When you apply for a job and you’re called for an interview, there are various questions that are asked and the better prepared you are, the more successful your interview would be. Well, you might have come across various videos online that talk about the most common interview questions and answers. This video would be a little different, because it's not just about the questions and answers, we are goanna talk. I'm also goanna explain that what exactly the interviewer thinks, when he's asking certain questions. What exact answers he's looking at and what are the common mistakes that you usually do. The first most common question that is asked by the interviewer is, so tell me something about yourself or he or she might also ask, that run me through your CV? Now here the interviewer is not really interested in your answer. What they are looking at is your confidence, your enthusiasm and the passion that you answer with.
So it's the best time that you show off your communication skills. Now usually I have observed that many people end up saying, Ahh I love watching movies, I think I love partying. I have so many friends, so I really enjoy partying. No that's not the right way that you answer to this question. What you need to talk about is your education, where you grew up or you can also talk about your past work experience, if you have any and your personal interests.
For example, you can say, Ahh well I grew up in France and I studied accounting. I also worked for an accounting firm for about eight months and I really enjoy numbers, so maybe that's exactly the reason, I love to solve them. Solving them is so much fun and in my spare time, I really like reading and also go out jogging only if the weather allows me too. So that's the way you would answer to this question. The second most popular question that is asked by an interviewer is , What are your strengths? Now here the interviewer is looking at how positive, you think about yourself. It's quite a general question, there's no right or a wrong answer to it, but if you give out one liners such as, Oh I'm a very friendly person, I love being with people and people love being with me. That just doesn't sound great for an interview. Isn't it? So what you can say is, My strongest trait is attention to detail. I totally believe in planning and execution. In fact even when I was in college, I used to really organize my week and many people, because of my very outgoing nature.
Many people have said that I am quite approachable, so I believe these are my strengths. The third most common question that is asked is, So what are your weaknesses? Here for this question, you need not be really negative about yourself. I have heard people saying, well I am a very impatient person or people also say, That I get angry easy. Well, that's not the right answer. Maybe that is your weakness, but you need not bring it out. The best answer to this, because what the interviewer is looking at is whether you can identify your weakness and how you can cover it up. So one of the examples, that you can use to answer this question is, I think my weakness is that I am way too detail oriented. I try to accomplish everything and I just want everything to be perfect, but then I realize that I'm losing out on time, so maybe that makes me submitting these projects pretty late.
So I think that is one of the weaknesses. So here basically, what you are doing is, you are displaying that maybe, you run out of time, but you’re also giving a very positive aspect to it that, you are perfectionists. And that’s exactly what we saw as a strength in the previous question too. So I think this is one of the best ways that you can answer to this question. The next common question that is asked is, where do you see yourself in five years from now or the interviewer might also ask that, What are your long term or your short term goals? Now here, Iv'e seen people really struggle to answer this question. Well, maybe, because you yourself have no idea, where you would like to be, so usually people end up saying, Oh I would like to be the CEO of this company or I would like to own an airline.
That doesn't sound right, so what a good answer to this question would be, because here the interviewer is looking at, how committed you are goanna be to this company? A very clear path with commitment, because you know what's the attrition rate these days. So he wants to know, how long would you stick to the company? So one of the best answers that you can give, would be, Well, five years from now, I think I would like to be in a management position. Till then I would like to gain a practical experience and then eventually become a manager. Of course, I would like to share and also learn a lot of new things from my team members.
The next most popular question that is asked is, So tell me something about our company or what do you know about our company? Now here the interviewer of course has knowledge about his own company, Right? That he's working for, but what he is looking at is whether you are serious about this job or not? Whether you have just come for one of those random interviews? So many people are usually let down, because of the lack of research about the company, so what you need to do is research. Go online learn about the positive attributes about the company. Learn about their products, their history and etc. So one of the best ways that you can answer to this question is, Oh well your company is very well known for the customer service and you also won an award for the best service provider in the country.
And of course, you also have a great clientele, so that's one of the best ways that you can answer this question. Sixth most common question that is asked is, How well do you handle a change? Well, the philosophy behind this question is to know, would you be able to cope up with a change? Because usually companies definitely come up with different strategies, employees come and go, so would you be able to handle that? People usually end up saying, Oh of course, I am great at handling a change. Well, trust me the interviewer would not be impressed with this answer. How you can answer to this question with an example, would be. Well, of course I can handle a change, because in my previous company, one of our bosses, one of our immediate bosses had to quit and there was this new boss, who came in and he had completely changed our strategy of a project. So of course, I'm very flexible and hardworking too, so we managed it with our team efforts and definitely the results were pretty good. So this is the way that you could answer to this question. The next common question that is asked is, How well do you work under pressure? Now the reason behind this question is the employer or the interviewer wants to know that do you get really stressed out? Do you get really panicked under pressure? Because these days companies, of course expect you to take more and more responsibility and of course a greater work load.
So the best way to answer this question is, well definitely working under pressure or without pressure works just the same for me. In fact in one of the companies that I was working, there was a project that was given to us, which had to be completed in four days. Which usually takes ten days and the whole team is like so stressed out, they panicked and they just didn't know what to do, but then I insured that they settled down.
We prioritized our work and in fact in a very organized manner, we completed the project. Of course we also worked late nights, but that definitely helped to submit our project in four days. So I think working under pressure is not too bad for me. So this is one of the best ways that you can answer to this question. The last common question that is asked is, How do you handle important decisions? Now the reason behind this question is usually, If someone or the interviewer is hiring the person or hiring you for a management position or for a lead position.
He wants to know that someday when you have to handle a very important, a very critical decision. How would you do that? So many people end up saying, You know what I really haven't come across, I really haven't dealt with such difficult situations. That's not the right answer you would say, One of the best answers that I can help you with is, You can say, Handling decisions is definitely considered to be a little difficult, but I am sure I can do it, because my experience. I would rely on my experience, I would also weigh on the pros and cons. Of course, I would also take some advice from my team members and I'm sure that would help me to come on a decision. We will also look at the consequences of the decision.
So definitely I can go ahead and make decisions. So that brings me to the end of this lesson. I hope all of these questions and answers are helpful for your interview. And if you are going for an interview. Wish you all the very best. Do well and I will see you soon. Take care. Thank you...