Typical Interview Questions
and Best Answers
Prepare for typical interview questions. Use the answer guidelines to prepare your own winning interview answers.
What do you like most about your current or last job?
The interviewer wants to evaluate your compatibility with the position you are interviewing for. Make your answer relevant to the job requirements. General reasons such as new challenges, interacting with people, growth and learning opportunities, using your initiative, working as part of a team and meeting set objectives and goals are usually applicable to most job opportunities.
Highlight the reason and make it more specific by quoting an example. "I enjoyed having to use my initiative. I have implemented and improved a number of the systems including the order processing system."
What do you like least about your current or last job?
With typical interview questions like this be careful that the dislikes you talk about do not refer to specific characteristics of the job opportunity you are interviewing for. Stay away from reasons such as overtime and salary. Avoid criticism of your boss, management or co-workers. Be general and refer to the lack of or absence of what you seek in a job or work environment.
For example, "There was very little opportunity for me to use my initiative. I regard this as one of my strengths and found it frustrating that I was unable to get past the bureaucracy of such a big company to implement any improvements. That is why I am enthusiastic about working for a smaller company like this which I know encourages employees to use their initiative."
Or
"There was a lack of growth opportunities in such as small company. One of the reasons I am so interested in your company is that it is a much larger organization with formal career planning structures in place."
This way you emphasize why you are a suitable candidate for this job and company as well as turning it into a compliment to the company you are interviewing with.
How to answer the question "What do you like and dislike about the sales job?"
How would you describe your previous manager/boss/supervisor
When answering typical interview questions about previous managers avoid saying anything that can be interpreted as negative. It sends up a red flag about your attitude to authority and supervision. Even if there is something truly negative about your boss rather try to find something positive to focus on. The answer you give should be fact-based and not just your opinion.
For example: "My manager was very experienced, he had managed a number of big call centers over the past 12 years. He liked his staff to be able to work independently and I had to learn quickly to become independent about analyzing problems and finding solutions."
In this answer you are stating a positive fact about your boss, his amount of experience. You are also turning a possible negative about your boss, his lack of support, into a positive about you. You have not criticized your boss and you have taken the opportunity to highlight your ability to be proactive and deal with a situation.
Use these sample answers to help prepare your own good interview answers to these typical interview questions. You will stand out as the professional and prepared job candidate.
Prepare for other common interview questions using our recommended sample answers and interview answer guidelines.
Prepare winning answers to frequently asked interview questions.
How would your co-workers describe you?
The interviewer wants to find out if you have a good understanding of how you are perceived and how your behavior impacts on others. Your answer should demonstrate an objective view of your strengths and areas for improvement in terms of teamwork and your interpersonal skills.
In your job interview answer describe the good points and perceptions but also discuss one or two areas that you are aware need attention.
Emphasize what you have done to improve on these areas. This makes your answer both real and insightful.
When you refer to the positive characteristics, support your answer with a quote or paraphrase from one or two of your colleagues.
For example, "I know they considered me to be hard working. In fact, the other team members often thanked me for the extra hours I put in."
Then move on to the areas for improvement.
"I know that I was initially considered intolerant if I felt they were not putting in the same amount of effort as I was. I realized it was better to encourage them to meet our deadlines by offering help where needed. This has worked much better for all of us."
Use work-relevant words like good communicator, reliable, decisive, resilient, energetic, team member when answering top interview questions like this.
What motivates you in your job?
This is a personal trait, there is no right or wrong answer.
However, you need to prepare for this job interview question and note down some specific examples. It is often difficult to verbalize your motivation properly in the stressful context of a job interview.
Other interview questions will determine whether you have the skills for the job - can you do the job. With this question the interviewer is exploring whether you will be a good motivational fit with the job opportunity - will you want to do this job?
What does motivate you will depend on your background and work experiences, but try to make your motivation relevant to what this job can provide. For example if the job is a fairly isolated one do not give "working with other people" as a motivation! You can use this preparation as an opportunity to think about whether this position is really suitable for you in terms of motivational fit.
Here are some sample answers to top interview questions about your motivation to help you prepare your own answers:
"I am motivated by the challenge of difficult tasks and projects.My previous manager gave me more and more responsibility as I proved myself, I found this very motivating."
"It is important for me to meet the customers needs. I give them the best service and when I exceed their expectations or get positive feedback it motivates me."
"I like to know that I am growing as an employee. Learning and using new skills is a big motivator for me."
There are many different motivators.
Challenge, achievement, recognition, learning opportunities, increased responsibility, coaching or mentoring others, team involvement and interaction, task complexity and variety are all possible answers to top interview questions about motivation.
Good luck
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