Top 10 Job Interview Questions Asked

Are you about to go for that all-important job interview? Everyone wants to make the right impressions. Remember how important those first impressions are and take advantage of our interview tips below. Consider:

• where you want to be five years from now
• what your weaknesses are
• to what you attribute your success
• how you see yourself
• what your problem solving skills are like
• whether you are good at making decisions
• why choose you?

If you want to give it your best shot, then read on to discover how you can answer the most popular interview questions asked, so that you sail through with confidence. When you are successful in getting your job, remember to sign in below in the guestbook to let us know! Good luck!

Don't Be Late!

You can ensure that those all-important first impressions are positive by being as prepared as possible. This includes both mental research and taking thought to what you wear.

Arriving 5 or 10 minutes beforehand is important, so that you can compose yourself, rather than walking into the interview appearing stressed. Remember that you are there to show your capabilities of doing your job, not of being the best fashion model (unless of course that is the type of job you are going for!)

If you are going for an office job make sure that you are clean, smart and with modest make-up and jewellery. Women should wear smart trousers (not jeans) or a plain skirt, on or below the knee with a blouse and suit jacket. Tights should cover the legs and heels kept to a reasonable height. You don't want any strong smells of body odour or indeed too much perfume overpowering your ability to impress them with your professional accomplishments. Men should wear a two piece suit with a plain shirt and tie and clean, leather shoes. Moderation is the best policy. If you feel good in what you are wearing, you are likely to give a good first impression.

Your Chance To Set The Scene

In a couple of minutes give an outline of where you are from, what qualifications you left school with and how you started in your career. Mention a couple of posts that were relevant to the position you are applying for and explain how you used any time when you weren't employed (i.e. voluntary work etc.) and finish by explaining why you were at the position now to apply for this post. Include any other information where you learnt relevant skills for the post, but keep it brief- just a little about yourself- it shouldn't take over the whole interview.

Looking for particular skills

If they are looking for someone who is confident with Excel, explain how you set something up or recorded a project using it and the difference it made to the efficiency of the project. Or if they are looking for someone with good customer skills, explain how you diffused a difficult situation and regained a customer's confidence in the company. Maybe you took training for a particular area and gained good qualifications from which the company benefitted. Study the job specification to see where your accomplishments match those that they are seeking and highlight these ones.

They want to see whether you are a visionary person who is able to plan ahead and work towards a goal. This could be an opportunity to explain how you want to gain further qualifications to train in a particular area, so that in five years time you are able to provide strong skills in a desired area. Be careful though that you don't communicate a lack of confidence in what they require for now, but rather take advantage of any training and career progression that they offer and encourage. Let them know that however your skills increase, you want to see them causing this company to grow and prosper, rather than taking them elsewhere. They want to know whether you are worth investing in.

Be careful

Obviously you don't want to tell them that you are weak in areas where they have specifically said you need to be strong and you want to come across as being confident, mature and reliable, so saying that your weakness is that you are always late will not help. They are looking to see that you are realistic, not proud and arrogant and able to spot weaknesses that are there. So mention something light, such as the fact that you find it difficult to keep up with regular exercise or that you have a soft spot for chocolate biscuits with your tea. After all, they want to see that you are human enough to get on with the rest of the team.

You should have looked at their website, if they have one, or anywhere else where they have information about their company, so that you know what they are about. Also try to get a good impression of the job title, to understand what sort of position you would have in the company. In the process you might learn some specific phrases that will show them of your interest and knowledge.

One of those tricky interview questions asked

Again, make sure that whatever you describe is something that either was understandable and therefore excusable, such as setting off the bank alarm system when you first started, because you were in a rush to lock up. This can be recounted with a smile on your face. But something else, such that is more serious needs to be backed up with the explanation of how you resolved it and ensured that it wouldn't happen again. They would be looking to see that you aren't the sort who's careless and disregards company policies.

Your answer should reveal your problem solving skills, which most employers are looking for. Rather than falling apart when a problem occurs, are you able to resolve it? Think of a situation, ideally in an area where they are especially looking for skills, such as customer service for example. If you were able to sort out a mistake that the company had made with a customer, explain how you spotted it, what you did and how it resulted in a satisfied customer.

You want to show that you are good at making decisions, so you might want to say something like: "I sometimes find it difficult deciding between two or more equally good options" or "I have difficulty when there is insufficient information." You could mention how you benefit from being able to discuss different options with colleagues to show how you value working in a team and that you appreciate other people's strengths. They might be looking for someone who is able to think on their feet, so if this is one of your strengths, you might want to say this.