Use this list of common interview questions to prepare ahead of time. Although you
don’t want to sound like you’re reciting a canned answer, keeping some key points in
mind can be helpful.

1. Tell me about yourself.
2. Why did you leave your last job?
3. What are your strengths?
4. What are your weaknesses?
5. Why should I hire you?
6. What are your career goals and objectives?
7. How does this job fit into your career goals?
8. What do you know about our organization?
9. How do you normally handle change?
10. What would you last employer say about you?
11. If you could do anything in your career differently, what would it be?
12. Describe your greatest achievement.
13. Describe your most significant failure.
14. Which of your jobs did you like the best? Why?
15. Which of your jobs did you like the least? Why?
16. What kind of employee are you?
17. How do you handle authority?
18. On your last performance evaluation, what did your manager criticize you for?
19. How do you handle conflict with peers?
20. How do you normally handle criticism?
21. Describe your relationship with your last manager.
22. Where do you want to be five years from now?
23. Why do you want to work for us?
24. Why have you changed jobs so often?
25. Why is it taking you so long to find a job?
26. Tell me about a time when you handle to handle a crisis situation.
27. How do you deal with stress and pressure?
28. How much are you presently earning?
29. How much money do you want?
30. When can you start?
31. Can we check your references?
32. Where else are you interviewing?
33. Is there anything that we have forgotten to ask you?
34. Do you have any questions for us?

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Mealtime interviews pose a unique set of interviewing challenges, which are outlined
below:

1. Keep drinking to a minimum, or better yet, don’t drink at all.

2. Don’t order anything messy. It’s hard to concentrate on the interview when your
spaghetti is dribbling down your chin.

3. No smoking, please—even if you’re sitting in the smoking section of the restaurant.

4. Keep it simple. Never order too much food or choose the most expensive item on
the menu. It’s not your last meal and, as you’ve probably heard, there’s no such
thing as a free lunch.

5. Remember your company manners. No matter how comfortable you feel during the
interview, don’t shovel your food into your mouth, talk with your mouth full, or eat
with your hands (unless it’s finger food).

6. Keep the conversation friendly but professional. While you want to be likeable and
charming, you don’t want to turn on the conversational faucet by sharing too much
personal information.

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Nothing in life taxes your flexibility quite like interviewing. Here are some of the interviewing
scenarios you might expect to encounter:

1. Screening interviews usually take place on the telephone and are conducted by a
human resources professional or executive recruiter. Their goal is to determine
whether you have the minimum qualifications to do the job and then move you
along to the next person in the hiring hierarchy.

2. Sequential interviews take place in organizations that prefer to hire by consensus.
As a result, you may find yourself meeting with several hiring authorities over the
course of a day, a week, or a month. The key here is to approach each interview
with freshness and enthusiasm. Don’t worry about repeating yourself; this will only
make you look consistent—not boring.

3. Group interviews can be conducted by a handful of people simultaneously or resemble
a regular mob scene (with a cast of dozens). These interviews are usually more
about presentation than conversation, but you should still try to establish rapport
with each and every person in the room whenever possible. Candidates with group
training or facilitation skills definitely have the edge in group interviews.

4. Stress interviews are another variety. While most interviews are by definition stressful,
stress interviews are intentionally and artificially stressful. The intention of these
interviews is mostly to see how you react to pressure and stress—the key is to recognize
that you’re in a stress interview and keep your cool!

5. Performance interviews often require that you give a presentation to an audience as
a way of showcasing your platform skills and expertise. You will usually receive an
assigned topic in advance, enabling you to prepare the information that you want to
deliver in an organized and articulate manner.

6. Many employers like to supplement their interview process with aptitude, personality,
and values tests. The experts vary in their advice about how to deal with these
tests. My advice is to be truthful and to make sure that you always put the best spin
on the truth. Answer questions with confidence, enthusiasm, and skill.

7. Computer-assisted interviews are changing the face of the selection process. During
a computer-assisted interview, you will often be asked to sit at a computer terminal
and enter information into the computer or answer by using a touch-tone phone.
The thing to remember here is that you shouldn’t say anything to a computer that
you wouldn’t say to an interviewer in a face-to-face meeting.

8. Mealtime interviews are a challenge for many reasons. Because of the more relaxed
atmosphere, interviewers sometimes ask personal questions that would otherwise be
considered illegal in a more formal setting. Don’t be lulled into shooting yourself in
the foot. Make sure you use your company manners and keep your game face on.
You don’t want to lose out on an interesting opportunity over the price of a steak
dinner.

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Communication is always a two-way street. In order to be responsive to interviewers’
needs, you must know how to listen and listen well. To improve your listening skills:

1. Focus your attention on what the interviewer is saying. If your mind starts to wander,
consciously force yourself to listen for the content, even if the interviewer’s intonation
is boring or the questions are phrased in a rambling manner.

2. Respond with appropriate nonverbal cues. Smile or nod your head in agreement
when appropriate. Conversely, don’t roll your eyes, clench your fists, or grimace at
the interviewer’s words.

3. Resist the impulse to interrupt.

4. Listen non-defensively. Do not be judgmental or critical of what you hear. This will
only prevent you from truly understanding what the interviewer is saying.

5. Don’t get distracted by trivial things that don’t really matter, like the interviewer’s
appearance, accent, lisp, or lipsmacking. Respond to what is being said rather than
how it is being communicated. Not everyone is a great communicator.

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1. Do dress for respect—conservatively and professionally.

2. Don’t sit passively in your seat and wait for the interviewer to do all of the work.

3. Do make small talk and try to find areas of common interest with interviewers, who
are—believe it or not—people, too.

4. Don’t look as if you are facing a firing squad. Smile and try to relax.

5. Do make sure to research the organization before the interview. This shows interviewers
that you are genuinely interested in them.

6. Don’t be late. This makes a terrible first impression. Instead, make sure that you
have proper directions and leave plenty of time (in case traffic is bad, the bus is
late, or you get lost).

7. Do bring extra copies of your resume in case the interviewer forgets or misplaces
your original copy.

8. Don’t call the interviewer by his or her first name unless they specifically instruct
you to do so.

9. Do remember the interviewer’s name and use it periodically throughout the interview.

10. Don’t dominate the conversation. Your answers should always be succinct, direct,
and well articulated.

11. Do learn to listen attentively and show genuine interest and enthusiasm. Remember,
employers want people who care.

12. Don’t deliver answers to interview questions as if you were making a speech.
Although you should prepare responses to typical questions in advance, your delivery
should sound sincere and unrehearsed. Remember: Make conversation, not presentations.

13. Do ask intelligent questions. Ask about job responsibilities, company goals, and
other related topics.

14. Don’t initiate conversations about money or benefits until you have a job offer.
After you have received an offer, you have a lot more negotiating power.

15. Do present a confident self-image that offsets any concerns that you may be hiding
something or have skeletons in your professional closet.

16. Don’t lie or get defensive. Try to frame negative situations as positively as possible
(in terms of a “mismatch,” “different styles,” or what you learned) without speaking
badly about past employers or colleagues.

17. Do answer the questions fully and punctuate your answers with good stories that
illustrate your competencies and style.

18. Don’t beat yourself up for making mistakes. It’s part of the process. The important
thing is that you learn from those mistakes so that you don’t repeat them in future
interviews.

19. Do follow up. If you agreed to provide references or additional information, make
sure that you deliver on your promises.

20. Don’t forget to send a thank-you note either by e-mail or snail mail. In your letter,
reassert your interest and qualifications.

21. Do continue to conduct your job search and look for additional opportunities. As
Yogi Berra is famous for saying, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”

22. Don’t sit around waiting for the interviewer to call you. If you don’t hear from them
within a week after your interview, make sure that you check in to see where they
(and you) are in the process.

23. Do remember that “no” doesn’t always mean forever. Although you may not always
get a job offer, if you stay on cordial terms with the people who interview you, you
may end up hearing from them again.

24. Never burn bridges. However disappointed or rejected you may feel, try your best
not to take it personally. Make sure that the interviewer knows that you enjoyed
meeting them and are still interested in future possibilities.

25. Do move on. There are many, many fish in the sea of jobs—your challenge is to is
to spot them and catch them.

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You never get a second chance to make a first impression, which means that you have to
do everything in your power to make that first impression a good one.

1. Dress for success. An interview is a formal employment occasion. Treat it accordingly
and wear your best suit or dress.

2. Your handshake is as important as your resume. It has to be strong, confident, and
assertive.

3. Your energy level communicates interest and enthusiasm. Get plenty of sleep and
make sure that you are alert and ready to engage the interviewer.

4. Posture also communicates energy. Sit up straight and look like you’re alive, please.

5. A smile is worth a thousand words. It says “It’s nice to meet you and I’m happy to
be here.”

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When it comes to job interviewing, winging it is not an option. To find—and get—the
best position, you must prepare often and well.

✔ Determine your marketable skills. These include technical qualifications, general
liberal-arts skills (analytical, communication, problem solving), and character traits
(honesty, trustworthiness, dependability)

✔ Develop a selling strategy to persuade employers that you have the right stuff to do
the job.

✔ Learn to tell stories. Review your work experience and be prepared to give examples
that demonstrate your skills and qualifications.

✔ Anticipate tough questions. For better or worse, employers can be cynical and suspicious
that candidates are trying to fool them with lies and half-truths.
Recognizing the potential stumbling blocks in your history will enable you to anticipate
and strategize effective ways of overcoming these obstacles.

✔ Research the company/organization. To understand the needs and values of potential
employers, tap into your own network and go online to find out whatever you
can about the company and the kind of person they are most likely to be looking for.

✔ Deal with sensitive information sensitively. After you gain insight into an organization’s challenges and liabilities, you need to deal with that information tactfully.
Like individuals, organizations have emotional sore spots that, if pointed out in the
wrong way, can make people defensive.

✔ Organize. As part of your interview preparation, you will also need to handle logistical
matters. By managing issues of time and place well, you create an impression
of competence and professionalism.

✔ Negotiate. As you and your future employer explore the question of “fit,” you may
be asked to discuss compensation. Although it’s best to postpone salary discussions
until you have an offer, you must be prepared to handle the question whenever it
surfaces in the process.

✔ Practice makes perfect. Great interviewing skills are not learned overnight. To be
effective in job interviews, you need to develop a practice-and-perfection mentality.
This means learning from your mistakes, revisiting your communications strategy,
and improving your responses.

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