3. What do you know about our company? Our primary goal is to show we've done our research or knew about their company before applying. If we do this, we'll be fine. If we don’t seem like we know anything about them, we'll come across as desperate — somebody who will take any job they can find. And that’s going to make we unattractive to any good employers out there. Good answer sample: “From what I read, your company is one of the leaders in providing security software to other businesses. I read the list of clients on your website. Do you mostly serve Fortune 500 clients? I saw a couple big Fortune 500 companies mentioned on the list, including ... and... .” “You're one of the largest investment banks in the US. Your headquarters is in Raleigh, NC, and you have 25,000 employees worldwide based on what I read on your website,” 4. Why did you apply for this position? We need to sound like we want the RIGHT job and that we're being picky. Companies want the best performers, and the best performers are picky in their job hunt. Stay away from negatives and complaints too. Do not bad-mouth our current company or boss. Focus on the positives of the company we're interviewing Good answer sample: “I've heard great things about the work environment here from a few colleagues. And when I saw this job posting, it seemed to match my skills very closely. For example, I saw on| the job description that you need somebody who's an expert in mySQL programming. This is what I focused on in both of my previous positions, and was even the focus of my academic work before graduating university. I consider myself an expert in mySQL and it's a skill I hope to continue specializing in.” “Since beginning my career, I've wanted to work for a larger organization in this industry, and I know you're one of the leaders in this space. I'm very interested in your servi so I'd be excited to come here and grow my skills with an organization like yours.” ‘es, especially the mobile applications you're building recently, Parcs Kumar]Good answer sample: “think some of my greatest strengths are my communication skills and willingness to take initiative. During my last internship, when I was helping to manage several social media accounts, I made sure that everyone on the team was on the same page and knew what our messaging strategy was by taking the initiative to send out a weekly email to keep the team up to date and to seek feedback. This ended up being so helpful that the weekly social media update was incorporated into a full- time staff member's responsibilities.” 8. Tell me about a challenge or conflict you've faced at work, and how you dealt with it. Focus on a specific work-related challenge and talk about how we overcame obstacles, used it as a learning experience, used the resources around us (including people/colleagues if applicable), and ended up with a positive result! That's how to answer this interview question. Keep it work related, not personal, Good answer sample: “In my last job, we were facing a tough deadline and my boss was out for the day. Our client was expecting a project to be delivered by SPM, but we were far behind schedule. 1 took the lead on the project, delegated tasks to the four other team members in a way that 1 thought would utilize everyone's strengths best. And then I re-organized my own personal tasks so I could dedicate my entire day to contributing to this project as well. The project was a success and we delivered the work on-time. 1 went on to lead more projects afier that, and used what I learned to be a better project manager.” 9. How much money are you looking to earn? Unfortunately this question is left off of many lists of job interview questions and answers examples. But it’s extremely important and the wrong answer here can cost us thousands of dollars in the negotiation later on. Stand our ground and tell them we don’t have a number in mind yet, or aren’t sure.accompany where I could ... and .... These are both really important to me, and I’m excited to see that they seem to be equally important to this company.” 12. Why did you leave your last job? If we chose to leave on our own terms, stay positive and focus on what we wanted to gain from the decision, rather than bad-mouthing or focusing on negatives we wanted to avoid. Good answer sample: “I left for an opportunity to advance my career.” “My department brought in a new manager and I felt it was the right time to leave.” “Twas hired for a certain role, but over time that changed and I was no longer being given the opportunity to do the work I was interested in.” “didn’t feel there was an opportunity to grow or advance further in that role so I decided a change would best for my career.” “I had been with the organization for a number of years and wanted to experience a new environment to continue growing.” 13. What other companies are you interviewing with? Hiring managers are curious about what other companies we're interviewing with for a few reasons. They might want to scope out the competition, see how serious we are about the industry, or even gauge their likelihood of landing such a star candidate. Good answer sample: If we’re Interviewing for Competitors: "I do have a couple of interviews coming up soon with ... for senior marketing positions. But I can tell you that, based on what I know, this position has exactly the kinds of challenges I’m looking for in my next role.” If we’re Interviewing in Other Industries: "T'm interviewing with a few companies for a range of positions, but they all come down to delivering an excellent customer experience.16. What's a time you disagreed with a decision that was made at work? Brainstorm a few more questions that could potentially come up based on the position we're applying for and our particular situation. For example, say we tell that story about standing up to the director of marketing when asked to talk about conflict with a previous supervisor. We eloquently move through the story about how we shared our hesitation about the new marketing campaign to no avail, but once the initial numbers came in, it was clear that we were right. We triumphantly showed the performance to the director, and she agreed to scrap the campaign. Good answer sample: “1 learned early on in my professional career that it’s fine to disagree if'you can back up your hunches with data.” “In short, it’s not that I'm an amazing multitasker; I just set and review my priorities frequently, ” 17. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Pick a work-related goal of where we'd like to be five years from now, and make sure it’s slightly challenging or ambitious-sounding. And make sure to share a goal that is related to the type of job we're interviewing for. We want to sound like the experience we'll gain in this job fits our long-term goals. Good answer sample: “I’m glad you asked. In five years I see myself taking on more responsibilities, either through management or higher level individual contributions. 1am not sure which path will make sense to pursue, but I know my goal right now is to build a strong foundation and gain valuable experience so that I'll have a successful future in this industry.”I failed to lead properly in this situation, and spoke to my manager the next day to discuss what I could have done differently. We both agreed that I should have handled this in-private with the employee, by asking them to step inside my office with me. If Thad done this instead of reacting the way I did, the situation would have turned out much better. From that point onward, I am always conscious of whether a discussion with a team member should occur in public or behind closed doors, and it made me a better leader.” 20. How would our boss and co-workers describe you? This is our chance to use the words of others to talk about our own positive traits. Good answer sample: "Actually, in my most recent performance review in May, my direct supervisor described me as someone who takes initiative and doesn't shy away from hard problems. My role involves a lot of on-site implementation, and when things go wrong, it's usually up to me to fix it. Rather than punting the problem back to the team, I always try to do what I can first. I know she appreciates that about me.” "One thing I’ve noticed is that I’m always the one people turn to for recommendations on how to handle a new event or program—the latest fundraiser that I just told you about would be one. T have a lot of institutional knowledge, which helps, but I think the reason people come to me is because I work through what a new program might look like very methodically. Ifyou were to ask my colleagues, I’m confident they'd describe me as logical, organized, and meticulous.” "I don't want to speak for anyone else, but I'm pretty confident my colleagues would describe me as thoughtful I’m the one in the office who remembers everyone’s birthdays—and hard-working, since I never leave my office until it’s been dark out for a couple of hours. My boss in particular would say I'm very knowledgeable about audience development it's why I kept taking on more and more responsibilities in that domain."