Most common interview questions and how to (or how not to) answer them

There are some interview questions which you are almost guaranteed to be asked. Many Hiring Managers have had no formal training in interviewing and are merely copying what they have been asked in interview settings. It is as if interviewing has become like one of the great oral traditions passed down from one hiring manager to the next. A cavalcade of seemingly mundane and bland questions.

So, if you know the “canned” questions are coming, you can be 80% ready for the interview in most cases by being prepared with effective answers. You may not be dazzled by the questions, but you sure as hell can bedazzle the interviewer by being prepared. Here are some of the questions and how to answer them:

1.) Tell Me About Yourself: I am going to refer you to my own blog entry here. Essentially, you will have your own personal advertisement ready to deliver, while at the same time making it seem extemporaneous. There is a lot to impact here, so I recommend reading my prior entry.

2.) Strengths / Weaknesses question: Again, lots to answering these 2 old go-to’s. I have another prior entry here, that I highly recommend which covers this in depth. In an nutshell, be prepared with 3 strengths and weaknesses and don’t try and bullshit your way through it, either! Hiring Managers may not be the best question answerers, but they smell bullshit like a shark smells blood in the water.

3.) Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?: Five years ago I would not have imagined myself re-married. Five years ago I would not have seen myself in a pandemic and writing a blog. Five years from now I could be on a rocket to Mars or working at an open market selling llama suits in Bora Bora. Especially given the trauma of living in 2020, maybe one good thing to come out of it is that this question will disappear forever.

Now, the reason it is asked is because the Hiring Manager is trying to ascertain your career goals. Do you want to be a manager? Are you looking to for more responsibilities? The best way to answer this question is to demonstrate goal setting, personal drive but also not being an arrogant jerk. “The CEO of the company” or “doing your job” are not good answers in most cases unless that is the stipulated career track. “After 5 years of contributing to the growth of this company and gaining the trust of those around me, I anticipate that I will still be here, if hired, but with more responsibilities and oversight.” is a good answer.

4) Why are you leaving your current position?: Again, here is another one I have addressed in a prior entry. Main thing is not to badmouth your prior employer. No one wants to here about your Ex!!!!

5) Do you prefer working by yourself or in a team?: A lot of how you answer this question depends on the position. Now, most people I know hated doing group projects in high school. The reason most people hated them is because the every single group had the one slacker who would do nothing and try to ride the coattails of the group for a good grade. Communication is bad and friendships can be lost. Bad teams in the workplace are not much different. No one wants to be on a shitty team, and if you don’t believe ask Matt Stafford, Barry Sanders or anyone else who has played for the Detroit Lions for the last half century.

A good and honest way to answer this question is, “My best experiences working on teams have been where the roles are well-defined and everyone understands the end-goal and is on the same page. The milestones are laid out and communication is strong. This is my ideal team working environment.” And then, you can turn it around and ask “how is the team environment here?” Ask how it is in the department or in the company overall. You can get a good read on company culture and turn it around on them a bit. After all, the best interview is the one where the interviewee is asking most of the questions!

6) What motivates you?: The first inclination if answering honestly is to say, “money!” Of course everyone says that if they won the lottery tomorrow, then they would retire tomorrow. If we didn’t have to work would we?

In all actuality, several studies have shown that the number one thing that motivates people isn’t always money. In fact, seeing results from our work, contributing, feeling appreciated, collaboration, personal growth and helping others are really large factors in what makes us decide to stay at a job or not. Think about these things and your work history and give examples. “I enjoyed my last job because I taught myself X which allowed me to contribute to the Company by doing Y. This motivated to learn more X and get more involved in Z.” Something along those lines, as it should be an honest and heartfelt answer.

7.) How do you deal with pressure at work?: This is a personal question. Obviously we all deal with pressure. A good way to answer is to describe how you prioritize and organize your time when dealing with multiple deadlines. If this is not you, maybe talk about strategies for distressing like taking a walk at lunch or talking through the project with co-workers or a supervisor. Just don’t answer with things like heavy drinking, shooting people or breaking furniture and you should be able to skate through this question.

8.) What is your biggest failure?: People get thrown off and assume that the interviewer is trying to dig down to find out what your biggest flop is so that they don’t hire you. The primal response on the interviewee is to want to cover up one’s misdeeds of the past. If you do react that way you are missing an opportunity to impress.

Failures, like middle school, is something everyone experiences but no one likes to talk about. For this question think of the biggest fuck up you have ever had at work. Think of a way that you crashed and burned, probably early in your career. Then discuss what you learned from it. Then discuss how you made sure it would never ever happen again. Your potential employer is looking to see how you handle adversity and if you can show the character to come back from a mistake. It’s no coincidences that most successful entrapreneur’s fail on average 7 times before succeeding. Everyone loves a comeback story. Write your comeback story to answer this question.

9.) Tell me a challenging situation and how you overcame it?: This is question #8 just framed a different way. If you get asked both #8 and #9 in the same interview, you can have 2 stories prepared or just refer back to your last answer. “I’d have to say that last experience I described was a very challenging situation.” If you are asked, “well do you have any other examples,” then be prepared! Again, everyone loves a good comeback story!

10.) What are your hobbies outside of work?: The one answer no one wants to this question is a blank stare, some hemming and hawing followed by “meh, not much really.” Everyone has hobbies and interests. It’s good to bring them up here with a story. This is a softball question. Talk about why you like what you and your favorite aspects of it. You are making yourself out to be a unique individual with experiences. This is a chance to make yourself memorable. My wife has gotten hired in part for office work because she is an opera singer who majored in music and performs. That is memorable stuff!

I encourage to research other blogs and resources and look at other potential interview questions. I’ll probably have a follow up to this article with another 10 questions as there are many. The main thing is to be prepared to answer as many questions as possible and nail the interview. Just like any athlete or performance artist, preparation and experience are key. If you are looking for a job, interview as much as possible. If you are thinking of looking for a job, practice in front of a mirror or with a partner. The conference room is the stage and the interview is the screenplay script. Happy interviewing and even happier results!