Most Common Interview Questions and How to Prepare
Each interview question is an opportunity to build a case for yourself as the best candidate, and each question has an intent behind it. Below is a list of common interview questions, what interviewers are likely trying to learn from you, and tips for answering them!
A QUICK NOTE ON HOW TO PREPARE
Preparing for an interview doesn’t mean drafting a response to every single interview question you can anticipate. You’ll drive yourself mad trying to do that. You need to consider your experiences as modular anecdotes that you can play (sometimes as combinations) for nearly any question. Check out this article for more.
EXAMPLE RESPONSES
To provide a space for you to brainstorm, organize, and strategically recycle your interview prep anecdotes, I’ve created an Interview Q&A Planner. It includes all the questions and content below as well as bonus example responses to help you get started.
Tell me about yourself.
THE INTENT BEHIND THIS Q
I personally love opening up with this question during an interview. This is an open ended question that’s meant to:
Serve as an ice breaker and set some context for the conversation
See how you present yourself
Learn about you professionally -- what do you do and what do you offer?
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
Your answer should include:
What do you do / what you’re good at (your title and a quick description of your main skills/ responsibilities + any relevant achievements)
A quick background (brief background on how you got there — this is a great opportunity for career changers to emphasize their passion for their new role)
What are you looking for and how you’re the one for this role.
Please do not ramble about your life story.
Why should I hire you? What makes you unique?
What is your greatest strength?
THE INTENT BEHIND THESE Qs
They want to know how you're different from the competition and why you think you're a good fit above everyone else.
This question also allows you to synthesize information. Companies hire because they need someone to fix outstanding problems or build towards the future. What intersection or bridge of relevancy can you create between your skills and what the company is trying to achieve?
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
Hoorah! This is a great opportunity for you to summarize your background.
Leverage the job description and what they're looking for to speak to what you have done, can do, will do for them. As you interview, don’t forget to include what you’ve learned during past interviews for this role! What they’ve said or asked for hints at what they’re most interested in seeing in your background.
Based on what you know about the company or role’s goals/problems, summarize your most relevant skills, and how they’d help to address those things.
Do not say "because I'm qualified." It’s a lazy and arrogant answer. Rather, share with them HOW and WHY you're qualified.
Why are you interested in this role? Why are you leaving your current role? Why did you change careers? What are you looking for in your next role?
THE INTENT BEHIND THESE Qs
They want to know what intrigues you about them, what you're looking for, and why. They may be listening for red flags like a lack of commitment. Ideally, they want to hear your genuine excitement for the role and the company. Even if they’re asking why you’re leaving, focus less on what your current/past company doesn’t offer and more on what you’re looking forward to with this new role.
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
Be honest—to an extent. Maybe you’re looking to work in a different type of industry (hint: their industry) or an emphasis on certain responsibilities (hint: the ones on their job description), etc.
This is a great opportunity to show off your knowledge of the company (assuming you did some research, which I STRONGLY recommend). You can share how you’re excited for this company because of their mission or something recent they had press coverage for, etc.
Do not speak poorly of your current/past companies or colleagues in your response.
Tell me about your experience working at XYZ Company.
Tell me about your most recent project.
THE INTENT BEHIND THESE Qs
They’re looking for an overview of your experience that provides some key details on the type of work you’ve done and the skills you’ve honed. This is a prime opportunity to touch upon keywords in the job description and create that bridge of relevancy between you and the role.
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
I’d recommend prepping for this type of question in two ways:
Describe your primary responsibilities at a high level overview, so they have a sense of what you were responsible for.
Consider a project or example, and think about the context, what happened, what you contributed, and what the results were.
You want to come off confident and articulate about your work at both a macro and micro level. If you sound unsure or can’t provide enough detail, the interviewer won’t get the info they want or they may not believe that you did the work.
What work are you most proud of? What is your greatest professional achievement? What is your greatest strength?
THE INTENT BEHIND THESE Qs
Time to show off the value you can bring to their organization with an anecdote on a successful project or just your solid track record of good work (it doesn't have to be mind-blowingly amazing).
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
Share your enthusiasm and passion for the work you've done and why!
If you’re having a hard time coming up with something with a big finish (an award, recognition, etc.), consider prepping an anecdote where you’ve failed or struggled but then overcame it. That’s definitely something to be proud of. An anecdote like that can be used to distill a strength, so you can recycle an anecdote for different yet similar questions.
Tell me about a time you failed / made a mistake.
What did you learn from that experience? What is your greatest weakness?
THE INTENT BEHIND THESE Qs
Life is all fine and dandy when things are easy and going your way. Your real character shines through when you're failing or having a tough time -- how do you deal with it? It's okay to fail and make mistakes; no one is perfect. They want to know less about the failure itself and more about how you dealt with it.
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
First, reflect on what failure means to you. Then be honest and share about a situation where you did fail (ideally not directly related to a major job responsibility) and then how you learned from it. What did you take away from this experience? How are you better because of it?
It may help to think through the STAR method to contemplate your response.
This can be molded to fit a “greatest weakness” question. You’ll still need to distill the anecdote into a one-word weakness, so you’re still answering the question, but you’re able to show how you triumphed over your weakness. It’s a tough one to prep for.
Fortunately, not everyone asks this question, but it’s not entirely uncommon either. Better prepared than not!
Give me an example…
THE INTENT BEHIND THE Q
They’re likely going to ask for something on the job description because it’s a top skill or requirement for the role. It could be a tool they don’t have time to train on or a soft skill like leadership. It could be about the work environment you thrive in or about how you solved a problem or overcame an obstacle.
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
Analyze the job description for what they’re asking for.
This prompt is intended to get your juices flowing and prep a few lines based on your job description analysis. You can easily weave in a line or two about that tool you can expertly use that’s listed on the job description into a response about your work.
How do you manage your time? How do you prioritize tasks?
Tell me about a time you had to complete something within a strict timeline.
THE INTENT BEHIND THESE Qs
They want to understand your workflow process. They also want to know how you handle things when it gets busy/stressful.
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
Take a moment to think about how you do your work and stay on top of things. This may come up as a direct question, or if you learn that time management is important to them, you can bake some of this response into another one, so you’re serving what they want before they even ask!
You can come up with a response for your general approach or think of an example to keep in your back pocket.
What do you like least about your job? What are your pet peeves? Why are you leaving your role?
THE INTENT BEHIND THESE Qs
This is both a bit of an honest question as well as a potential trap, so be careful how you word things. They do want to learn what you dislike about your role because they want to assess if your preference and attitude will fit with their role.
If you say you don’t like talking to angry customers, yet the role is 50% on the phone, they’ll likely pass on you. That’s not a bad thing though because you may be miserable in a role where 50% of the time you’re doing something you dislike.
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
This prompt is a poster child for all other questions where you’re positioned to answer in a negative way.
Do be honest to an extent because while the goal is to get a job, it should be one that sets you up for success. Sometimes being rejected for a role means dodging a bullet.
When answering something like this, spend little to no time on the negative aspects. State a fact or two and then quickly turn it around to focus on what the role you’re interviewing for offers.
Tell me about a time you disagreed with a colleague / handled a difficult customer. How did you resolve it?
THE INTENT BEHIND THESE Qs
Collaboration in the workplace is becoming increasingly more important. This question comes out very often in interviews because they want to know how you handle things when they don't go your way, when colleagues may be hard to work with, etc.
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
Set up the context around the disagreement and walk us through the steps you took to resolve things professionally at a high level. Consider how you might have leveraged the proper channels to address the issue or used objective methods to make a decision.
If constructive, you can share what you learned from this experience that’ll help you in the future.
It may help to think through the STAR method to contemplate your response.
Do not rant or speak poorly of your current or past companies or colleagues.
Are you interviewing anywhere else? Tell me about your job search; are you far along in the process?
THE INTENT BEHIND THESE Qs
These questions are generally a good sign that they're interested in you. They're preparing for next steps to hopefully bring you on, and they want to know how quickly they need to be moving or what factors they're competing against.
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
It actually works in your favor to tell the recruiter / hiring manager that you have other interviews (assuming it's true). It means (1) that you're a desirable candidate and (2) that if they want to hire you, they need to beat the other companies courting you.
Regardless, restate you are particularly keen on this role. Remember that job hunting is like dating, so they’ll feed off of your energy and excitement.
What is your desired salary?
THE INTENT BEHIND THE Q
This question can be asked at the beginning to qualify if your target salary is within the range they can offer OR it can be asked later when they're getting more serious about making you can offer -- the timing of this question does not indicate how they feel about your candidacy.
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
There’s a controversy around how to best answer this question: a range, a specific number, or ask them about their budget. I personally don’t think there’s a right answer. It comes down to what you’re comfortable with.
Regardless, do your research. You need to know how much your role is worth in your area at your level of experience. Glassdoor is a great resource for this.
If you need to make X to make ends meet, you can state a number or range, so you’re not wasting your time interviewing for a job that can’t pay you what you need.
If you want to work there irregardless of pay or you’re unsure of the best range for yourself, you can deflect and ask them what they’ve budgeted for this role.
Remember that:
Compensation is the entire package including benefits, equity, and perks. Consider the big picture; don’t forget to ask about benefits, etc.
Compensation should make sense for the responsibilities they’re asking for. An easier job means less pay.
How old are you? Do you plan on starting a family? Do you intend on getting married? Are you a (country) citizen? What is your current/previous salary?
INTENT BEHIND THESE Qs
The information gathered from this question could be used against you. "oh, they're too young to do a good job," "they're old and crusty," "they want to start a family, and I don't want to pay for maternity or paternity leave." It is NOT LEGAL for an interviewer to ask you these questions in the US (with the exception of the previous salary question in some states). You are NOT obligated to answer this.
Note: Only some US states protect salary history and transparency, so double check!
ANSWER FRAMEWORK
Most of the time people who ask this are not out to get you. It could be an innocent question stemming from genuine curiosity, but these are illegal questions because they open the door to unconscious bias and discrimination.
Don’t take offense to the question and just politely decline to answer.
To help you prep your interview responses, I’ve created a worksheet in Notion that includes the info in this article along with example responses. Use it to formulate and organize responses for as many interviews as you need!
Happy interviewing!
Helping folks feel more confident going into an interview is both my specialty and a passion. Whether you’re looking to just workshop a response to a tricky question or two or practice a full-blown interview, I’m here for you.