The 5 Essential Interview Questions

You are searching for a job and then all of a sudden, someone responds positively. They are interested in having an interview with you. So, how can you best prepare for the interview?

By thinking about the most common questions that recruiters ask. What are those?

Any interview is about five essential questions. They are:

  1. Why are you here?
  2. What can you do for us?
  3. What kind of person are you?
  4. What distinguishes you from the other people we interview?
  5. Can we afford you?

It might not be exactly that phrasing, but some variation of that phrasing. In this post, I want to share some of the most common variations of the five essential questions.empty meeting room

 

1. Why are you here?

Some questions that you should be able to answer are:

  • What do you know about us?
  • What do you think will happen in our industry in the upcoming years?
  • Under what kind of leadership are have you done your best work?
  • Why are you interested in working for us?
  • What is the name of our CEO?
  • How did you hear about this position?
  • Who are our competitors?

A window with with a world globe standing on the window shield

2. What can you do for us?

Some very common questions here are:

  • What are your strengths?
  • What are your weaknesses?
  • Discuss your resume/CV.
  • How would you deal with an angry and irritated customer?

two hands making something out of clay

3. What kind of person are you?

These are a variety of questions about how you are as a person. Feel free to also do some personality test to figure this out. Here are some common questions about your personality:

  • Where do you see yourself professionally in 5 years? 10 years?
  • Tell me about an accomplishment that you are most proud of.
  • Tell me about a time where you made a mistake.
  • Tell me about how you handled a difficult situation.
  • What motivates you?
  • What are your career goals?

chess board with different pieces

4. What distinguish you from the other people we are interviewing?

In most recruitment processes, there are other options. Think about what is special about you. If you want, feel free to go back to dream job and online branding week. Some questions are:

  • What can you offer us that no one else cannot?
  • Why do you think this job would be fitting for you?

person standing on a cliff looking out over a valley

5. Can we afford you?

This one is pretty straight forward:

  • What is your requested salary?
  • What salary did you have at your last job?If you want some statistics around what people with similar profiles make, feel free to check out this website.

two guys armwrestling and some money laying on the table

What You Can Do

In order to prepare for your next job interview, you can set up a meeting with a friend and go over all of these questions together to give each other feedback on these different questions.

Return to “8 Rules to Win The Job”

 

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