How to answer questions on an interview? Top 5 most popular interview questions with answers + interview answer templates

Top 5 most popular interview questions in an interview and how to answer questions in an interview? 

Interview question 1: Who do you see yourself in 5 years?

How to answer this question in an interview? Expert advice: 

To answer the question appropriately, the job seeker has to understand the recruiter’s purpose. Let’s think about what the recruiter would like to find out about your personality? Most likely, the recruiter wants to know about your personal career plan, whether you plan to stay with their company in the long term, whether you are motivated and loyal to the company.  

How to answer this question in an interview? 

The best thing to do is to talk about your career goals, which also coincide with those of the employer. However, the recruiter should understand that you are flexible and willing to change. Express that you are open to interesting and responsible activities and interested in professional development. 

5 tips to help you answer on this question in an interview right: 

1. Show the recruiter that you want to develop and improve your professional skills.
2. Tell them that you plan to improve your professional qualifications and that your motivation is long-term.
3. If you plan to move or have children within 5 years, ask about the company values. Is there an opportunity to work remotely or part-time?
4. Don’t lie to the recruiter. Experienced hiring managers see when they want to be lied to straight away.
5. Don’t answer too specifically so as not to reduce the potential overlap with the employer’s ideas. Stay flexible. It is important that the answer sounds motivated, company-oriented, focused, but without being too specific.

An example how to answer a question in an interview: 

My current goal is to find a company where I can develop both professionally and personally. I want to face as many different challenges as possible. My goal is to take on more and more important tasks and responsibilities over the next few years. I think this works particularly well when I work in an organization that is developing itself. This is definitely the case in your company.

Interview question 2: What are your strengths and weaknesses?

How to answer this question in an interview? Expert advice: 

How to answer this question in an interview? 

Answer confidently, but don’t boast. It’s better to compare your personal strengths in advance with the requirements for the position and give specific examples. 

But how should you answer if the recruiter asks you about your weaknesses? To impress the recruiter, name your weaknesses, but be specific about how you deal with them. State your willingness to learn and cope with this weakness. In this way, the recruiter will realise that you are reflective and can change for the better. 

Interview question 3: How do you cope with problems?

How to answer this question in an interview? Expert advice: 

Here the hiring manager checks how you cope with stress and how you behave in difficult and hopeless situations. 

How to answer this question in an interview? Give an example of a challenging situation and explain how you analysed and recognised the problem. How did you manage to solve the problem? What did you learn from the situation?

Interview question 4: Have you ever found that working in a team did not go as well as you would have hoped? How did you manage it? 

Teamwork is an important social skill in companies, which is why recruiters like to ask this question at a job interview. 

How to answer this question in an interview? Show that you can solve problems openly and constructively together with other team members. 

For example, a good answer in a job interview would be, “We discussed problems openly at a team meeting. During the conversation it became clear that some colleagues were overworked. We then reallocated tasks and made a new task plan.

Interview question 5: Why should we hire you?

This means: “Why exactly are you worthy of the position compared to many other qualified candidates?” Recruiters like to ask this question to test your stressful behaviour. The main thing is to be calm.

In the end, all options boil down to one basic one: What makes you different from other candidates?

How to answer this question in an interview? 

Ask yourself in terms of the company’s goals:

• What are my key strengths for this job?
• What unique strengths do I have?
• How will I help this company grow?

Then structure these points and give examples to them. 

It is important not just to give a general answer, but to answer questions on an interview specifically and concisely. 

Don’t confuse confidence with arrogance. The answer “Because I’m the best for the job” will not do. 

Many candidates make another mistake: they repeat their resume. 

Expert advice, how to answer this question in an interview?

Your answer to this question at a job interview should consist of several arguments and contain a short and succinct account of your strengths, experience, achievements. Finish your answer with a suggestion of what you would be useful to the company. 

An example how to answer a question in an interview:

There are at least three arguments in favour of hiring me:

First, I have qualities such as _____, _____ and _____ that I believe are essential to the tasks of the position.

Secondly, I have experience in the areas of _____ and _____ that few professionals in my field possess.

Finally, it allows me to solve your current problem. I researched your company in advance and noticed that I can help you _____ . 

Another 10 frequently asked questions at a job interview:

1. Why do you want to get a job with our company?
2. Describe your previous job tasks.
3. Why are you looking for a new job?
4. How much do you want to earn?
5. Are you prepared to work on public holidays/weekends?
6. Who are our business competitors?
7. What would your team members/manager say about you?
8. What are your hobbies? How would you explain this gap in your CV?
9. How would you describe your working style?
10. What are your goals for this position?

How to answer questions in an interview? 5 tips for the job seeker

1. Always remain friendly, professional and calm. Don’t let difficult questions frustrate you and don’t get nervous if you don’t know the answer. You can ask for some time to think about a tricky question
2. Don’t memorise the answers by heart. It’s better to have a dialogue with the recruiter, ask follow-up questions, and respond sincerely to what the recruiter says.
3. Study all the information about the company and its projects before the interview. A candidate who knows nothing about the company he wants to work for will immediately seem irresponsible and disinterested. 
4. Only tell the truth. An experienced recruiter will understand if you write one thing on your resume and talk about something else at the interview. Be honest even about minor facts. If you get caught in a little lie, they won’t believe everything you say. 
5. Turn failures into strengths and deal constructively with mistakes. If you are suddenly fired from a past job, be honest and courageous about the reason for firing you, and then tell what you learned from the situation.
6. Ask questions at the end of the interview to the recruiter to show your interest in the position and your attentiveness during the interview.

What questions to ask the recruiter at the end of the interview and why is it necessary? 

Do you want to get a job and have a successful interview, but don’t know how to stand out from the other candidates? A good strategy for making a good impression on the recruiter is to ask the right questions at the end of the interview. We’ll tell you what questions to ask at the end of the interview and what you don’t need to mention to increase your chance of getting the job. 

Rest assured: at the end of the interview, the recruiter will ask you if you have any questions. Your reaction to this question is included in the interview evaluation.

Be sure to ask questions after the interview. This way, you’ll not only show your interest in the company, but you’ll also find out if the job is really right for you. In addition, intelligent questions will only emphasise your intelligence.

One of the best questions you can ask a recruiter in an interview is: When you think about the people you have hired, what distinguishes the good from the best?

The recruiter’s answer to this question will show you the values of the company and show your desire to be the best. Try to think outside the box and ask questions that the recruiter will want to answer openly.

Tip: Ask open-ended questions at the end of the interview to get as much information as possible. 

Here are 12 examples of questions you can ask at a job interview: 

1. What is the company culture like?
2. What does a typical working day look like in this position?
3. Can you describe the typical employee onboarding process?
4. What are your expectations of my first 100 days here?
5. By what criteria do you evaluate success in this position?
6. What do you expect from the ideal candidate?
7. How do you measure and evaluate performance?
8. Was the predecessor in this position? 
9. Why did he or she leave this position?
10. From your perspective, what did my predecessor do really well?
11. In your opinion, what should I do differently from my predecessor?
12. What knowledge do I need to acquire before my first day at work?

If you ask these questions at the end of the interview, you will learn a lot about the difficulties and nuances of working for the company and you will understand what your chances of getting the job are. Ideally, limit yourself to two to five questions that are important to you so that the interview does not become an interrogation by the recruiter.

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Do you have questions about how to go about the interview? Or maybe you would like to share your tips and experiences about the job search? We’d be interested to hear what you have to say in the comments.