What are the most common interview questions?


I thought it would be useful for me to set out some typical interview questions to assist with your interview preparation. These are only a selection of the questions you may get during an interview but should provide you with a starting point.

  1. What are your weaknesses/strengths?
  2. What was your greatest achievement in your job?
  3. Explain a situation when you have had to deal with a difficult person.
  4. How do you motivate people?
  5. Why is there a gap in your CV?
  6. How do you go about problem-solving?
  7. If you were going to start your career again, what changes would you make?
  8. Tell me about yourself.
  9. Why do you want the job?
  10. What are your ambitions?
  11. Describe a difficult decision you had to make. Would you make the same decision again faced with the same situation?
  12. How do you go about motivating yourself?
  13. What qualities can you bring to the job?
  14. What achievements in your life are you most proud of?
  15. How do you feel about supervising people older than you?
  16. How would you deal with a situation when you are not in agreement with the rest of the team?
  17. How do you respond to change?
  18. What experiences most influenced your development as an individual?
  19. What do you know about this organisation and why do you want to work here?
  20. How do you react to pressure?


Competency Questions

The other types of questions you may get at interview are competency questions. As stated in my previous blog, in response to competency questions consider examples that relate to the job you are applying for. For example, if you need to influence people, think of an example when you have won someone over in a way relevant to the role. The following structure should help you to prepare answers for these types of questions:

  1. Objective
  2. Need/problem
  3. How you met the need/resolved the problem
  4. What was the outcome/benefit?
  5. What you learnt from it and what you would do differently next time.

Remember, preparation is the key to success!

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