Everyone looks for an employee that they can work directly with, someone who fits the job role and is cordial at work. Therefore most employers ask a set of common interview questions to test the employee’s professional attributes. If you are able to answer these job interview questions well, you have won 70 % of the employer’s confidence.
Fear not! In this Skillopedia session I am going to share with you the perfect job interview answers to the five most commonly asked job interview questions.
1: Why are you leaving your current job?
This question is usually asked to trick the interviewee into ranting their previous employer’s image. It can get you to bad mouthing your current or previous employer however this is exactly what you must avoid.
Your approach to answering this question should be positive whereby you must appreciate your working environment, employer and colleagues. Let your reason be a valid one that is not connected to yourself or the organization directly. For example; Distance etc.
2: Tell me about yourself?
As vague as this question may seem, the employer is actually seeking a professional answer and not a personal one. He is not expecting you to share about your likes/ dislikes or experiences. To answer this question, I suggest that you highlight the most important points of your resume including your qualifications. Your aim should be to convince the employer that you’re the best fit for the position concerned.
3: What are your weaknesses?
Honestly, it’s difficult to come up with a genuine answer or this question and hence this question is on this list.
If you pick up a weakness exhibiting your attributes it might come across as insincere. For example, if you say that you work so hard that you’re not able to balance your personal life against your professional life. That looks like an ingenious answer even if you’re being truthful. To say that you’re not good at multitasking is to put yourself in a bad light.
So the solution to this is that you talk about a weakness that you’ve overcome in the past. For example; you were not good at confronting failure but now you’ve learned to pick up from scratch and use failure as a stepping stone for success.
4: What is your desired salary?
If you answer this first; you’ve already lost the chance to have your desired salary because you still don’t know if they want to hire you and you’re not in a position to negotiate.
You must wait until they have shown interest in hiring you so that you can take a call on this matter with the right to do so.
Your goal for this question should be to make the employer believe that for you the appropriate job role is more important than the pay.
5: Tell me about a time when you overcame a challenge?
When the interviewer initiates this statement, you can expect him to ask you about a challenge that you’ve overcome in your professional career. Your aim should be to tell him what you did, why you did and how does your story amplify your professional attributes. If you want to share about a time you underwent a financial crunch, you could use this story to display your “diligence” and “determination”. Talk about your “never give up” spirit by telling him that you took your job even more seriously when you were broke.
With these answers you’ll have an edge over other candidates vouching for the same post. Do not forget to practice your answers to the point till they start coming out as natural and unrehearsed.
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