Interview Questions

Explore potential interview questions and highlight your achievements and experience as evidence.

Typically, interviews follow a consistent approach: you’ll likely be asked a general question to help you settle in, followed by questions exploring your motivations for applying, and then questions assessing your relevant skills, knowledge, and experience. More details are outlined below.

Predicting interview questions is often straightforward. Review the job posting, job description, and person specification, as these often hint at likely questions. The recruiter may also give you an idea during the invitation, saying, for example, “We’d like to invite you to this 45-minute video interview. The questions will focus on competencies, technical skills, or motivations and strengths.”

Types of Interview Questions

Open-Ended Questions
Often asked at the start of an interview, open-ended questions invite you to summarize your key selling points.
- Sample Questions
  - Tell us about yourself?
  - Where do you see yourself in five years?
- Techniques
  - Summarise 3-5 key selling points, backed with facts. This can be a sentence you can practice in advance by doing an ‘elevator pitch’.
  - Actively listen to ensure your answer addresses the question. ‘My last two jobs have used my strengths as a communicator’ is more convincing than ‘I have good communication skills’.
Job Knowledge Questions
These questions assess your understanding of the role, organization, and industry.
- Sample Questions:
  - What do you feel you could contribute to this role?
  - Who are our main competitors?
  - Why did you apply for this job?
  - What can you predict about what could happen in the next two years and what effects could that have on our work?
  - Can you give some information about what is happening in this sector or industry lately?
  - What could you in this role contributing to what we do? What can you do to enhance the experience or improve results?
  - What are the challenges in this industry or faced by the organisation?
- Techniques:
  - Conduct thorough research
  - If unsure of the answer, please be honest and respond with what you do know. For example, I'm less familiar with the 'xyz' issue/concept but I have some experience/knowledge with a similar 'abc' concept.
Strengths-Based Questions
These questions help identify what you enjoy and excel at.
- Sample Questions
  - What’s your greatest achievement, a non-academic achievement?
  - Describe a successful day at work.
  - What tasks are most interesting or would you do first in a list of tasks?
  - Describe/Explain a project which you were a part of from first to its completion.
  - In your opinion, describe a successful day, and what you did that led you think that the day is successful?
- Techniques
  - Be authentic and interested, it is not a good idea to fake these answers, so just be you and give a simple and straight answer.
  - Be specific, using detailed responses with statements like “I love to…” or “I am passionate about…”
  - Give a complete answer to these questions, as there most likely will not be any follow up/extension questions.
  - Don't panic if you get interrupted by the interviewer, as it could be because the interviewer might want to know more/less about what you are talking about, it could be an interesting.
Competency Questions
Competency questions ask for examples, from your previous experiences, demonstrating one or more specific skills or competencies that could be crucial for the role you have applied for.
- Sample Questions
  - Tell us about a time you solved a problem in a team.
  - In what kind of situations would you be under pressure and can you give an example of a situation, from your previous job?
  - Give an example of handling multiple tasks at the same time and how did you complete by prioritising various tasks?
- Techniques
  - Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result)
  - Be prepared for follow up questions from your answers like, 'What were your learnings from this particular experience?', 'What could you do better/differently the next time?'
Values-Based Questions
Increasingly common in larger organizations, these questions assess if your values align with the employer’s.
- Sample Questions
  - What are your values?
  - What does (a value/a competency) mean to you?
  - (In terms of your competencies) Describe a scenario when you demonstrated a particular competency?
  - On your CV, what indicates the most important thing to you in your life?
- Techniques
  - Research the organisation’s values and prepare examples demonstrating your alignment to those values.
  - Consider before hand if you agree with the company's values and be prepared with clear answers relating to this. Prepare your answers using the STAR technique.
  - Think and prepare a list of your own values, shortlist 3 or 4 values and why there are important to you. If these values don't align with the organisation's values then consider the possibility that this role may not be fulfilling to you.
Situational Questions
Situational questions explore how you’d handle hypothetical, often challenging, scenarios or situations.
- Sample Questions
  - If a client wants one thing but your manager disagrees, but you think something else would be the best thing to do, what would you do?
  - If a project that you are working on is partially, like 90%, completed in the specified time, but if given a 2 more days it would be 100% complete. What would you do?
  - It would take 2 hours to complete your project and you have only 2 hours to complete your shift for the day. At that point of time a senior manager, who has a considerable power to handle your increment/promotion, asks you to help him out in another project. What will you do?
- Techniques
  - Explain your reasoning and approach while considering organisational values.
  - Ask the interviewer to repeat the question again, if you did not grasp the question completely. Most scenario based questions tend to be elaborate and complex, so tread carefully.
  - While answering a question, when you have finalised on an answer or pros & cons, think of ways to mitigate one or more cons, if possible. The interviewer could give credit for your thinking process and that you have considered a bigger picture.
  - While answering these questions, at times, it is important to consider the 'How' rather than the 'What'. Think about how and give detailed answers.
  - It is critical to consider the Organisation's Values and Future Scope while answering these questions as there could be a clue in these values.
Weakness/Negative Questions
These rare questions gauge your self-awareness and willingness to improve.
- Sample Questions
  - What are your weaknesses?
  - What are the challenges you have faced in your previous job/role?
- Techniques
  - Give an honest, growth-focused answer and discuss your improvement strategies.
  - Do not over do these answers as it could go against your favour.
Aspiration/Negotiation Questions
These questions ensure your expectations align with the role’s reality and practicality.
- Sample Questions
  - Where do you see yourself in five years?
  - What salary expectations do you have?
- Techniques
  - Research typical industry standards about the salaries for such roles, and be honest about non-negotiables.
  - It is suggested to be a little flexible on salary, as being stubborn on salary with out an offer on the table is futile. First, focus on the job offer, then you can negotiate.
Quirky Questions
Often used to assess interpersonal skills, quirky questions can add a light-hearted element to the interview.
- Sample Questions
  - What’s a surprising fact about you?
- Techniques
  - Embrace the question with a positive spirit, showing your personality.
Logical Reasoning Questions
Used in roles needing analytical skills, these questions test problem-solving and logical thinking.
- Sample Questions
  - What’s larger: 15 x 7 or 14 x 8?
- Techniques
  - Walk through your thought process to demonstrate logical reasoning.

Your Questions for the Interviewer

Avoid questions about salary or benefits at this stage. Instead, prepare questions showing genuine interest in the role, allowing you to make an informed decision if offered the position.