Best Sample Interview Questions

The time has finally come and after preparing a killer resume and cover letter and clearing the first round, your difficult challenge is to face your interview day. And no doubt that scares will be difficult for you and being judged and evaluated by people who have a future in your hands is more depressing than meeting your in-laws.

You might have also heard that hiring managers and interviewers say that there are no right or wrong answers to calm you down before an interview. But the key thing to note down is that interviewers are always looking for specific answers. So, let’s get started and we have prepared this list as practical as possible and we have covered 30 sample interview questions.

To get more of these 30 samples interview questions, here are the following things we recommend:

1. Thoroughly go through all the 30 interview questions
2. Checking out all the situational interview questions and create an atmosphere of learning that is relevant chiefly for you.
3. Try to learn the idea behind these behavioral interview questions, so that you are fully prepared for whatever the HR manager asks from you

Classic interview questions:

These are the most frequently asked questions that touch on the essentials and hiring managers to know about yourself. You may not be asked these questions in exactly the words stated above but it depends on you how you can get it. But if you already have prepared answers then you can confidently answer these questions no matter what the interviewer throws at you.

Question 1-Tell me something about yourself

This question seems to answer simple and many people fail to answer it as it is crucial. But here is a deal you don’t need to tell your complete employment or personal history.

On the other hand, it is important to give such an engaging pitch that is concise and shows exactly why you are best suited for this posted job. MIT counselors and Muse Writer Lily Zhang recommends using past, present, and future formula. Moreover, talk a little about yourself telling your life goals, dreams, strengths, weaknesses, and accomplishments.

Then you can also give some background details of who like where you used to live, born and graduated from. The next thing that can state in knowing about yourself is your work experience in areas of your interest.

Lastly, state that what you want and why you feel suitable for the posted position in a company or organization.

2)How you came to know about this position in a company?

Another interesting question asked in a job interview is how you came to know about this job in a company. It is a perfect chance to prove yourself stand out from the crowd and shows your passion and connection to the company. For example, if you came to know about the gig through any of your close friends, don’t forget to mention his or her name at the time of the interview. Also, it is essential to show why you are excited about this particular position in a company.

3)Why you wish to work at this particular company?

Also, you need to be very careful with this generic question and don’t give an answer like other candidates of other companies that stand you out. Zhang recommends four types of strategies. Do your comprehensive research and point out something that appeals to you. It will also be in favor of you how you saw the company growing and change since you first heard of it. You also pay heed to the opportunities contributing to the future growth of the organization.

Also mention what makes you excited when you first heard of the organization and later your interaction with the working employees. So which path you choose, make sure you stand specific and to the point.

Meanwhile, if you are also able to figure out why you don’t want to work at the company you are interviewing for, this question will add a red flag telling you that this position is not good for you.

4)Why do you want this particular position in the company?

Do companies want to hire people who are passionate about a particular position in a company? First of all, it is beneficial for you to identify the key factors that make this particular position in a company best suit for you.  You can say things like I like customer support job because I like to interact with humans on daily basis. You can also share your love for the company and say I have always been passionate about education and that’s why being writing for 4 years, I would like to work as the content manager.

5)Why should we hire you for a copywriting position?

This particular interview question seems straight forward but if you are asked about it, try to be precise and to the point. There is no better set up for yourself and time to market your skills in front of the hiring manager. Your job here is to create an answer that covers three things: that you can’t only do the work without putting in the needed hard work. Then you can state that you are comfortable working in this environment and team culture and you will be a better hire than any other candidate.

6)What are your strengths and future goals?

Here is an open talk about what are your strengths and future goals. Your interview series is open to know what makes you great and fit for this specific job. When you answering this question, you need to think about quality, not quantity. In other words, don’t miss a wide list of adjectives when you are answering this specific question. Just pick a few of your qualities and elaborate on them with examples. No doubt stories are always more remembering and important than examples. And whatever you mention, keep this thing in mind that it makes you a great candidate.

7)What you consider to be your professional weaknesses?

What the interview is trying to do by asking this particular question -beyond identifying any major red flags is to figure out your honesty and self-awareness. So, I will not be able to meet a deadline to save my life is not an option but neither is nothing and I am also not perfect. Try to maintain a balance by thinking of something you are struggling with. For example, maybe you have been so strong at public speaking but it is worth remembering you volunteer to run meetings to get calmer while addressing a crowd.

Professional questions about Work history:

Another meat of any professional job interview is to track record your work; what you have achieved, how you succeeded or failed. And how you behaved in real-time in actual life work achievements. If you have prepared a few versatile life stories to tell about work history then try to practice answering interview questions.

8) What is your biggest professional achievement?

Nothing says it better than hire me and have a track record of achieving amazing results in recent jobs. So, don’t hesitate when the interviewer asks you this particular question. A great way to do so is by applying the star method: situation, task, action, and later results. Setup the situation and the task you were required to complete to provide the interviewer with some work background.

For example, you can say in the last job I worked as a junior analyst and it was my role to control all the managing tasks. Then you can elaborate on what you did (the taken action) and what you achieved (the result). In almost one month, I streamlined the process and which saved my group 10 hours each month and reduced errors on invoices by about 25 percent.

9)Tell me about the problem you encountered at work and how you overcome it?

You are probably not in a condition to talk about conflicts you have had during a professional job interview. But if someone asks about it directly, don’t pretend that you have not encountered it before. Also, it is better that you remain honest about a difficult situation you faced.  Most people who ask such kind of questions want to test you that you are comfortable in tackling such issues.

Make a sincere attempt at coming to a resolution, stay calm and professional as you can. You need to spend more time talking about the resolution than the conflict and mention what you differently next time to handle such problems.

10)Tell me about the event or time when you have exhibited your leadership skills:

You don’t need a fancy title to act as a leader or showcase your leadership skills. Think about the time when you first headed into the project, took the initiative to propose an alternative process, or help your team to boost their energy and self-esteem.

Use the star method to tell your interviewer an amazing story and also give a brief introduction to paint a picture and later make sure you present without any mistake in spelling. In other words, it means that tell the interviewer why you are telling this story and connect all the dots for the interviewer.

11) When you make a decision and It was helpful at work?

The ideal anecdote here is when you handled a disagreement peacefully and in a professional manner. Don’t forget to mention what you have learned from this whole experience and how it can help you to deal with more problems in the future.

For example, I learned early in my professional career and it is fine to disagree if you can back up with the bulk of data. And it is even better if you just give an answer to one sentence or talk briefly about what kind of wisdom you gained from this entire scenario.

12)Tell me about a professional mistake you have done in your interview:

You probably don’t prefer to dive into past blunders you are trying to impress an interviewer and land a job. But on the other hand, talking about a mistake and then you claim to win someone are not mutually exclusive. If you do it right then it can also be helpful for many people around you. The success key is don’t blame others for their past mistakes. They also state what you learned from your professional mistake and what actions you took to ensure that you did not make the same mistake or blunder again.

Thus, at the end of the day, employers are looking for folks who are self-aware of their actions, can take feedback, and care about doing better at the job.

13)Tell me about those times when you failed badly:

This question is almost similar to the above-stated question professional mistakes and you should try to find its answer following the same approach. First of all, make sure that you pick a real and actual failure and talking about it you feel confident instead of being shy. Start mentioning failure what is meant by failure in your dictionary.

For example, if I talk about myself, I consider it a failure whenever I am caught up by surprise. I always thrive to know what is going on the job with employees and team lead. Then compare and contrast the definition to the running condition and explain what happened. Finally, don’t forget to share what you have learned and it’s okie to fail sometimes.

14)Why are you quitting your current job?

This is probably one of the toughest questions that can be asked in any professional job interview.  It is better to keep things positive and you cannot achieve things being negative. Instead of this try to frame things that you like doing and show that you are always eager to learn new opportunities. For example, if I talk about myself, I love to be part of product development from beginning to end and I know I would perform here better.

And if you have quit your previous job then keep your answer simple and it is, unfortunately, I was let go is an acceptable answer.

15) Why you were fired from your previous job any problem?

They may ask why you quit your job then you can follow-up on this question by saying that you have probably lost your job due to layoffs. But if your previous company or organization fired you because of your performance reasons then it is better to stay honest.

But you also don’t need to be a deal-breaker and frame everything as a learning experience. Don’t forget to mention how you have grown and approach your life and job. And if you can present your growth as an advantage then you will be hired for a new one in seconds.

16)Why was there a gap in your work experience?

You can answer this particular question by saying that you were suffering from severe health issues or traveling the world. You can also say that it took you a long time to find the right job. Whatever you have mentioned, you must be ready to fill the gap on your resume.

You can practice such answers by speaking aloud to yourself in the mirror.

Thus, the key to success in telling your work experience is to stay honest but that also does not mean that you share more details than you thought you should. Meanwhile, if there are some skills or qualities that you have gained through running a home, either away from the workforce or dealing with any of your crisis, then don’t forget to mention how these things could help you excel in this role.

17) Can you please elaborate on why you changed your career path?

Don’t be confused by this question, first of all, take a deep breath and explain to the hiring manager why you have made the career decisions you have right now. Meanwhile, you also need to tell the interviewer why your past experiences are transferrable to your new role. This does not have to be a direct connection. In other words, it is quite impressive when a candidate can show how seemingly irrelevant career path is to the existing role in the company.

18)What is your recent salary for a new position?

It is now illegal for some employers to ask this question of what is your recent salary for your new position. But no doubt that where ever your list, this process can be stressful to hear. You can answer this question as before discussing my salary, I would like to learn more about what this new position entails.  You can reply I have done a lot of research on this company and I am certain if it is the right fit for me. Finally, we will be able to agree on certain terms and conditions that apply to both parties.

Moreover, you can also frame the question around your salary expectations or requirements or choose a certain number that you think will be best in your favor.

19)What you can do least to survive on your job?

The last thing you can do here is to let your answer devolve into a rant about how terrible your previous coworker or boss was. One of the easy ways to handle this question with poise is to focus on the opportunity you are currently interviewing for a new position. You can also keep talk or discourse positive and tell me why are you excited about this recent job.

Professional sample interview questions about you and your goals or ambitions:

Another crucial act of an interview is knowing about a candidate. That is one of the main reasons whenever you will be likely to encounter questions about how you spend time your job, what are you looking for and what are your future goals.

It is probably a good sign if your interviewers want to make sure that you will be a good fit for the team, then make sure you use it as a golden opportunity.

20) What are you expecting from your new position in a company?

Ideally, the same things that this new position in a company has to offer and try to be specific.

21)What type of environment or management style you prefer at work?

Ideally, the same type of environment that you prefer to work in. The best managers in the world are strong and flexible too. While all team members and managers in a company require different strategies to implement things and I tend to approach my employee’s relationship as a coach.

Then you need to share a couple of best managerial moments that helped you to shape and grow your team from five to fifteen or coached an underperforming employee and now becomes the company’s top salesperson.

22) Describe how your boss and coworkers define you:

First of all, stay positive, humble, and describe all of your personality traits and characteristics that you have not mentioned in the other aspects of an interview such as a strong work ethic.

23)How to deal with pressure and devastating questions?

Here is another question that you might feel the urge to sidestep to prove that you are the right candidate for the new position. Instead, talk about your go-to strategies to deal with stress whether it’s going for a run or meditation for 10 to 20 minutes. Also, try to mention that how you deal with work pressure and how you communicate proactively. In others, if you can give an example of a stressful situation you have convinced them for a new position successfully, and it’s time for you to rest.

24) What are your hobbies or things you like to do outside of work?

Interviewers will ask sometimes ask about your hobbies or passions that you like doing away from your daily work routine. It’s another golden opportunity to let yourself shine and be honest if you can. But you need to honest and just answer questions carefully as it also presents you as you like spending most of your time on things other than work.

Conclusion:

These are the most common 24 sample interview questions. Have a look at these before going to your professional job interview.