Tackling Common Interview Questions

If only you knew exactly what an employer was going to ask the night before the interview. Not only would you be able to prepare your answers, but it would probably relieve some of the stress. But life just ain’t like that and you can expect to have one or two curve balls thrown your way. This gives an employer a chance to see how quickly you can think and formulate a response.

However, you can still somewhat prepare yourself for an interview since many employers often ask some common questions (or questions very similar). Formulating and practicing your responses to such common questions can help to reduce your pre-interview jitters and increase your confidence. So here are a few of the common questions you may encounter and some suggests when it comes to answering them.

Where are your skills lacking? What do you think your weaknesses are? There is a good chance an employer will throw a question similar to these at you. Two things you should not do when answering such a question. First, do not claim that you have no weaknesses because everyone does. Second, do not confess to all of your shortcomings. Provide an honest answer about a few small shortcomings and how you are overcoming them.

Tell us why we should hire you? What can you bring to our company? When an employer asks you such a question, they are looking for a summary of your skills and strengths as they relate to the position you are applying for. So when you are outlining your qualities, make sure you focus in on the ones that the employer is specifically looking for.

Salary expectations? This is definitely a topic that will be discussed during the interview. An employer will want to know how much you expect to make in such a position. Your best bet here is to do a little research before hand and find out the salary for similar positions. This way you can give a realistic salary range that you expect to receive.

Why did you leave you previous job? What did you dislike about it? You might even be asked about your boss. This isn’t the time to start bad mouthing previous employers and previous jobs. Pick one negative aspect but talk about it in a positive way. Describing what you learned from the situation.

So instead of going into an interview unprepared, take some time to think about some of the difficult questions you may be ask and formulate some general answers to them. It will increase your confidence, reduce your stress level, and allow you to provide stronger answers to interview questions.