- Key Takeaways
- 1. Tell me about yourself
- 2. What do you know about our company?
- 3. Why do you want to leave your current job?
- 4. Why do you want to work for us?
- 5. What are your
strengths ? - 6. What are your weaknesses?
- 7. Why should we hire you?
- 8. What motivates you and makes you want to work hard?
- 9. How do you handle pressure and stress?
- 10. Explain how you overcame a major obstacle or challenge.
- 11. Where do you see yourself five (ten or fifteen) years from now?
- 12. What type of work environment do you like best?
- 13. Why do you want this job?
- 14. What qualifies you for this job?
- Further Guidance & Tools
- Next Steps
- Final Words
- Additional Resources
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Last updated: February 22, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Preparation Builds Confidence: Practicing common and challenging interview questions helps you avoid weak answers and respond with clarity, structure, and purpose.
- Research Drives Relevance: Understanding the company, industry, and role allows you to tailor answers that demonstrate genuine interest and strategic alignment.
- Strength With Balance: Present strengths that match the role and discuss weaknesses thoughtfully, showing self-awareness and a commitment to improvement.
- Results Over Generalities: Employers value specific examples that highlight problem-solving, achievement, resilience, and measurable impact in prior roles.
- Future Focus Matters: Articulating career goals that align with the company’s direction shows ambition, stability, and long-term professional intent.
Practice makes perfect, and that includes job interviews. How many times have you been asked that tough question and didn’t have a good answer? We’ve included some typical (and sometimes challenging) interview questions along with some suggested answers. While specific answers are impossible to provide, the responses provided below should help you in crafting your own responses. When in doubt, practice answering these sample interview questions with friends or relatives.
This book will empower you at every step of the hiring process, guiding you to understand your own skills and priorities, identify the company that can deliver what you want, and “flip the interview” to get real answers to your most important questions.
1. Tell me about yourself
This is the dreaded, classic, open-ended interview question and is likely to be among the first. The interviewer wants to know information that is pertinent to the opportunity. Focus on what you can bring to the job. It’s your chance to introduce your qualifications, good work habits, etc. Keep it mostly work and career-related.
2. What do you know about our company?
This is where “doing your homework” (see 8 Resources to Help Find the Right Company for Your Next Job). Ensure you’ve done your research on the company and industry before the interview.
3. Why do you want to leave your current job?
The first rule of thumb is to be nice and not speak poorly of your current company, coworkers, or managers. Focus on answers that speak to “looking for new opportunities”, “looking to learn more about the industry”, and “looking for more responsibilities”.
Keep track of the jobs you apply to and stay organized and ahead of the competition. With fields to fill out your skill set, website logins, education, and employment history, you'll be able to keep organized and keep track of your job applications and interviews.
4. Why do you want to work for us?
As with question 2 above, your research on the company should help. If you know someone who works (or has worked) at the company, leverage their insight and experience. Leverage your LinkedIn connections to gather data, or use sites such as Glassdoor.com.
5. What are your strengths ?
Now is not the time to be shy. While you don’t want to spend 15 minutes talking about your
6. What are your weaknesses?
Everybody has weaknesses, and you really don’t want to spend too much time on this one; you definitely want to keep it work-related. Along with a minor weakness or two, try to point out a couple of weaknesses that the interviewer might see as
The use of SWOT Analysis allows organizations to maximize their strengths, minimize their weakness, take advantage of their opportunities and overcome their weaknesses.
7. Why should we hire you?
Point out your positive attributes related to the job, your related work experience, and specific job/industry-related skills. Include any accomplishments from your current or prior employer(s).
8. What motivates you and makes you want to work hard?
Motivating factors can be self-serving, such as “I want to become the best at this”. Hiring managers are looking for answers that demonstrate characteristics you possess that will help them decide if you’re going to be a good fit for the organization, such as whether or not you are a
Most importantly, can they work with you? Focus more on achievement and the satisfaction you derive from it.
9. How do you handle pressure and stress?
Another challenging question. Everybody feels stress, but the degree and how people handle it vary. Saying that you whine to your shrink, kick your dog, or slam down a fifth of Jack Daniels are not good answers. Projecting your stress into positive activities is the way to go, such as exercising, relaxing with a good book, socializing with friends, or turning stress into productive energy.
A comprehensive guide to tackling the toughest interview questions with expert answers, strategies, and tips to help job seekers stand out and secure their desired position.
10. Explain how you overcame a major obstacle or challenge.
This is an opportunity to demonstr
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Explain what you accomplished and how you did it. The
Emphasize the outcome and what you learned from your experiences.
11. Where do you see yourself five (ten or fifteen) years from now?
This question is older than time, and I sometimes find it hard to believe that interviewers still ask this (but many do). You should have a career
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12. What type of work environment do you like best?
Again, having done research on the company will help quite a bit here. Much of your answer depends on the type of job. For example, if the job requires independent research (so you are sometimes working on your own), you should also indicate that you enjoy being a
13. Why do you want this job?
Focus on what originally attracted you to the opportunity. Avoid the obvious and meaningless, such as, “I need a job.” Stress that (based on your research) this is a great company (give reasons why). Describe what you think the (positive) challenges of the role will be and why that appeals to you.
14. What qualifies you for this job?
Speak to those
Emphasize that you will bring fresh
While you can only be so prepared for the unexpected question, the most powerful tools you have and can use in your interview are your
In this book, you will discover practical and useful tips to make you feel confident during your interview session, making you the special person that companies would love to hire.
Further Guidance & Tools
- Question Practice: Use Indeed to review common questions and structure answers that stay focused and job-relevant.
- Company Research: Use Glassdoor to learn about company culture, interview patterns, and role expectations before you speak with a
hiring team . - STAR Method: Use the STAR method to craft clear, memorable stories that show how you solved problems and delivered results.
- Resume Alignment: Use Jobscan to compare
your resume to job postings and strengthen keyword alignment without rewriting everything. - Interview Coaching: Use Job Interview Coach to sharpen interview basics and build confidence with practical preparation checklists.
Next Steps
- Build Stories: Draft several STAR examples that highlight results, teamwork, and problem-solving, and keep them ready for different questions.
- Research Company: Review the company’s mission, products, and recent news so your answers clearly connect your
skills to their goals. - Refine Responses: Practice concise answers for
strengths , weaknesses, and motivation so you sound confident and consistent across interviews. - Mock Interview: Rehearse with a friend or record yourself to spot unclear wording, filler habits, and body language issues.
- Prepare Questions: Write thoughtful questions about success measures,
team workflow, and role challenges to demonstrate genuine interest.
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Final Words
Interview success is rarely about perfect answers and more about preparation, clarity, and confidence. When you practice common questions, research the company, and support your responses with real examples, you reduce uncertainty and make it easier for employers to see your fit. Keep your answers work-focused, stay positive, and show how your experience solves their problems.
Additional Resources
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A practical, expert-driven guide to mastering the interview process—Katie Weiser’s book helps you confidently prepare for the top 20 questions and stand out as the top candidate.
Mark Fiebert is a former finance executive who hired and managed dozens of professionals during his 30-plus-year career. He now shares expert job search, resume, and career advice on CareerAlley.com.
