Interview Questions

Why are you looking to move?

Interviewer's thoughts: What would I need to offer you in terms of prospects, work, salary, environment or anything else and are you realistic in your expectations.

Although it sounds obvious, be careful in the way that you speak about your current employer, regardless of how unprofessional they seem. Be careful how you put it - an interviewer is looking for tact and diplomacy and some form of loyalty, however faint it may be! Try to find one redeeming feature.

What are the reasons for your previous job moves?

Interviewer's thoughts: Is this person reliable? Did they have valid reasons for moving on or not? Is it likely that this person is going to get bored here in 6 months and move on again? How much of a risk am I exposing myself to by hiring this person? Is this person ambitious? Do they have career plans and are they structured in their approach?

What do you see as your biggest success in your career to date?

Interviewer's thoughts: Is this person competent at what they do? What motivates them? How will this person best be managed? What are this person's personal values? How much responsibility does this person really have?

This can be specifically project related, generally work related or from a personal achievement point of view.

What do you see as your biggest failure?

Interviewer's thoughts: They are not normally interested in what it actually was - unless of course it resulted in a professional negligence case, moreover they are actually looking to see how you handle a difficult question. They are also trying to see what your thought process is and if, when put in a difficult situation, you lose the ability to think and communicate coherently.

Simply saying "I haven't had one" doesn't normally work, it just demonstrates to the interviewer that you are lying. It doesn't matter how minor it is, it is useful to have something that can illustrate your ability to solve problems, create solutions, think laterally and learn. Normally this type of question is followed by "How would you do things differently now?"

What can you tell me about..?

Interviewer's thoughts: Normally this is a technically based set of questions and directly relevant to the role that you are being considered for, although it has been known to be completely irrelevant on occasion. The purpose of these questions, assuming it is the former, are to ascertain your level of technical knowledge and your ability to do the job.

Other types of questions you may be exposed to are:

Scenario based questions: You are given a scenario and asked how you would solve a problem - this can be to ascertain many things but generally, unless of a highly technical nature, are trying to find out how you react, think and interact with others.

Personality based questions: How would your best friend/worst enemy describe you? What is your greatest strength/weakness? What motivates you? What do you enjoy doing outside work? - these are really to determine how you perceive yourself and try and ascertain what sort of person you are and how that will fit in with their culture and requirements.

Questions to ask the interviewer:

Good neutral questions include:

Try to avoid questions such as...