10 Common Interview Questions and How To Answer Them

By userMarch 12, 2019December 14, 2020Blog

Interviews can always be a daunting time, no matter how many you may been through. Our recruitment team have compiled a list below of the 10 most common interview questions you’re likely to be asked and how to answer them in a professional way. While this is not an exhaustive list, it will help you to cover the basics!

Q.) Tell Me About Yourself.

This question is usually used as an icebreaker at the beginning of an interview and to give your interviewer a feel for you.
Start with your education and move on to the beginning of your career through to present day, remember to only talk about your relevant experience to the role you’re applying for, and to summarize each job as you go.
Elaborate on the jobs you’ve held in the industry you’re currently applying for.
Talk about how your prior experience has prepared you for this role (*Top Tip – you should include keywords from the job description here.)

Q.) How Do You Work Under Pressure?

Your interviewer wants to know how you handle workplace stressors and how good you are at time management.
Prepare a response that shows your time management skills that you can mentally edit depending on the interview.
Have examples prepared of times you felt pressure in work and their resolution.
Make sure your example has a positive outcome!
In your example don’t put the blame on others (e.g. past co-workers or your bosses) as it won’t come off well or give a good impression of your professionalism.

Q.) Why Do You Want To Work Here? / Why Do You Want This Job?

Both very similar questions and can essentially be answered the same way.
Know the job specifications and what this position entails.
Do prior research on the company and its company culture, note anything of interest or any recent news they’ve had to highlight in your answer. This shows you’ve taken the time to get to know the company and are genuinely interested in working there.
If you have a personal connection to the company (e.g. know someone working there), mention this in your answer.
Use this question to show not only how much you want this job, but how much you want to work at this company (in a professional, non desperate way) and why you’re the best candidate for the position.
Have an answer prepared about why you want this position.
Have key factors that make the role a great fit for you (again, you can take inspiration from the job spec here.)
Show enthusiasm for the company.
Align your skills and experiences with the role you’re applying for.
Show how this role fits in to your career path (but don’t make it seem like a stepping stone!)

Q,) Tell Me About A Challenge You’ve Faced and How You’ve Overcome It?

This question is designed to give your interviewer an idea of how you solve problems and handle challenges at work.
Similar to the “how do you work under pressure” question.
It’s important to remember not to bad mouth previous bosses or co-workers as this gives a bad impression to the person who may be your future boss!
Have examples prepared that are relevant to the position you’re applying for and be able to edit these mentally if needed.

Q.) Why Are You The Best Candidate For The Position?

This gives you a chance to focus on and highlight your most relevant skills, experiences and strengths.
This is where selling yourself comes into play.
Don’t undersell previous work you’ve completed. Teamwork is important, but you’re the one going for this role, not your team, so don’t be nervous about showing off a previous job well done!
Know the job spec inside and out and choose your most relevant soft and hard skills depending on the spec and company culture.
Think about the problem your potential employer is trying to solve by hiring you and highlight how you’ll not only fix this problem but rise to the challenge to go above and beyond.

Q.) Describe Your Proudest Professional Achievement.

Your interviewer wants to know your accomplishments, not just how well you perform your given tasks.
Prepare a professional workplace achievement that will highlight your relevant skills and experience for this position.
Have statistics on hand (keep them relevant) which highlight the impact your action had.
If you’re a recent graduate or have limited work experience in the area, focus on achievements that highlight your transferable skills (like internships, work placements etc.)

Q.) Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years?

Retention is important to employers. This is a way for them to determine how likely you are to stay in the role and within the company.
It also shows them how much thought you’ve given to your career path.
Incorporate the position you’re applying for into your plans, don’t make it a stepping stone into future endeavors.
Show you have goals but don’t position yourself as competition for anyone interviewing you.
Focus on the skills and experiences you hope to gain rather than job titles.

Q.) Are You Good At Delegating Tasks?

Accentuate your leadership abilities.
Go into detail about why delegating is important to be a successful manager.
Keep your tone positive and professional.
Highlight your ability to recognize what tasks can be delegated and why it’s important to allocate them to the right people.
Include personal relevant experience.
Mention your ability to give clear instructions.
Discuss how you encourage employees to perform their best and how you follow up to ensure tasks are completed.

Q.) What Do You Know About The Company?

Make sure to do prior research about the company, look at their social media, website blog, articles about them etc.
Be able to briefly say points about their background, goals, mission statement etc.
Be up to date on all their current news.
Don’t just regurgitate what you read on their website, make it personal to you.

Q.) Do You Have Any Questions For Me?

The interviewer is seeing if you’re truly interested in the job and that you’ve taken the time to investigate the company.
When you do your prior research on the company, write down any questions that you may have (make sure they’re questions that show you’re interested, not generic ones you can find the answer to on Google.)
Take this time to ask more details about the day-to-day responsibilities of the role, or about the company’s benefits.
If however, you have a question in mind and it is answered during the interview itself, then note same and thank your interviewer for their time.

Hopefully after reading our interview questions and how to answer them guide, you should now feel prepared to confidently go into your next interview, knowing the basics of what may be asked and how to correctly answer!

Here at Aphex, we’re with our candidates every step of the way, from the submission process right through to acceptance of an offer. We’re on hand to answer any questions you may have about your role, potential company, CV, or interview technique. We also provide our candidates with mock style preparation interviews with our in-house experts and engineers to ensure you’re feeling completely prepared and confident in your abilities.

Want to find out more about how we can help you in your search? Contact us to set up a conversation with our team to learn more.