Fifty Standard Interview Questions

It is not enough to have solid answers for only the above questions. You need to be prepared
for the full spectrum of questions that may be presented. For further practice, make sure you
go through the required mock interview (see the Competitive Interview Prep chapter); and for
further review, look at some of the following questions:

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. Tell me about your experience.
3. What is your most important accomplishment to date?
4. How would you describe your ideal job?
5. Why did you choose this career?
6. When did you decide on this career?
7. What goals do you have in your career?
8. How do you plan to achieve these goals?
9. How do you personally define success?
10. Describe a situation in which you were successful.
11. What do you think it takes to be successful in this career?
12. What accomplishments have given you the most satisfaction in your life?
13. If you had to live your life over again, what one thing would you change?
14. Would you rather work with information or with people?
15. Are you a team player?
16. What motivates you?
17. Why should I hire you?
18. Are you a goal-oriented person?
19. Tell me about some of your recent goals and what you did to achieve them.
20. What are your short-term goals?
21. What is your long-range objective?
22. What do you see yourself doing five years from now?
23. Where do you want to become ten years from now?
24. Do you handle conflict well?
25. Have you ever had a conflict with a boss or professor? How did you resolve it?
26. What major problem have you had to deal with recently?
27. Do you handle pressure well?
28. What is your greatest strength?
29. What is your greatest weakness?
30. If I were to ask one of your professors (or a boss) to describe you, what would he or she say?
31. Why did you choose to attend your college?
32. What changes would you make at your college?
33. How has your education prepared you for your career?
34. What were your favorite classes? Why?
35. Do you enjoy doing independent research?
36. Who were your favorite professors? Why?
37. Why is your GPA not higher?
38. Do you have any plans for further education?
39. How much training do you think youll need to become a productive employee?
40. What qualities do you feel a successful manager should have?
41. Why do you want to work in the _____ industry?
42. What do you know about our company?
 43. Why are you interested in our company?
44. Do you have any location preferences?
45. How familiar are you with the community that were located in?
46. Are you willing to relocate? In the future?
47. Are you willing to travel? How much?
48. Is money important to you?
49. How much money do you need to make to be happy?
50. What kind of salary are you looking for?

Don’t just read these questions, practice and rehearse the answers. Don’t let the employer
interview be the first time you actually formulate an answer in spoken words. It is not enough
to think about them in your head. Practice! Sit down with a friend, a significant other, or your
roommate (an especially effective critic, given the amount of preparation to date) and go
through all of the questions. If you have not yet completed a mock interview, do it now. Make
the most of every single interview opportunity by being fully prepared!

Candidate Interview Questions

Most Internet content on interview questions focuses exclusively on the questions being
asked by the interviewer (which we have located at our site as well). This section is different
in that it focuses on the questions that candidates can (and do) ask the interviewer. Candidate
questions, being asked by the candidate during the course of the interview.

Employers, ask yourself the question: "Would I be prepared to answer these questions when
asked by a candidate?" And candidates, review the questions for each group, but then go to
the last link on this page for the recommended select candiate questions.

 Candidate questions for human resources (HR) or recruiting

 Candidate questions for the hiring manager

If you are recruiting from the outside as a third-party headhunter or recruiter, there is an
entirely new set of questions that you need to be prepared for:

 Candidate questions for external headhunters and third-party recruiters

If you are sold on a candidate and ready to make an offer, the most feared question often is:
"Can I meet with someone at a peer level before making my decision?" How would you
handle this request? And what questions might be asked in this type of meeting?

 Candidate questions for peer-level interviews

OK, candidates, now it's your turn. Following are the select best of the recommended
questions you can and should ask at each level:

 Recommended candidate questions

Human resource professionals: ^

Are you ready to answer the following questions?

 What can you tell me about the position?

 What type of person you are seeking?
 What can you tell me more about the department?
 Who is the manager I would be working for and what is their management style?
 May I have a copy of the written job description?
 What would a typical working day be in this position?
 How would you describe your company culture?
 What is your companys mission statement?
 Why is this position open?
 Is this job opening due to growth or replacement? (if replacement) What happened to
the previous person in the position?
 How much does the position pay?
 What is the compensation range for this position?
 What benefits are provided to your employees?
 Do you have a tuition reimbursement plan?
 Do you have an employee stock purchase plan? Do you participate?
 What is the typical career path for this position?
 What type of internal and external training do you provide?
 How are performance appraisals conducted within your organization?
 How are promotions evaluated within your organization?
 What is your organizations commitment to diversity?
 How diverse is your executive management team?
 What is your retention rate within the company? Within the hiring department?
 Has your company had any layoffs in the past two years? What was the criteria for
deciding who would be laid off? Do you foresee any additional layoffs in the near
future?
 What is the next step for consideration?
 When will you be making a decision on this position?

Hiring Managers: ^

Are you ready to answer the following questions?

 What are the most important skills and attributes you are looking for in filling this
position?
 What would be a typical working day for this position?
 How many hours of work per week would be required to be successful?
 What is the organization structure of your department?
 How would you describe your company culture?
  What are your organizational values? How do these values influence your decision-
making?
 What is your vision for your department over the next two to three years?
 What major challenges are you currently facing as a manager?
 What is your competitive advantage in the marketplace?
 What makes your company better than your competitors?
 What are the areas where your competitors are better than your company?
 Who do you consider your customers to be?
 What is your value proposition to your customers?
 What business problems keep you awake at night?
 Can you tell me more about the other people in the organization I would be working
with? Can I meet with any of them before accepting an offer of employment?
 What would you consider to be exceptional performance from someone performing in
this position in the first 90 days?
 What is the internal perception of pursuing further education, such as a Masters
degree?
 What is your management style?
 How do you typically make decisions?
 What is your preferred method of communicating with your team?
 How are you measured as a manager?
 What can I do to make you successful?
 How long have you been with the organization?
 What has been your career path within the organization?
 What will be the measurements of my success in this position?
 Do you have an employee stock purchase plan? Do you participate?
 Who are the primary constituencies that you are responsible to support? Shareholders?
Customers? Employees? How do you make decisions which conflict with the needs of
these different constituencies?
 How does the pressure of Wall Street expectations affect the short-term decision
making among managers?
 What are the organizational goals?
 What are the metrics used to measure whether or not you are achieving your goals?
 How far out into the future is the organization planning?
 Do you have strategic planning within your organization? How often is it done? Who
participates? What is the typical planning time horizon?
 How are new strategic initiatives communicated to the organization?
 Is your department considered to be a profit center or cost center? What are the
financial expectations of the department?
 Do you have control over your own budget? How is the initial budget amount
determined?
 Are budgets made at a centralized location, then rolled down, or decentralized, then
rolled up?
 What is your approach with regard to the use of technology?
 Is there anyone within your organization who is considered to be a thought leader
within the industry? What is it about that person that makes him/her a thought leader?
 What is the next step in the interviewing process?

Headhunters/third-party recruiters: ^

Are you ready to answer the following questions?

  Where did you get my name?
 What is the name of the employer?
 Who is the hiring manager?
 Are you working with HR or directly with the hiring manager?
 How are you involved in the hiring process?
 Are you working on a retainer or contingency?
 What will be the interviewing process?
 Why is this job open?
 Is this job opening due to growth or replacement?
 If this is a replacement, what happened to the previous person in the position?
 How much does the job pay?
 Are there any additional pay components beyond salary?
 Are you working on this exclusively or are other firms working on it as well?
 Have you ever placed candidates with this client before?
 Where is the job located?
 Is this at the company headquarters/corporate office?
 Is the company profitable?
 Have they laid off any employees in the last year?
 How would you describe the company culture?
 What is the background of the person I will be interviewing with?
 What is the interviewing style of the person I will be interviewing with?
 Who has final hiring decision authority?
 What will you do with my resume?
 Will my resume be given out to any other client without my permission?

Peer-level Interviews: ^

Are you (or one of the peers you have assigned to the interview) ready to answer the
following candidate questions?

 Why did you decide to join this company?

 Were your expectations initially met?
 Have your expectations changed over time?
 Do you consider your company to be the ideal employer? (yes) Why? (no) Why not?
 Do you enjoy working here? (yes) Why? (no) Why not?
 Have you ever considered leaving the organization? (yes) Why did you decided to
stay?
 Tell me about a typical working day for you.
 How many hours a day do you typically work?
 Do you work weekends? How many and how many hours typically?
 How much travel is involved in your job?
 What is your honest opinion of your manager?
 Is the employer truly committed to diversity? Can you give me any specific examples?
 What do you consider to be your company's greatest strengths and weaknesses?
 Do you have an employee stock purchase plan? What are the details? Do you
participate?
 Does the company support you in training? How specifically?
 How much has been spent on training you in the past year?
 What do you know now that you wish you knew before you started in your position?

Candidate Questions: ^
Does an interview consist only of the interviewer asking questions? No! You will have an
opportunity to ask questions. Make sure they are good ones.

Following is a list of the Top Five Questions to ask in each type of interview:

Human Resources (HR):

 Can you tell me more about the position and the type of person you are seeking?
 Tell me about an employee in your organization who is considered to be an
outstanding employee. What makes that person special?
 What would you consider to be exceptional performance from someone performing in
this position in the first 90 days?
 How does my background compare with others you have interviewed?
 I feel my background and experience are a good fit for this position and I am very
interested. What is the next step?

Peer Interview:

 Why did you decide to join this company?

 What were your intial expectations? Were they met?
 How have your expectations changed over time?
 What do you consider your company's strengths and weaknesses?
 What can you tell me about working for your manager?

Hiring Manager Interview:

 Can you tell me more about the position and the type of person you are seeking?
 What are the measurements for success within your organization?
 How are you measured as a manager?
 What can I do to make you successful?
 What will be the measurements of my success in this position?
 I feel my background and experience are a good fit for this position and I am very
interested. I am ready to consider your best offer!

OK, that last one isn't a question. But if you haven't said it yet, you better say it at the end of
the interview!

Questions to Ask the Interviewer

Following are additional questions you may want to consider asking at an appropriate point in
the interview:

Why did you personally decide to work for this company?

What are the three most important attributes for success in this position?
What are the opportunities for growth/advancement for this position?

How is your company responding to competition in the _____ area?

What is the anticipated company growth rate over the next three years?

For more questions you can ask, go to: www.CollegeGrad.com/intv, then click on Candidate
Interview Questions.

Limit yourself to no more than one or two questions during an on-campus interview and no
more than two or three questions during each company-site interview. Even if you are not
able to get answers to all of your open questions before the offer is made, you will have one
final opportunity at that point.