Interview Questions
If you want to leave a lasting impression on the hiring manager at your interview, it’s essential to consider the interview questions you may be asked. Set yourself apart from other candidates by formulating and practicing some effective responses in advance. The team at Lawson Elliott have spent many years interviewing and being interviewed, and have put together a selection of the most common type of questions you’ll be sure to come across during the interview process.
Personality questions are reasonably straight forward and the most common you can expect in any interview. They are used to determine your ‘fit’ to the role. Some examples include:
- What attracted you to this position?
- What interests you about our company?
- Why do you think you would be suitable for this role?
- Tell me a little about yourself?
- Why did you leave your last role?
- What are your strengths and/or weaknesses?
- How would your referees describe you?
- Where do you see yourself in five years' time?
- What motivates you?
- What are your career goals?
- What management style do you best respond to?
- What is your most significant achievement?
- What are your extra-curricular interests?
- Have you applied for any other positions? What other companies or positions?
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What are your salary expectations?
(Never ask about the salary yourself. Leave it to your Lawson Elliott consultant to facilitate salary discussions)
Behavioural based questions (also known as situational questions) require you to give specific examples about your prior experience and situations that you were involved in. They work on the expectation that your past experience is the best indicator of your future experience. The questions asked will be specific for the position that you are interviewing for.
Behavioural based questions are best answered by describing the previous situation, the subsequent action you took and the resulting outcome. Giving specific dates, roles, numbers and responsibilities will add credibility to your answer. The interviewer wants to know what you did, not the team. Always speak in terms of “I did this” rather than “we did this”.
Go through your resume and think about work experiences and situations that you will be able to draw upon.
Examples of behavioural based questions:
- Give me an example of the most difficult decision that you had to make in the last year and why was it difficult?
- Tell me about a time where you had multiple conflicting priorities. How did you handle them?
- Describe a difficult situation where you experienced conflict with a work colleague and how you went about resolving this?
- Give an example of when you have missed a deadline and why. What did you do to solve it?
- Tell me about a process that you improved and the benefits that it delivered to the business?
Technical questions focus on the skills necessary for the position, and will require you to expand on the responsibilities you have listed on your resume.
Examples will depend on your own specific areas of expertise and industry background.
It is very important that you ask lots of questions to determine if the position and company are the right match for you. If something is important to you in deciding whether you want the role, then ask it! Make sure that your questions are open-ended.
- How has the position come about?
- How does the position fit into the company's organisational structure?
- Tell me a little about the team? How many people are in the team?
- How would you describe the culture of the team?
- Who would I be reporting to?
- What are the main achievements/outcomes you expect of me within the first three months?
- What main projects would I initially be working on?
- What do you see as my greatest challenge in this role?
- Where do you see this role taking my career in five years’ time?
- What learning and development solutions do you offer?
- Can you tell me about your background and why you enjoy working for the company?
- What are the future growth plans of the company?
- What timeframes are you working on to appoint someone? What is the next step from here?