Interview Questions You Can Expect

There are many different ways to conduct an interviewer and various interviewers have their own unique styles. In my experience, there are a few scenarios you can expect and you should prepare for these. 

1. Standard Questions – questions such as why do you want this job, what do you feel are your strengths and weaknesses, what are your goals, where do you see yourself in five years, etc. You should prepared answers to these in advance. 

2. Resume Questions – these might get you to discuss aspects of your resume. Be succinct and consistent with the truth and your resume. 

3. Self-Appraisal – these questions require the candidate to make subjective comments on his or her abilities, such as “what do you think is your greatest asset?” Another might be “can you tell me something that you have recently done that is very creative?” These questions provide insight into how you judge yourself. 

4. Situational Questions – the interviewer may present a scenario to explore the way a candidate reacts to past situations or certain stimuli and complicated situations. A question I used to like to ask during sales interviews was “what would you do if you had just closed a big product sale near the end of a quarter which you needed to make quota, but then you subsequently learned that there was a critical flaw in the product prior to delivery to the customer? Would you make the customer aware and risk losing the sale and missing quota or would you work it through with the customer after delivery?” These questions tell an interviewer a lot about your personal values. (By the way, salespeople who are loyal to their customers and protect them from risk are usually rewarded with additional sales). 

5. Stress Questions – these questions are designed to test your mettle and see how you operate under stress. For instance, an interviewer might suggest that you are completely unqualified for the position. The interviewer will be looking to see your emotional, reflexes, creativity and attitudes. 

6. Taboo topics – as in any sales situation, I feel it is best to save a discussion about money until after need has been established. In the context of an interview, this means, you don’t need to ask what the salary is until the employer brings it up or expresses an interest in you. 

Anticipating every interview question and memorizing dozens of stock answers would be impractical, at least and likely impossible. My advice is to know your background, your goals, and why you are considering a new position. Handle the interview honestly and if you don’t know the answer to a question, just say so, or ask for a moment to think about your response. The better prepared you are for the questions you will be asked, the more likely you are going to make a good impression.