Interview questions
Common interview questions and answers
You can't know every question you'll get. Most interviews still come back to the same few kinds of question: who you are, why this job, a story about your work, and the money. Each guide below says what the question checks, what to say and what to leave out.
Questions about you
Almost every interview opens with one of these. Each asks why you, why this job and why now.
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Tell me about yourself
About a minute: what you do now, one highlight, and why this job is next.
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Why do you want to work here?
One detail from the posting, one fact about the company, and your link to both.
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Why are you interested in this position?
The parts of the job you want to do, and the proof you can do them.
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Why should we hire you?
Two things the posting asks for, and proof of each.
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What are your strengths?
Two strengths the posting asks for, each with a short example that ends in a result.
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What are your weaknesses?
One real weakness the job doesn't depend on, and what you're doing about it.
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Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
What you want to get good at, and how this job helps you get there.
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What is your greatest accomplishment?
One result you caused, told as a short story with a number in it.
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How your answers are scored
Reading an answer and saying it are different things. In a practice interview you answer these questions out loud, the interviewer follows up on thin answers, and the scorecard grades five skills from 0 to 100 on a rubric that stays the same every run.
Behavioral and situational questions
“Tell me about a time” and “What would you do if” questions. Three or four good stories cover most of them.
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Behavioral interview questions
The situation, what you did and the result, with the most time on the last two.
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Situational interview questions
A problem from the job: what you'd check first, what you'd do, and why.
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How do you handle conflict?
A real disagreement, how you worked it out, and what changed after.
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Hard questions about your history
A layoff, a firing, a gap or a short stay. Each has a short, true answer that moves the talk back to the job.
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Reasons for leaving a job
What you're moving toward, in a sentence or two, with no complaints.
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Laid off vs. fired
Which one happened, and what to say about it in an interview.
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How to explain being fired
What happened in one sentence, what you'd do differently, and why this job fits.
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Explaining an employment gap
What happened, what you did with the time, and why you're ready now.
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Explaining job hopping
What connects the moves, and why you'd stay here.
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Salary and the questions you ask
The money question usually comes on the first call. Your own questions come at the end of every round.
Questions by round and format
A phone screen, a hiring manager, a panel and a recorded video each ask in their own way.
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Phone screen questions
The ten questions a recruiter asks on the first call, and what to say to each.
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Phone interview tips
How to sound clear and ready when they can only hear you.
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Hiring manager interview questions
Questions about the work itself, from the person you'd report to.
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Second interview questions
More specific, more behavioral, and often more people in the room.
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Internal interview questions
Applying inside your own company: what they ask and what to say.
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Panel interviews
Several interviewers at once: who asks what, and how to answer the room.
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- One-way video interviews Recorded answers with a timer and no one on the other side. Read the guide →
- HireVue and employer video interviews How recorded screens work, with guides for eight employers. Read the guide →
- Interview questions by role Nurse, teacher, project manager and eleven more jobs. Read the guide →
Recorded video interview guides by platform: HireVue · Spark Hire (its common questions) · Hireflix · Willo · Talview · Modern Hire
Residency and school interviews
Interviews for a training program rather than a job: why this specialty, why this program, a mistake, a hard case.
How to answer any question
One method that works for questions you didn't prepare for, and the answers that cost people the job.
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How to answer interview questions
One way to answer any question, even the hard ones.
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What not to say in an interview
The red flags interviewers listen for, and what to say instead.
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En español: preguntas de entrevista en inglés y cómo responderlas
Practice the questions you'll get
Paste the job posting or type a job title. An AI interviewer asks these questions for that job, out loud, follows up, and scores five skills.
Your free mocks show the score. The Interview-Ready plan shows you how to raise it.
- As many scored mocks as you want, in every round
- Why you lost points on each skill
- Your weakest answers rewritten, with why the new version scores higher
$29 a month if you join by October 31, and you keep it while you stay (regular $49). 14-day refund from your account. See the plan