10 Most Asked Interview Questions: How To Tackle Them

10 Most Asked Interview
Questions: How To Tackle Them
By Akhi Hosad.

How many of you had stumbled upon an interview question you haven’t prepared yourself for, and
your mind drew a blank? Sensing
that awkward silence, you blurted
out whatever words you could find
and desperately made sentences
out of them. The interview ended
moments later, and as you reflect
back on what you had said, you
dreadfully realized those words
don’t make much logical sense!

Okay, if you are looking for a job
now, then you’re in luck. This is a
guidance post of ten most
common interview questions that
you might be asked for your
upcoming interviews. If you’re still
sending in your resumes to
companies, I’ve also posted an
earlier entry that you can refer to:
7 Great Ways to Get Your Resume
Noticed.
Without further ado, here are the
top 10 questions, let’s get started!

10. "Tell Me About Yourself?"
This is typically the first question
the interviewer will ask once you’ve
taken your seat. This is the
opportunity for the interviewer to
assess you as a person through
what you say and how you deliver
it. As they always say, first
impression is at utmost important,
so you’ve to make sure you’ve
prepared yourself adequately to
answer it. Keep it short and
succinct, preferably within 2 – 3
minutes.
How should you reply then? Like I
said, you should have done your
research on what the company
expects from the candidates before
heading for the interview. Your
answer then, is to address how
your qualities (e.g. qualifications,
personalities and work experience)
are relevant to the position in
question. Therefore, you should
only convey information applicable
to what is required for the job, but
not irrelevant ones pertaining to
your family or personal events, for
instance.

9. "What Are Your Weaknesses?"
At first glance, this seems tricky.
On one hand, you can’t reveal that
you lack what it takes for the job;
on the other, it will be an obvious
lie if you claim you don’t have any
weaknesses.
If you have thoroughly gone
through the company’s profile and
such, you will by now understand
what qualities are considered
strengths, and what are not. Now,
there are several ways to answer
double-edged questions like this.
With your knowledge of what
constitute as weaknesses that are
frown upon by the interviewer, you
can admit to those which you have
that are impertinent to the job
requirement. Secondly, you can
mask strengths as weaknesses.
For instance, you can say you are
a very meticulous person who gets
picky with details of a project (for
this to work though, the job must
be one that is particular about
specifics). Last but not least, you
can confess to past weaknesses
but show how you had triumphed
over them.

8. "What Is Your Greatest
Accomplishment?"
Although the interviewer is asking
you about your greatest
accomplishment, you still have to
choose one that is more
professionally relevant. This is a
good time to illustrate how you
can contribute to the company if
you are successfully recruited, so it
will be to your advantage if you
mention an achievement that
applies to the position.
Let’s say you are applying for a
position that requires a significant
amount of problem solving and
troubleshooting. You might want
to talk about a time when you
resolved a persistent problem that
had plagued your company for
years. You can explain how you
initiated some research and made
a useful suggestion that was
eventually implemented to all
departments. If possible, quantify
your results in terms of savings
made and increased productivity
for instance.

7. "Why Did You Leave Your Last
Job?"
There are various legitimate
reasons for leaving a job. Yet,
when it comes to interview, try to
answer positively rather than
complain about what made you
unhappy. Talk in relation to your
career goals and how the job you
are applying provides a better
environment for growth than your
previous job. As always, angle
your reply in such a way that what
you had learned in your previous
job had enriched you with valuable
skills for the current position.
Here, the interviewer is trying to
gauge how much the job fits to
your expectations. You had
probably quit your last job
because you were unhappy about
something. The interviewer wants
to make sure that you will be
committed to the job and not leave
because your expectations are not
met again.

6. "Why Do You Want To Work
With Us?"
More likely than not, the
interviewer wishes to see how
much you know about the
company culture, and whether you
can identify with the
organization’s values and vision.
Every organization has its strong
points, and these are the ones that
you should highlight in your
answer. For example, if the
company emphasizes on integrity
with customers, then you mention
that you would like to be in such a
team because you yourself believe
in integrity.
It doesn’t have to be a lie. In the
case that your values are not in
line with the ones by the company,
ask yourself if you would be happy
working there. If you have no issue
with that, go ahead. But if you are
aware of the company culture and
realize that there is some dilemma
you might be facing, you ought to
think twice. The best policy is to
be honest with yourself, and be
honest with the interviewer with
what is it in the company culture
that motivates you.

5. "Why Did You Apply For This
Position?"
Even if it’s true to a large extent,
don’t give them the vibe that you
applied for this job because you
were retrenched from your previous
company. Or for that matter, don’t
give the impression that you are
here because you need to make a
living. Any company wants
someone who is committed to the
organization and eventually
developed a sense of belonging
with it. It doesn’t help claiming
that you’re here for the monthly
paycheck.
In fact, the best way to answer this
question is to spend some time
examining what you like or would
like about your work and the
company. It is likely you will find
something, such as the culture,
work environment, meaning of your
work, etc. If you didn’t find
anything, then you should
seriously consider if this is the
right job for you.
Once you know why you want this
job, you can then answer them in a
manner that’ll relate how well you
fit with the position. For example,
if you like the customer service
work involved because you enjoy
communicating with people, bring
up that sociable personality of
yours. Convince them that you’ll fit
in very well here, and you’ll in turn
convince the interviewer that you’ll
be an asset to the company.

4. "What Would You Like To Be
Doing Five Years From Now?"
Again, this question is asked to
find out whether you are
committed to the job. The fact is
that there are people who hop
from job to job, and that is
because they don’t really have a
solid plan to follow.
Another reason for popping this
question is to see whether you are
someone who sets goals in life.
It’s undisputable that people who
set long-term goals are more
reliable than those who don’t. I
mean, knowing what you want in
life says a lot about your
personality, perhaps as a person
who can lead and stay motivated.
Your reply should assure the
interviewer that your career
progression goals are in line with
the actual advancement route in
the company. The interviewer
wouldn’t want to disappoint you in
the next five years and end up with
you resigning. As such, it is crucial
that you do your homework on the
company’s prospects so that you
know what to expect for yourself,
and whether it will meet your long-
term career objectives.

3. "Why should i hire you?"
This is the part where you link your
skills, experience, education and
your personality to the job itself.
This is why you need to be utterly
familiar with the job description as
well as the company culture.
Remember though, it’s best to
back them up with actual
examples of say, how you are a
good player.
It is possible that you may not
have as much skills, experience or
qualifications as the other
candidates. What then, will set you
apart from the rest? Energy and
passion might. People are
attracted to someone who is
charismatic, who show immense
amount of energy when they talk,
and who love what it is that they
do. As you explain your
compatibility with the job and
company, be sure to portray
yourself as that motivated,
confident and energetic person,
ever-ready to commit to the cause
of the company.

2. "How Much Are You Expecting
For The Salary?"
Salary negotiation is a tough and
delicate matter. Preferably
speaking, you should avoid going
into this topic until the later stage
of the recruitment when you are
being offered the job. That said,
some recruiters might be hoping
that you’d yield in to this question
and be the first to give the number
and set the benchmark. The
repercussion? You might end up
making less than what the
position is worth!
Hence, research on the salary
range in your field to have a rough
estimate of how much you should
be earning. Give a large range
rather than a specific amount if
you have to answer it. An
alternative is to pose the question
back at the interviewer by asking
what kind of salary does the
position warrants. At other times,
interviewers might just be testing
you to see if money is the only
thing that matters. So, do
emphasize that your priority lies
with the nature of the job and not
the salary per se.
Remember that when the job is
finally being offered to you, the
interviewer would have to quote
the salary. That will be the best
time to negotiate your way
because you will then become the
one being sought after, and not the
other way round.

1. "Do You Have Any Questions To
Ask Me?"
This is normally the last question
posed to you, so it’s your chance
to finish the interview elegantly.
True enough, your doubts about
the job position might already
been allayed by this time when the
interview is almost done.
Nevertheless, you’ve got to say
something other than replying that
you’ve got nothing to ask. Doing
otherwise might leave the
impression to the interviewer that
you are not exactly keen to get the
job.
Unless an employer is interested in
recruiting a passive employee, the
interviewer is likely to be attracted
to proactive candidates who ask
intelligent questions. If you must
ask, do make sure that they aren’t
those with obvious answers that
you can get if you have done the
research thoroughly. Yes, there’s
no such thing as a stupid
question, except those that you ask
for the sake of asking. Try to
incorporate your knowledge of the
industry and the company into a
question that will address a
genuine concern of yours. That
way, you get to amaze your
interviewer and assess for a final
time whether the job aligns with
your expectations.
One of the best responses to this
question is to find out about your
chances of landing this job. Thank
the interviewer for the opportunity
and express your enthusiasm for
the position before asking if there
is any reservation for hiring you.
This will be your final chance to
address any concerns the
interviewer might have of
employing you. Stay calm and
reply objectively rather than taking
any criticism personally.
Of course, you are free to ask any
questions in your mind. It is, after
all, you who is seeking a right job
for yourself. Gather as much
information about the position and
have a feel of what it’s like
working there day in, day out. If
they offer you the job and it is
what you are seeking for, go for it