Interviews can be nerve-wracking and overwhelming, especially if you don’t have much experience. However, in every interview you face, there will be commonly asked questions that you can prepare for beforehand. To help you out, we’ve picked some of the most popular interview questions that employers tend to ask you, so you can feel confident and ready to land your dream job or apprenticeship.
1. Tell Me About Yourself
This is your chance to get your personality and experience across to your employer. It’s important to keep your response concise and relevant. We recommend summarising your professional journey, highlighting your most recent experiences and achievements (refer to your CV).
2. What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?
Pick around three or four strengths that you have, ideally ones that are required for the job role you are seeking. Also, don’t forget to add examples! Are you good with time management? You could explain how you successfully created a timetable to keep up with deadlines and revision for school.
For weaknesses, you could say ‘I could use more experience in…’. Sharing that you want to gain more experience at a relevant skill or quality shows your employer that you’re self-aware and like to challenge yourself. However, it’s important to make sure that you do not answer with a weakness that is important to the role, for example don’t say you could use more experience in TikTok if your role is a Digital Marketing Apprentice.
3. Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?
Employers ask this question so they can figure out if your goals and vision align with the company. Here are some things to think about:
Review your goals and how they relate to the job description. Look at the required skills for the job and see which skills you already have, which skills you need to develop and what skills might be strengthened by this position.
Determine future experiences you'd like to have. Is there a specific job title you want to obtain? Are there certain skills you want to list that you can receive training for in this job?
Understand your interests and how they might change. Think about the ways this role can provide you with certain knowledge, skills or professional connections to develop your career.
Establish your ultimate career goal. If you have an ultimate goal or even a general career goal, share what that goal is, how you're working towards it and how the current company you are interviewing for could play an integral part in your plan.
4. Why Do You Want to Work Here?
Show the employer that you've done your research on the company. Answer this question by learning about their mission, value and company culture. Maybe mention specific aspects that resonate with you, showing how your personal ambitions complement the goals of the company.
5. Can you tell me about a time you overcame a difficult work situation?
This commonly asked question is all about assessing your skills, like critical thinking, communication and problem solving. The best way to answer this question is by using the STAR method (Address the SITUATION you had to deal with, the TASK at hand, the ACTIONS you took and the RESULTS of your efforts).
6. Do You Have Any Questions for Us?
The answer is always yes! Having a list of questions makes you look interested, enthusiastic and engaged, which are qualities that your employer is looking for. Here are some questions you could ask:
What is your favourite thing about working for this company?
How do you see this company evolving over the next five years?
Is there anything I've said that makes you doubt I would be a great fit for this position?
If you were to hire me, what might I expect on a typical working day?
What's one of the most interesting projects or opportunities that you've worked on?
These are just some commonly asked questions that your interviewer could mention. Remember, these questions are a great opportunity to show employers why you would be a great fit for their company, so make sure you practise your responses, but also be prepared to adapt your approach with every interview that you do.
If you have any interviews coming up, we wish you the best of luck!!
