How to excel at job interview - Answers to the most common behavioral questions

There are a number of questions you are almost guaranteed to be asked at an interview, so it makes sense to give them some thought beforehand. You don’t want your answers to be rehearsed to the point of being robotic, but you do want to know the key points you want to communicate. Below are some of the common questions asked at an interview, as well as some tips for answering them.

What are your weaknesses? 

Interview candidates often fear this one. Let’s face it no one likes to dwell on their weaknesses. You want to be honest, but at the same time you don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot. In the past, candidates used to answer this question by taking one of their strengths and exaggerating it, as too much of any strength is a weakness.

‘I’m so dedicated to my work, that occasionally I can come across as impatient, but it is only because others may not be as efficient as I am.’

Impatience is the alleged weakness, sandwiched between the strengths of dedication and efficiency. Whilst a ‘spin’ answer like this can still work, most interviewers are now wise to it, so I would recommend a different and more straightforward approach. The key to answering this question is to realise that the interviewer doesn’t really want to know your weaknesses. They ask this question to discover how self aware you are. The best way to answer this question is to reference an area that you feel is not quite a strength yet, and to emphasise how you are consciously working on improving it. 

‘In some situations I’m not as assertive as I would like to be, so I suppose a weakness would be that I’m a little reticent, but it is something I’m working on. When the opportunity comes along to volunteer for a task, I will put myself forward. If I’m at seminar or a workshop now I make a point of asking a question which takes me outside my comfort zone.’

The absolute wrong answer to give to the weaknesses question is ‘I don’t think I have any weaknesses.’ Someone who responds this way is only advertising their arrogance and their lack of self awareness, ironically two real weaknesses! 

Where do you see yourself in five years time? 

This is the ambition question. The reason an interviewer asks it is to determine if you are someone who is interested in shaping a career, as opposed to just getting a job. Alternative ways of asking this question are – 

• Do you have a plan for your career? 

• How do you see yourself developing in your career? 

The wrong way to answer this question is ‘to be sitting in your chair doing your job.’ Even when said in a humorous way, you will still come across as a little arrogant and it also shows you have not prepared for the question. Nowadays most interviewers know that people are not expected to remain in the same job, or even the same organisation, for the duration of their careers. So you don’t need to be too specific in your answer. A good way to approach answering this question is to keep it industry specific and include the main factors that are important to you in terms of your career development. 

‘I am committed to working in this industry and I would hope that in five years time I will have advanced in my career, having gained valuable experience and learned new skills. I would like to think that I have the potential to go far. Feeling that I’m progressing and growing in my role is what’s important to me, as opposed to just having a specific future role in mind.’

Common sense will of course dictate that if you know exactly where you want to be in five years time, for example, running your own business, you will keep that to yourself! 

What motivates you? 

If the last question was the ambition question, this is the motivation question and as well as being asked directly, it can be broached indirectly.

• What gets you out of bed in the morning?

• What excites you (about your work?) 

• What element of your work brings you the most satisfaction? 

• What’s important to you about your work/career? 

The clue to answering the motivation question is in the word ‘motivation’ itself. The first part of the word, if we add in an ‘e’ is ‘motive,’ why something is important to you. If we add a ‘c’ to the second part of the word we have ‘action.’ So, what’s important to you about your work/career? Reflecting on this question will help you shape your answer to the motivation question. 

The following are factors that often figure in candidates’ answers. 

• A sense of achievement 

• Good working relationships with my colleagues 

• The ability to develop new skills 

• Achieving goals and targets 

• Overcoming challenges and solving problems 

• Working towards realising my potential 

Why have you applied for this job? 

This is another question interviewers will use to discover your motivations. When answering this question it is best to focus on the future, what you hope to bring to the role and what you hope to gain from working with the company. If your main reason for applying is to be able to leave, what you consider to be a toxic working environment, for example, you dislike your current manager, best to keep that to yourself. Complaining about your current or past employer, will not serve you at an interview, focus instead on the future and why you feel the company is a good match for you at this stage in your career.

What do you know about this company? 

A competent interviewer will always ask you this question because it is the quickest way for them to gain an insight into how well you have prepared for the interview. The level of detail in your answer will reveal how serious you are about getting the job. If you haven’t done your homework on the company, the seed is sown in the interviewer’s mind that perhaps you will struggle to demonstrate initiative, or motivate yourself at work. Knowing the basic information contained on the company’s website is the minimum that is expected in response to this question. If the company has been in the news recently you would also be expected to be aware of this. For senior positions, knowledge of the industry as well as social and economic issues impacting the company would be required. Interviewers can ask a range of questions to unearth your knowledge of their company. 

For example, 

• What do you know about what we do? 

• Who do you think are our main competitors? 

• What suggestions do you have for our company? 

• What do you feel are the main issues facing our business? 

Here are two suggestions for carrying out the research necessary to answer these questions competently. 

Set up a Google Alert Google 

Alerts is accessed by clicking ‘more’ on the Google homepage. The ‘Alerts’ function allows you to monitor new postings to the web that relate to the search criteria you enter. If you enter the name of the company into the search criteria and follow the other simple instructions, you will receive email updates from Google alerting you to new information posted to the web relating to the company. You will receive links to newspaper articles, press releases, survey results, even blog posts. It is free tool and a great aid to research of any kind. You can set up as many Google Alerts as you wish. Perhaps it would be useful to establish a search criteria for specific industry phrases, news items, or even people. You will receive information that is not relevant, but equally you may get some really useful insights that will give you a competitive edge at the interview. 

Use your network 

It is said we have moved from the Information Age to the Relationship Age. Information is becoming a commodity, so it is not what you know, but who you know that makes the difference. Do you know anyone who works in the company where you are interviewing? Do you know anyone who works in the same industry? From my experience, when we approach people in a friendly and professional way, they are happy to offer their advice. There is no better way to gain an understanding of what it is like to work in a specific organisation than to speak to someone already working there.