Top 50 Most Common Interview Questions
Sweet article on Forbes.com. Lists the 50 most common interview questions as identified by Glassdoor.com (great site!) when sifting through thousands of comments. Article overviews 10 ways to prepare for interview. First of all here is what I resonate with in terms of the preparation:
- Follow the leader. Follow the speed and rhythm of the interviewer. Pause when needed and even repeat the question so you can give yourself time to think. Good trick
- Do your homework. Know about the company so you can answer typical questions (“What do you know about the company X?”) and have some meaningful questions to ask about the industry/company direction (as I mentioned in Ask The Right Questions to Land the Job). Do some simple research on the company’s website and understand mission, products/services, locations, market share, etc. Use annual/analyst reports + press releases.
- Identify what the organization wants and needs. You need to know this to understand how you can sell yourself best. See my Solution Selling post.
- Figure out how to articulate your goals. Why do you want this job? What do you want to do in your career? What is your ultimate role? Where do you want to be in 5/10 years? Be concise with your direction and how this role fits in your broader plan.
Now here are some of those 50 questions that you absolutely need to know. Aside from the 2 other key questions I blogged about: “Tell me about yourself” and “What is the most significant accomplishment in your life?”
- Why are you interested in working for XYZ?
- Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
- Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
- What would you like to accomplish in 30 days, 60 days, 90 days?
- What was your biggest failure? What did you learn?
- What motivates you?
- What gets you up in the morning?
- What was the last book you read for fun?
There’s many other good ones, but these come up quite often. I will blog about how to answer each one of them later. But in the meantime, which one stumps you the most? And why?
Here’s the article: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2014/01/15/how-to-ace-10-of-the-most-common-interview-questions/
These are great. The four “ways to prepare” you highlighted really resonate with me as well.
If you’re already working, the interview questions you listed are great questions to ask yourself often at your current job (I think about them all the time). They’re great for tracking the relevancy of your goals and gauging your direction. If you think about them a lot, you’re ready to answer them at your next interview.