The 10 Interview Questions You Will Almost Certainly Be Asked

Interviewers are not trying to catch you out. They are trying to answer three questions: can you do the job, will you fit the team, and will you stay. Almost every question is one of those three in disguise.

Prepare stories, not answers

The single most useful preparation: write down six short stories from your work — a problem you solved, a conflict you handled, a mistake you made, something you led, something you learned fast, something you improved. Two or three sentences each, with a result at the end.

Nearly every behavioural question can be answered with one of those six. You are not memorising answers; you are having material ready.

Use this shape: situation → what you did → what happened. Keep it under ninety seconds.

The ten

1. Tell me about yourself. Not your life story. Sixty seconds: what you do now, one strong proof of it, why you are sitting here.

2. Why do you want this role? Something specific about the company or the work. If your answer would fit any employer, it is wrong.

3. Why are you leaving your current job? Forward-looking and neutral. "I have learned a lot there and I am looking for more ownership" — never criticise a previous employer, even when justified.

4. What is your greatest strength? Pick the one the job most needs, then prove it with an example. The example is the answer.

5. What is your weakness? A real one, plus what you do about it. "I take on too much" is a non-answer everyone uses. "I used to avoid asking for help early, which slowed a project down; now I flag blockers within a day" is credible.

6. Tell me about a difficult situation and how you handled it. One of your six stories. Focus on your decisions, not on how difficult other people were.

7. Where do you see yourself in five years? Show direction, and show it plausibly involves them. You do not need to claim you will still be in this exact chair.

8. What are your salary expectations? Research the range for the role in your market first. Give a range, say it is based on the market for the role, and say you are open depending on the full package. Deflecting entirely tends to hurt you.

9. Tell me about a mistake you made. Answer honestly. What you learned matters more than the mistake. A candidate who claims no mistakes is either inexperienced or not being straight.

10. Do you have any questions for us? Always yes. Three good ones: what does success look like in the first six months; what is the biggest challenge facing the team; how does the team work together day to day. Never open with holidays.

Preparation that pays

• Read the company's website properly. Know what they sell and to whom.
• Re-read the job advert the morning of the interview and match each requirement to something you
• have done.
• Test your setup an hour before a video interview: camera, microphone, connection, backup power,
• and a backup way to join from your phone.
• Have your CV in front of you and a page of notes. Nobody minds.

In the room

Arrive or join five minutes early. Slow down — most people rush from nerves. It is fine to say "let me think about that for a second." If you do not understand a question, ask them to rephrase it; that reads as care, not weakness. If you do not know something, say so and say what you would do to find out — that answer scores far better than a bluff.