Most common interview questions with examples
Most common interview questions with examples
Tell me something about yourself.
How hard can it be to talk about yourself? We do it on a daily basis without much thought to it.
However, recruitment managers are not looking for your whole life story, your third-grade achievements, or what you had for dinner last night. Instead, they are looking for a pitch.
This is usually the first question asked in an interview, so it acts as your introduction. Make sure your answer is relevant to the position you are applying for. What you should be aiming for here is to present yourself as the ideal candidate for the job.
A good rule of thumb is to structure your talking points as follows:
- Briefly introduce yourself: What’s your name? How long have you been working as [profession]?
- What do you love about your job?
- What are your top 2-3 achievements that are relevant to the job you’re applying for?
Now, let’s go through some examples:
Hey! So, my name is ABC and I’ve worked as a business analyst for 1 year in Company X and Company Y.
I have some background in data analysis, having studied Information Systems at [Made-Up] University.
Throughout my career, I’ve done some pretty impressive stuff (if I do say so myself, haha).
For example, at Company X, I led a project for migrating all operations data to a new data warehousing system to cut down on costs. The new solution was a much better fit for our business, which eventually led to savings of up to $200,000 annually.
How did you hear about this position?
Although at first glance this might seem like a straightforward question, you should grab any opportunity you can to show your interest in the company.
Sample answer
“I’ve known about for a long time – I’m a big fan of your products. I even own one of your latest phone models!
I love the company’s passion for creating super intuitive, beautiful hardware, and I would love to be a part of it.