Top 10 Interview Questions

Throughout this site, you’ll get to read the top Interview questions that most job seekers are
having trouble with and how best to answer each one of them.

1. Why do you want to leave your job?Avoid making negative remarks about your past or present manager, your fellow employees, or the company you are working for – even if they are true! Don’t even hint at the fact that you hated your manger and avoid sarcastic remarks. Remember, the interviewer does not know your previous manager or fellow employees. If you start bad-mouthing them in the interview, you will immediately be flagged as having a negative attitude towards your co-workers. There is no right answer to this question, only wrong ones.
You don’t need to make book out of this answer, just something short and positive is best. After all, it really does not matter to the interviewer, as long as you don’t say something foolish. The point here is to convey to the interviewer that you are not leaving because you are mad, tired, bored, overworked, underpaid, or job hopping, just that you are leaving your job on because.
“I do enjoy working at my current job. The culture and the people make it a great place to work. But I’m looking for more responsibility with new and fresh challenges. I have worked on and successfully completed several projects, from start to finish during the past two years. Currently, advancement opportunities are scarce at my current job. I don’t mind a slow down in pace from time to time, but it’s important to me to keep my career continually moving in a forward direction that is consistent with my career goals.”
2. Tell me about yourself?
Where to start? What do they want to know? Should I start in high school, college, first grade? It’s one of the most frequently asked questions in an interview: Tell me about yourself. The way you answer this question will set the tone for the rest of the interview. This can be a challenging question to answer if you are not prepared for it, but it’s really asked as an icebreaker.
Wrong answer: 1. “What would you like to know?” This statement completely throws the question back at the interviewer in somewhat of an insulting way and he/she is forced to reword the question.
“What part of my work experience would you like to me talk about?”
Briefly talk about your current employer. Discuss 2-3 of your most significant accomplishments. Talk about a few of your key strengths as they relate to the job for which you are applying and how they can benefit from your strengths. Then discuss how you see yourself fitting into a position at their company.
Speak of how you completed projects on time and under budget.Tell them how you increased sales revenues for two straight quarters in a row.
3. Give me an example of a project that didn’t work out well?This is one of the best top 10 interview questions that never fails to throw candidates for a loop. Everyone has a skeleton in his or her closet. Make sure you don’t place blame on you or your co-workers because it will just be your opinion and that’s not what the interviewer is looking for. Your answer has no bearing on whether you will get the job or not. Think of a failure that happened early on in your career and discuss how you have bettered yourself since.
Describe a project you worked on and what the expected outcome was. Then explain what really happened and that you learned from that experience. This takes what is expected to be a negative answer and turns it around into a positive one.
4. What are some of the things that you and your supervisor have disagreed about?Though it may sound like it, this is not a time to bad mouth your supervisor. Let’s take what is expected to be a negative answer and turn it around.
“Shifting priorities is usually the main reason for any type of disagreement. I may be working on a project that has a tight deadline and my supervisor may pull me from that project to work on something else. It can be frustrating to stop working on a project after I have built up a great deal of momentum only and to switch gears on the fly and start on something completely different.”
5. What do you feel your weaknesses are?
Don’t confess to any work-related weaknesses. The interview is simply trying to find out where you feel that you need improvement, but don’t confess to having any weaknesses. Instead, tell them of a weakness that is actually a strength. Keep your answer very short and to the point.
“I believe that my past work experience, training and skills are a good match for this job. Were you concerned about something?”
6. Why didn’t you finish college?
No need to worry here if you did not complete your college work. Many people don’t finish and for a variety of reasons. Timing could be an issue for them, but they plan to revisit college in the future. If you are applying for an entry level job that requires a college degree, then you may have to demonstrate why you are still the best person for the job and demonstrate why your skills are just as good if not better than a college graduate.
“I did not have adequate time to complete college because I was working 30 hours a week to support my family. I felt that since I could not give college my best effort and be able to devote adequate time to my studies, that I would be better off postponing college until a later time.”
7. Why did you leave your last job?Give a positive answer no matter what happened at your last job. Don’t mention that there are issues with management or their products as this is only your opinion. Don’t spend a lot of time on this question as you may give the interviewer reason to doubt your story.
Don’t supply multiple reasons for leaving; just keep it to one simple reason. If you are still working, it’s okay, just tell them. But if she asks why you did leave the job before this one and so on, then see the answer below. I’ve actually had one interviewer go through seven of my jobs and asked why I left each one. He was very inexperienced and was clearing looking to drag out the interview.
“After working there for thee years, I have learned a great deal about the company and the ways we conduct business. As much as I enjoy the relationships with my co-workers, it is time for me to move to a more progressive organization with more opportunities and challenges that can offer me continued professional growth.”
8. What are your long term career goals?
What would you like to be doing five years from now?

This question is asked to see how goal oriented you are with your life and if you have a short or long term goal or plan for your career. Don’t say that you don’t know. This is a good chance to tell the interviewer how you progressed through your career, how you started and where you are at, today, and that you are right on track. Be specific and to the point. Again, this is a short answer question. You can really turn this answer around any which way that works best for you. The basic idea that you want to get across to the interviewer is that you have a plan for where you are going. Most people don’t, they just wander around from job to job, but not you. For what every position or qualifications you possess, identify the next logical step for that position and use that as your answer. Try to avoid job titles and focus on gaining experience and responsibilities.
“For the past 3 years, I have been working as a systems analyst and I see myself growing by moving into more challenging roles, with greater responsibility perhaps in management, or project management.”
9. What was your favorite job and why did you like it?If at all possible, tell the interviewer of a job that is similar to the one for which you are applying. Don’t tell the interviewer that you liked your last job because you could wear jeans everyday and you’re applying at company that has a formal dress code.
“My last job offered me the professional and creative freedom to perform my job in the best way that I saw fit. This freedom was not just handed down to me; I had to earn it by proving to my manager that I really understood our business and company goals.”
10. Did you ever have a boss that you did not like or get along with?You should answer No, even if you could not stand your boss and he was a complete idiot. They want to hear you say something good. If you start bad mouthing your boss, the only one who looks bad is YOU.
“My past boss and I got along very well. We were always on the same page with where the business was going. We shared a lot about our personal lives and formed a strong bond.”