Somewhere in our lives we all have to go to a job interview and struggle our way through those unanswerable questions. We've put together a list of the top 3 interview questions and how to answer them.

#1 Tell me about yourself

Most of the time the first question in an interview will be somewhere in this category. This is your chance to present yourself. But be aware this is not your #bio on Instagram. This answer should be used to basically present why you believe you are fit for the job. What are your skills, how would they fit, which part of your personality would shine through on the work floor and how are your people-skills? By preparing this question well, you can impress the interviewer by answering so many more questions in just one.  But make sure to be on point and keep it concise. If they want to know more, they can always ask.

#2 What are your weaknesses and strengths?

Well this is always a catch-22. Because you do not want to seem arrogant and you most certainly do not want to appear weak. The best way to prepare for this question is to do a SWOT analysis on yourself, so at least you know exactly what your strengths and weaknesses are. Because knowing is step 1. Step 2 is acknowledging and handling according to that knowledge. Therefore always bring up examples. And always lead with your strengths. Also make sure to say “one of my strength” instead of “My strength”, which would imply you only have one. Don’t forget to align your weaknesses and strengths with the job opening. If one of your strengths is creating kick-ass predictive data models with SQL, that’s great, but might not help you if you are applying to be a sous-chef.

 

Also do this with your weakness. Otherwise you will leave room for interpretation by the interviewer and that is mostly far worse than what your actual weakness entails. For instance it could very well be that you have high expectations from the people you manage and that you lose patience quite quickly. You can for example say: “I have become aware of the fact that I can be impatient with people that I manage and I expect a much higher work standard, however now that I am aware of this, I always try to imagine the effort someone has already taken into a project and have learned to give feedback based on their own skills instead of my own.”.

This will make it easier for the interviewer to understand what your flaw is, but the interviewer is mainly looking for you to be aware of it, and how you handle these situations on a daily basis. It’s ok to have flaws, we are all human, and by opening up about them people will understand much better than if you pretend to be superhuman.

#3 Where do you see yourself in 10 years.

Most people do not see themselves working in the same company in 10 years time. But you don’t have to say that. In this answer focus on your skills and how you would want to see them develop over the next 10, whether you will be using them in that same company can be left unsaid. You can also mention that you want to climb the career ladder and are hoping to have gained enough skills and personal growth to be heading towards an executive level job. It all depends on what you want to be doing with your life. And if you see yourself somewhere on a deserted beach with a margarita in each hand. You can always say “In 10 years I would like to have gained enough skills and experience to be able to educate manage and mentor people around me. Helping them grow in their career so that projects can be executed with minimum supervision and maximum outcome.” That you are doing this so they can take over while you are on vaca….well you can leave that unsaid.

 

via GIPHY