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Whether you’re just about to earn your bachelor’s degree in Engineering and are competing for your dream job in coding, or you’re simply applying for a low-stress job without a degree before you decide to take the plunge and start college, chances are you’ll need to do an interview before you can start working and collecting paychecks. Below, we’ve compiled a list of 25 of the most common sample job interview questions, along with strategies on how to answer them.

Because whether you’re totally new to the job market or you’ve gone to a college with excellent career services, it never hurts to hone your employment skills and practice with a few job interview questions and answers!

A Few Moves to Make as You Prepare for Job Interview Questions and Answers

Every interview will be different, but there are a few tried-and-true methods you can utilize to maximize your chances at an effective interview:

1) Have confidence. Did you know that in a 2013 study, interviewees who chronically self-promoted during hiring processes were more likely to be viewed favorably by potential employers?[i] While we’re not suggesting you need to continuously brag during an interview (though a little bragging is certainly okay!), it’s a good idea to feel prepared to answer the sample job interview questions below beforehand so you can exude self-assurance and a positive attitude.

2) Practice makes perfect. It’s an incredible finding, but it has been demonstrated that students and employees who are better prepared for interviews are often more successful at securing jobs than candidates who are more qualified, but less prepared for the actual interview.[ii] Does this mean you’ll automatically get a job as the CEO of a major company just by practicing some interview questions? Probably not. But it does mean that with a little practice, you can drastically increase your chances of securing a job that you are legitimately qualified for. So, grab a friend, parent, advisor, or counselor and review these strategies for answering sample job interview questions!

Sample Job Interview Questions & Answers (Continued)

3) Be succinct. First, answer interview questions directly before providing longer-winded answers. Listeners often retain the first sentence in a verbal explanation or presentation slide before their attention begins to wane.[iii] As such, it’s wise to begin each interview answer with your main point. Don’t start with a digression or with several sentences of throat-clearing. Instead, begin with a and then provide evidence to back up that assertion. Doing so will ensure that your interviewer first learns the main point of your response, and then can clearly follow all subsequent evidence and illustrations. This “assertion-evidence” method helps listeners quickly learn your ideas and then use follow-up statements to confirm what they already know.

Let’s take a look at an example:

Interview Question:

“What is most attractive to you about our company culture?”

Long-Winded, Digressing Answer:

“Well, something that’s really cool to me is sustainability. I think I included this on my résumé, but I’ve spent a lot of time volunteering for my community in terms of environmental clean-up. For the past few years, I’ve been helping purify our local river system – which will improve water quality – with the Green Power Association. I got involved with that after high school and have been into it ever since! I was reading about how your company has a few Green initiatives like the “Carbon Free Wednesday” program. That seems to be a great way for employees to get involved with caring for the environment. It’s also really neat that the company gives back to the community by donating money to the Clean Energy Project through their foundation. Both of those initiatives are really attractive to me in terms of the company’s culture.”

Sample Job Interview Questions & Answers (Continued)

Bottom Line Up Front Answer:[iv]

“I’m particularly impressed with the environmental initiatives this company has taken, including their “Carbon Free Wednesdays” and company foundation’s donations to the Clean Energy Project. These two initiatives complement the volunteer work I’ve done with my local Green Power Association, cleaning up our river system and ensuring better quality water for our community.”

In the first response, the actual answer to the question (bolded) is buried within sentences five, seven and eight (after a good deal of rambling!). In the second response, the answer (bolded) is provided immediately and succinctly in the opening sentence. All subsequent sentences are there to support this answer, provide illustrative examples, and demonstrate how the interviewee will be a great fit for the company. You can see how much clearer this second answer is!

Sample Job Interview Questions & Answers (Continued)

• Do your research. It’s crucial that you show up to an interview with a thorough understanding of the position you’re applying for. A few questions you should answer beforehand include: What exactly is the job you’re applying for? What will be expected of you in this position? What is the company’s mission statement? What does the company culture look like? If you cannot find answers to some of these questions, don’t worry! This means you’ll have something to say when your interviewer asks, “Do you have any questions for me?”
• Don’t panic – pivot. You may be worrying, “What happens if I’m asked a question I haven’t practiced?” The good news is that most job interview questions and answers can be sorted into general categories by similar topics, with comparable strategies on how to answer each question within a category. Below, we’ve split the top 25 common job interview questions and answers into eight categories for just this reason! If you receive an unfamiliar question, simply pivot by answering with the methodology recommended for that question’s category.

Related Article: How to Reschedule an Interview

Sample Job Interview Questions and Answers

Very General “About Me” Job Interview Questions and Answers

• Tell me about yourself. / Describe your background.
• Take me through your résumé.
• Tell me about your previous work experience.

Strategy: For these hyper-general job interview questions, it’s important to maintain concision and relevancy.

Using the “bottom line up front” or “assertion-evidence” methods above, make sure that each résumé highlight, previous work experience, or personal factoid is clear and to the point. It may be helpful to develop a ready-made list of previous jobs, courses and volunteer experiences so you can quickly provide them for your interviewer without devolving into a long-winded autobiography.

Additionally, make sure that any examples you list are relevant to the job at hand. For instance, if you’re applying for a managerial position, it might not be terribly helpful to say, “I was on my high school rowing team.” However, if you can say something like, “being co-captain on my high school rowing team taught me how to facilitate positive relationships amongst my teammates and keep everyone focused on the tasks at hand,” then you’ve provided an example that connects to the job.

Job-Specific Questions

• How did you hear about this position?
• Why do you want this job? / What interests you about this role?
• Why do you want to work for this company? / What can you bring to this company?
• What type of work environment do you prefer?

Strategy: Do your research on the position you’re applying for and be as specific as possible as you answer particular questions about the job.

For questions like these, it’s important to understand the employer you’ll be working for: does this company value customer service? Is it a fast-paced environment? Is there a particular mission statement the company abides by that you can echo in your responses to some of these questions? An excellent way to convey that you’ve given this position a thorough amount of consideration is to use actual language from the job description. In particular, highlight specific ways in which your previous experience has made you a valuable candidate for this job.

Positive Job Interview Questions and Answers

• What are your greatest strengths?
• Tell me about some of your achievements.
• How has your education prepared you for this job?

Strategy: Answer positive job interview questions with ready-made examples that demonstrate your achievements and clearly connect to the job to which you are applying.

Just like in the “general” job interview questions above, it’s a good strategy to make a list of accomplishments, strengths, and scholastic or work-related achievements that you can quickly name to your interviewer. Additionally, try to find examples that gesture in some way to the job at hand. For instance, if the job is for an administrative assistant position at a marketing firm, it’s less helpful to mention that your greatest strength is leadership and you majored in Biology. Rather, a much more useful response might be that one of your strengths is organization and that in college, you took several courses on communication, business ethics and professional development.

Questions and Answers About the Future

• What is your dream job?
• What are your goals for the future?
• Where do you see yourself in five / ten / fifteen years?

Strategy: Use specificity when describing your goals, and also describe how the skills you’ll utilize in this position will help you arrive there.

Be honest, but also try to make connections. If this is your dream job, you can simply highlight the ways in which the position you’re currently applying for aligns with your dream employment situation. If this ������’t your dream job, be tactful by describing how this position might function as a stepping stone toward your dream. What skills will you learn with this position that might help your future self? Are there opportunities for advancement within this company? Are there similarities (management, customer service, practical experience, research opportunities) between this current job and your dream job that you can use to make connections between the present and future?

Questions and Answers About Previous Employment Challenges

• Why are you leaving your current job?
• Why were you let go from your previous job?
• Why is there an employment gap on your résumé?

Strategy: With job interview questions and answers about previous employment challenges, it’s crucial to stay as positive as possible.

If you’re leaving your current job, focus on why this new job will provide positive opportunities for your career advancement (rather than focusing on the negatives of your current work). If you were laid off due to budget cuts, you can simply say so. Alternatively, if you’ve had to take time off work for personal reasons, explain these briefly and then highlight the ways in which you are prepared to return to the work force.

If you took an intentional gap year, tell your interviewer what you learned on the year that will prepare you for employment. Finally, if you were fired because of your performance at a previous workplace, you’ll need to provide an explanation for your behavior. In cases like these, it’s important to not play the victim or lie – rather, be honest and focus on how you’ve grown since your last job and how you plan on improving your work in your next one.

Questions About Work Strategies

• How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?
• How might you manage a difficult employee?
• Do you prefer working independently or on a team?
• Describe some of your organizational strategies.
• How do you handle conflict in a workplace setting?

Strategy: Tailor your answer to the job at hand and provide concrete examples if possible.

It’s a great move to demonstrate how, specifically, you will fit in with a particular work environment as you answer these types of “work strategy” interview questions. For instance, if the job you’re applying for is primarily conducted remotely, now is a perfect time to provide examples of how you work efficiently when unsupervised. Do you time yourself? Stick to detailed routines, calendars and schedules? Can a previous employer or portfolio of completed projects speak to your remote work ethic?

For questions on interpersonal work relations, it’s important to focus on your emotional stability and communication and problem-solving skills. Again, if you can provide examples – great! Perhaps you helped defuse an uncomfortable interpersonal situation between coworkers. Maybe you’re great at galvanizing others to do their best work. Even if you have no previous job experience, it’s a good idea to brainstorm how you might address some of these “work strategy” situations with employees, coworkers, and bosses in this specific future position.

Sample Job Interview Questions about Salary and other Jobs

• What are your salary expectations? /What is your current salary?
• Are you applying for other jobs?

Strategy: Be honest, realistic, and potentially flexible as you state your salary requirements and current job prospects.

Just like asking for a raise, stating your salary requirements can be daunting. While these questions may feel awkward, it’s important to answer them honestly so that you aren’t wasting anyone’s time. Many job descriptions will list a salary range, and it’s best to realistically stay within or very near this range as you complete your interview. If no range is listed at all, you can compare salaries for comparable jobs in the same area to help formulate your salary expectations.

As you calculate your ideal salary requirements, be sure to keep in mind job benefits. While these includes big-ticket items like health insurance, retirement packages, parental leave and vacation days, don’t neglect smaller benefits like parking, travel, and compensation for uniforms or electronics that you’ll use on the job.[v]

If you’re willing to be flexible on your potential salary, it’s okay to think about how your salary and benefits may increase over time. While answering questions about your salary expectations, gesture toward the future. Do you hope to receive a raise within a year? A promotion in five years? In what ways can you expect upward mobility within this job or organization?

Closing Job Interview Questions and Answers

• Do you have any questions for me?
• Is there anything else you’d like to add? / What would you like me to know about you that’s not on your resume?

Strategy: Speak up!

Even if you have no questions or anything to add, it’s important to prepare something to say in answer to these closing questions. Doing so will demonstrate your genuine interest in the position. A few options include asking specifics about the position’s start date, particular job requirements, or work culture. This is also a golden opportunity to bring up any achievements or skills you may have that make you especially qualified for the job.

Good luck!

Sample Job Interview Questions & Answers – Works Cited

[i] Paulhus, Delroy L., Bryce G. Westlake, Stryker S. Calvez, P.D. Harms. “Self-presentation style in job interviews: the role of personality and culture,” Journal of Applied Social Psychology. 10 September 2013.

[ii] Hansen, Katharine, Gary C. Oliphant, Becky J. Oliphant, Randall S. Hansen. “Best Practices in Preparing Students for Mock Interviews,” Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, Vol. 72, Issue 3, 20 May, 2009.

[iii] Garner, Joanna K. and Michael P. Alley. “How the design of presentation slides affects audience comprehension: A case for the assertion-evidence approach,” International Journal of Engineering Education. Vol. 29, Issue 6, 2013.

[iv] BLUF (The Topic Sentence Handout). Carnegie Mellon Student Academic Success Center: Communication Support. https://www.cmu.edu/student-success/other-resources/handouts/comm-supp-pdfs/bluf-topic-sentence.pdf

[v] Crawford, Hallie. “Employee Benefits to Consider During Your Job Search,” U.S. News & World Report, 28 May, 2021