Wouldn't it be great if you knew in advance what your interviewer was going to ask you? Whilst it's impossible to predict the future, we've done some research to find the 10 most common interview questions. And here is our Guardian Jobs guide on how to answer them.
Question 1: Tell me about yourself. With a broad question like this, try to highlight information about yourself that's relevant to your interviewer. Which aspects of your career history are useful to the role you're applying for? What about your character makes you a good fit for the organization?
Question 2: Why do you want to work here? This is your chance to show you've researched the role and the organization. What gives the company a unique edge over their competitors? Be wary here of giving reasons that suggest your interest in the role is only temporary.
Question 3: What are your strengths? Make a list of what you and others think you're good at; then think of the reasons why each item on your list is a strength. Finally, substantiate your list with examples of where you've previously demonstrated these strengths in the workplace.
Question 4: What are your weaknesses? Interviewers ask this question to assess your self-awareness. But rather than giving your interviewer a reason not to hire you, think about weaknesses that won't affect your ability to do the job and your strategy for managing them.
Question 5: Why should we employ you? Match your skill set to the role requirements and use examples from previous roles to support your claims. Be positive and emphasize your enthusiasm for the role.
Question 6: What accomplishment are you most proud of and why? This is an opportunity to impress your interviewer with a personal accomplishment, so prepare an example of where you've made a difference. You could use the STAR technique to help illustrate your achievement, outlining a situation, task, action, and positive result.
Question 7: Describe a time something went wrong and how you dealt with it. Focus on the second part of this question and use it as an opportunity to tell your interviewer how you cope when things go wrong. List projects or goals that didn't go to plan and why you think each of these failed— what did you learn? And how would you do things differently next time? Choose the example you'd feel most comfortable explaining and use the STAR technique to structure your answer.
Question 8: Where do you see yourself in five years' time? It's a good idea to frame your ambitions in relation to the organization you're applying to work for. Prove to the interviewer that you're trustworthy by describing how you hope to increase your responsibilities rather than suggesting you want to have their job.
Question 9: What motivates you? There's no right or wrong answer to this question. But think about how your motivations align with the industry you're interviewing for. Being motivated to make money is appropriate if you work in finance, but it might seem out of place if you're interviewing in the charity sector. Whatever your motivation, try to be honest, enthusiastic, and full of self-belief.
