Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A job interview is not a one-way road for the recruiter to find out more about you -
it`s also a great opportunity for you to learn more about the company, the vacancy and
the culture! This is your chance to present yourself and ask any questions you might
have. Here are just a few tips to prepare for your interview, followed by 50 essential
interview questions:
- Be prepared: make sure you did your homework and are well-informed about the
company and the position. Get a good night`s sleep as well before.
- Presentation: you never get a second chance to make a first impression! It`s better
to be overdressed than underdressed.. Be confident and show an open body language.
- STAR methodology: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Questions which are best
answered using this methodology will certainly appear to test your actions in certain
situations. Come up with good examples from prior experiences.
- Ask questions: make sure you have prepared a list of questions you would like to
have answered.
- Show respect: listen to your recruiter, be friendly, positive and show interest.
- Tip: send a thank-you email after the interview. You can confirm your interest for
the vacancy and say your enthusiasm for the position has increased. This will
definitely distinguish you from other candidates.
Click on the questions below to see sample answers and further advice.
4. What type of books, magazines and newspapers do you read? Which were the latest
ones you read?
The recruiter wants to learn more about your interest in national and/or global news,
as well as your interest in literature. Depending on the type of company you are
applying for, and the sector it`s in, it can be wise to mention some recent influential
books in your profession. Don`t fake having read these books, but don`t be too honest
in saying you haven`t read a book since high school! Consider it as part of the job in
being up-to-date on current affairs in the country/world, and even more important, in
the sector you are seeking a career in.
9. Do you have any plans to continue studying, for an advanced degree for example?
An ideal answer would be: "Obviously I am always interested in further education to
enhance my value as an employee and to develop myself further. I would be very
interested in any company trainings to keep up-to-date about developments in the
industry, or other courses on management and teamwork. I consider an MBA as an
interesting option as well, given that it would fit in well with my career progress
within a company such as yours."
10. If given the chance, would you have done anything differently in your university
career?
The recruiter is trying to detect any flaws in your university experience. A possible
answer would be: "I would not changing anything. My university life was extremely
rewarding, both socially and academically. It was the best time of my life, and I
would even consider doing it all over again!"
11. What would you have done anything differently in your life until now?
Again, the same tactic as in question 10.. Don`t be open about any mistakes or regrets
in your life. "Life comes as it is, which was very rich and rewarding until now. All
events have shaped me the way I am now, and I rather look forward than back!"
17. What traits and qualifications do you have which will make you successful in this
career path?
You need a combination of qualities to be successful in your career path. Mention that
you have a combination of the academic qualities (university), practical
(internship/work experience), a profound interest in the field, and the drive to excel in
your career.
21. I can also hire someone internally in the firm. Why should I hire an external
person such as you?
The recruiter might not really be facing this dilemma, but wants to hear again from
you why you are fit for the job. You probably already listed your unique selling points
(you can concisely repeat these), but then you still need to beat the competition (the
internal employee). Current employees have the advantage that they know the
company and the environment, but new employees bring in fresh ideas and experience
and greater variety. Focus on these value-adds which you would bring.
22. What changes would you make in our company if I hired you?
Dangerous question! Always remember: you`re not hired yet, you don`t know the
firm well enough, nor the market it is in, so you don`t have a clear answer here either!
Best is to reply that you can`t give a clear answer for these reasons, and would need to
be working in the firm for a couple of weeks/months to make a good assessment of
what can be done. Depending on what the firm exactly is seeking, you can mention
your prior experience in achieving similar goals.
23. You`re standing in an elevator with your potential future boss - how would you
sell yourself in 10 seconds?
Another sales pitch: see questions 20 and 21. Just now you have a time constraint!
Practice this beforehand - be concise and summarize your background and how this
meets the company`s demands.
24. You are allowed to ask someone in history a single question. Who would you
choose and what is your question?
This is a question in the category "unexpected questions". The recruiter would like to
test how you react to a question you didn`t expect. Don`t worry, you won`t lose the
job if you don`t have an answer, but answering something (no matter how dull it may
be) is always better than having no response whatsoever.
26. How would you gain the confidence of a client who has over 30 years experience?
You`ll need a perfect balance between confidence and modesty here. You can`t make
up for 30 years experience, so you`ll need to bring forward other traits to gain the
client`s confidence. These would include your knowledge of the sector (impress
him/her with your insights which you gained in a relatively short amount of time),
your grasp of recent developments (younger entrants tend to be more open to these),
and by respecting his/her experience and trying to learn more from it.
27. Do you prefer working alone or in a team?
Choosing either one of them is rarely the right answer, however this depends on the
position you are applying for! The ideal answer usually highlights a combination of
the two, for example: "I love the energy that comes with working with people, which
is visible through both the synergy of different perspectives and the fun that comes
with it. I`m also perfectly capable of working alone however, holding my own
responsibilities. I however prefer a combination of both, and am confident of my
abilities in both as well."
29. Tell me about a problem you faced whilst working in a team. How did you resolve
the problem?
The recruiter is keen on seeing your communication skills, as well as your ability as a
mediator. You can give an example of how a certain team member (during a
university course for example) failed to contribute. You resolved the conflict by
having a personal talk with him first (not involving the professor), and tried to see
exactly what the problem was. Was the work too difficult or were there other issues at
stake? The recruiter wants to hear that you first analyzed the problem, without
jeopardizing the success of your co-student. Once you discovered the problem, you
proposed a solution to your co-student, in which you might even have offered your
assistance (i.e. if the coursework was too difficult). If the problem still wasn`t solved
and your co-student clearly had an attitude problem, you might have showed your
hard side and kicked him out of the team.
31. What would you do if a colleague is underperforming, which is hurting you and
your division as well?
This questions tests your integrity, as well as your social skills and adaptability to
office politics. Again, open communication is essential, so you can answer that you
first had a personal talk with the colleague to explain the situation. You suggest that
the output could be better if your colleague could perhaps do his work in a different
way. Depending on his reaction, you can go on to say that the alternative would be a
lower output, and a shift away from the desired result the entire team is striving for. If
the problem persists, you would start to increase the pressure by involving more
people (maybe also your boss) into the problem insights and your proposed solutions.
32. Are you good at dealing with stress? Give me several examples which
demonstrate this.
Never answer no! Of course you are used to dealing with high-pressure situations,
whether it was in university, on a job or any other situation! Just have some good
examples ready, whereby you didn`t lose your cool, stayed focused and delivered the
result as planned!
36. Describe a situation where you successfully convinced others of your ideas.
This is a very common interview question - have an example ready here. The recruiter
wants to hear for example: "Our team had an option of doing either A or B. The
whole team was going for A, I was the only one who preferred B. I had individual
talks with everyone in my team to convince them why B would give us more
efficiency and higher quality. Slowly I managed to convince team members until the
majority supported my idea and we switched to B."
38. Please give me some examples which show that you can adapt to a variety of
people, cultures, and environments.
An easy question - make sure you have some examples ready. This can include for
example: quick adaptation to new university (made friends easily by becoming
member of association) or in a new country (for example during an internship
abroad). Make sure you explain how you adapted to the new culture, and how you
crossed any hurdles.
39. Which areas of the world would you like to explore and why?
This is a question to get to know you better as a person. Be honest, let loose more
about your personality or hobbies - you might even find more common ground with
the recruiter. Also, the recruiter is more likely to remember interesting answers, so
have a good answer/story ready!
40. Are you good at handling several tasks and responsibilities simultaneously?
This question looks at your ability to plan tasks efficiently. You can give an example
of how you had a part-time job next to your university, which required very efficient
time allocation. To be specific, you might have used "to-do-lists" to structure your
priorities and track your daily progress.
44. Tell me more about your prior internship/job experience. How would your
previous colleagues describe you?
Similar to question 42, though here the recruiter would like to learn more about what
others think of your professional side rather than your social side. Remember to stay
positive, tell enthusiastically about your previous experiences and the good
relationships you had with colleagues (if applicable of course!). Your previous
colleagues` views need to match with what you earlier told the recruiter regarding
your strong points - try to avoid your weaknesses obviously. A possible good way to
end the answer would be to say "I`m still in touch with my previous colleagues and
the boss was even open to a prolonged stay on my side - I however preferred to seek a
larger elsewhere".
45. What is the most significant contribution you made in your previous company?
The recruiter wants to hear about your specific contribution - so don`t just mention the
results of your entire team or division. For example: "I wrote a recommendation about
how to achieve x within our company. This was approved by my division-leader and
is currently being implemented, leading to a increase in efficiency by x%."
48. Your boss tells you in confidence that he is considering firing a colleague, who
happens to be your best friend at work. How would you handle this situation?
Such hypothetical questions try to trap you into judging situations on the spot. Try to
stick to a mere rational and methodological course of action, for example "I would try
to analyze exactly what the problem is, why is my friend not living up to
expectations? I need to be careful not to lose the trust of my boss, but I also do not
want to withhold my friend essential information relating to his career. I would
analyze several solutions, maybe I could even see if I can help/train/complement my
friend with his apparent deficiency. After reviewing all possible solutions, I would
need to select the best course of action." Remember that you often cannot give your
interview a definite answer, since the question is hypothetical and you don`t have all
the facts on the table!