Common interview questions

One of the most important things you can do to prepare for an interview is to review potential interview questions. The interviewer may ask you different questions than the ones you have prepared, but simply taking the time to think through questions about yourself, your career and your fitness for the position will lead you in the right direction.

Here are some common interview questions.

Also do not forget to prepare questions about the organization and the position to ask the interviewer!

• • Why do you want this job?
  • Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?
  • What attracted you to this company?
  • Why should we hire you?
  • What did you like least about your last job?
  • What can you do for us that other candidates can’t?
  • Why are you leaving your present job?
  • What do you know about our company?
  • What was the last project you headed up, and what was its outcome?
  • Give me an example of a time that you felt you went above and beyond the call of duty at work.
  • Can you describe a time when your work was criticized?
  • Have you ever been on a team where someone was not pulling their own weight? How did you handle it?
  • Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it?
  • What is your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it?
  • What irritates you about other people, and how do you deal with it?
  • If I were your supervisor and asked you to do something that you disagreed with, what would you do?
  • Give me an example of a time you did something wrong. How did you handle it?
  • Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish multiple tasks by the end of the day, and there was no conceivable way that you could finish them.
  • How would you go about establishing your credibility quickly with the team?
  • If selected for this position, can you describe your strategy for the first 90 days?
  • How would you describe your work style?
  • What techniques and tools do you use to keep yourself organized?
  • Tell me about your proudest achievement.
  • Who was your favorite manager and why?
  • What do you think of your previous boss?
  • What is your personal mission statement?
  • What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?
  • What negative thing would your last boss say about you?
  • What are three positive character traits you don’t have?
  • If you were interviewing someone for this position, what traits would you look for?
  • What’s the most important thing you learned in school?
  • What will you miss about your present/last job?
  • What are the qualities of a good leader? A bad leader?