In every interview you are likely to be confronted with a great number of questions. Many of them are standard questions that every interviewer will ask. I have listed the most common questions that you’ll encounter during an interview to help you get a handle on them before you actually go to one. It’s always good to be prepared.
By reading the common questions that interviewers tend to ask, you’ll have a leg up on the competition. You’ll also have time to prepare your answers so that you do not get stumped.
So here’s your key to acing a job interview:
1. Tell us something about yourself. Remember to say something positive.
2. How do you handle stressful situations?
3. How do you handle criticism and stress?
4. How would you define success?
5. Why do you think you would fit in with this company? This is where your research on the company comes in handy.
6. Have you ever been fired, and why?
7. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
8. Do you prefer to work on your own or with a team?
9. Why are you interested in working for us?
10. How do you deal with a difference of opinion with your colleagues or superiors?
11. Why should we hire you?
Here are common job interview questions when applying after college graduation:
1. Tell us what your most rewarding college experience was.
2. What extra curricular activities did you participate in?
3. What have you learned in college that could apply directly to this job?
4. How have you prepared yourself for the transition from college to work?
5. Are you going to a graduate school? If you are, do you plan to continue working as well?
6. How do you plan to manage graduate school with working?
7. Did you get any direct work experience in College?
8. How do you think college has prepared you for this job?
9. Have you ever done an internship which helped to prepare you for this type of work?
10. What do you think is the best asset you could bring to the company?
And here are typical job interview questions you should ask your interviewer:
Just like you’ll be fielding questions from your interviewer, it’s best to ask a few of your own. This shows that you are genuinely interested in working there, and that you also have some concerns of your own.
It also shows that you feel relatively certain that this is the place for you.
Asking your prospective employer the right questions will show him/her that you’re serious in you efforts to work for their company, and that you’re an organized individual.
However, you should steer clear of asking any personal questions or any questions that are not directly job related.
If you want, you may jot down some of the answers that you are given for reference later on. Try to keep your questions simple and polite. Make sure that you are asking direct questions about the job and the work environment.
Here are some questions that you could ask your prospective employer:
1. Why has this position been made available right now?
2. How many times has this position been filled in the past 5 years?
3. What should the new person do which is different from the last person that had this position?
4. What would you most like to see accomplished in the next 6 months?
5. What is the most difficult problem that this job entails?
6. How much freedom do you give me in the decision making process?
7. What are my options for advancement?
8. How has this company succeeded in the past?
9. What changes do you envision in the near future for this company?
10. What do you think constitutes success in this particular job?
