Interview Questions

Interview questions can be extremely varied and some recruiters can be very creative; however they all tend to revolve around the same themes. You will find below a comprehensive range of interview questions commonly asked at interviews across all industries. These are designed to help you both in terms of your interview skills, for which we have professional coaching, and further, to hone your interview techniques to perform at your best during interview.

Read the interview questions below first and then consider how well adapted you are to answer them in an interview situation to have the best chance of securing your future role:

General Questions

1. Tell me about yourself?2. What made you choose this career?3. Why are you applying for this post?4. Why do you want to leave your current post?5. Why do you want to work for our organisation?6. What do you know about our organisation?7. How have you prepared for this interview?8. What can you bring to this company?9. What makes you think you are the best candidate for this post?10. How do you see yourself in 5 / 10 years time?11. How have you planned your career?12. What are you most/least proud of?13. Looking back at your career (or training), what do you feel went well and what could be

improved?14. What makes you a good communicator?15. How would you describe your communication skills?

Leadership/Management Questions

1. What is your management experience?2. How do you manage an underperforming colleague?3. How do you manage upwards?4. What is the difference between management and leadership?5. What makes you a good leader?6. How would you describe your leadership skills?7. Do you prefer to work on your own or as part of a team?8. Who do you regard as your role model?9. If you had to invite three famous people (alive or dead) for dinner, who would you

choose and why?10. How do you make sure that your team is up to scratch?

Team Work

1. What makes you a good team player?2. What makes a good team?3. What are your main strengths?4. Give us three adjectives that describe you best?5. How would your colleagues describe you?6. What would you like written in your obituary?7. What is your main weakness?8. How can you convince me that I can trust you?9. What qualities do you have that would make you a good

lawyer/teacher/manager/etc?

Self Awareness

1. How do you measure success?2. How do your managers motivate you?3. What skills do you need to develop most?4. What is the biggest mistake that you have made?5. How do you handle stress?6. How do you handle pressure?7. What is the biggest decision you have ever had to make?8. How do you motivate your colleagues?9. Tell us about your worst colleague/manager?10. What is your approach to resolving conflict?11. Describe an instance when your work was criticised.12. What do you think about being mentored?13. How would you hand a situation where your mentor recommended an approach

that you disagree with?14. Tell us how you influence colleagues?15. Tell us how you would manage a conflict with a third-party provider, quoting your

experience16. What is the riskiest thing you’ve ever done?17. What makes you angry?18. Do you ever lose your temper?19. How do you cope with criticism?20. Tell us about your hobbies21. Do you have any questions?

Scenario based/Competency – based questions (asking for an example

Give us an example of a situation where... / Tell us about a time when...

1. Your communication skills made a difference to a situation.2. You had to resolve a conflict with a colleague.3. You dealt with a difficult client.4. You played a key role in a team.5. You showed strong leadership.6. You took initiative.7. You set and achieved a goal8. You improved the way things were typically done on the job.9. You improved the performance of your work unit.10. You have maximised or improved the use of resources beyond your own work

unit to achieve improved results.