1.10: Basic Interview Questions

What are your strengths?

What do you have to offer an employer? Why should that employer choose you over someone else? What will make interviewers remember you after they finish their first round of meeting potential candidates? It is about matching their problems and needs with your qualifications, skills and traits. Your mission is to convince interviewers that you are the solution they have been seeking.

Make your case. Concentrating on your five best strengths will help you focus during the interview and will make it easier for them to remember you. You can begin before the interview by identifying your five key strengths and matching them up with the job requirements. Once you have done that, determine ways to bring up these matches during the interview.

What are your weakness?

Be up front. Interviewers do not want to make people feel uncomfortable, but rather they want to see in which areas candidates feel they need to improve and what they are doing about it. In order to advance professionally, we all need to be able to identify not just strengths, but also our weaknesses, and how we can upgrade in these areas. Job candidates should be up front during interviews. Do not say you have "no weaknesses" or "work too hard." Instead, tell hiring managers what you are working on improving and what you have done to build your skills in these areas.

One thing to keep in mind: If one of your weaknesses relates directly to the position and could potentially take you out of contention the opportunity may not be right for you.

Why do you want this job?

When asked in an interview, "Why do you want this job?" you can answer using the following steps as a guide:

• Show how your skills match;
• Show your enthusiasm for the job;
• Show how you fit into the culture.

Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?

Nobody has a crystal ball, but that does not give you an excuse when it comes to predicting your future. When an interviewer asks you, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” they are testing your level of career ambition. Despite its ambiguity, this question, when asked, does have a definitive answer. They can tell by your resume and cover letter if you have the skills and education necessary to fill the position—that is why they are talking to you. What they need to know is, do you fit in with the company’s team, vision, and culture? Explain how your goals align with the company’s goals. Pick out some points from the company’s mission statement that resonate with you and your goals, and mention how you hope to expand on those in the coming years.

What is your ideal company?

They are interested in finding a match for the position and the company. A match does not just consist of qualifications, but motivation, attitude, potential, culture, and more.

Your answer should resemble inclusive of the company mission: “My ideal company is one that values individual employees and encourages them to speak up and share ideas, but that also has a commitment to sustainability”

What attracted you to this company?

The hiring manager asks a rather simple interview question, yet it catches you off guard: "Why do you want to work for this company?" The obvious answer that comes to mind is, "Because you have an opening, and I need a job." While this may be true, it will not earn you any points in a job interview.

The interviewer is looking for an answer that indicates you have thought about where you want to work—that you are not just sending your resume to any company with a job opening.

Researching the company and industry before your interview will make you stand out as a more informed and competent applicant. Search company websites for mission statements, product and service information, principals' backgrounds, and contact information. Check company financials through the US Securities and Exchange Commission. By reviewing the company’s website and social media accounts, and reading news articles about the firm, you will be able to draw conclusions about the value you can bring to the position, whether it is because the company’s mission matches yours, its culture is a good fit or you have a skill that the company needs.

After you have done your research, come up with two or three reasons you want to work for the company. Also, think of at least two reasons this job is a good match for your skills, strengths, experience and background. What can you bring to the company? Write down your thoughts and rehearse them as part of your script. You should opportunities to show that you have done your homework on the company, and how you might fit into the open role.

Why should we hire you?

From the moment you enter the room for a job interview, the hiring manager is assessing one thing: Are you the best person for the job? At some point during the interview, you can expect to be asked straight up, “Why should we hire you?”

Obviously, you cannot respond, “Because I need a job.” Granted, it is a loaded question, “but you need to ace it.” Your answer needs to demonstrate that you are the solution to the employer’s problem (a vacancy on their team), and no other candidate could possibly do the job better than you could. So why should they choose you over anybody else? Take these steps to prepare a well-crafted response.

Focus on the employer’s needs (not yours). Though the question “Why should we hire you” seems like the focus is on you and your wants, it is not. Your personal career goals are certainly important, but this question is an opportunity to explain how you will bring value to the company.

To prepare, research everything you can about the business’ agenda—read its website, social media, quarterly reports, company profiles, press releases, and recent news stories about the company. What are their goals? Where do they see themselves headed in the future? How can your talents help get them there? (“This company wants to be an industry leader in xyz. My background has given me valuable experience in that realm, and I have a lot of ideas as to how we can make that happen together.”)

Reflect on the job itself. You can also learn a lot from a job posting. Most job descriptions outline not only job responsibilities, and qualifications, but also what core skills are required to be successful in the position.

The best strategy is to target three to four skills and explain how you have demonstrated them in the past. (“I know that being able to function is a busy workplace is one of the crucial skills for this position. Let me give you a few examples of how I’ve applied this skill in my career thus far.”)

Where possible, weave in language from the job posting. You can also use some of the company’s buzzwords without sounding overly rehearsed.

Address cultural fit. About eight in 10 employers said they measure for cultural fit when hiring job candidates. Part of your answer to “Why should we hire you” should indicate why you‘d be a good match for the company’s environment. (“This isn’t a traditional company, which is wonderful because I don’t consider myself a traditional worker. Like you, I thrive on innovation.”)

What did you like least about your last job?

"What did you like least about your last job?" can be something of a trap when it comes to interview questions, because your interviewer is asking for a negative answer. If you have not given the subject some thought, you may accidentally talk yourself out of a job.

If you are asked this question— or its close cousins, “What was the worst part of your last job?” or "Why didn't you like your last job?"—in an interview, you will want to keep your answer honest while trying to incorporate a positive angle. One of the purposes of this interview question is to find out if you are going to be satisfied in the job for which you are interviewing. If you were dissatisfied before, you may be dissatisfied again if the circumstances are similar.

Here is how three different candidates might answer this question:

Answer No. 1: "I didn't have enough challenges. After a while, all the projects became repetitive. I thrive on challenge."

Interviewer's thoughts: Many of the tasks here are repetitive. What makes this candidate think he will like it here any better? Will we be able to keep him challenged?

Answer No. 2: "Lack of stability. After three company acquisitions, I had five bosses in three years. I could not take it any longer. What I am looking for is stability in a job and company."

Interviewer's thoughts: While our company is stable now, there are no guarantees about the future. This woman sounds like she may have some burnout and flexibility issues.

Answer No. 3: "In my last job, my boss was overbearing and wouldn't let me do my job. If she didn't like the way I was doing something, she'd criticize me."

Interviewer's thoughts: Could he work with me as a supervisor? How would he react if I had to comment on his work? He sounds like he could be a problem to supervise.

Do not make the same mistakes these candidates made. Instead, use this three-step strategy to leave the recruiter feeling positively after this negative question.

Start on the right foot

While this is a negative question in search of a negative answer, you want to begin your answer with something upbeat that shows you are generally not a negative person, which shows you generally look for the good in situations. You will probably want to note your overall satisfaction with your job, and even give one specific thing you have found valuable about the job.

You say: "I've given this question some thought, and overall I've been very satisfied with my job. I've been able to work with some really interesting people."

Stay on tasks

When you get to the meat of this question, you'll benefit by doing some advance planning, as you'll likely get some iteration of this question (it might sound something more like "Why are you looking to leave your current job?"). Create a list of those things responsible for your dissatisfaction. Spend some time looking at your list for patterns. Are there some projects that recur on your list? Are there some situations you don't want to get into again? This exercise will help you identify things to watch for and to ask questions about during the interview.

As you look for the answer to the question you're being asked, try to focus on an element of the work itself rather than company politics (which may be messy if your interviewer knows people at your company) or people (the recruiter may translate this answer into your being difficult). Try to limit yourself to one issue, such as workload, lack of growth or lack of flexibility.

You say: "I have to say that I did have a job where there was an inordinate amount of paperwork." Notice the word "inordinate." Not a normal load paperwork, but an unusually large amount. End with a strength

Use your closing sentence to acknowledge how this particular negative situation hampered you from deploying one of your key skills, so that the interviewer sees you as someone who wants to be able to work to their best potential.

You say: "The paperwork has bogged me down, and prevented me from doing what I do best, which is working with people."

Practicing the answer to this question can be duly helpful for you: Not only does it get you ready for the interview; it gets you ready to decide whether you will want the job. When you can identify the factors that give you job satisfaction, as well as the factors that were unpleasant or tedious for you, you can more easily determine if a job is the right job for you. Remember that this interview goes both ways!

When were you most satisfied in your job?

What can you do for us that other candidates cannot?

What were the responsibilities of your last position?

Why are you leaving your present job?

There are many reasons for leaving a job without having a new one lined up, and not all of them are created equal. Some of your resulting resume gaps can be explained away by having “good” or “acceptable” reasons, like taking time off to raise a family or going back to school. Coming out of a tough economy, even getting laid off doesn’t have the stigma attached to it that it once did. However, what if you were the one who decided on quitting your job?

Additional responsibility, increased pay, and relocation are often ‘good excuses’ for leaving a job. However, many people quit for more personal reasons - because they could not deal with a boss from hell, they felt stuck in a dead-end position, or they were tired of enduring poor treatment. In those cases, you will have to find a way to put a positive spin on why you decided to say, “I quit!” when you go on your next job interview.

The last thing you want to risk is having your interviewer thinking that you are a quitter, who could not hack it, was not a team player, or who was hard to manage. This is how can you explain in an honest way why you quit your last job without scaring off recruiters.

You left a demanding job because you were feeling burned out

Do not launch into a tirade about how you were expected to work 80 hours a week or how your supervisor expected you to answer 11 p.m. emails. Instead, say something along the lines of “I’m looking for an opportunity where I can leverage my skills and experience, while also balancing time with family and friends. I believe we perform our best when we have a healthy balance between work and life.”

Many companies are embracing—and even demanding—work/life blend, so focus on the type of work environment you thrive in.

If you have no other gaps on your resume and have a record of accomplishment working with companies for big chunks of time, an interviewer should be satisfied with that response.

You left to take care of a family member or health issue

Of all the good reasons for leaving a job, your duty to your health and your loved ones is at the top. While you certainly don’t have to get into the specifics if you went out on ‘Family and Medical Leave Act’ and then just didn’t return to the job after your 12 weeks were up, you might want to at least give the interviewer some key information.

You can address that this was ‘a very specific and one-time issue’ that is now resolved, and assure them the situation isn’t part of a pattern. That way, a hiring manager will not be worried that they will bring you on board only to lose you in a few months.

You needed a change

If you are making a career change, is it because you simply reached the point where you could not stand what you were doing anymore? If so, that is not necessarily the best way to put it to a prospective employer. Instead, say something like “I’m seeking out opportunities that will allow me to make full use of my newly acquired web design skills” (or whatever new passion or old interest you want to tap into).

Again, prospective employers are looking for stability, so do your best to demonstrate that you’re not just seeking this position on a whim, but that you’ve taken steps to prepare yourself and done industry research to make sure this is what you want.

You did not click with your former company’s ethics

There are times when resigning from a job might have been the smartest thing you could have done. That said, whether you felt uncomfortable about the way management treated young hires or you found out about some shady financial practices, bashing your former employer will not go over well (even if it’s well deserved).

Instead, try to turn the conversation onto the values you share with this new potential employer. It’s fine to bring up legitimate high-level disagreements between you and management, but you should present their ‘train of thought’ and why you fundamentally disagreed.

Then, make the shift to describe what you admire about the company you are interviewing with, such as how they focus on diversity and inclusion or strive to be environmentally conscious. This will also give you the opportunity to show that you did your homework.

You are looking for more money or a promotion

You might have felt justified at leaving a job because you did not get a raise or title change in four years, but there is a way to express that in an interview without coming off as bitter. “Instead, explain that you’d reached the growth ceiling in your position and you are ready for your next challenge. This puts a positive spin on your departure and the ‘challenge’ portion implies that you will be a hard worker.

No matter your reason for resigning from a job, here are a few more general tips to keep in mind:

Less is more. Provide just enough information to explain your reason for leaving without going into too much detail.

Stay on point. Stick with sharing relevant information that relates to the company and position you’re applying to.

Be honest. While you can certainly frame how you quit in a positive way, you should never flat out lie about how things went down.

Show off your strengths

Though you may feel a bit tripped up on this question, remember it's not the only thing a hiring manager will take into consideration with regard to your candidacy. One way to start on a good foot is with a strong resume that highlights your achievements. If an employer is impressed by your resume, it could help draw the focus toward the stuff you want to talk about - your skills and experience.

What do you know about this industry?

Growth data and regional information is readily available on the Internet via a Google search as a start. This is a fair question. You should have some idea of your industry’s vitality, sustainability, as well as opportunities and threat on the horizon.

What do you know about our company?

This question intends to gauge your actual interest in a position. Take the time to scrutinize the company’s operation, facility, menu, reputation and so forth. If it is a public company, their financial data will be available to the public. Take a critical look at their website. Try to generate questions useful during an interview. Compare the potential company to other competitors in the genre and asses their strength and growth possibilities. You are also looking for talking points that indicate that you really are interested in the company and have done your homework.

Are you willing to relocate?

Do you have any questions for me?

Surprisingly, the most common answer to the interview question, "Do you have any questions?" is no. Not only is this the wrong answer, but it is also a missed opportunity to find out information about the company. It is important for you to ask questions—not just any questions, but those relating to the job, the company and the industry.

Consider this: Two candidates are interviewing for an inside sales position.

Henry asks, "I was wondering about benefits, and when they would become effective. In addition, what is the yearly vacation allowance? And, does the company match the 401k plan?" Assuming this is the first interview, it is premature to ask about benefits. "What's in it for me?" questions can be interpreted as self-centered and a sign of your lack of interest in the job.

The next candidate, Christine, says, "No, I think you just about covered everything I wanted to know. I'm sure I'll have more questions if I get the job." This is a very passive response that doesn't demonstrate interest or imagination. Once you get the job - if you get it - may be too late to ask questions.

It is important to ask questions to learn about the company and the job's challenges. In some cases, the interviewer will be listening for the types of questions you ask. The best questions will come as a result of listening to the questions the interviewer asks you.

A good response to the interviewer asking, "Do you have any questions?" would be: "Yes, I do. From what you've been asking during the interview, it sounds like you have a problem with customer retention. Can you tell me a little more about the current situation and what the first challenges would be for the new person?" This answer shows interest in what the problem is and how you could be the possible solution. It is also an opportunity to get a sense of what will be expected.

Be prepared

What information do you need to decide whether to work at this company? Make a list of at least 10 questions to take with you to the interview. Depending on who is interviewing you, your questions should vary.

If you are interviewing with the hiring manager, ask questions about the job, the desired qualities and the challenges.

If you are interviewing with the human resources manager, ask about the company and the department.

If you are interviewing with management, ask about the industry and future projections. This is your chance to demonstrate your industry knowledge.

Timing is important

You will have to use your judgment about the number of questions you ask and when to ask them. Think of this as a ‘conversation’. There will be an appropriate time to ask certain types of questions, like those about benefits and vacation. To be on the safe side, concentrate on questions about the job's responsibilities and how you fit the position until you get the actual offer.

When you begin to think of the interview as a two-way process, you will see it is important for you to find out as much as possible about the company. Questions will give you the opportunity to find out if this is a good place for you to work before you say yes.

Job interviews can be stressful. What, with remembering which questions to ask, what to wear, what to bring, it can be so confusing. Get expert advice on interviewing, negotiating, and conducting your job search by becoming a Monster member. The best part is that it all gets emailed to you so you don't even have to remember to check in. Instead, all you have to do is think about the first day at your dream job.

Behavioral interview questions

What was the last project you led, and what was its outcome?

It’s common to discuss your work history and experience in an interview, but some employers want more detail than others. In particular, some may ask you to dig into the last project you led.

There are many things interviewers might gauge from your response to this question. The interviewer may want to know if you were able to collaborate with and lead a team. Or, was there a major client issue that you resolved without specific direction or much information from others?”

Here are a few pointers for preparing your answer.

Choose the right example

Select a project you worked on recently, not one from several years ago.

You should choose a project that was successful, unless you’re going to explain how you turned around a negative outcome. I’ve been amazed how many times people when interviewed get halfway into this story and realize they’ve picked a bad example where the outcome was a disaster.

The answer should be honest. The interviewer is less worried about whether the project succeeded - though success is good - and whether the candidate can explain why it succeeded or failed.”

Interviewers don’t only want to know that you led a project, but also how you led. Again, the project did not necessarily need to be a total success—though that helps—but you will need to demonstrate the specific ways in which you organized and motivated your team.

You say “I recently led a team that prepared a series of presentations for clients at my company’s annual conference.”

Show your leadership skills

After you have established a solid example of a time you were thrust into the lead role, you will need to go into detail about what you did when you got there. Explain your processes, meeting schedules and the tools you used to stay organized. Be specific. The interviewer is trying to gauge how you may lead projects in your new role.

For example, if you were tasked with creating and presenting a new marketing campaign or organizing an internal client database, you will want to describe the employees on your team, their roles, how you handled delegating responsibilities and how you reported the group’s workflow to your superiors. Through this, you will be able to paint a full picture of what you did to accomplish the task.

You say “I was charged with assigning specific presentations to the team members, setting deadlines and editing their material.”

Provide proof of success

It’s easy to say that the project was a success, but you should give details that will prove it to the interviewer.

A good candidate will understand that their personal assessment of the project is one thing, but that the interviewer is likely interested in something more objective. Explain how your team determined that the project was a success, and detail goals that were met.

You say “Two colleagues missed their deadlines, but we all pulled together to help them, and after the conference our client feedback was 100% positive. I even received an email from one client who said this year’s was the best yet.”

Learn to say the right things

Every interview question is an opportunity to put your skills and experience front and center in order to impress hiring managers, but you have to choose your words carefully for maximum impact.

• Give me an example of a time that you felt you went above and beyond the call of duty at work.
• Can you describe a time when your work was criticized?
• Have you ever been on a team where someone was not pulling their own weight? How did you handle it?
• Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it?
• What is your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it?
• How do you handle working with people who annoy you?’

Get this job interview question right, and maybe you will find yourself in a new job with less annoying co-workers.

It's important to get along with your co-workers. It may sound like a question from an online dating profile, but when job interviewers ask what irritates you about others, they’re trying to assess how you will get along with your colleagues and clients, and how your personality will fit in with the company culture. Work culture is at the heart of what determines whether or not you love your job. You eat with your co-workers, spend early mornings and late nights together, celebrate, gossip—even argue sometimes. If you’re not family, you’re basically roommates, right? And just like you wouldn’t want to share space with someone who cranks death metal until 2 a.m. when you’re a light sleeper, you don’t want to work with people who aren’t on your wavelength either—not if you can help it.

No one can give you a crystal ball to predict your future happiness at a particular company, but there are some ways to get a sense of what the people, the work-life balance, and the day-to-day will be like at your new home away from home.

We spoke with career experts and hiring managers to find out some of the best questions you should ask during the interview process in order to get a sense of the ‘work culture’ you’ll be walking into. It’s the kind of research that could make the difference between loving—and loathing—what you do.

1. “Does the company or job description sound like me?”

This first question is not one that you ask during the interview, but one you should ask yourself during your interview prep. As you do your research and find out as much about the company's work culture as possible—including reading employee reviews—read what the company has to say for itself, either on the company’s website. Check out the job description too. Some are written in a way that makes you say “Yes, that’s me!,” but other times, you could read a job description and just not feel it. If you’re a bonafide introvert and the description says, “Are you a dynamic go-getter who loves meeting hundreds of new people every day?” you might want to skip that one.

2. “What do you like to do outside of work?”

You’re going to be spending a lot of time with the people you end up working with, even outside of normal work hours, at conferences, celebrations, networking, etc. Getting a sense of what they do in their downtime could give you a sense of what they’re like while on the clock. And remember: You’re interviewing them as much as they’re interviewing you, so it’s OK to ask a few things about their likes and dislikes, and some of their habits. By seeing how people like to spend their free time, you’ll get a sense of whether you’ll be working with like-minded people or not. For instance, if you’re single and live in the city, but everyone you interview with is married with kids in the suburbs, you may quickly realize that you won’t have a lot in common with your colleagues—and therefore might not find it easy to make work friends. On the other hand, if you’re an avid cyclist and learn that your co-workers not only like to cycle, but there’s a company team, that could add another plus to your list of pros and cons when deciding whether or not to take the job. And you’d never know if you hadn’t asked.

3. “What are your favorite things about working here?”

This question plays into people’s pride of their company, which can be strategic when asking about work culture. If someone can answer quickly with things they love, it shows they’ve got genuine love for their job (or at least strong like). Similarly, it’s actually a good idea to ask the opposite of this question, too: If you could change two things about the company, what topics would you tackle? But only ask this question if you’ve asked about that person’s favorite aspects of working at the company—that way it’s a natural counterpart and not taken out of context.

4. “What’s the busiest time of year like at the company?”

You might have the urge to ask about when people typically leave work, or if people are always stressed out at the company, but if you ask those questions you’re going to seem like you aren’t a hard worker. Instead, ask about the busiest time of year. Use a phrase like, ‘Tell me about your busiest times and how the team gets things done.’ This way, your interviewer can paint you a picture of how the company reacts when the workload gets heavier.

Think about it. Almost every company has that one worker who types like their fingers are hammers. Alternatively, who is a chatterbox. On the other hand, who is excruciatingly perky and chipper at all hours. Who argues with their significant other on the phone loud enough for the entire floor to hear—daily. Annoying co-workers are a ‘fact of life’. They mean no harm, but they can drive you batty, which can make doing your actual job a lot more difficult than it needs to be. Still, you have to push through the annoyance and get your work done. Interviewers want to know you will not let a little thing like a loud chewer sabotage your duties as an employee.

What annoys you is not a trick question. Hiring managers are trying to determine first, if you are easily irritated, and second, if you are irritated by the habits of their existing staff. They want to know if you are adaptable and a good fit for their organization. To ensure you do not answer this question by unloading every habit you find annoying in others, you need to do some preparation. Use the following tips to focus your answer on something that will not scare off a prospective employer.

Be upfront about what bothers you

• Think of all the different types of personalities that exist in a single workplace. Then consider that everyone is annoyed by something, and when the pressures of work begin to mount, the irritations can start to interfere with teamwork and productivity.
• Do not play dumb and tell the interviewer you never get annoyed with anyone. Even the most patient people will find themselves frustrated with co-workers at one point or another, so you need to describe a moment when you have been legitimately annoyed at work. (It likely will not take you too long to come up with something.)
• You can cite some things that are genuinely irritating, for example, ‘employees taking credit for your work’.

You say “It doesn’t happen often, but I really get irritated when one person hogs all the glory on something that was a group effort. I believe in giving credit where it is due and fairness within a team dynamic.”

What to do when a co-worker takes credit for your work

Do not be a pushover—stand up for yourself and get credit where credit is due.

Annoyed with a deceitful co-worker? This is how to take charge. You worked hard on the problem, came up with an innovative solution, and now you want to deliver your awesome solution to your team and client. But suddenly, your colleague stands up and starts talking about the plan he devised. Except it is actually not his idea at all—it is yours.

Getting recognition for your accomplishments is essential to accelerating your career trajectory and increasing your salary. Track or chronicle them throughout the year. But coming across like a whiner when someone throws you under the bus isn’t great for your career, either. It’s one of those tricky office-politics situations that must be handled delicately.

So what do you do when a co-worker takes credit for your work? We asked experts to explain how to navigate this career conundrum.

Bring up the elephant in the conference room…

Even though you might want to or vent to a co-worker rather than confront the idea thief himself, it’s best to approach the person and assert yourself so he’ll know you’re not the office pushover. Address the situation quickly and directly. Remember, you do not need to accept this behavior no matter who is doing it. You are worthwhile and your ideas are obviously good, so stand up for yourself. Showing that you have a backbone in this way could make your co-worker think twice about trying the same move again.

…but do not point fingers—bring up observations instead

You do not want to say something you will regret—especially when you have to work with the person at least 40 hours a week. There is always the chance that wires got crossed, and you’d hate to have destroyed a salvageable working relationship due to your momentary anger.

“I have found that a non-accusatory approach helps to work through the situation better. Explain that, from your perspective, there appears to be a great similarity in your ideas. Share your observation then listen to the other person’s perspective.

Take steps to prevent a recurrence

At the end of the day, you can’t control how other people act in the workplace—otherwise, no one would assign you a time-sensitive project at 4:59 p.m.—but you can use the experience to adjust how you act in the future. Perhaps it is a sign for you to take more ownership over your ideas. Copy your boss on certain project-specific emails and be sure to speak up in meetings, making it clear that the idea originated from you. You might send periodic updates about your work [to your boss] even before a project is completed. That way, someone else is unable to go around you before you're finished.

Show you are not bothered by the little stuff

Legitimate grievances are different from personal peeves; in the grand scheme of things, someone who bites their nails is less of an issue than someone who misses every single deadline given to them. Employers do not want to hire people who are going to be irritated by every little thing, so you need to give an answer that shows the little stuff will not get to you.

Working with others is challenging. People who are easily irritated are difficult to work with, and people who don’t deal with their concerns with others create more issues down the road. In addition, you want to avoid sounding like you aren’t able to work with people who operate differently than you do. It is excessively easy to fall into the trap of answering this question by showing a lack of patience or understanding toward others. Maybe you are most productive in the mornings, but your co-worker really picks up in the afternoon. This should not derail the team. You need to adapt to different working styles, otherwise you are the annoying one.

You say - “I’m bothered by big mistakes or problems that have team impact. For example, it would bother me greatly if a co-worker were to miss an important deadline on a team project. It’s unfair to the people in the group who made their deadlines.”

Demonstrate your patience when handling an annoyance

Lastly, you must demonstrate that you handle your annoyances in a calm and productive manner. Nobody likes a complainer who does not take any action to fix the situation. Most interviewers are seeking to understand if the person being interviewed is positive and solutions-based, as well as a strong communicator. It is important not to be too harsh or too much of a people pleaser.

Meaning, shouting or putting down someone is both rude and unhelpful, no matter how annoying they are. Instead, it is best to explain how you listen to others when there is a misunderstanding. Give an answer that shows you prefer to discuss your irritations and find a point of agreement with others, rather than simply remaining annoyed or running to the boss to whine without first attempting to solve the issue yourself. Describe a healthy way to handle that situation such as, confronting the employee and only alerting your supervisor if needed.

You say - “Because I know I get irritated when co-workers miss deadlines, I try to always make sure goals are clearly communicated to everyone on the team. I also like to implement regular check-ins to make sure we’re all on the same page, rather than waiting until the end to see if there’s a problem. If the deadline is missed anyway, I try to find out what I can do differently next time so the problem doesn’t repeat itself.”

Smile - you are not done yet

It is not easy to get along with difficult people, but in the workplace, you have no choice if you want to keep—or in this case get—a job. Showing hiring managers that you are good natured is a step in the right direction, and you want your other answers to back up that claim.

• If I were your supervisor and asked you to do something you did not with, what would you do?
• What was the most difficult period in your life, and how did you deal with it?
• Give me an example of a time you did something wrong. How did you handle it?

It is not really about what you did or didn’t do, but about ‘how’ you handle adverse situations—and tough questions.

Answering an interviewer honestly will impress them the most.

Your resume and cover letter successfully outline your qualifications. You are nailing all the reasons you are the right person for the job in the interview. Nevertheless, when the interviewer says, “Give me an example of a time you did something wrong, and how you handled it?” you freeze. No one wants to talk about his or her screw-ups, but doing so with confidence and answering this question well can prove crucial if you want the job. When interviewers ask this question they’re trying to evaluate how you responded in a tough situation.

Here are four tips to help you answer this tough question with confidence and offer an answer that will not only pass this test, but also impress your interviewer in the process.

Never say never

Answer honestly, because anyone who says they have never made a mistake is obviously lying or delusional. As unpleasant as it may be to discuss, you must admit to a mistake and explain how you made things right in some detail. They want you to tell them what you learned from a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes, it’s how you get past those mistakes that interest me.

You say - In my position three years ago at Company X, I missed a major deadline, which is why I am extremely vigilant on keeping my calendar and to do list up to date every day.

Do not blame others

Admit your mistake and take full responsibility for it. Do not try to blame someone else or spread the blame around, taking only part for yourself. Interviewers do not want to hear how your teammate gave you bad information and caused your mistake. Take responsibility of a mistake that happened. Own it. It was your mistake and it should not have happened. Taking responsibility is about being straightforward and contrite. The interviewer wants to see how you react to a difficult question, how you handle pressure, and if you will fit in with the company’s culture. If the mistake truly was not your own, pick a different mistake.

You say - I missed the deadline because I did not maintain proper communication with my team members.

Tell them you handled it like a champion.

Explain in detail how you solved the problem. Moreover, be honest about it, no matter how bad you think your explanation may make you look. The interviewer will not necessarily see it that way.

The interviewer wants to see if the candidate is adaptable and flexible. How do they deal with problems and what do they do when presented with a challenge?

You say - “As soon as I realized I was going to miss the deadline, I contacted all the stakeholders in the project to smooth things over, and we all put in the extra hours needed to get it completed quickly.”

Talk about lessons learned

As long as you were able to learn from it, you can admit to most any mistake—within reason. The interviewer is looking to hear that you did learn from it and put parameters in place so it does not happen again. Tell a story that highlights your ability to learn—and learn well enough not to make the same mistake again. “In almost every role, the best candidate is going to be a strong problem solver. This question helps show how we recover from a problem.

You say - After I missed that deadline, I created a spreadsheet for all future projects that showed everyone a project snapshot and clearly indicated deadlines and where we are at in the process at any given time. Since then, I’ve never missed a deadline.

• Tell me about a time where you had to deal with conflict on the job.
• If you were at a business lunch and you ordered a rare steak and they brought it to you well done, what would you do?
• If you found out your company was doing something against the law, like fraud, what would you do?
• What assignment was too difficult for you, and how did you resolve the issue?
• What's the most difficult decision you've made in the last two years and how did you come to that decision?
• Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish multiple tasks by the end of the day, and there was no conceivable way that you could finish them.

Salary Questions

What salary are you seeking?

• Always refrain from revealing compensation to a recruiter first—let them tell you a number first. Unfortunately, sometimes the conversation goes like a ping-pong match and you ask them, they ask you, and you may have to finally succumb. In that case, give them a range, not a specific number. This gives you wiggle room to negotiate. Plus, if they’re a reputable company they will know a specific range for the job they’re offering and should not go under the lowest number.
• Keep in mind, companies expect you to negotiate. They are more surprised when you do not than when you do. Therefore, you need to look out for yourself. In addition, the current offer from the company where you interned over the summer should know you’re currently interviewing and not locked in to accept their offer either. Even though their current offer is competitive for a new grad, you need to first determine, if the compensation packages were completely equal, where you would rather work. Which employer would make you happier? Did you enjoy interning at the company over the summer, and could you see yourself working there?
• If so, go back to the company you interned at and say you have received another offer (thereby showing that you are in demand). Tell them you appreciate their offer, but are hoping for something more competitive—especially since they have already seen what an asset you will be as a full-time employee.

Career development questions

• What are you looking for in terms of career development?
• How do you want to improve yourself in the next year?
• What kind of goals would you have in mind if you got this job?
• If I were to ask your last supervisor to provide you additional training or exposure, what would she suggest?

Getting started questions

• How would you go about establishing your credibility quickly with the team?
• How long will it take you to make a significant contribution?
• What do you see yourself doing within the first 30 days of this job?
• If selected for this position, can you describe your strategy for the first 90 days?

More questions about you

How would you describe your work style?

First, what does work style even mean? The interviewer is not asking if you like to kick back at your desk in a pair of wraparound shades and Beats. Rather, they are trying to discern how you will fit into an existing work culture, carefully gauging your response for hints about how you’ll mesh with potential co-workers and whether you’re well suited to the demands of the role.

In other words, it is kind of an important question.

However, do not let it intimidate you or get you tongue-tied. You can figure out your work style with five smaller, far more straightforward questions. By asking yourself each of them, you can learn a lot about both how you work and how to frame yourself in an interview.

Do you like to work autonomously or collaboratively?

The vast majority of jobs will not have you working in a vacuum. Instead, you will be part of a larger group that must—get this—collaborate in order to achieve a common goal. Understandably, many interviewers will expect you to describe yourself in terms of working as part of a team. However, if you really do consider yourself a strong, independent worker, do not worry—there is nothing wrong with that. Just make sure you mention the importance of external feedback from both bosses and peers when it comes to being your best professional self.

How do you like to work with your boss?

We all have an idea of the kind of working relationship we would like with our superiors, but it does not always take shape beyond some vague notion of cordiality. However, how you work with your boss truly does speak to how you will perform on the job, and you will need to consider this carefully.

Do you like receiving a set of clear-cut directions, so that your goals as a worker are never in doubt? On the other hand, do you feel comfortable doing a bit of creative interpretation in terms of what your boss actually wants from you, giving you a bit of leeway to do your own thing?

However, you define it, it never hurts to mention that you appreciate the importance of the routine check-in, ensuring you and your boss are on the same page and that your work’s consistently up to spec.

How do you prefer to communicate?

In decades past, this particular question would have been a whole lot simpler. After all, it doesn’t take much effort to determine if a workplace’s dominant mode of communication involves writing emails or simply yelling, “Watch your six!” across a factory floor.

However, organizations that communicate electronically now go a lot further than simply relying on email alone, and this question gives you a chance to prove you are comfortable with the full range of technologies on hand.

Do you tend to communicate over chat applications? Do you work best within a project management framework? Whatever your preference, it is always worth bringing the conversation back around to the necessity of in-person communication—always an underrated asset in our increasingly digitized workplace.

What hours do you work?

No, your interviewer is not looking for you to simply ‘spit-back’ the hours required for the position—they already know the work schedule, or whatever the case may be. What they want is a sense of whether you are the kind of person who likes to show up early or will not sweat staying a little bit late, should the job require it.

Later, down the road in the hiring process, you can go further into the particulars of your schedule, like the afternoons you need to leave 30 minutes early to pick up the kids from daycare or volunteer at the local iguana rescue. For now, you can focus on projecting your commitment to the job and your flexibility to stick around as long as it takes to get the work done.

How do you plan your day?

For an interviewer, this offers one of the best windows into how you conduct yourself at work. Maybe you are the kind of person who creates a daily action plan, organizes it by priority, and then unwaveringly stays the course. Alternatively, maybe you spend your mornings knocking out a few easy tasks or emails, and then dedicate your afternoon to larger projects on the docket.

Either way, sharing how you structure your day gives you an opportunity to demonstrate how you will take a purposeful approach to your work—even, as the case may be, if you like to sport a sweet pair of wraparound shades. We will defer to your target employer’s attire policy on that one.

What would be your ideal working environment?

Job seekers and employers alike care a lot about cultural fit, so when you are asked in a job interview to describe your ideal work environment, you can be sure everyone in the room is interested in what you have to say. According to one survey, 88% of recruiters said cultural fit is important when assessing job candidates. Likewise, job seekers want to find a work environment that suits their personality and work preferences.

Knowing the type of work environment that allows you to thrive is half the battle. You also have to know how to answer the question without unintentionally knocking yourself out of the running for the job. Take these steps to prepare a well-crafted answer.

Do your research

Many hiring managers pose this question to candidates as a litmus test to see how well you’d fit into the organization, says Thea Kelley, a job search coach and author of Get That Job! The Quick and Complete Guide to a Winning Interview. “Look for overlap between what you want out of a company culture and what the company offers,” she says.

To do that, you will have to thoroughly research your prospective employer, which requires looking beyond the company’s website (though that is a good starting point). “You need to dig deeper,” says Mark Moyer, career coach and business strategist at New York City–based Compass Points Advisors.

These six sources can offer great insight into a company’s culture:

1. The company’s social media. Pay particular attention to the tone, “which can give you a good feel for the organization’s vibe,” Kelley says.
2. Current employees. Talk to two to three workers at the company to get an insider’s perspective on what it is like to work there, says Moyer, who recommends asking mutual connections to make introductions for you. If you do not have any shared connections, tap into your college’s alumni database, advises job interview coach Bill Cole. Though you can certainly ask employees questions over email, meeting with them in person can help you cement relationships.
3. YouTube. To take advantage of this often under-utilized resource, “punch in the names of key players at the company, and see what they say during media interviews,” Cole suggests. “Oftentimes, executives will talk about company culture. Then, you can mention that you saw the interview when you sit down with the hiring manager.”
4. Press releases. A quick google search can provide a look at what the company’s current initiatives and challenges are.
5. Company reviews. See what former employees have to say about working there. The caveat? One or two negative reviews isn’t cause for concern—after all, chances are good there will always be a couple disgruntled employees—but if you see an overwhelming number of negative reviews, take them as a warning sign.
6. The job description. Job postings can help you glean information about a company’s work environment. Some job descriptions even describe what the organization’s culture is like, making your job a whole lot easier.

Show you have done your homework

Once you have done the legwork, it is time to apply your newfound knowledge during the job interview. When you are asked to describe your ideal work environment, your ultimate goal is to highlight the fact that you’ve researched the company and understand its culture.

Let’s say you want to work in a collaborative environment. In that case, you might say to the hiring manager, “From talking to a few employees here, I discovered that your organization prides itself on having a family atmosphere, where peers work closely together. I thrive in those kinds of environments. Does that match up with the way things work here?”

Remember, though, your core values should align with the company’s mission (e.g., “I want to work for a company that cares about giving back to the community, and that’s why I’m so interested in this opportunity.”) If your ideal work environment is nothing like what you found out about the company, you need to carefully consider whether you really want to work there.

Moreover, only focus on describing the kind of work environment you want—not what you do not want. So instead of saying, “I don’t want to work for a company with a lot of micromanagement,” a better frame way to frame that would be to say, “I’m a self-starter, so I’m looking for some autonomy.”

• What do you look for in terms of culture—structured or entrepreneurial?
• Give examples of ideas you have had or implemented.
• What techniques and tools do you use to keep yourself organized?
• If you had to choose one, would you consider yourself a big-picture person or a detail-oriented person?
• Tell me about your proudest achievement.
• Who was your favorite manager and why?
• What do you think about your previous boss?

When applying for jobs, you already have your references—people who you know will sing your praises—lined up. But in an interview, sometimes you’ll be the one asked to give perspective on your current or most recent boss.

As it turns out, most job seekers do not exactly have the best things to say about them. In a 2018 poll, the majority (76%) of U.S. respondents said they currently have or recently had a toxic boss. That is compared to the minority (5%) of respondents who are BFFs with their boss and 19% who described their boss as a mentor, or someone they can learn from and know has their back. The bad bosses, however, can best be described as power-hungry (26%), micromanager (18%), incompetent (17%), or just never around (15%).

Regardless of whether your previous boss was your best friend or your worst enemy, talking about him or her to a prospective employer takes a little tact.

“How you describe past relationships speaks volumes about you, not the boss, which is why interviewers pose the question. Interviewers are looking for a few different things when they ask this question: how well you handle being put on the spot, how well you play with others, and how you like to be managed. Come prepared to answer, so you don’t get caught off-guard and say something you’ll regret.

Be positive—even if it is difficult

The experts agree that saying something positive about your former boss is the only way to answer this question—regardless of your true feelings. If a candidate rants negatively about a prior manager, the interviewer often considers the employee the problem and will be hesitant to make the hire. Obviously if you had a great manager, acknowledge that and specify what made them so great. If, on the other hand, you had a more challenging relationship with you manager, proceed cautiously.

You want to highlight positive aspects of your manager’s leadership style and what you learned from him or her. If the interviewer pushes for some sort of criticism, say something that ends on a positive note. You may want to acknowledge that while you had very different styles, you found a way to work together to deliver results or meet customer needs. “Be prepared to give a specific example that can be shared in a positive way.

You say - “My boss was strong-willed, which sometimes made it difficult to communicate new ideas; however, we always managed to talk it out and find solutions that were best for the company.”

Bring it back to your strengths

Your answer to this question can indicate how you like—or don’t like—to be managed. How does that mesh with my own management style? Would this be a relationship that works?

The interviewer may also be testing to see what you’ll be like to work with. Will you make a positive contribution to the company’s culture, or will you need to be refereed?

Whatever the reason, remember they are interviewing you, not your former boss. Keep the focus on what skills and experience you bring to this position. Let your strengths show in your answer and move the interview onto more important questions.

You say - “She was so effective at advocating for our department. I learned a lot from her about how to diplomatically manage people, keep communication lines open between departments and how to advocate for the team.”

Demonstrate discretion and loyalty

By asking this question, an interviewer might also be testing you to see how you would handle sensitive inquiries from customers, colleagues or others.

Interviewer - “I’m not necessarily looking for loyalty to the boss, but how loyal are they to the organization?” “When they leave our company will they trash talk our organization?”

Many applicants fail to realize that their criticism of their boss is often perceived as their unwillingness to accept accountability for their own actions. Hiring managers believe that if an applicant would criticize their former manager in an interview, they would probably also criticize them or their co-workers if they were applying for a different job in the future.

You say - “We had our differences, but I thought it was important to stay focused on our goals and to set up my manager—and my team—for success.”

• Was there a person in your career who really made a difference?
• What kind of personality do you work best with and why?
• What are you most proud of?
• What do you like to do?
• What are your lifelong dreams?
• What do you ultimately want to become?
• What is your personal mission statement?
• What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?
• What negative thing would your last boss say about you?
• What three character traits would your friends use to describe you?
• What are three positive character traits you don't have?
• If you were interviewing someone for this position, what traits would you look for?
• List five words that describe your character.
• Who has impacted you most in your career and how?
• What is your greatest fear?
• What is your biggest regret and why?
• What's the most important thing you learned in school?
• Why did you choose your major?
• What will you miss about your present/last job?
• What is your greatest achievement outside of work?
• What are the qualities of a good leader? A bad leader?
• Do you think a leader should be feared or liked?
• How do you feel about taking no for an answer?
• How would you feel about working for someone who knows less than you?
• How do you think I rate as an interviewer?
• Tell me one thing about yourself you wouldn’t want me to know?

All sorts of inappropriate—no, really inappropriate—answers may pop into your ahead.

Do not say them! Take a moment, inhale slowly and then smile, because you have done your research and you know what this question is really asking you.

Interviewers are looking to hear how something in your past has changed you for the better. A good answer to this question demonstrates your adaptability to learn, grow and possibly be flexible.

One thing is certain: You have to give a response. Here is how to pick a good one.

Bring up your younger years

Start out by outlining a problem you faced in your past work life—or even something interesting from your high school or college years, McKay says. Those are prime mistake-making years—and you have come a long way since then. Just make sure you pick an example that you have learned something from. Do not overdo it with sordid details; simply describe ‘the challenge you were facing and what was at stake.’

You say - “I was an overachiever in college and there were a couple of semesters when I tried to do it all with classes and tons of extra-curricular involvement. My grades were slipping and I was burning out quickly.”

Describe your reaction

Then, follow up with how you overcame the problem. A spotless career is rare, and as long as you can show you are not afraid of dealing with adversity, even talking about a challenge that puts you in a bad light shouldn’t hurt your chances. Answering the question humanizes you to the interviewer.

You say - “So, I took a semester off to clear my mind, did some traveling—mostly some soul searching—and came back ready to finish my degree, which I did, with honors.”

Share the lesson

Finally, talk about the key takeaways from your experience. This may be something you learned about yourself, such as how you prefer to work or your career interests. If you can include information about ensuing successes, or how it brought you to the current interview, add that as well.

You say - "Coming so close to burning out and giving up entirely helped me understand my own limits while also strengthening my resolve to succeed. Traveling also made me realize that any career I took would have to have international opportunities, which is why I’m interested in this position."

• Tell me the difference between good and exceptional.
• What kind of car do you drive?
• There's no right or wrong answer, but if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?
• What's the last book you read?
• What magazines do you subscribe to?
• What's the best movie you've seen in the last year?
• What would you do if you won the lottery?
• Who are your heroes?
• What do you like to do for fun?
• What do you do in your spare time?
• What is your favorite memory from childhood?

Brainteasers

• How many times do a clock's hands overlap in a day?
• How would you weigh a plane without a scale?

Walk the interviewer through your thinking about getting a weight. They want to see if you can reason through things. They are not really looking for a ‘weight’ answer.

• Tell me 10 ways to use a pencil other than writing.
• Sell me this pencil.

Most interviewers are screening for confidence and cogency. In general, interviewers use this question to get a feel for your sales style and experience. There are a few guidelines pros suggest you follow when crafting your response:

Ask questions—lots and lots of questions

The answer made famous in the movie The Wolf of Wall Street—in which stockbroker Jordan Belfort (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) asks a friend to sell him a pen. The friend takes the pen and asks Belfort to write his name down on a napkin. Belfort says he cannot, he does not have a pen, and the friend says, “Exactly”—is actually not the best approach in this real-life situation. In fact, Belfort told Piers Morgan on CNN in 2014 that the best salespeople would ask questions before they try to sell anything.

Other experts agree the best response is one that starts with plenty of questions. An ideal response to a question like this would be for the sales rep to start asking penetrating questions about person and their business that would help them identify whether or not they really need a pencil in the first place. Being able to identify a prospect’s needs is the single most important, and often most overlooked, aspect of being a good salesperson. By asking questions, you can sell the pencil, not as a commodity, but as a solution to the buyer’s problem.

You say - “I’d like to understand your needs surrounding pencils. What are you currently using to write with? Where do you most often use this writing instrument and what types of things do you normally write? Are you happy with your current writing tools? If you were to consider another vendor for your writing implements, what would be important to you?”

Understand their needs and pivot if necessary

You are selling the pencil, and you ask the interviewer, “What are you currently using to write with?” His response is, “Nothing, I never write.” What do you do next? Do not be afraid to say, ‘Oh, sounds like you’re not in the market for the pencil I’m selling. Do you know anyone who is?” Do not waste time pitching to people who do not have any use for what you are selling. Unless you are hoping to irritate someone into buying your pencil, do not keep pushing when the buyer says he does not need one.

You say - Since you have no use for this pencil I’m selling, is there someone else in your company who might need one?

• If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?
• Why is there fuzz on a tennis ball?
• If you could choose one superhero power, what would it be and why?
• If you could get rid of any one of the US states, which one would you get rid of and why?
• With your eyes closed, tell me step-by-step how to tie my shoes.