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Interview Questions

With 60 years of experience, on both sides of the interviewing desk, you could say we have a few interviewing pointers to share. Here’s a list of commonly asked questions—and effective responses—to help you get through the interview with ease. Go in prepared and come out on top.

How would you describe yourself?

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Spend about two minutes answering this question.
Begin wherever you feel comfortable: high school, college, a prior position.
Speak logically and clearly about yourself—share particular attributes or accomplishments that demonstrate your value as a prospective employee.

Tell me about your biggest accomplishment.

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Develop an excellent response to this critical question.
Focus on hard work, commitment, long hours or ability under pressure.
Describe a recent challenge and your involvement in the solution (overtime, leadership, innovative thinking, etc.)
Present an accomplishment relevant to the current position you seek.

Why do you want to change jobs?

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Never criticize a past employer or co-workers.
Discussing major problems within the company, or sharing the fact that the company is being bought out or shut down, is acceptable.
Answering that you feel you can no longer make a contribution because of extensive changes at the company, or that you are looking for growth opportunities, is safest.

What did you like/dislike about your last position?

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Another key question that demonstrates whether or not you are a good fit.
Avoid negativity about your past position (e.g., dislike of overtime, conflict with management, etc.)
Put a positive spin on your answer by focusing on challenging work that you did, variety of experience gained, team projects you were involved in, etc.

In what ways are you qualified for this position?

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Choose a few specifics from the job description and focus your answer on how your particular skills and experience meet these requirements.
Highlight relevant management experience, technical skill or a personal success story.

Describe your most important strengths.

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Identify five strengths relevant to the position for which you’re interviewing (e.g., technical skills, management experience, etc.)
Give a brief example of how you successfully applied each of the five strengths in a past work situation.

Have you accomplished something you didn't think was possible?

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Demonstrate integrity, work ethic or commitment to achieving a heady goal.
Give an example of how you accomplished this significant challenge without giving in to such things as obstacles along the way, tight deadlines or lack of resources.

Is there a situation in the past in which you took initiative?

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Demonstrate that you are a motivated, results-oriented employee who knows what to do without being told.
Describe situations in which you exhibited a strong work ethic or creative abilities that helped you overcome a challenging situation.

Can you think of a situation during your career that was particularly embarrassing? How would you handle the same situation today?

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Show that you are able to learn from past mistakes.
Be honest about a particular failure, but talk positively about the lesson you learned from it.

One of our company's biggest challenges is... How would you deal with this?

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Ask for more details before trying to answer this question.
Break the challenge into sub-challenges, in which you have prior experience.
Explain your strategy for dealing with each step and summarize the method you would use to solve the overall problem.
Present your analytical and organizational skills in a logical, step by step way.

Have you ever been in situations involving diffing co-workers, tight deadlines or inadequate resources? How did you handle these situations?

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Discuss effective management skills and your ability to handle challenges.
Describe your most difficult management trial and the skills used to overcome it (e.g., organization, interpersonal skills, perseverance, diplomacy, etc.).

What would you change about your career given the opportunity?

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Be honest. The interviewer wants to know if you’ll be happy in the position, and whether you’re motivated to make changes in order to get what you want out of your career.

What are your career goals?

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Focus on the attainable.
Give realistic answers, such as a management promotion in three to five years.
Consider your past (did you rise quickly or travel a rocky road?) and use this as a guideline for a reasonable response.

Most importantly, why should we hire you?

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Take this opportunity to reveal your organizational skills, positive attitude and confidence.
Restate key aspects of the job (which you’ve gleaned from the interview) and describe the traits that make you an ideal candidate for the position.