# Likely job interview questions

Personal Questions:

- How are you?
  - You are always well or excited, though it's normal to also be nervous.
- Tell me about yourself. / Tell me something beyond your resumé.
  - Give a two-minute summary.
  - Describing yourself well can start an engaging conversation.
  - Deliver a story:
    - Share something personal in a conversational tone.
    - Be thorough, but brief.
    - Enthusiastically share your excitement about true things.
    - End the story with something they'll want more of.
  - Discuss education, professional achievements, and goals, then briefly describe your qualifications for the job.
    - Keep your core strengths in mind.
    - Bring up intangible strengths and soft skills.
    - Briefly explain why you want the job.
- What are your strengths and weaknesses? / Greatest strength and/or weakness?
  - Be careful sharing your weaknesses.
    - The question is designed to put pressure on you.
    - The standard statements (e.g., I'm a perfectionist, I'm detail-oriented) sound like you're pretentious or evading the question.
  - Cite a significant weakness you've overcome.
    - Have at least two weaknesses in mind in case they ask for a second one.
    - Phrase the weakness as "I am bad at (X), therefore I (Y)".
    - Make the weaknesses part of your life story of improvement into the job you're looking for.
  - Relate your strengths to the position after sharing a story about how you applied tangible job skills.

Weird Questions:

- Weird questions are designed to test how a candidate reacts, as well as their ability to think critically under pressure.
- While you can't prepare for all of them, consider the types of questions you'll get:
  - A penguin walks through the door right now wearing a sombrero. What does he say and why is he here? (Clark Construction Group)
  - Are you exhaling warm air? (Walker Marketing)
  - Are you more of a hunter or a gatherer? (Dell)
  - Describe to me the process and benefits of wearing a seatbelt (Active Network)
  - Do you believe in Big Foot? (Norwegian Cruise Line)
  - Estimate how many windows are in New York (Bain & Company)
  - Have you ever stolen a pen from work? (Jiffy Software)
  - How are M&M's made? (US Bank)
  - How do you make a tuna sandwich? (Astron Consulting)
  - How does the internet work? (Akamai)
  - How many cows are in Canada? (Google)
  - How many planes are currently flying over Kansas? (Best Buy)
  - How many ridges are there around a quarter? (Deloitte)
  - How many square feet of pizza is eaten in the US each year? (Goldman Sachs)
  - How would you get an elephant into a refrigerator? (Horizon Group Properties)
  - How would you move Mt. Fuji? (Microsoft)
  - If Germans were the tallest people in the world, how would you prove it? (Hewlett-Packard)
  - If you were a brick in a wall which brick would you be and why? (Nestle)
  - If you were a pizza delivery man, how would you benefit from scissors? (Apple)
  - If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender, how would you get out? (Goldman Sachs)
  - Just entertain me for five minutes, I'm not going to talk (Acosta)
  - Pepsi or Coke? (United Health Group)
  - What do you think of garden gnomes? (Trader Joe's)
  - What kitchen utensil would you be? (Bandwidth)
  - Why is a tennis ball fuzzy? (Xerox)

Work History Questions:

- Why did you leave your most recent job? / What was your experience like at your most recent job?
  - Never speak poorly of previous employers or sound too opportunistic.
    - Speaking poorly of them implies you could speak poorly later about the interviewer's company.
  - Explain the situation as politely as possible.
    - After a long personal consideration, you wanted to expand your knowledge/background.
    - The company reorganized and their vision didn't match yours.
    - Your life orientation changed and the company no longer challenged the skills you wanted to work on.
    - You wanted a change of pace from your current job.
- What did you like most about (past job)? / What did you least like about (past job)? / Why are you job-hunting?
  - Connect what you liked to the company's needs to show initiative and performance.
  - You disliked the last job's lack of opportunities for growth, and be specific about which ones.
- What results at (past job) are you most proud of? / What made you leave (past job)?
  - Give tangible, specific results.
  - Don't over-explain if you lost a job.
    - You'll bring the focus to your lost job.
    - You'll also imply you haven't moved on from your last job.
  - Don't disclose if someone fired you from a past job.
- If I spoke with your previous boss, what areas would they say you should work on improving?
  - Speak well and honestly about your past supervisor.

Future Role Questions:

- What do you know about our company? / What do you know about the position you're applying for?
  - If you've been researching, you should be able to write an essay on this subject.
- What interests you about this opening? / Why do you want to work for us?
  - Give 1-2 minute answers on why they want to hire you.
- Why do you believe you are qualified for this position? / Why should I hire you? / What can you bring to this company?
  - This question is patronizing and meant to pressure you.
  - There are many ways *not* to answer it:
    - If you say you want the job, you'll look desperate.
    - If you offer cliche responses (team player, people person, hardworking), you'll appear uninterested.
    - If you say you're not looking intently but open to it, you'll appear disloyal and won't stay with the company.
  - Share a detailed variety of 2-3 significant job-related skills for two minutes:
    1. A technical skill
    2. A specific management (or self-management) skill
    3. A personal story
- What experience do you have doing (job responsibility)?
  - Honestly share how your experience can help with the role you're applying for.
- How do you handle pressure/deadlines/frustration/difficult people/silly rules? / How have you dealt with a difficult situation?
  - Share a past situation as more of a challenge than "managing pressure".
    - If you can't seem to manage petty issues, you'll appear incompetent.
  - How you overcame problems is far more relevant than your displeasure with them.
    - Diplomacy, perseverance, and common sense can prevail even in difficult or unfair circumstances.
- How will you take initiative to get the job done?
  - Share a story where you were self-motivated to complete the task at hand against all odds.
  - Provide at least one in-depth example of your strong work ethic and [creativity](mind-creativity.md).
- How do you hold to your values and beliefs while also accepting input?
  - The question is meant to test both your intelligence and honesty, so think carefully about this one.
- What are some examples of activities and surroundings that motivate you?
  - They're not asking to be your friend, so only share activities and hobbies related to the job.
- Tell me about a time when (situation relevant to the position)
  - You can't precisely predict their given situation, but you should have at least 1-2 stories connecting your work experience to the interviewing role.
- What kind of salary are you looking for?
  - While you should have a number before walking in, only discuss it once they've given a [job offer](jobs-6_negotiating.md).
  - Confess you don't know enough.
  - Tell them you're flexible.
  - If you're confident in [your negotiation skills](people-conflicts.md), ask how much salary they've budgeted for the position.
- What is most important to you in a new position?
  - Give things that reflect the company's values.
- What are the first five things you would do if you got this position? / How quickly do you think you will be ready to contribute to our organization?
  - You're ready to go almost immediately.
  - Give a story about when you had to start working very quickly.

Overall Career/Future Questions:

- How does this position fit in with your career path? / What do you see yourself doing in five years?
  - It should be something related to the job's industry.
    - Sharing dreams or ambitions implies that you'll use company resources to start your side business.
    - Sharing vacation or moving desires suggests you're lazy.
  - Always say you'll be working at the company you are interviewing for, but in a higher position.
    - Don't imply you want the interviewer's job, since it means you're trying to take their position.
- What were your goals last year? How did you settle on those? To what extent did you meet them?
  - Give answers that show a broader-reaching career that reflects growth in their organization.
- What do you consider to be your most significant accomplishment? / What was your most significant achievement?
  - The correct answer to this question will land you a job.
  - Tell a brief, detailed, professional story with:
    1. A problem
    2. The action you took to resolve it
    3. The result of your action
  - Your story must have a legitimately worthwhile achievement:
    - Hard work
    - Meeting deadlines
    - Overcoming obstacles
    - Relevant company issues
    - Relations with co-workers
    - Use as many details as possible: dates, facts, specific results, numbers, measurable results
- What has been the worst or most embarrassing aspect about your career? How would you have done things differently?
  - Boldly share adverse results or problems if you've learned from them.
  - End the story on a positive note.
- What's your current salary?
  - You don't need to share your salary, and the interviewer is behaving disrespectfully by asking.
  - Since they won't tell you the salary of the last person in that position, it's not fair for you to share yours.
    - They're asking so they can [offer](jobs-6_negotiating.md) a small additional amount than what you currently make, even when you're worth much more.
    - Giving salary information is a form of [submission](people-conflicts.md) that [self-respecting](people-3_respect.md) people don't offer.
  - Delicately handle this question.
    - Ask the salary range of the position in response, then express your need for privacy if they don't share it.
    - Asking the salary range gives an ultimatum to the employer to either value their employees or their money more.
  - If the employer refuses to proceed without salary information, leave the interview.

## Illegal Questions

Before entering an interview, research the regional questions that employers can't legally ask:

- Age, race, ethnicity, citizenship, national origin
- Personal details like height, weight, club affiliations, religion
- Disabilities unrelated to the job
- Felonies, convictions, arrest record, some military records

You can only respond to an employer's illegal question with three possible answers:

1. Answer the question directly, but give information unrelated to the job that may sabotage their view of you.
2. Refuse to answer the question, but unintentionally phrase it to appear uncooperative or confrontational.
3. Examine the question for its intent and respond to it as it might apply to the job.
   - e.g., "Have you been to prison?"
     - "I've never stolen from a company."
     - "I have a clean criminal record."
     - "I made terrible decisions, but I've changed and those events are behind me."
   - In general, answer the question they can legally ask.

Even then, experienced interviewers can find ways to ask roundabout not-illegal-but-gets-the-concept-across questions:

- "In the event that we provide a job offer, it will be conditional upon a successful background check. Is there anything beforehand you wish to disclose?"
- "We have certain conditions for employment that may involve a successful background check. Are you comfortable with that arrangement?"

Unfortunately, if they don't want to hire you based on a condition you can't control, you can't do much.

- If they seem uncomfortable with anything about this question, save yourself the effort and time by leaving in the middle of the interview.

## Their Final Question

A hiring manager's last question is typically "do you have any questions for us?", and they ask it for several reasons:

- They want to see how good of a listener you are (i.e., asking questions they already covered).
- They're giving room for you to expand your understanding of the company and job.
- They want feedback to see whether you still *want* the job.
- Your question's framing gives them insight about why you're interested in the job.

Ask 2-4 legitimate questions based on your interest in the company:

- Your questions are usually the very last impression you'll leave them with.
- A little suspicion is perfectly acceptable (and they usually expect it).
- Keep track of time, and jump ahead to your most important question if you're coming up close to the 30-minute/1-hour mark.

You should *never* ask some questions...

- ...which imply entitlement and high expectations:
  - When will I be promoted?
  - When can I expect a raise?
  - Will I get an office?
- ...which imply a noncommittal attitude:
  - What's the salary for this position?
  - What are your benefits?
  - Will I travel around a lot?
  - What other jobs are available here?
- ...which imply laziness:
  - What sort of flextime options do I have?
  - Are there security cameras watching everything I do?
  - What are your dress code rules?
- ...that show you care more about job security than personal growth:
  - What is the retirement plan like?
- ...that imply a lifestyle with many medical bills:
  - What medical plan do you provide?
- ...that demonstrate a fear of competition:
  - How many other people are going for this position?
- ...which imply you'll exploit the job's advantages:
  - Do I get employee discounts?
  - Do you have any lunch perks or a food allowance?
- ...which imply they'll have to repeat themselves frequently:
  - (Any question that shows you haven't been listening)

Very specific role questions:

- What should I expect the onboarding process to look like?
- What's the schedule/on-call arrangement for this role?
- Can you describe a typical day or week in this position?
- How does the role itself differ from the job description?

Broader role questions:

- Why is this position vacant?
- What would a successful first year in this position look?
- With respect to the person you've seen do this job the best, what made their performance so outstanding?

Company culture questions:

- How would you describe the culture here?
- What do you love the most about working for this company?
- What pleasantly surprised you the most about working here?
- How does the organization define success?

Questions about the company's relationship with the industry:

- What is the most important way this company differentiates itself from its competitors?
- Why do you think job applicants choose to work here instead of with competitors?
- What are a few of the most significant challenges in the industry, and how will your company approach them?

Manager questions:

- In this role, who would I work most closely with?
- How would you best describe your (or the immediate manager's) management style?

Self-examining/clarifying questions:

- Do you have any reservations or concerns about my fit for this position?
- Are there any parts of my experience you would like me to elaborate on?
- Based on my background and skills, how well do I fit the position?

Change-provoking questions (implies you'll create change):

- Is this team equipped to finding better and more efficient ways to do things?
- How do new employees expand on the culture you've developed here?

Questions about immediate actions (implies you're ready to go):

- What is the immediate need on your team this position will fill?
- What projects would I be able to contribute to right away?
- How will I be evaluated during the first three months?

Long-term questions (implies stability):

- What challenges will the person in this position face?
- What are your goals for this position?
- How is success in this position measured?

Give a great wrap-up question that implies commitment and character:

- What has differentiated the people previously in this role who were good from those who were great?
- When do you expect to make a hiring decision?
- Assuming I'm hired, how can I add the greatest value to the organization in the first 30 days?