Common interview questions

Interview questions fall into four main categories:

• You
• Your experience
• Why THIS job
• Competency

You

These are usually the opening questions and are designed to find out about your personality and get an idea of weather you would be a cultural fit. It doesn’t matter at all that someone is competent, if they won’t get on with their colleagues, they won’t succeed. Be positive and honest when giving your answers but be mindful of what could be perceived as ‘Too Much Information’. Do some research into the company and see if you can get a vibe of how people interact and take pointers from the interviewer.

Work Experience and Knowledge

These are designed to dig a little deeper through your resume to find out exactly what it is you have done, what you have achieved and what you know. Here they can ascertain how much training you may need or whether you have overstated something on your resume. Make sure you have reviewed your resume and the position description, learning where you have key experience points. Always give real examples, not only showing what you did, but what this achieved.

Why THIS Job

Interviewers are an insecure lot; they want to know that you like them! You will need to convince them not only that you are the person for the job, but that this is the job for you. They will be wanting someone to come into the company who really commits, not someone who is doing it ‘until something better comes along’ Recruiting staff is not cheap, they will want to make sure they don’t have to do it again for your position for a while!

Competency

Often used in second interviews, this is where they get down to the technical stuff. These questions will be posed to you by either potential colleagues or managers and they will know their business. If you have said you have skills you don’t – this is where it will come out. Brush up on your technical jargon and go over any previous training documentation – you want to be able to answer as much as possible. Remember to take a second after being asked these questions to ensure you have understood the question and to prepare your response.

Good Luck!