Interview question. Now! I'm going to start practicing on interviews. Thank you again..

Posted by: Cornel Williams On: 6/11/2009 7:54:02 PM Thank you for the help , I did not pass my last interview. But with the tools I have know I will be ready!Thank you again.

Posted by: Sherina Sisson On: 6/15/2009 10:33:36 AM I think this is very helpful for everyone who has problems with job interview...

Posted by: Terri Connell On: 6/15/2009 4:26:25 PM These are great questions, but wish you had some brief applicable answers. I have an interview in 2 days and will be practicing until then. Thanks!

Posted by: Carol On: 6/16/2009 12:29:30 PM Though, I agree with all the interviewing questions, it would be helpful to get the answeres to these questions. Without the answers, it does not help the interviewees to use the right choice of words at the interview.

Posted by: James Clark On: 6/17/2009 12:06:38 AM Great set of questions. However, some type of an answer would be helpful as others have stated. It makes it hard to think at an interview so any help would be helpful. Thanks again

Posted by: Jim Burton On: 6/18/2009 3:51:28 AM These are great.I currently find myself out of work and looking for my next opportunity. Having these will help me to prepare for some of the more probing questions. It would be useful to have concise responses though.Good stuff.

Posted by: Wally Klann On: 6/21/2009 7:06:30 PM I would agree with many of the comments submitted so far. It is one thing to list questions interviewers ask and a far deeper discussion to offer up suggestive answers for others to digest and add further comments.

Posted by: James Richie On: 6/22/2009 2:30:09 PM Thanks the questions are very helpful. I see many asking for examples which would be very helpful, but each answer would have to associated with the position and company you would be interviewing with. In other words how can you answer based on your past exp. with other companies but intertwine those answers with beneficial info for the company you are interviewing with. Some answers are straight forward but the more 'tricky' ones tend to pull how you can relate those experiences with the company you plan to work.

Posted by: Evelyn Gomez On: 6/25/2009 11:25:33 AM Can you suggest appropriate answers to these interview questions?

Posted by: Corrine Silguero On: 6/25/2009 2:38:42 PM Sample answers would be EXTREMELY helpful!

Posted by: Evelyn Walker On: 6/29/2009 9:51:50 AM Questions are good and I've heard just about all of them, but why didn't you give suggestions or examples of good answers to those questions? Thanks.