Ace The Job Interview: Sample Interview Questions with Knock-out Answers

You get the call that Big Name Company wants to interview you. You know they will be interviewing others and you really want this job. How can you stand out among a crowd? What will they ask and how should you answer? Here’s a quick list of popular job interview questions and how your answers can help you land the job you want.

Tell us about yourself. This is not the time to recount your weekend hunting and fishing activities, or to go on about your cute kids and how much you love them. What the interviewer wants to know includes your educational background and your professional experience. They are trying to figure out if you’re a good fit for the company and how you can help the company remain profitable. What do you have to offer that others don’t? A job interview is like a first date. You are trying to get to know each other, to see if this is going to be a long-term relationship and to see if the chemistry is there between you and the company. Make sure you tailor your answer so that the interviewer will get a sense of your professional self and background, not your personal life.

What are your strengths? No one likes to come across as a boastful know-it-all, but this is your opportunity to outline your best professional skills and abilities. Make sure all that you list can be backed up with your education or references or portfolio. Look at the job announcement you responded to. What are the absolute musts the job requires? If the ad mentions the preferred candidate is organized and pays attention to detail, you should definitely highlight this area if it adequately describes you. Be prepared to give examples of how you organize large projects or the types of details you are skilled at dealing with. Don’t just say you are good at x, y and z…be prepared with examples or anecdotes.

What are your weaknesses? No one likes answering this question because here you are trying to impress someone with your credentials and they want you to start listing your flaws. The trick here is to give them a flaw, but one that you’ve turned into a positive. Here’s an example: My biggest weakness is that I always like to be busy and productive. In the past, I’ve had jobs where there hasn’t been enough work to keep me busy the entire day. So what I did was to talk to my boss about taking on some added projects from other departments. This solved my problem and it was good for the company.