During the Interview:

Common Interview Questions

The questions below are typical in many interviews. Preparing for them and developing your own framework can help you approach the interview with confidence. Click on the video clips to see how some students have chosen to answer these questions, and see how you can improve with practice.

1. Tell me about yourself.
Open-ended questions like this require a plan on your part so that you don’t just ramble. Early in the interview, take the opportunity to lay out the most important things you want an interviewer to know about you. Use this question to highlight those core things about you that are relevant to this job, for example, your academics, extracurriculars, and other experiences or relevant skill sets. This is also a good opportunity to express your enthusiasm for the position and the organization.

Watch Nick’s video to see how he handled this question.

2. Why should we hire you?
Another open-ended question, another chance for you to summarize your strengths as they relate to the specific position. If this comes at the end of an interview, it’s a time to summarize those core things that you want the interviewer to remember most about you. This answer can also show how much you understand the skills required for the job. Use this question to demonstrate clearly and concretely why you will be successful in the job if hired.

3. Why are you interested in our organization?
Here is an occasion to demonstrate the research you’ve done, and show why this particular job with this organization is a good fit for you. Be specific, stay away from simple generalizations or obvious content taken from the employer’s website. Personalize your response: talk about what you can bring to their organization, and how they will benefit from your skills and experiences.

4. What are your greatest strengths?
Be sure that the strengths you identify are relevant for job success. These strengths may be skills or personal qualities. Most importantly, give specific examples of times that you have demonstrated these strengths. Stories drawn from past experiences that offer concrete examples of your strengths are much more believable than broad generalizations.

5. What is your greatest weakness?
Everyone has at least one liability. This question might be asked to identify which areas are in need of improvement, as well as your ability to take and use feedback. Talking about your weaknesses shows self-awareness, maturity, responsibility and integrity. It’s okay to share a weakness with an employer, as long as it’s not one critical to the job. Think about following a weakness with a positive statement about what you have done or plan to do to overcome the liability. Avoid mentioning any unresolved weaknesses.

6. Tell me about a time you were faced with failure, and how you handled that situation.
Just like weaknesses, everyone has experienced failure. The key here is whether you learned from the situation, and if you can demonstrate how you grew as a result. Much like with the weakness question, the recruiter will also be gauging your ability to self-reflect on past experiences. This is an example of a behavioral interviewing question. You can learn more about this type of question and helpful behavioral interviewing strategies on this website.

7. Where do you want to be in 5 years? 10 years?
A good answer to this question demonstrates that you are thinking about your long term career goals in addition to the short term. You’ll want to find ways to connect your answer to the job at hand, demonstrating an understanding of how this job fits your long term goals. The interviewer may be assessing whether their organization fits with your goals. A solid answer demonstrates an understanding and passion for your target industry and how you envision yourself fitting in.

8. How has your educational background prepared you for this job?
Your answer should give insight into the educational choices you made, as well as specific experiences that will help you impact the organization. Just like with work experiences, develop some stories about your educational experiences that demonstrate the skills, qualities and experiences your target employers value.

9. What kind of work environment are you looking for?
This answer can provide another opportunity for you to demonstrate your self-awareness and maturity in talking about the kinds of work environments that allow you to thrive, and also reinforcing some of your strengths (e.g., ability to work under pressure, ability to work autonomously). Be sure to communicate how your preferences would accord/coalesce/harmonize with the environment of the organization.

10. Tell me about a time you influenced the outcome of a project by taking a leadership role.
Like all behavioral questions, this requires that you talk about a specific situation, your role in it, and concrete outcomes as a result of your actions. A complete answer could focus on the components of a good leader and reflections on your specific leadership style. Focusing on concrete results will demonstrate to the interviewer that you understand the impact that good leadership skills have on a team.

11. What questions do you have for me?
ALWAYS have questions prepared for the interviewer; failure to do so suggests a lack of interest in the job and the organization. Focus on areas that are legitimate for you as a potential new hire, for example, how employees are evaluated and promoted, or the expectations for new hires. Personal opinion questions are safe and can be asked of numerous people, for example, asking about the work environment of the organization or the organization’s greatest strengths and weaknesses.