8 Common Questions You Should Expect to Answer in the Interview

When you think about it, the mere idea of an interview is daunting. It is a meeting where you visit with a team you don’t know, in a company you haven’t been to before, to discuss how important you can be to these strangers and their mission. You spend 30-60 minutes with someone and decide based on that interaction whether a commitment of years together is a possibility.   No pressure, folks....

The goal of an interview should focus directly on one objective. To get the “thumbs up” from the individuals you meet. If you don’t get the approval to move forward by the interview team, there is no decision to make. If they want to pursue you after the interview, then you can investigate further and decide if YOU want THEM. 

As you prepare, be darn sure you are ready for these questions. Asked directly or indirectly, it is important to give the interview team what they need, to facilitate a decision.

1. Tell me why you are looking? State professionally why you are limited at your current company. Do not say “you called me”. Don’t take the interview unless there is something to potentially gain in this move. No one wants to waste time with people who haven’t seriously contemplated a move from their current company.  
2. What about our opportunity has you interested? Why is this role interesting to you? What did you learn about the company or team that made you want to meet them? This is a way to uncover more than just your interests in the company. They are getting a feel for what moves you to action. 
3. What are your strengths? Please don’t say you are a people person.  Ever. What professional strengths do you have? Are you able to meet aggressive timelines with limited resources? Did you launch last year's product within budget successfully? Give an example of where these strengths benefited your past employer. Are you able to lead through influence? Where have you demonstrated your strengths effectively and what was gained from it?  The potential employer wants to hear clearly what you are bringing to the party. Answers like "I am a people person" or "I am detail oriented" are too soft. Give yourself credit, what do those attributes allow you to do extremely well?
4. What are your weaknesses? This goes along the lines of, “what was your biggest professional failure?” The answer here is not simply the example you provide, it is self-awareness. What happened, how you problem solved through it and what was the conclusion. Can you “own” mistakes? Do you play the blame game? 
5. Behavioral based interview questions. Many companies still use these questions as a way to gather information. These questions typically start with “Tell me about a time when....” Have examples ready of accomplishments and struggles, for example, “Tell me about a time when you didn’t agree with your boss on a situation and explain how you handled it?” 
6. What gets you up in the morning? Whether it is providing for your family or driving the P&L for a 50-million-dollar business, state what gets you going and why. Where is your drive for success?
7. Why the short stints? If you have made a number of moves in your career, you may be accustomed to this question. If you are still invited in for an interview, that means someone has agreed to see you despite the short stops along your career path. Short time periods at a given company suggest you could be a challenging hire, impatient, or lack the ability to push through obstacles. It could also mean that one company was acquired and moved your position to Germany and the other 2 startups couldn’t get the funding needed to continue. Regardless, be prepared to address short stops and what you were able to accomplish in the accelerated timeline. 
8. What are you looking for? This question is wrapped up in many forms, but think through how to answer. What are you missing in your current opportunity that may be available here? Is the business shrinking? Are you lacking a mentor? Is your boss sticking around until he retires, limiting any growth for you? Give details and context, and NEVER should compensation be brought up. If more money is your answer for looking, this interview is a waste of everyone’s time, and you may be best to bow out gracefully. 

One final note. With all these questions, answer honestly. It doesn’t do anyone any justice to have you respond with canned answers to slide further into process. These questions should be used for introspection prior to an interview and to help you present your candidacy with an objective in mind. This is a business meeting, and the gravity you give it with preparation will give the interview team an idea of how you operate in the business world. 

For additional interview tips, catch my other blog here.

Good Luck!