Answers to the 10 most common interview questions in English.

Sabrena Doherty Author

This article is a transcription from the video ANSWERS TO THE TOP 10 JOB INTERVIEW QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH, which gives you useful answers for interviews, as well as telling you how to prepare for the interview, to give you the best chance to succeed.

WATCH IT HERE:

This article follows on from our previous vlog piece where we talked about these questions and how to answer them.

You can watch/read it here: https://inglesconkillian.com/blog/10-common-interview-questions-and-answers-in-english

Today we want to give you examples to help you prepare better.

Let´s begin:

So before you start the interview, you will be introduced to the people and you can say, Hi, I'm Sabrena, nice to meet you. And you can also say thank you for inviting me to this interview. With this smile and with eye contact, of course.

1. TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF

The first question that you may be asked is tell us about yourself or tell us about your work experience. As we mentioned before, keep it focused on the job. Possible answers could include: I studied social studies because I love working with people and I wanted to find a way to do that.

And as my career, I work in social work because I love working with people. I have experience in this area. I have been working in this area for the last 10 years, doing (specify what you're doing) and my main tasks were....responsible for people and responsible for the budget. Outline your main, most important tasks and maybe mention why you love doing this job.

Keep it focused on work. If it's outside of work, keep it relevant. If you can.

2. WHY SHOULD WE HIRE YOU?

So moving on to the next one, why should we hire you? So they want you to give them reasons to hire you. It's a good idea to let them know that you're very interested. You have researched the company, you know the offer very well.

So you can say I've been researching your company and I can see that you have done this. And I have experience in this particular line of work. My experience and my values are very much in line with yours, and I think I could be a really good asset to your company because of my experience and my passions. Align it to them and flatter the company.

So say good things about the company and connect your experience or your qualifications to what they need. Make that connection. If you want to use a good expression in English: Not only did I manage a team of 10 people, but I also developed this program, or not only did I develop the program, I also managed a team of 10 people.

3. WHAT ARE YOUR STRENGTHS?

Moving on to the strengths and the weaknesses, make sure you give a strength that is related to the job. Know the job offer very well, and give examples as well. When you're speaking, for example, I'm committed, I won't be able to leave my last company until this project is finished, so I will need another three weeks. I always see projects through, I work, even extra time if necessary to finish a project. I am trustworthy and responsible. I always carry out the tasks that are assigned to me. And I always inform managers if there are any issues or problems, and I am ambitious and goal orientated. This could be if your post is demanding and is goal oriented. For example, I work well with deadlines and I always finish my work on time. So you're connecting it again to the position that you're being interviewed for and you're connecting the strengths to the job offer. So you need to know the job offer very well.

4. WHAT ARE YOUR WEAKNESSES?

What are your weaknesses? Be careful that the weakness is not related to one of the essential or recommended or desired skills for the job.

Also mention what you're doing to improve on this weakness. Don't say I'm a perfectionist. Everybody says it. It has really been done to death. Say something like: I am learning to be more patient because I don't like it when people are late with projects, but I'm learning to talk to people and find out why and what solutions we can bring to the table to stop this from happening again.

Okay. So make sure the weaknesses are not very strong, and make sure they're not related to the job.

5. WHAT ARE YOUR CAREER GOALS?

What are your career goals or where do you see yourself in the future? The company wants to know how you see your career developing. And if you see yourself developing within their company, So, again, relate it to the company, you'd like to have more responsibility. You'd like to continue to try and be challenged in your work.

Perhaps have more responsibility, even a promotion.

Don't mention money maybe at this point and connect your answer to the job.

6. WHY DO YOU WANT TO WORK HERE?

Why do you want to work here? Again, have your research done and flatter the company: I've been researching this company and I love your values. I love how you work. I love your products. The service is really efficient. It really helps people. And I think it would be a really exciting project to work on. It's something that I wanted to do for a long time. Say this, if it's true, but don't over-flatter. It's transparent unless it's true, but even then, try to keep it in check.

More examples: I've always been interested in your area. I've always wanted to work in, for example, biometrics. And what you're doing is really innovative and interesting. And I would love to be a part of that. Plus.... and link it with your experience. Plus with my experience and qualifications, I think I could be a really good fit and I would get on really well here and help the company to continue improving.

So again, connect yourself to the company.

7. TELL US ABOUT A CHALLENGING SITUATION IN WORK / RESOLVING A CONFLICT.

Tell us about a challenging situation at work. They want to know how you deal with conflict or how you deal with channel challenges. Do you get stressed? Do you manage situations? Well, so try to think about a few situations that are true that you can talk about in the interview.

For example: I remember making a decision that my manager normally made, but she wasn't there.The client wanted a decision and, I made this decision based on the facts that I had, and it was the right thing to do and my manager was really happy.

Or it could be a hypothetical question. What would you do if this situation happened? You could try to link it to something you did in the past. Well, I remember that something similar to that happened to me before, and this is how I resolved the situation, or if it's wildly different from your experience, tell them what you would do if it happened.

8. WHY DID YOU LEAVE YOUR LAST JOB?

Why did you leave your last job? Or why do you want to leave your job? Or why were you made leave? This question is more difficult if you were sacked or fired from your last job. If this is the case, tell them, be honest, because they're going to find out. Do not talk badly about the other company, be respectful, but give your side of the story.

So, why did you leave? Or why do you want to leave? You can, again, flatter the company and talk about how you're really interested in and what this company are doing. The job really fits with your experience and with your interests and how it's interesting for you and how you are interesting for the company as well.

So try to connect yourself to the company again. Because the job you had before, maybe it wasn't challenging you enough, or it wasn't going in the direction that you wanted for your career. Something like that. So again, talk about why this job is good and that's why the last job wasn't exactly what you wanted.

9. WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT?

What was your greatest achievement? So, if you're new to this career, maybe your achievement was something in sports or in your personal life. And if it's connected to your job great.

Here is an example: My last job required me to speak English and my level of English at the beginning was quite low. So I had to practice a lot. I had to work on my English a lot. I had to study and immerse myself for 12 or more hours per day. But in the end, I achieved my objective of being fluent and confident and understanding well in English. So I really feel that that's one of my greatest achievements because it was difficult, but the reward was, eh, it felt really good when I could do it.

10. DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR US?

The last question, do you have any questions for us? It's a good idea to try to have some ideas for this question, to show interest. Or maybe what can happen sometimes is you do have questions, but they answer them during the interview. So you can say: I wanted to know ABC but you have already addressed that. Thank you. Other questions could be: How long would it be before I can expect to hear back from you? For example. Or, is there anything else that I could tell you, that you would like to know that would help with your decision about hiring me? Or could you tell me what a typical day in this company is?

Something that shows interest.

PREPARATION ADVICE

Some preparation tips for an interview:

Research the company

Super important, do not go to an interview without having looked into the company beforehand, what they're about, how big it is, where the offices are, what their values are. Have a look at their website, and have a look at the About Us section.

Study the job description

Know exactly what they are looking for in an employee. Do they want someone who can take responsibility? Do they want someone with a lot of experience, someone with managerial skills, good soft skills? What exactly are they looking for? And this way you can align your answers to the position. Think about how you can be more aligned with the company, how your experience fits, and how your qualifications can fit. Even if it's not directly the same as the job, it can be. You can need similar qualities in other positions, you know.

Go through these questions.

Answer them and write out your answers on a piece of paper, record yourself saying them, or get someone to listen to you while you're saying them and help you in your delivery. Make sure you're speaking clearly and make sure you're not stopping and starting too much. Maybe you get nervous in the interview and you do that and that's okay, but if you practice a lot, it is less likelyu to happen. Which brings me to my next point:

Practice

If you practice a lot, you won't get so nervous. So practice and practice, especially if English isn't your first language. You're not going to feel confident unless you practice, you know, and if you practice a lot and prepare the questions, you will know the vocabulary, you will know the grammar structures and you will feel more confident in the interview.

It is not about you

Remember in the interview, it's not about you. It's about the company. It's about why they should hire you. So show them that you're a good asset that you're thinking about the company and the company's needs.

Dress appropriately

In terms of dress code, dress appropriately, check what people normally wear to interviews like this, maybe call the company and ask someone there if necessary. It shows interest. Remember, it's better to be a little overdressed than to be underdressed, you know? So if you go in jeans and trainers and they expect you to come in a suit, it doesn't look so good. So be careful.

Change the (language) chip

Try to speak English just before you go into the interview. So if you can speak to someone great. For example, we speak to students who are about to go to interviews or about to go to speaking exams just before they're going to help them change the chip to English. You know, so try to do that.

If you don't have anyone to speak with, just record yourself on your phone or speak to yourself, but verbally. Speak, if you can.

Dealing with stress & anxiety

In the interview, try to centre yourself. You're going to be nervous. Maybe you're going to feel a little stressed. So take deep breaths and try to speak more clearly, enunciating the words, and pronouncing the words properly because when we're stressed, we tend to speak faster and maybe they won't understand us so well. So make an effort to slow down in the interview and this will help you to feel calmer. And smile. Keep eye contact with people when you're speaking to them. This is really good. Don't stare. Obviously this is not good, but keep eye contact with the people who are speaking. And if, for example, three people are interviewing you. One person is asking the question, talk to the three of them, make eye contact with the three of them. This creates connection with people. It's not just about the words that you say, but it's also about your body language. And don't move your hands too much. Sit up straight.

Interviews online

A lot of interviews are taking place online. Make sure that you dress from head to toe just in case. Okay. And also make sure that you're in a professional setting, where there isn't a dirty laundry in the background, or preferably where you're not going to hear the dog barking or children crying or other noises. Check your setup, check your mic is working. Check that your mic is clear. People don't often realize they're difficult to hear. And check that your headphones are working, check that your camera's working, be ready and do a trial run. Try it before, if you can, but be ready because obviously sometimes we have technical difficulties that are beyond our control, but there is a lot that we can control.

So make sure you are professional-looking and your background is professional. If it's online, turn up on time or turn up early, better, especially if it's in-person - be there early. So you're not rushing.

In the interview

And in the interview, if you make mistakes, if you stumble over your words, it's okay. Stop, breathe. Start again. Smile. Everybody gets nervous. You're speaking to humans. Remember? Okay. And that's it. Good luck!