13 Common Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

1. “Tell me about yourself.”

My mind would always go blank when asked this question. What should I say? What do you need to know? Who am I? To avoid an existential crisis in the middle of your interview, think of the answer as your elevator pitch.

You don’t want to speak at length about your personal hobbies and passions, but you also don’t want to give a dry runthrough of what’s on your resume. Instead give a pitch that is concise, persuasive, compelling, and explains why you’re the perfect candidate for the job.

Start by speaking a little bit about your current role and include any experiences or wins that are relevant to the job you’re applying for. Then provide some background as to how you got there, once again focusing on experiences that correlate to the interview. End the pitch by tying all that information together and explaining why you are perfect for the role.

Every candidate thinks they’re the best for the job, but what makes you stand out above the rest? Be prepared to confidently state the experiences and accomplishments you have that prove why you’re perfect for the position.

To prepare your answer, review the qualifications and requirements listed in the job description, and craft your answer so that it aligns with what the interviewer is looking for.

Focus on one or a few core strengths you possess that are relevant to the role. Back these strengths up with specific examples. For instance, if you’re going to say that you’re a great multi-tasker, bolster your answer by mentioning a time you successfully juggled multiple projects at once. If you’re a self-starter, talk about a time you successfully took on a project or task without having to be asked.

Now, how can you mention a weakness without tarnishing your image as the perfect candidate? Start by choosing a weakness that will not prevent you from succeeding in the role. For example, if it’s a writing job, don’t say you struggle with spelling.

Be genuine with your answer and choose an actual weakness. This is the time to show your potential employer that you are self-aware and always looking to grow. Maybe you struggle with multi-tasking or asking for help when you need it.

After choosing a weakness, be prepared to explain how you’ve worked to improve. Don’t underestimate your capabilities, but don’t come off as arrogant either.

To prepare for this question, think back to a moment where you achieved amazing results at your previous job. Don’t be shy about your accomplishments, because this is the perfect opportunity to show what the company gains from hiring you. A simple way to approach this question is to use the STAR method: situation, task, action, and results.

Give the interviewer background context by describing the situation and the task you had to complete. For example, “At my last job, I was an account manager and I was responsible for managing several high-profile clients.” Then you would describe what you did (the action) and the result: “In one quarter, I used my SEO knowledge to boost my clients’ web traffic by an average of 25%.”

Deadline pressures, frustrated clients, and an uptick in responsibilities are common occurrences at most workplaces, so it’s important to show the interviewer you can keep a level head in any situation.

Avoid saying you’ve never or rarely experienced workplace stress. Instead, relate the question to a time you were stressed on the job, then explain how you overcame it or used it to your advantage.

For example, I’m very candid about telling employers that I keep stress balls on hand and that I always take a moment to do deep breathing exercises when I’m feeling overwhelmed. I also approach deadline pressures as a challenge to complete projects faster — and I love a challenge. There’s no shame in experiencing stress, it’s all about how you respond to it.

This question helps to determine your communication, people skills, and self-awareness. When answering this question, avoid bad mouthing the coworker you were in conflict with, instead focus on the heart of the problem and how you resolved it.

Prater told me this is actually her favorite question to ask during interviews:

“The answers to this question tell me a lot about the candidate’s ability to problem solve and their self-awareness. Most of us have worked with someone we didn’t quite get along with,” she said. “I love to hear how folks navigated those situations and identified ways to better understand the other person and better themselves.”

Rather than saying, “I had this incredibly rude coworker at my old office,” say “I worked with someone whose communication style was different from mine.” Then, explain how you both reached common ground: “I realized that face-to-face communication was more helpful to us than email communication, since tone can be lost or misconstrued in texts. So, I decided to schedule weekly coffee meetings to ensure we were on the same page about the project.”

Yes, you want to convince the interviewer that you’re the best person for the job, but no one is perfect. Your answer should highlight that you can take responsibility for your mistakes and that you won’t put the blame on others.

Perhaps you missed an important deadline at your previous job. You can use that situation as an opportunity to share how you accepted feedback, learned from the issue, and developed a system of organization that keeps you on track with deadlines.

For this question, it’s important to demonstrate self-awareness.

“When all answers focus on outside factors rather than how the candidate handled situations, I get concerned,” Prater said. “Things often happen outside of our control — but tell me what you learned from that situation and how it has informed your actions/work moving forward.”

The most important thing to remember when answering this question is to be honest while avoiding a negative spiral about your current or previous employer. Focus on your excitement for new experiences and the professional goals you’re working toward. Saying you want to face new challenges, be closer to family, or apply your skills to a new field, are all acceptable answers.

If you were laid off from your current job, you can be honest and say your position was eliminated due to a merger, budget cuts, or restructuring. If you were fired, responding with “Unfortunately, I was let go,” is also fine. Of course, the latter will result in the interviewer asking why you were fired. Tell the truth, because you never want to get caught in a lie, and be sure to frame it as a learning experience.

10. “How do you stay organized?”

Employers want to know you can be trusted to stay on top of all of your responsibilities, especially if the role is in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment. Explain your method. Do you use calendars, sticky notes, digital folders, spreadsheets, or organization tools like Trello or Hootsuite?

Prepare a clear and concise answer that shows you’re dependable and will have your new tasks under control.

It’s important to be honest and specific in your answer. When crafting your answer, make sure you:

• Keep your expectations realistic for your career
• Show that you are an ambitious person and that you’ve given a lot of thought to your career path
• Highlight how the new position aligns with your ambitions

And if you’re not sure what the future holds — that’s okay too. You can tell the hiring manager that you’re still figuring things out, but express that you are confident the position will play an important role in building your future.

This question definitely requires research ahead of time. Use sites like PayScale or Glassdoor to find out what similar roles pay, then factor in your experience, skills, education, and cost-of-living. If you choose to answer with a number, give a salary range that is somewhere in the mid-to-high point of what you’re looking for.

You can also flip the question back to the interviewer by saying, “That’s an excellent question — if possible, it would be helpful to learn the range for this role.” You can also delay the salary conversation by saying you’d like to learn more about the role or the rest of the compensation package before discussing pay.

The answer to this question should always be yes. Before the interview, you should have already done your research on the company and the role. That research should be used to help you form questions that will give better insight into the job and team. Questions targeted toward the interviewer are especially helpful.

“I don’t expect a candidate to be an expert on the role or even the company, but I appreciate when a candidate has done some basic research and asks me thoughtful questions that go beyond, ‘What do you like about working at [company name]?’ or ‘What would success look like in this role?’” Prater said. “Those are important questions, but I love when a candidate digs a little deeper as well.”

If you’re working remotely, you may also want to ask the following questions:

• Would you be working traditional office hours or are there special hours for remote workers?
• How much of the team is remote?
• How does the team communicate?
• What does team building look like for remote staff?

Interviews can be nerve wracking, but you’re likely to succeed if you take the time to plan ahead. When you research and form your responses in advance, you’ll be able to approach the interview with confidence. If you’re still nervous, remember they chose to interview you for a reason — they already see your potential.