It comes to no surprise that when you go into an interview, all prepared for those tough competency based questions that, at times, you are caught off guard. Not by the questions that you so desperately prepared for, but, rather those simpler and less complicated questions. The easy ones that people tend to forget about.
1. Tell me about yourself – Possibly THE most commonly asked question that you will come across in an interview. It can also be asked as: ‘Bring me through your CV’. Basically, this question is about you.
2. What are your strengths and weaknesses? – Simply put, what are you good at and not so good at? Always ensure that your weakness is explained and that you are currently attempting to make it a strength.
3. What can you bring to this role? – Another opportunity to promote yourself further to the interviewer. What makes you unique to other candidates?
4. Why do you want to work here/Why do you want to join this company? – Remember that research? Now is the time to use it.
5. Where do you see yourself in X years’ time? – This is your chance to express your aspirations and goals in life. If you can show you have something to work toward then is shows drive and commitment in what you do in order to get there.
6. Any Questions? – I would recommend asking your interviewer’s one question. This can be about anything you want more information on. It can be about a project they recently completed that you are interested in; about their business developments over the years; about asking them to elaborate further on something in your CV.
As was mentioned earlier in the article, these are only some of the commonly asked questions that may be asked in an interview. They are possibly the most difficult ones to answer effectively since they require more preparation than the competency based questions. Remember that there may be variations of these questions asked, so listen to the buzz words. Prepare for the behavioural/situational/competency based questions as best you can.
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