1 What are you passionate about?
When answering this question, be sure to choose a passion that you’re actively involved with and knowledgeable about. There’s no right or wrong answers here, but you should select a passion you’re actually enthusiastic about, or your interviewer may see right through you.
You don’t have to force your answer to tie back to work-related skills (although it’s not bad if it does.) Honesty reigns supreme for this question.
Example Answer:
3 What skills would you bring to the job?
Your answer should include at least a couple of the skills listed in the job description. Try to incorporate both hard and soft skills, and really emphasize those that will have the greatest impact on your job performance.
Keep your answer short, or the interviewer won’t remember any of it. It’s better for her to hear and remember your top 2-3 skills than hear a list of every skill under the sun and forget it all.
As always, incorporate examples of when you’ve successfully leveraged your skills to accomplish great things.
1 What gets you up in the morning?
A large part of the interview is meant for the hiring manager to learn how you would work as a member of their team, so you should prepare to answer personal questions like this one.
Don’t just list off seemingly obvious answers â your interviewer doesn’t want to hear about your love of coffee or how your cat with borderline diabetes meows at you until you get out of bed to feed it. This question is meant to help the interviewer learn more about you, what you value in life, and what motivates you.
Example Answer:
Skip the party tricks and deeply personal answers. Tie your answer back to the job in some way, even if it’s seemingly irrelevant.
For instance, if you’re a world-traveler, talk about your love of learning new things and meeting new people (especially if the job you’re applying for involves a lot of that).
Don’t feel compelled to be exciting or special with your answer. Boring can be perfectly fine if framed the right way. Even the most ordinary hobbies can involve important professional skills.
Example Answer:
Job Interview Question and Answer: What Have You Been Doing Since Your Last Job? Or Since Graduation?
An interviewer may ask, “What have you been up to since your last job?” if an applicant has gaps in their history. Employers ask this question to see if you used your time away from the workforce to hone new skills that might benefit the company. Your answer will show hiring managers your level of ambition and commitment to your advancement.
Why are you looking for a new job?
Being on the job hunt while you still have a job is, in general, a pretty great position to be in. It’s certainly better than the alternative, as it gives your prospective new boss no reason at all to doubt your ability to play well with others and hold down a job.
To answer this question, avoid negative talk about your current job. Focus on why you want to work for this company in particular and why you’re applying for this position. Always bring it back to the skills and value you can add to the company.
Example Answer:
What is your greatest weakness?
This is one of the most dreaded common interview questions because it feels like a trick question. There’s no trick to it, though, because even if you are a master of your trade, no one is perfect, and your interviewers know that.
This question is all about self-awareness, so consider where you could use some improvement and talk about what you’re doing to grow in those areas or to keep them from costing your employer.
While the classic, “I work too hard and care too much,” sounds like an easy cop-out, hiring managers actually prefer you give a sincere answer.
They know you aren’t perfect, so saying that you don’t have any weaknesses is actually a red flag. They want to see that you’re self-aware enough to recognize your shortcomings and that you’re actively working to become a better employee.
So, explain in detail what you struggle with, what you’re doing to grow, and the results of those efforts.
Example Answer: