Mock Interview Questions

What do you know about the company?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/interview-translation-what-4-common-questions-really-mean

What are your salary requirements?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/qa-the-secret-to-giving-your-salary-requirements

Why were you fired?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/stop-cringing-how-to-tell-an-interviewer-youve-been-fired

Why are you leaving your current job?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-bestever-response-to-why-did-you-leave-your-last-job

What's your dream job?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/the-secret-formula-to-answering-whats-your-dream-job-in-an-interview

What is your greatest professional achievement?

1. You Were Indispensable in Your Previous Jobs Hiring managers want to hire people who have a history of getting things done. The logic goes that if you were successful in other jobs, then you're likely to be successful in this one. Truly, nothing says "hire me" better than a track record of achieving amazing results in past jobs. So, your first task in the interview is to describe how indispensable you were in your previous position. Now, you can't just say, "I was the best Junior Analyst they'd ever seen, and the place will never be the same now that I'm gone"—you have to show the interviewer by providing specific examples of the actions you took and what results came because of them. These are two of the four components of the S-T-A-R method for responding to interview questions. To use this method, set up the situation and the task that you were required to complete to provide the interviewer with background context (e.g., "In my last job as a Junior Analyst, it was my role to manage the invoicing process"), but spend the bulk of your time describing what you actually did (the action) and what you achieved (the result). "In one month, I streamlined the process, which saved my group 10 man-hours each month and reduced errors on invoices by 5%." Don't worry that someone else could have done it if they were in your position—they weren't. It was your job, your actions, your results. 2. You Will Be Awesome in This New Job Unfortunately, success in one role doesn't necessarily translate to being a fit in another role—and to convince the interviewer that you'll be able to hit the ground running and be awesome in the new job, you must explain how your skills translate. In particular, you want to highlight those skills that specifically address the issues that the hiring manager is facing. To understand those issues, conduct industry research prior to the interview. Are there certain themes that come up again and again in job descriptions in your field, like being a shark at sales or a detail-oriented perfectionist? Also, listen closely to what the interviewer is asking—often, she'll ask leading questions or share challenges that others before you have had in the role. For example, say the interviewer asks, "We have tight deadlines and have to turn around our projects quickly. Can you work under time pressure?" Don't just say yes—give a response that showcases your skills and how they'd transfer, like: "Absolutely. In my last job, we often had short deadlines. I was great at managing these situations because I focused on consistent communication with the team, and used my organization skills to stay on top of everything we had going on." Then, provide a specific example. 3. You're the Perfect Fit for This Job Companies have interview guidelines designed to hire the most qualified employees based on experience and aptitude, but let's be honest: Often a big factor is likability. Hiring managers don't generally hire people that they don't connect or vibe with. Of course, they don't often say that—they cloak it in statements like, "She's smart, but I just don't think that she is the right fit for the role." But the truth is, you won't get hired if you're not liked. So, to get the job, you must connect with the interviewer. I'm not suggesting that you crack jokes or become buddies—but you should be confident and interact as if you're already working together, through eye contact, active listening, smiling, and avoiding nervous laughter. I call it "relaxed formality." It's an interview, so don't get too comfortable, but try to be yourself and have a natural conversation. 4. You Really Want This Job You're almost there! But, it's not enough that you're capable of doing the job and would be pleasant to work with—you have to actually want the job. Hiring managers, after all, are looking for employees that really want to be there and will be part of the team for the long haul. So, you want to show enthusiasm for the role. Not bouncy cheerleader "spirit," but the type of enthusiasm that comes from understanding what the role entails, how you can add value in the role based on your previous experiences, and what new challenges it offers to you for growth and development. Think, "One of the reasons I'm so excited about this role is because it allows me to leverage my client management skills [your expertise] with larger clients on more complex deals [the new challenge]." And, of course, you'll want to follow up with a genuine, seal-the-deal thank you note!

What are your greatest professional strengths?

If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be? Don't worry: This isn't another one of those curveball interview questions. She says that all the most successful people she's met have been able to answer this question immediately: John Maeda, who led the MIT Media Lab and Rhode Island School of Design, responded with "curiosity." Maria Popova, who curates the popular Brain Pickings blog by reading 12-15 books a week, said "doggedness." Eisenberg's own superpower? Enthusiasm. Figuring out your superpower means you know yourself well enough to have a focus, and that's the same competitive advantage that makes you so great at what you do. It's the quality you're most proud of, the one thing that makes you stand out, and what gives you an edge over everyone else. So, if you haven't ever considered what your superpower might be, do! Having an answer to this question shows that you've thought hard about your best personal qualities, and you'll even have something prepared for the "What's your greatest strength?" question at your next interview. And if your current answer doesn't sit well with you? Well, there's no better time to think about what you want to be known for and start getting to that next level.

What type of work environment do you prefer?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-sneaky-ways-to-figure-out-a-companys-culture

Can you explain why you changed career paths?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-explain-your-winding-career-path-to-a-hiring-manager

Tell me about a challenge or conflict you've faced at work, and how you dealt with it.

Pick the Right Story All these "Tell me about a time when..." questions require stories. As a hiring manager, it's incredibly unsatisfying to interview someone who has no stories to share. After all, how can someone know what you can do if you can't talk about what you've done? Don't be that job candidate. So, how do you find the right stories to share? Go through the job description and highlight all the soft skills that are featured. You'll likely find things like "ability to work on a team and independently," "comfort with multitasking," or "strong communication skills." Then, come up with an example of a time you demonstrated each of these traits—though keep in mind that you don't necessarily need a different example for each. In fact, it's better to come up with stories that are flexible, since you'll likely have to adapt them to the exact questions anyway. There are, of course, a few things that interviewers frequently like to ask about that will not be on the job descriptions. Be prepared for "negative" questions, like "Tell me about a time you had to deal with a conflict on your team" or "Tell me about a time you failed." It's not that interviewers are out to get you—how you handle conflict and failure are good things to know—it's just not the best idea to put "must deal with frequent team conflict" in a job description. Finally, brainstorm a few more questions that could potentially come up based on the position you're applying for and your particular situation. For example, if you have a big gap on your resume, you'll want to be prepared to talk about why you're no longer at your previous job (more on that here), or if you're coming into a newly merged department, you should be prepared to discuss a time you've been part of a big change. Make a Statement Once you have your stories, it's time to think a little deeper about why these questions are asked in the first place. What does the interviewer actually want to know? Take a few seconds to think about this before you start answering the question—even if you have the perfect story prepared—so that you can make an appropriate introductory statement about essentially what the moral of your story is going to be. The reason for this is that even though the interviewer is specifically asking you to tell a story, the idea is that he or she will learn something about the way you do things. The problem with this is that what the interviewer gleans from your story could be very different from what you were hoping to share. For example, say you tell that story about standing up to the director of marketing when asked to talk about conflict with a previous supervisor. You eloquently move through the story about how you shared your hesitation about the new marketing campaign to no avail, but once the initial numbers came in, it was clear that you were right. You triumphantly showed the performance to the director, and she agreed to scrap the campaign. While this story is definitely suitable, there are actually a few different ways it could be taken the wrong way. The interviewer could hone in on the fact that you really didn't do anything until it was too late or that you were unpersuasive or a poor communicator the first time you raised concerns about the campaign. To make sure your stories are as effective as possible, make a statement before you start telling the story. In this particular example, it might be something like this, "I learned early on in my professional career that it's fine to disagree if you can back up your hunches with data." Now, when you tell your story, it's not about the various ways you could have approached the situation better, but about how you learned from that experience and how you use it to inform future disagreements. Finish Strong So, when it comes to these behavioral interview questions, have some stories prepared and then practice framing them based on the question you're asked. Practice, practice, practice, and you'll sound like a natural in no time. The final piece of the puzzle is wrapping up your answers well. You don't want to ruin your perfect frame and story by ending your response with, "And... yeah." Instead, try connecting the story back to the company or position. Quickly explaining how your experience would be useful in the position you're interviewing for is always a strong way to wrap up. Another way to finish up a response is to give the "in short" version of the answer. For example, "In short, it's not that I'm an amazing multitasker—I just set and review my priorities frequently." Wrapping up an interview answer (see more in-depth tips here) is such a commonly neglected area of preparation, but it can really help you nail the "strong communicator" impression, so don't disregard it when you're practicing. The thing people assume about these questions is that they're all about the story. And, yes, that is a critical component. But even if your story isn't exactly what the interview question asked for, if it's framed well and you go the extra mile to tell the interviewer what he or she should take away from it, you'll actually end up making a stronger impression. So, don't stress too much about having the perfect stories lined up or the exact relevant experience. Instead, focus on the messages you're trying to communicate to the hiring manager, and back them up with the stories that you have.

What do you consider to be your weaknesses?

The questions, "What's your greatest weakness?" or "What do you know you need to work on?" trip a lot of people up, because who wants to talk about the less impressive parts of your skill set or personality? But here's the thing: It can be really tough, but it's important not to lie or to gloss over your weaknesses. Ultimately, most employers want to hire someone who's reflective about their skill sets and knows what they're not as good and need to work on. So here's one way that I think about answering this question. First, think about something that isn't your strong suit, whether it's delegating to others or attention to detail, but think about it back in the past. Show how you've taken steps to overcome it, or worked hard on getting better, and mention that you're still working and working at becoming even better at this skill set. So for example, if someone said, "What's your biggest weakness?" you could answer: Well, I used to be pretty horrible at public speaking. When I started college, it was a massive problem, and I was just terrified of doing it, and I didn't do a very good job. So first I took the small step of promising myself that I would speak up in front of really small groups, for example in class. Then, I worked up to taking a public speaking class, which made a big difference. Now, even though I get nervous, I feel like its something that doesn't completely hold me back, and, in fact, recently I gave a speech at a conference to over 100 people. My hands were shaking the whole time, but I got really good feedback at the end. See, that wasn't so bad. Now just make sure you don't say something like, "I'm too perfect," or "I struggle with perfectionism," because nobody really believes that is your biggest weakness.

How many tennis balls can you fit into a limousine?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-steps-to-solving-an-impossible-brain-teaser-in-a-tech-interview-without-breaking-a-sweat

Can you tell me a little about yourself?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/a-simple-formula-for-answering-tell-me-about-yourself

How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-answer-tell-me-about-a-time-when-interview-questions

What's a time you disagreed with a decision that was made at work?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-answer-tell-me-about-a-time-when-interview-questions

What's a time you exercised leadership?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-answer-tell-me-about-a-time-when-interview-questions

What other companies are you interviewing with?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-answer-what-other-companies-are-you-interviewing-with

What's your management style?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-answer-whats-your-management-style

Where do you see yourself in five years?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-answer-where-do-you-see-yourself-in-5-years

Why was there a gap in your employment?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-explain-longterm-unemployment

Why should we hire you?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-better-ways-to-answer-why-should-we-hire-you

What would your first 30, 60, or 90 days look like in this role?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-interview-questions-you-should-be-ready-to-answer

Why do you want this job?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-steps-for-answering-why-do-you-want-this-job

How would your boss and co-workers describe you?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-strategies-for-answering-how-would-your-boss-or-coworkers-describe-you

How did you hear about the position?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/3-ways-people-mess-up-the-simple-answer-to-how-did-you-come-across-this-job-opportunity

What do you think we could do better or differently?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-mustdos-when-youre-interviewing-with-a-startup

If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-steps-for-answering-offthewall-interview-questions

What are you looking for in a new position?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/4-steps-for-answering-what-are-you-looking-for-in-a-new-position

Are you planning on having children?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-illegal-interview-questions-and-how-to-dodge-them

What do you like to do outside of work?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/5-secrets-for-acing-your-next-interview

Do you have any questions for us?

https://www.themuse.com/advice/51-interview-questions-you-should-be-asking