How to Answer Interview Questions

On this page are eight of the most generally asked (and simple) interviewing questions. Do yourself and the potential employer a favor, and give them some thought before the interview happens.

• Why do you want this occupation?
• Why do you want to leave your present occupation?
• What are your personal and professional objectives?
• What do you like most about your existing job?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• What are your strengths?
• What are your weaknesses?
• What do you like the very least about your existing job?

The last question is probably the hardest to answer: What do you like least about your current job?
 
I’ve discovered that rather than pointing out the issues of others (as in, “I can’t stand the office politics,” or, “My supervisor is a jerk”), it’s more suitable to place the liability on yourself (“I feel I’m geared up to exercise a new set of professional muscles,” or, “The kind of technologies I’m really interested in isn’t accessible to me currently.”). By responding in this method, you’ll avoid pointing the finger at someone else, or coming across as a whiner or complainer. It does no good to talk negatively about other people.
 
I advise you think through the solutions to the eight questions above for two reasons.
 
First, it won’t help your possibilities any to hem and haw over essential issues such as these. (The answers you give to all of these kinds of questions ought to be no-brainers.)
 
And second, the questions will help you consider your career choices before spending time and energy on an interview. If you don’t feel confident with the answers you come up with, perhaps the new occupation isn’t ideal for you.