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Staffing Solutions 50 popular questions article

Top 50 Popular Job Interview Questions

You can take many steps to ensure your interview goes smoothly. One of the easiest ways to prepare for your next job interview is to familiarise yourself with the popular questions frequently asked in interviews and practice your answers.

You can expect to hear at least one, and likely more, of these questions during your following job interview.

You can take many steps to ensure your interview goes smoothly. One of the easiest ways to prepare for your next job interview is to familiarise yourself with the popular questions frequently asked in interviews and practice your answers.

You can expect to hear at least one, and likely more, of these questions during your following job interview.

Types of Interview Questions

In your interview, you should be prepared to go into some detail about your work history. You may also be asked behavioural or situational questions requiring you to provide an anecdote about how you have handled a work challenge or how you would approach a situation in the future.

Questions About Your Job Qualifications

Hiring managers will be interested in the actual professional experience you can bring to the table. Be ready to elaborate upon the work history you described in your resume.

The Questions

  • What relevant experience do you have?
  • What did you like or dislike about your previous job?
  • What significant challenges have you handled?
  • How did you fit in with the company culture?
  • What was your biggest accomplishment (failure) in this position?
  • What was most (least) rewarding about your job?
  • Why are you leaving your job?
  • Why did you resign?
  • Why did you quit your job?
  • Why were you fired?

How To Respond

It’s essential to do more than provide a bare-bones list of jobs you have previously held. Instead, describe how, in your previous positions, you have honed the qualifications that the employer is seeking (the job announcement is your best guide to deciding what skills you should emphasise).

Suppose you are an entry-level candidate with little related work experience. In that case, drawing upon your educational / training history, part-time jobs, or internship experience is a good idea to demonstrate that you have the required skill set.

Questions About Your Work Habits and Preferences

Interviewers are trying to predict which of their candidates will most likely adapt quickly to their workplace, current teams, and way of doing things.

The Questions

  • Describe your work style.
  • Do you take work home with you?
  • How would you describe the pace at which you work?
  • Is there a type of work environment you prefer?
  • What interests you about this job?
  • What do you find are the most difficult decisions to make?
  • Have you ever had difficulty working with a manager?
  • Have you gotten angry at work? What happened?
  • How would you handle it if your boss was wrong?
  • Are you overqualified for this job?

How To Respond

While you should be honest in your answers, try researching the company before your interview to learn how they do business. Is good teamwork critical to their productivity? Or do they expect their staff to work independently? Is overtime or occasional weekend work required? Ideally, your responses to these questions will show that your work habits dovetail nicely with their practices, expectations, and requirements.

Questions About Teamwork and “People Skills"

You’ll be able to tell from the job announcement whether teamwork and good interpersonal skills are vital to succeeding in the job you’re applying for. If so, plan to provide examples of how you have either led or participated in teams in collaborative environments.

The Questions

  • Do you prefer to work alone or on a team?
  • Give some examples of teamwork.
  • What do you expect from a supervisor?
  • Describe your best boss and your worst boss.
  • How do you handle stress and pressure?
  • If the people who know you were asked why you should be hired, what would they say?
  • What do you know about this company?
  • What can you contribute to this company?
  • What can you do for this company?
  • What problems have you encountered at work?

How To Respond

Use the STAR interview response technique to prepare answers to questions about teamwork that will impress your interviewer: describe a situation where you served on a team, the task you were assigned, the action you took, and the results of that action.

Questions About Your Personality and Self-Knowledge

Most employers hope to hire employees with the professional skills to do the job and have personality traits and a level of self-awareness that will allow them to work well with their supervisors, peers, and clients.

The Questions

  • Describe yourself.
  • Are you the best person for this job? Why?
  • How do you measure success?
  • How would you describe yourself?
  • Why should we hire you?
  • Tell me about yourself.
  • What are you passionate about?
  • What have you learned from your mistakes?
  • What is your greatest strength?
  • What is your greatest weakness?

How To Respond

Take the “middle road” as you answer these questions: you don’t want to appear overly cocky or full of yourself, but neither do you want to be self-deprecating or “hide your light under a bushel.” The best tone to use is one of quiet confidence. If you are asked a “trick” question about your weaknesses or mistakes you have made in the past, own up to a minor failing but then explain how you learned to remediate the issue.

Questions About Your Career Trajectory

The hiring process can be expensive and time-consuming for employers, especially when interviewers take time away from their regular duties to talk to candidates. Thus, their goal is typically to hire someone likely to stick around and grow with their organisation.

The Questions

  • Describe your career goals.
  • How long do you expect to work for this company?
  • How much do you expect to get paid?
  • Tell me why you want to work here.
  • What are you looking for in your next position?
  • What are your goals for the future?
  • What are your salary requirements?
  • What challenges are you looking for in your next job?
  • Why do you want this job?
  • What will you do if you don’t get a job offer?

How To Respond

Before your interview, try to envision how, in an ideal case scenario, you would be able to enjoy longevity with the company you are applying to. What would you like to be doing in five years? Ten? Think about how best to align your career goals to the opportunities offered by the employer. Then, in your answer, “sell” your candidacy by enthusiastically postulating how you would be able to contribute to their operations and steadily assume positions of increasing responsibility.

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