Sample Interview Questions
General questions:
About you....
- Tell me about yourself. (no more than 2 minutes highlighting the interesting and relevant parts of your history)
- What are you good at?
- What things are you not so good at doing?
- What sort of personality are you? What kind of person are you?
- What kind of people do you like to work with?
- Why should we hire you?
- How do you work best?
- What sets you apart from the 19 other people who have applied for this job?
- What makes you feel you did a good job?
- What motivates you?
- What are your strengths/weaknesses?
About previous jobs (and this one)...
- What do you enjoy in your job
- What do you least enjoy about your job
- What did you learn in that job?
- What have you got to offer this new job/organisation?
- Why do you want this job?
- How would you tackle this job?
- What sort of positive and negative feedback have you received?
About the organisation
- What do you know about our organisation?
- What do you feel is this organisation's competitive advantage?
- What do you feel is good about this organisation?
- What do you feel could be improved?
- How do you feel you would fit with the culture here?
Specific Questions
(technical, CV related, or role related)
- How would you go about setting up an curriculum development process?
- What are the important factors to consider when managing a multiple- location facility?
- What are the major issues involved in nurse education?
- How do you see the future for specialist colleges?
- What do you feel are the main qualities required in a department manager?
- How did you manage the career guidance services development programme in your last role?
Achievement questions
(Stories - Behavioural Event questions)
- What is your greatest achievement to date?
- What are you most proud of in your career/life to date?
- Tell me about a time when.....?
- Describe a situation when....?
- you had to take the lead and use your initiative
- you had to prioritise a number of important tasks
- you had to accomplish something very challenging
- etc.
Future potential questions:
- How do you see your career developing
- How ambitious are you?
- What do you see yourself doing in 5 - 10 years time?
- What do you think you can do for us?
Miscellaneous questions:
Will primarily be based on your CV - know it thoroughly. Be able to speak coherently on any topic or line of your CV for a minute or two. They might also be technical in nature - questioning the skills and experience you claim to have or as specified in the job specification or advert. Other examples could be:
- What makes you angry?
- What do you look for in a manager/colleagues?
- What interests you most in your work?
- What do you do in your spare time?
- Describe a difficult time at work and how you handled it?
- How do you work best in a team?
- How would your present boss describe your work?
- How would your friends describe you?
- What sort of people do you find most difficult to work with?
- What other jobs have you applied for?
- Which of your jobs has given you most satisfaction and why?
- How do you respond to stress?
- What sort of training and development do you think you will need in this job?
- Why are you leaving your present job?
Reading the above information will give you a taster of what to expect in an upcoming interview. Preparation is key. Flicking through a list of information or answering questions in your head may not necessarily count for constructive preparation. To make the best use of your time and energy into interview preparation and to make sure you give yourself the best possible chance of being offered any job to go for, contact our expert career coaches. They will work hand-in-hand with you, taking on board your particular needs and concerns to prepare properly for an interview. To Book a 1-1 Career Coaching session, click here