If you have a job interview coming up, preparing for the questions you’re most likely to be asked can make a huge difference in how well you do. Of course, you can’t predict with perfect certainty what you’ll be asked, but some questions are so common that you’d be foolish not to prep your answers to them in advance.
Here are five of the questions that you’ll most likely be asked in your next interview, along with some advice on what your interviewer is looking for in your answers.
[See: Tips for Surviving a Career Transition.]
What interests you about this job? Interviewers who ask this generally intend it to be a softball question, but a surprising number of candidates don’t have a thoughtful answer prepared in response. Since this is probably one of the easiest questions you’ll be asked during the interview, take advantage of that and make sure you nail it by talking about why the work excites you and why you think it plays to your strengths. And of course, keep the focus on the work itself; this isn’t the time to mention the salary or benefits or the short commute you would have.
Why are you thinking about leaving your job? Or, if you’re unemployed, “Why did you leave your last job?” Job seekers are often advised to answer this question by explaining that they’re looking for “a new challenge,” but if you say that, you should be specific about what type of new challenge you want so it doesn’t sound like an evasion. You can also cite things like layoffs at your previous company, management turnover or whatever else is genuinely true, as long as you don’t badmouth previous employers.
Also, keep in mind that interviewers who ask this question aren’t looking for a detailed account of how you’ve come to be job searching or a log of everything your last employer did that drove you out. They’re just looking for a high-level overview — a few sentences is generally sufficient.
[See: The 25 Best Social Services Jobs of 2017.]
Tell me about a time when … Good interviewers will ask several versions of this question, filling in the blank with a variety of situations relevant to the position. For example: Tell me about a time when you had to take initiative … you had to deal with a difficult client … you had to juggle conflicting deadlines … you had to salvage a failing project, and so forth.
The idea behind these sorts of questions — which are known as behavioral interview questions — is to probe into what you’ve done in the past, not what you say you’d do in the future. The thinking is that it can be pretty easy for a candidate to bluff her way through a hypothetical question (“How do you think you’d handle an angry client?”) and much harder to bluff her way through an account of how she actually handled a situation in real life.
To prepare for these questions, it’s important to spend some time before your interview thinking about what skills you’re likely to need in the job and what challenges you’re likely to face. Then, think about what experiences from your past you can point to as evidence that you excel in those areas. Think through how you’d present those examples, making sure to talk about the challenge you faced, how you responded and the outcome you achieved.
[See: Famous CEOs and Executives Share Their Best Career Advice.]
What would your boss say are your biggest strengths and weaknesses? This question can be worded in a variety of different ways, like “What kind of feedback has your manager given you?” or the rather tired “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” Whatever form it takes, answering this question well requires honest reflection ahead of time. What are your biggest strengths? What are the things you know you could work on improving? The idea here is to get a more nuanced view of what elements you would bring to the job. The question isn’t intended as a “gotcha,” although job candidates often worry that it is. It truly is supposed to be about exploring whether your particular combination of strengths and weaknesses are a good match for this particular job. And that’s in your interests too, since you don’t want to end up in a job that is a struggle for you.
What salary are you looking for? Candidates often dread this question because they worry they’ll accidentally lowball themselves or price themselves so high that they’re taken out of the running. As a result, a lot of people don’t prepare for it at all, and instead just hope that it won’t come up. Of course, this means that you’ll be left to wing it if your interviewer does ask about it — and that makes a strong answer far less likely. Instead of getting caught off-guard by this question and saying something you might regret later, prepare for it ahead of time by researching the market and practicing your answer until you’re comfortable with it.
More from U.S. News
25 Best Business Jobs for 2017
8 Ways Millennials Can Build Leadership Skills
How to Prepare for 5 Key Interview Questions originally appeared on usnews.com
