Q. What is your greatest weakness?

A. When you're asked what your greatest weakness is, try to turn a negative into a positive. For example, wanting to get things done quickly or checking every item in a stock sheet a few times can be turned into a strength. You are someone who will make sure that the project is done on time and your work will be close to perfect. The word "weakness" isn't used in the sample answers - you always want to focus on the positive in an interview.

Sample Answers

• λ When I'm working on a project, I don't want just to meet deadlines. I prefer to complete the project well ahead of time. 
• λ I like to make sure that my work is perfect, so I tend to perhaps spend a little too much time checking it. I am now strict with myself to check things twice only.
• λ I used to wait until the last minute to do things but I realised that planning a time to do things and sticking to it makes much more sense.

Q. What is your greatest strength?

A. This is one of the easier interview questions you'll be asked. When you are asked questions about your strengths, it's important to talk about skills and strengths that are needed in this job.

Sample Answers

• λ I have more than achieved my targets every year and I've earned a bonus each year since I started with my current employer.
• λ I am always on time and I'm organised, efficient, and take pride in my work.  I pride myself on my customer care skills and my ability to deal with any problems they might have.
• λ I have an eye for details so I am very skilled at quality control.

Q. Do you take work home with you?

A. Best Answer When I need to, no problem. I realise the importance of meeting deadlines and getting work done on time.

Q. How would you describe the pace that you work at?

A. When you're asked to describe the pace you work at, be careful how you answer. Faster isn't always better. Most employers would rather hire employees who work at a steady pace. Someone who is too slow to get the job done in a reasonable time isn't going to be a good employee. Neither is someone who works too quickly and makes mistakes. You can answer this by saying that you work at a steady pace, but usually complete work ahead of time.

Q. How do you handle stress and pressure?

A. This is a typical interview question asked to get a sense of how you handle job stress.

Examples of good answers are:

• λ Stress is very important to me. With stress, I do the best possible job. The best way to deal with stress is to make sure I have the correct balance between good stress and bad stress. I need good stress to stay motivated and productive. 
• λ I react to situations, rather than to stress. That way, the situation is handled and doesn't become stressful. 
• λ I actually work better under pressure and I've found that I enjoy working in a challenging environment.
• λ I manage stress by visiting the gym every evening. It's a good idea to give examples of how you have handled stress to your interviewer. That way, they get a clear picture how well you can work in stressful situations.

Q. What motivates you?

A. There isn't a right or wrong answer to interview questions about what motivates you. The interviewer is trying to understand the key to your being successful in the job he is interviewing for, and wants to make sure it's a good fit. Your answer will vary based on your background and experiences, but, you will want to share your enthusiasm and what you like(d) best about your job.

Here are some examples:

• λ Wanting to do a good job motivates me whatever job I'm in. I want to be successful in my job, both for my own personal satisfaction and for my employer.
• λ I have always wanted to make sure that people get the best customer service I can provide. I've always felt that it's important, both to me personally, and for the company and the clients, to provide a positive experience for people.

Q. Tell me about yourself.

A. You walk into the interview room, shake hands with your interviewer and sit down with your best interviewing smile on. Guess what their first question is? "Tell me about yourself." Because it's such a common interview question, it's strange that more candidates don't spend the time to prepare for how to answer it. Your interviewer is not looking for a 10-minute story here. Tell them two sentences that will make you stand out. Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) Give them a one-sentence description of who you are, your biggest strength and how the company will benefit from this. What a difference you've made with this statement. Your interviewer is now paying attention. Be Prepared When you walk into an interview, remember to always expect the "tell me about yourself" question. Prepare ahead of time by working out a sentence that clearly tells who you are, your major strength and the clear benefit that your employer received. You'll gain their attention and interest them in knowing more. You'll stand out from others. You'll also have a higher chance of being remembered and hired.

Q. What has been the greatest disappointment in your life?

A. Your answer to this question will help the interviewer know how easily things get you down. Best Answer If possible, tell about a personal disappointment i.e. the death of a parent, grandparent, or school friend. Believe it or not, it is okay to have not had a "greatest" disappointment.

Q. What are you passionate about?

A. When you're asked what you're passionate about during a job interview it's a good chance to say what is important in your life. Your answer doesn't need to be work focused, but do be sure that what you share isn't something that could take you away from work for a lot of time. For example, you don't want to say that you're a runner training for The Special Olympics or that you love to take long world cruises every twelve months.

Sample Answers:

• λ What Are You Passionate About? One of my biggest passions is helping others. When I was younger, I've enjoyed helping mum with household chores. As I got older, that habit grew and I wanted to help others as well. I like helping people find solutions that meet their needs.
• λ I'm passionate about painting. I take an evening art class once a week and try to find time each weekend to paint. Painting is a good way for me to relax.  I lost my father to cancer and ever since then, I have spent time volunteering to help raise awareness and funding for cancer research.
• λ I'm passionate about making a difference. When I'm involved with a project at work I want to do my best to achieve success. I feel the same way about what I do in my personal life.

Q. What do people most often criticize you about?

A. This interview question is to find out how sensitive you are. Best Answers There's no on-going criticism. I'm open to feedback and welcome the opportunity to improve.

Q. When was the last time you were angry? What happened?

A. When the interviewer asks this he or she wants to know if you lose control. The real meaning of the word "angry", to an interviewer, is loss of control and it's important to know how you handle situations when you're angry. Best Answer Anger to me means losing control. I do not lose control. When I get stressed, I step back, take a deep breath, think through the situation and then begin to work out a plan.

Q. If the people who know you were asked why you should be hired, what would they say?

A. When the interviewer asks this he or she wants to know what you think that other people would say about you. Best Answer I'm sure if you asked my friends that question they would say you should hire me because I have the skills described in the job description. Words they've used to describe me are: hard working, professional, trusted and a team player.

Q. Do you prefer to work independently or on a team?

A. When the interviewer asks this he or she wants to know if you're a team player or would rather work on your own. Best Answers I am comfortable working as a member of a team and independently. In researching your company and the job description, I could see similarities to my previous job. Sometimes you work alone, sometimes with others. As I said, I'm comfortable with both.

Q. Give some examples of teamwork.

A. This is a typical interview question to how find out how well you would work with other people. Sample Answer In my last position, I was part of a quality improvement team. We all worked together to plan and manage the changes and make sure that customer care didn’t suffer during the period of change. Our team always completed our projects ahead of time with very positive reviews from our customers.

Q. If you know your boss is 100% wrong about something how would you handle it? A. This question is asked to find out how you deal with a difficult situation. Best Answers An answer that works well is: "It depends on the situation and the personality of the supervisor."

Give examples: My supervisor does not like to have his authority questioned. He's fairly new on the job and almost all of the people he supervises have been on the job longer than he has. He's never bothered to learn the procedures, how things are done or how the computer system works. But if any of us tell him that his idea won't work, he gets very angry. So, I never tell him he's wrong. Never. Whatever he tells me to do, I smile and say "okay." Then if I know a way to get it done that will work, I do it that way, give him the results he wants and never tell him I didn't do it the way he told me to. He got the results and is happy. I saved myself the stress of being yelled at and gave him what he wanted, so I'm happy. The supervisor in my last job was more easy-going and if I told her "you know, I think it might work better if I do what you asked in such and such a way," she say "okay, try it." If I was new to a job, I would probably not question a supervisor because I might think I didn't know enough.