The most common yet important interview questions

Tell me about yourself

The most classic question that you are bound to be asked in the beginning of your interview is to tell something about yourself. Definitely an important question, when asked all that interviewers expect you to give is a snapshot about yourself and nothing more. So make sure you never verbally catalog your academic qualifications when you reply to this question. Just remember that it's always better to tell something that relates to your resume.

Here let me give you an example-

I always did a lot of freelance training jobs while I was doing my graduation. I enjoyed working in a training institute, since my boss gave me a lot of assignments to design communication modules. Though the timelines were strict I took it as a challenge and completed before the deadline. I'm a hardworking and flexible person, who always makes sure that whatever task is given to me is finished within the deadline.

When you're expected to talk about yourself, give examples that are predominantly focused on your work experiences. The qualities that you talk about have to be the traits that you posses as a person. Doing this helps the interviewer to peek into your personality as well your qualification. Before going for an interview make a list of qualities that you have; you can even refer to a thesaurus, if you're running out of words. Write down a few of them that can be used when you quote an example. However, if you want to get a second opinion about your qualities ask your friends to tell you about any two positive qualities that they see in you, which can help you understand your individuality better.

What are your Career goals?

When you want to talk about career goals make sure you know what your aims are at present and in the future.

For example if I'm asked this question I would say - I'm a person who has always had a passion for writing, and that's the reason I did a diploma in creative writing. It definitely helped me, as I honed my writing skills and learned to write for different verticals. Recently I even did a course in SEO, which has helped me even further. Since my varied writing experience coupled with my SEO skills has opened up greater new opportunities, which I would like to tap in the near future. And if all goes well in the next five years I would be heading a team of writers who are looking to pioneer new SEO - content focused web concepts.

So what are your strengths and weaknesses?

When the interviewer asked you about your strengths and weakness make sure you are clear. All they want to hear is your work related strengths and weakness and not your personal strengths and weaknesses.

For instance when asked about strengths you could say, "I'm hardworking, flexible and a punctual person, who likes to complete tasks on time."

Or your answer could be -

"My manager knows that she can count on me anytime, even if my colleagues are not present for work I make sure I'm around; even if the need arises on my off days."

And when talking about weakness make sure that it gels well with your strengths and are not outright negative. You could even sell your positive traits as a weakness and earn more brownie points.

Take for instance someone who has a tendency to strain too much, this if mentioned inappropriately can make a person seem too stressed-out, however if mentioned right it can be taken in a positive light. As in - I have habit of putting too much pressure on myself. Once my manager had asked me to complete my colleague's task, as she was new in the organisation, though I had already completed my work I knew my colleague's pending task would take at least three days to complete, but since I like to get things done fast I completed my work within a day, so that I wouldn't be left far behind. And this was too much of a strain to handle at any given point of time, but I don't like to leave things unfinished...

Always make sure you give accurate examples which gives clear understanding about you as a person.

Why are you leaving your organization?

Reasons for leaving could be several by the most common have always been the boss. And though people might guess that you are having a tough time with your boss, it doesn't mean you have to bad mouth him or the organisation, for getting a job.

You could say -

I've always been looking for a change as I extremely dislike work stagnation and lack of responsibilities or growth.

Never say that you are looking for nothing but a nice pay packet. Always sound positive, and state that you are looking forward to learn by saying something like - "I'm a person who likes to learn and grow intellectually, and wants to take up more responsibilities." Stating something like this makes you come across as a person who is willing to take-up more work and challenges, which is what any employer would look for.

Why do you want to work for our organisation?

This question cannot be answered without doing some real good research. So make sure you do just that. Get to know the organisation's verticals and their clients and say something constructive and show that you know what the organisation does.

For instance if you're a designer looking for interesting web-designing opportunities you could say - "I want to work for your organisation as I'm interested in web designing and I know that you offer designing services to international clients. And since I have the relevant experience I feel that I would fit in well here. But most importantly I would like to be a part of your organisation because I see a lot more avenues for growth and learning here."