For some, interviews can be a daunting experience, so knowing how to answer common interview questions get is important. Whilst each interview is different, most interviews include these questions, or variations of them. Having well rehearsed answers will help you give the best account of yourself.
Where do you see yourself in X years?
This question is asked to identify whether you have thought about your plans, and to identify whether you are likely to be with them long-term. Your answer should include the following information:
Where you are currently in your career.
What your future plans and core career goals (relate it back to the organisation you are applying for).
How you think the role you are applying for will help you to get there.
This is a good opportunity to show how you have thought about progressing within their company.
Why do you want this job?
This question is asked by interviewers to see how much you know about them and the role. It also shows if you’ve really thought about the opportunity.
A great answer for this question will include links to how any values they have match your own, although many companies don’t publicise these. If they don’t, find out from your Recruiter what they are and tailor your answer towards them.
Answers that include your excitement for certain elements of the job, progression opportunities and how it fits in with your career plan often go down well.
The best answers will also include where you can see yourself adding value in the role.
What do you know about us?
This is your chance to show that you’ve done your research thoroughly, and not just had a quick look at the about us section on their website. This is definitely one of the common interview questions!
Start your answer with what you know about what the company does, and name-drop any products or services they provide. You can then move on to anything else you know about the company. Things like recent news articles, awards they’ve won and anything else you’ve found out about them that you’ve found interesting.
A great answer will also include anything you’ve been able to find out about their mission and values.
Finally, provide information that you’ve been able to find out about the person interviewing you too. Things like how long they’ve been there, if they’ve progressed, and cross-over in regards to previous employers. Anything else professional you’ve found out about them too could be useful. LinkedIn is a great source of information for this.
Tell be about yourself
This is often asked at the start of an interview. It’s a good, open question that allows you to cover a number of things to get the interview flowing nicely.
Your answer should demonstrate the following:
- Your personality
- Your career history and achievements to date
- Your main strengths for the job
Letting your personality shine through is important, but avoid answering the question with a lot of personal information about you. It should be answered about your career. Your personality will come through when talking about your soft skills and hobbies and interests.
When discussing your career history to date, give a brief overview of how you arrived at the point you are at> Add in anything significant you’ve achieved on the way which is relevant to the job you are applying for. They’ll be plenty of time to go over your career in detail later in the interview, so keep this fairly brief.
When you discuss your key strengths, keep them punchy and to the point. This is where you can demonstrate to the interviewer that you are a great fit for the role. Focus it on the job description and use relevant scenarios.
What are your main strengths
This is a great chance to shine!
The interviewer will be looking for you to highlight you key strengths for the role, including soft skills. The most important element to getting this question answered well is to link it back to the job itself.
A good example for this would be ‘one of my main strengths is my ability to work collaboratively as a team. I noticed on the job description that this was important to you, and when I worked at ******* we worked on a project as a team to deliver a large piece of software to a new client. There was a particularly challenging part of the project which really required us to pull together to meet the deadline. I took a lead on organising the workload with the team to ensure the deadline was met’
What are your development areas / main weaknesses?
The best way to answer this question is to show you are aware of a development area or weakness, and to demonstrate how you overcome it, or what you are doing to improve.
When answering the question, avoid saying a weakness is one of the core areas of that particular job. Choose something within the role that is less important, and highlight how you will ensure it doesn’t hold you back.
A good example could be ‘I find public speaking quite intimidating, and this can sometimes mean I struggle when delivering presentations. I’ve found that by running through the presentation with a colleague before hand really helps me, and I’ve also signed up to an online course to help me with this too’
What is your biggest achievement?
Prepare for this question prior to the interview. Select something important from the job description, and tailor your answer to include a relevant achievement. 

For example, if you are applying for a job in which a particular Certification is required that you have, highlighting this here would be a good idea.
Why should we hire you?
This is your chance to go above and beyond what’s on the job description! A great answer here will cover the fact you can confidently do the main elements of the job, but also where else you can add value.
For example, if the company is looking for a Senior Developer, and may require somebody to assist the Manager at times, demonstrating any experience you have of leading people informally will show you can do more than the basics of the job.
Your answer to one of the most common interview questions should also include something that makes it clear that you want them to hire you!
What are your salary expectations?
This question can cause issues for some people as they are uncomfortable talking about money in an interview scenario. As Recruiters, we are well trained to handle this for you, and the best ones will do the prep work for you on this. The key to answering this question is to do so confidently, and back it up with your reasoning.
Avoid under-selling yourself here, as it will always end badly. If you are looking for a minimum of £45,000, tell them that! Don’t say £43,000 because you think it will be easier – if you get an offer, you can guarantee it will be £43,000 at best!
Giving an answer like ‘based on my qualifications, skill set and my research on the market, I am looking for a salary of £45,000 – £48,000’. The answer is concise, shows thought and provides them with a small range to work within. Be prepared to be offered the lower amount though, so keep your ideal salary towards the bottom of the range you provide.
Want more information on how to prepare for the most common interview questions? Get in touch with StackHire!
