50 most common interview questions and their

answers
While preparing for an interview, basic research can often time determine your chances of
making it to the next step. Practicing your responses to any and all interview questions is one of
the best ways to get ready for a job interview.

To help you get started, we got you some of the most common interview questions candidates
were asked recently.

Tip: Practice in front of a mirror or ask a friend or family member to listen & give feedback so
that you’re ready for the big day.

Q.1 Tell me a little about yourself

This is the most frequently asked question in all area. You have to answer it covering your work
experience, educational qualification, interest & professional experience.

You could also mention a couple of things which are not essential to the job but reflect your
persona like the fact that you are an avid reader and like books of some popular authors. Avoid
generic hobbies like watching movies or playing cricket.

Tips

 Talk about your accomplishments worth sharing

 Discuss the project achievements in the past
 Formula: Present – Past – Future discussion

Q.2 Why do you want to work in the company?

Basically, you have to demonstrate that how eager (not desperate) you are to work for the
company. Research well and know the business & top executive, know their vision and how you
can contribute to it.

Q.3 What is your greatest strength?

This is a popular interview question and frequently asked. You should make a list by dividing
into 3 categories:

 Knowledge-based Skills: Skills acquired by knowledge and experience like a

programmer, Java Developer, etc.
  Transferable Skills: These are those which get transferred from job to job like the
communicative skills, etc.
 Personal Skills: These include unique qualities like working hard, friendly, and punctual.

One can also include these terms:

 Respectfulness
 Determination
 Versatility
 Patience
 Creative
 Disciplined

Q.4 What is your greatest weakness?

There are different ways to tackle this question. Don’t give the most usual and repeated answer
like “I am a perfectionist”. You can be honest here yet try and put a positive spin on your
weakness, without seeming too perfect. For example, Sometimes I work too independently, and
you will manage this by consulting your manager before making big decisions.

Q.5 Do you consider yourself successful? If yes, Why?

Yes, I feel successful and met my last short term and my long term goals. Success to me is that I
am rising in my performance and feeling fulfilled. To me, success is not just my personal
achievement but also efforts of people around me. I have learned to set a goal and to make sure
that I complete each one of it.

Q.6 What are your expectations?

As of now, I haven’t thought much about it but I am only focusing on learning new things which
help me in reaching new heights.

Q.7 What motivates you? And Why?

You can start by saying that you are a result oriented person which had led you to reach where
you are today in life. Responsibility towards work, developing skills motivates you as well.

Q.8 Why does this role interests you? Or why have you applied
for this job?
The basic purpose of this question is to see if you are really interested in this job or rather you
have applied because you are jobless. Explain why you believe that you are the most appropriate
candidate for this job.
Q.9 Why do you think should we take you for this job?
In fresh graduate, employers seek certain important qualities. Tell them about your ability to
understand & learn new things and how flexible you are in working as a team.

Q.10 What do you want to achieve in the next 5 years?

This question shows the ability to make a plan for yourself and what ambition you have for
yourself. You should answer it more realistically and should say that I would develop certain
skills and would move up in the ladder.

Q.11 What skills do you want to develop to succeed in your life?

As a fresher, you can answer by saying you’ll further work upon your technical and also
interpersonal skills.

Q.12 Are you planning to go for further studies?

This question should be answered very tactfully, as they would be aware that you are available
for only the training session. If you are willing to take distance education, they should know
about it as you have to take leave for your examination.

Q.13 What book/ magazine/ newspaper do you read?

Browse the newspaper that morning, they might ask you about the front page headlines or your
favorite column. Similarly, they may ask you about your favorite magazine.

When giving the name of the book make sure that you are telling the author name and get ready
to give a small summary about it.

Q.14 Are there any kind of people you cannot work with?
Most of the work these days requires you to work in a team. This means that you have to adjust
with every kind of people. So, you can say that I am fine working with all kinds of people and
would give due respect to each of one them.

Q.15 How many local trains run in Delhi?

Even the employers may not know the answer. The purpose of asking this question is to see your
reaction that how do you react to the unexpected things. Make sure that your answer should be as
logical as possible.
And don’t just jump on the answer like say 500; explain the entire process how you reached this
number. Start from top to down and keep explaining each assumption, this shows you are
structured in your thoughts and approach.

Q.16 If you face a problem with your own performance, what

would you do?
You can answer it by saying that “if I face a problem with my own performance’’, I will solve it
and try to estimate that how big the problem is and would take action accordingly.

Q.17 How would you classify your style of management?

You can simply say that I can manage according to the situation I am put into as every time one
style doesn’t work.

Q.18 What qualities would you like your boss to have?

Don’t get into much detail. Just point out some of those qualities which every boss thinks and
cannot deny upon. Like work loving, energetic, knowledgeable.

Q.19 What would you describe your work style?

You can say that your working style is performance oriented and you love doing your work.

Q.20 Why should we hire you?

I need a platform to start up my career, where I can enrich my knowledge and skills which are
necessary for my future career growth.

Being a fresher, I don’t have experience but I can mold myself as per the situation in your
organization. I have good communicative and writing skills.

I can work hard with smart ways without any obstacles. I consider myself worth for this job and
would be highly privileged to avail this opportunity.

Q.21 What is the difference between confidence and over

confidence?
With reference to the above question, why should we hire you? You can say that:

Confidence: You can hire me because I have knowledge & skills

Over-confidence: I am the only person fit for this job.

Q.22 Are you not overqualified for this position?

You can answer it by saying No job is big or small for me. All it matters is how much important
this job is to you. I am absolutely satisfied with the post I applied for and would give my best to
achieve heights.

Q.23 What is your career option right now?

You can answer this question by saying that, right now, you can say that my career option is to
get placed in a well-known company like yours where I can enrich my professional skills and
thus can contribute myself for the growth of the company.

Q.24 Do you have a question for me?

Research your interviewer & company well. Read recent press releases and company news. And,
stay present throughout the interview so you have relevant questions to ask at the end.

You should also read “Wish I knew these 11 interview tips before my interview” for great
interview tips.

Q.25 How many hours a week do you normally work?

It depends upon the workload and situation I am put in. I can work up to 8-10 hours a day and
even more. I assure you that I will find out smarter ways and bring out heights for your company.

Q.26 Are you willing to work overtime? Weekend?

Surely yes. If it’s for the betterment of the company and there are tasks that need to be completed
on weekend then we should.

Q.27 Describe your work ethics.

According to me, one should give out his/her 100%, otherwise no need to do it.

Q.28 What was the toughest challenge that you have ever
faced?
You should think about a past situation, challenge you faced and how you overcame such
challenge. Ex.: As a fresher, you might not have prior work experience but you can talk about
your last internship. Like, I got an opportunity to work in a leading company for the role of
Growth Hacking wherein we were asked to drive social media marketing efforts. Social media
marketing was a new role so initially, I struggled but managed to overcome this challenge by
spending more time after work reading books and some online tutorials. After the project was
over, I was awarded best intern in the group.

Q.29 What type of work environment do you prefer?

According to me, I prefer an organization where each individual is valued and respected. Where
everyone gets a chance they deserve irrespective of their background. Where everyone gets an
opportunity to learn and grow.

Q.30 Tell me about your College days?

Tell them about the wonderful experiences in college life. Discuss the achievements. Tell them
about the glorious days of life. Thank them for giving them the chance to remind you the College
days.

Q.31 Describe the latest movie you have seen?

Referring to the movie name, discuss the plot of the movie, why did you like the movie.

Q.32 What’s your favorite color?

Answer by saying what you like and why. For ex.: Blue, this is the most calming and soothing
color. The blue color symbolizes authority and will power. It is a natural color, the color of the
sky.

Or, White as white denotes innocence, purity, and cleanliness. People who have a high
appreciation of white are said to be holy and pure.

Q.33 What will you do if you are not selected today?

If I am not selected for this job, I would recall my performance and would analysis the weak
points. According to me, success and failure are part of life. If I am rejected I will work on my
mistakes and I will try my best for the next interview.

Q.34 Tell me what you did since morning.

Usually, I woke up at 7 am, but today I woke up early since I have this interview. Went to
morning walk to the nearby park as usual, in return, I brought some stuff for home, then I had
taken bath and prayed to God for a moment. And I had a sandwich for the breakfast and also
drank a cup of tea, and then I prepared for this interview by going through company profile,
recent news. Then I came here.

Q.35 What kind of salary are you expecting?

This question can be asked in a number of ways but it all means the same. This is the most
complicated topic and they are looking for an answer from you. Just keep this thing in your mind
that your answer should be quite realistic. You can answer by saying as of now I haven’t thought
about it and trust I’ll be paid as per the company standards.

Q.36 What are your hobby and interest?

You cannot say that you are not having any sort of interest in anything. Even if you are studious,
your answer should include reading non-textbook stuff. The company looks for candidates who
have diverse interests in life.

But don’t be too generic like watching movies or playing cricket. Reading books or magazines
like Economist give a good impression that you keep yourself aware of what’s going on in the
market.

Q.37 Are you flexible with the timings?

This question again checks about your flexibility. You can convince them by saying that if there
are any genuine reasons to work you in shifts, you can manage accordingly.

Q.38 What is the one thing that you like about our
company? Why?
Again, always know about the company before speaking up for the answer. Before going to an
interview, research about the organization/company. Speak about the positive points about the
company.

Q.39 What are your expectations from your first job?

You can always quote a simple vision you like about the company. Mark that being a fresher, the
most important expectation is to learn and yes this is actually what company expects from you.
Conclude that I want to develop my soft skills and want to face tougher challenges in future.

Q.40 Suppose you win a huge money in a jackpot, would you

still work?
Few tricky questions like this might be thrown up into an interview. You should answer it in a
light hearted manner, of course with a smile.

You can say that I always encourage entrepreneurship and motivate youth creation. I might open
start-ups and would still be working.

Q.41 What is the difference between hard work and smart

work?
Hard work is basically when extra efforts are put into achieving some task or project. But on the
other hand, smart work is achieving something by understanding things intelligently and by
applying presence of mind, smart work proves to be much more efficient and relevant, especially
in today’s scenario when the world is rising faster.

Q.42 Would you lie for the company?

You can say that generally; I don’t like to lie. But it depends on the situation. If it is important
for company’s survival and has no harm to any other employee, maybe I will lie for the
company.

Q.43 How could you have improved your career progress?

I could improve my career with self-analysis to do better than the last one, hard work and prepare
for new challenges & opportunities in my life.

Q.44 How do you feel about reporting to a younger person?

I have no problem with reporting to someone who is younger. What matters is the position. I feel
the same respect and dedication should be given. A younger person will motivate me to work
perfectly.

Q.45 How to deal with criticism?

The more successful the person is; the more criticism he/she faces but its how you deal with
criticism that makes you a unique person. One should be strong and positive towards life.

Q.46 Give me an example of creativity?

The purpose of this question is to understand any problem you have faced in past and how
differently you were able to overcome it. Creativity involves analysis, judgment, problem-
solving, ordering and sorting, and making a plan.
Q.47 What do you seek from a job?
According to me, I would like a job which gives me a chance to apply all that I have learned in
college as well as one that enables me to grow as a professional person. At the same time which
makes me different from others, thus this may result in a great learning opportunity, challenging
roles and at the end of day job satisfaction.

Q.48 Why have you chosen this field?

If you have prior experience either as an intern or worked on a project then you can answer by
saying I’ve worked on a couple of projects and internships and I enjoyed most in this field.

Q.49 Are you a good leader?

Even the interviewer looks for the leadership skills in their employees. While working as a
fresher they expect you to follow their senior. They look up for fresher’s who have the ability for
a good change. They look up for the leaders who are not bossy types but are polite and
understanding. You need to show the interview how you can progress with your leadership skills.

Q.50 What do you think India is lacking?

The old school guys always have a bad impression about youngster’s views. They always think
that the present generation is less patriotic and lacks maturity. It would be great to have a clear
answer with statistics ready in your mind for questions like these. If you mention them about the
poverty, illiteracy, lack of proper leadership or any other point like that make sure that you have
facts and figures to support what you say in front of them.