Common Job Interview Questions and Answers

Review the most common job interview questions below, craft your own responses, and read suggestions on how to approach and answer each one.

Tell me about yourself.
This is the most frequently asked question. In this post, I’ll tell you what the interviewer is looking for and how to craft a winning response.

What’s your biggest failure?
In this blog post, I offer suggestions on how to answer this popular, yet sometimes awkward job interview question, using examples from Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey.

What’s your biggest weakness? (original)
In this short post, I discuss the secret to answering the greatest weakness question.

What’s your biggest weakness? (Obama example)
In this longer post, I analyze Obama’s response to the common biggest weakness interview question, drawing from an interview between Katie Couric and Obama.

What is your leadership style?
Katie Couric asks Obama and John McCain a variation of the “leadership style” job interview question. In the second section of the blog post, I analyze the differences between Obama’s strong response and McCain’s mediocre response to this question.

What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in the industry?
In the final part of the blog post, I look at how Obama conveys credibility, intelligence, and dramatic effect in his response to this interview question.

Job Search Advice

In addition to advice on answering the most popular interview questions, our blog features tips on the job search in general.

How to Handle Rejection
In this post, I offer my top tips on how to cope after an interview rejection.

How to Handle a Lunch Interview
Here are my top three tips on how to handle the lunch interview.

How to Prepare for Cultural Fit Interview Questions
Candidates often overlook culutral fit questions during their interview preparation. Read this post for tips on how to best prepare for this critical part of the interview.

Interview Body Language – Secrets to Conquering the Nonverbal Part of the Job Interview
Here are six tips on how to improve your interview body language.