Front up to an interview unprepared, and you might as well have arrived wearing your pyjamas – your chances of landing the job aren’t looking all that flash. Unless you’ve been given a politician’s gift of the gab, winging it is never a good idea. The advice here is simple: do your homework.
Although there is a chance you’ll be thrown a doozy, like Microsoft’s infamous ‘why are manhole covers round’, it’s more likely that you’ll be on the receiving end of your typical self-reflexive and evidence-based line of questioning.
This is your opportunity to show the company that you have what it takes to do the job. The interviewer will want to suss out what you can bring to the position, including your particular skills, knowledge and experiences. They’ll also want to get some idea about your character to assess whether you’re the right person for the job and if you’ll mesh well with the company’s culture.
By learning what employers are looking for when they ask common interview questions and then preparing answers for these, you’ll dramatically increase your chances of success.
So before you find yourself in the interview hot seat, do anything and everything you can to prepare yourself for the oncoming interrogation. We’ve compiled a series of some common and a little more left-of-centre questions you might come across, to help you stay brave in the face of fire.
Questions for you to ask at a job interview
At an interview, you may have the opportunity to ask questions to the interviewer. It's important to have some questions planned.
Even if the interviewer does not ask you if you have any questions, before the end of the interview, make the point that you would like to ask a couple of questions about the job or the company. This shows that you have thought seriously about the position and the company.
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