Interview Survival Guide

By Susan Peppercorn

Welcome! An interview is your opportunity to stand out, so

you’re the one who gets the offer! If you know how to prepare,
you’ll perform at your best. If you know how to prepare, you’ll
stand out among your competitors.

This guide will give you everything you need to prepare for an
interview, from ways to calm your nerves to how to answer the
toughest questions and set yourself apart.

I hope you find it useful!

—Susan Peppercorn [email protected]

10 Common Interview Questions & Answers
1 “What are your biggest weaknesses?”
Every candidate should know how to answer this question: Most
people pick a weakness and try to transform that flaw into a strength.
For example: “My biggest weakness is getting so absorbed in my work
that I lose all track of time. So, your “biggest weakness” is that you’ll
put in more hours than everyone else? This is an overused response.
A better approach is to choose an actual weakness, but one
you’re working to improve. Share what you’re doing to overcome
that weakness. No one is perfect but showing you are self-aware
comes close.

2 What are your biggest strengths?”

Interviewers want to hear this in your words. Provide a sharp, on-point
answer. Be clear and precise. If you’re a great problem solver, don’t
just say that: Provide a few examples, pertinent to the opening, that
prove you’re a great problem solver. In short, don’t just claim to have
certain attributes—prove you have those attributes.

3 “If you were to start a business, what business would you love
to start?
That question applies to any organization, because every employee
at every company should have an entrepreneurial mind-set. The
business a candidate would love to start tells you about their interests
and passions, the work they like to do, and the people they like
to work with. You can learn a great deal.

4 “Why do you want this job?”

To answer this question, focus on how the position is a perfect fit
for what you hope to accomplish, both short-term and long-term.
Reinforce your strongest skills and apply them to the goals of the
organization.

5 “Describe your dream job.”

Always answer this question by making your answer relevant to the
job you are interviewing for now. You can learn something from every
job. You can develop skills in every job. Work backward: Identify things
about the job you’re interviewing for that will help you if you do land
your dream job someday, and then describe how those things apply
to what you hope to someday do.

10 Common Interview Questions & Answers

6 “Why do you want to leave your current job?”
Don’t talk about how your boss is difficult. Don’t talk about how you
can’t get along with other employees. Don’t bad-mouth your company.
Instead, focus on the positives a move will bring. Talk about what you
want to achieve. Talk about what you want to learn. Talk about ways
you want to grow about things you want to accomplish; explain how
a move will be great for you and for your new company.

7 “What kind of work environment do you like best?”

Before you answer this, take a step back and think about the job
you’re applying for and the company’s culture. If a flexible schedule
is important to you, but the company doesn’t offer one, focus on
something else. If you like constant direction and support and the
company expects employees to self-manage, focus on something else.
Find ways to highlight how the company’s environment will work well
for you—and if you can’t find ways, don’t take the job, because you’ll
be miserable.

8 “Tell me how you think other people would describe you.”

Here is an example of how to answer this question without sounding
self-serving. “I think people would say that what you see is what
you get. If I say I will do something, I do it. If I say I will help, I help.
Colleagues know they can count on what I say and how hard I work.”

9 “What do you like to do outside of work?”

Many companies feel cultural fit is extremely important, and they use
outside interests as a way to determine how you will fit into a team.
Focus on activities you really like and that indicate some sort of growth:
skills you’re trying to learn, goals you’re trying to accomplish. Weave
those in with personal details. For example, “I’m raising a family, so
a lot of my time is focused on that, but I’m using my commute time
to learn Spanish.”

10 “What questions do you have for me?”

Don’t waste this opportunity. Ask smart questions, not just as a way
to show you’re a great candidate but also to see if the company is a
good fit for you—after all, you’re being interviewed, but you’re also
interviewing the company.

Some examples of these types of questions include:

a. “What are the three traits your top performers have in common?”
b. “What really drives results in this job?”
c. “What are the company’s highest-priority goals this year,
and how would my role contribute?”

10 Common Interview Questions & Answers

Behavioral Interview Questions
and How to Answer Them
What are behavioral interview questions? They are strategies used by
employers to find out more about how you think and what you’ve done—
or would do—in certain circumstances.
The idea is that your answers will provide insight into your problem-solving
skills. So, what’s the best advice to help you prepare for behavioral
interview questions?

Develop compelling stories

Some behavioral interview questions will require you to recall a difficult
situation you’ve experienced on the job. Prior to your job interview, think
of several challenging circumstances you’ve encountered at work and make
a list of actions you took to help remedy each issue.
As you think about problems you’ve tackled in the workplace, compose
several concise stories you can share in a minute or two. Come up with
examples of times when you were able to overcome obstacles, deal with
a crisis or help fuel a successful workplace collaboration. Think about how
open you are to new ideas, how adept you are at finding common ground
and what experiences you’ve drawn upon to navigate complicated problems.

Behavioral interview questions with example answers

1 Tell me about a time when you handled a challenging situation.
With this question, the interviewer wants to see how you handle
challenging situations when they arise.

Example: “ My manager left town unexpectedly when we were in the

middle of pitching large sponsors for an upcoming conference.
I was tasked with putting together the slide decks for the
presentations to secure these sponsors but all I had was a few
notes left behind by my manager. Because he was unavailable,
I called a meeting with members of our team and we generated
a list of the biggest selling points that would be most impactful
with potential sponsors. After creating the slide deck, I presented
the presentation successfully and we got the sponsorship.
I’m incredibly proud of the results we achieved when we
worked together.”

2 Tell me about a time when you made a mistake. What did you do
to correct it?
The interviewer understands that everyone makes mistakes.
What they want to know, with this question, is how you handle them.

Example: “ When I was working at an advertising company, I misquoted

the fees for a particular job. I realized the mistake, I went directly

Behavioral Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

 to my manager and explained what happened. He said
he appreciated my honesty and suggested that we waive the
setup fee for the job as an apology to the customer. I spoke to
the customer directly and explained what happened and that the
quoted price was actually higher than my original estimate, but
that we would be happy to waive the setup fee. The customer
understood and appreciated the effort to make the situation right.
After that happened, I printed our price sheet to have it quickly
at hand and implemented a new process for quoting estimates,
one in which I double-check the final estimate before sending it.”

3 Tell me about a time when you were in conflict with a peer and how
the situation was resolved.
In workplaces where there are a large number of people with different
personality types and communication styles, conflicts can occur. The
interviewer wants to see, with this question, how you handle conflicts
and what your conflict resolution strategy is.

Example: “I
 had a sales manager who was great about stepping in to help
when members of our team were struggling with meeting goals.
However, she had a single approach that didn’t work for everyone
and members of our team were getting frustrated and felt they
were being micro-managed. I suggested that I sit down one-on-one
with our manager, having heard the frustrations of the team.
I avoided us all sitting down because I didn’t want her to feel
ganged up on and become defensive. After talking, we decided
that she would let team members know her door was open if
they needed help but that she would let them be in charge
of the strategy they used to meet their goals.

4 Give me an example of how you work under pressure.

The interviewer is using this question to see how well you work under
pressure and what strategies you have used in the past to handle the
pressure. This question is especially important if you’re interviewing
for a high-stress job.

Example: “ I had been working on a large project that my team committed

to turning around for the client in 60 days. My manager came
to me and said that the client wanted it back in 45 days and that
we would need to speed up our work without losing momentum
on our other projects. I met with our team and we reviewed the
calendar. We eliminated team meetings and shifted lower-priority
tasks until the end of the 45-day period. I challenged my team to
complete the project in 45 days or less and as a reward promised
two days of extra PTO time. Our team got the job done in 42 days.”

Behavioral Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

5 Give me an example of how you set goals.
This question is designed to show the interviewer how well you plan
and set goals. A great answer is one where you discuss an ambitious
goal you set for yourself and how you came up with a plan for success.

Example: “ Within a few weeks of beginning my job as a server at

a restaurant, I knew I wanted to work in the foodservice
industry as a chef. I decided I would learn all I could in
my current position until an opening became available in
the kitchen, even for less pay. I wanted the experience of
working in a restaurant kitchen environment. I also started
saving up money at that time to go to the culinary academy.
I knew that by the time I finished school, I would have been
working in the kitchen for a number of years and would be
highly competitive as a candidate for chef roles.”

6 Tell me about a time you made a decision that was unpopular and
explain how you handled it.
Managers sometimes have to make difficult decisions that aren’t
popular with all employees. The interviewer wants to know how you
handled this situation and how you implemented a new policy or plan.

Example: “ I took over management of a gym where the trainers were

allowed to cover one another’s shifts without the knowledge
or approval of management. I didn’t like the uncertainty
involved, because if someone failed to show up for a class,
there was no way to know which trainer was supposed to be
there. I implemented a new policy that required trainers to
go through management to make schedule changes. I also
explained the problem with the previous approach and how
this would resolve any possible issues.”

7 Share an example of how you were able to motivate a coworker,

your peers or your team.
With this question, the interviewer is evaluating your ability and
willingness to lead, even informally.

Example: “ I noticed that one of my coworkers was having a hard

time meeting her sales quotas each month. I told her that
not every sales technique works for every personality and
that it can take time to figure out what will work best for
her. I suggested we find time over the next day or two and
I would show her some techniques I was using that I found
highly effective. And it worked! After a couple of months
of practice, she was consistently hitting her quota.”

Behavioral Interview Questions and How to Answer Them

8 Tell me about a goal you set and reached and how you achieved it.
For this question, the interviewer wants to see how you plan to achieve
a goal. A good answer is one where you were given a goal, created
a plan and followed the necessary steps to achieve it.

Example: “ In my last role, I managed all social media content. One

quarter, I set a stretch goal to increase conversions to our
website by 75%. I broke it down into weekly goals and
researched what other brands were experimenting with.
I noticed they were using videos and seeing great engagement
from their customers, so I asked my boss if we could do a low-
budget test. She agreed, so I produced a video cheaply in-house
that drove double the engagement we normally saw on our
social channels during the first week. With the new strategy,
I not only met my stretch goal, but I also exceeded it by
5% increasing total conversions by 80% over the quarter.”

9 Tell me about the last time your workday ended before you were
able to get everything done.
This question is designed to evaluate your commitment, work ethic,
prioritization skills and ability to communicate.

Example: “We had a client who wanted us to deliver new social media
content to them by Wednesday of each week to get it scheduled
for the following week. One week they requested double the
content in order to increase their online activity in advance of a
big launch. I decided to stay late the night before the deliverable
was due. I also let the manager know that we might be a few
hours behind for our content that week. A coworker and I went
in early the next morning, together, made our deadline.”

10 Tell me about a goal you failed to achieve.

With this question, the interviewer is evaluating how you handle
disappointment and failure. They also want to see how you decide when
it’s time to give up, accept that something didn’t work and move forward.

Example: “I was working on a start-up where our goal was to create
content that would educate parents about why it’s important
to spend time as a family around the dinner table. Unfortunately,
we were never able to figure out a way to monetize the business.
We polled our audience and tried many different ideas, but after
a year we had to move on. However, I learned so much from the
process. I developed numerous skills and realized I’m incredibly
good at shifting direction when something isn’t working. I realized
I don’t let defeats discourage me for long. Each time something
didn’t work, I picked myself back up and moved forward.”
Behavioral Interview Questions and How to Answer Them
7 ways to calm your nerves before
a job interview
Getting the pre-interview jitters is perfectly normal—however, it’s
in your best interest to get your nerves under control so you can focus
on making a good first impression.
Here are seven ways you can calm your nerves as you get ready
for your next big job interview.

1 Do your homework and be prepared. There is no substitute for

interview preparation. Research the company thoroughly so you are
not caught off guard by basic questions. Conduct a mock interview.
Prepare for predictable questions such as, “Why do you want THIS
job?” ahead of time so you have a more thoughtful, articulate response
that you can summon at will. There will usually be one or more
curveballs thrown your way—and those are nearly impossible
to predict—but be prepared for as much as you can.

2 Decide what to wear ahead of time. Inquire about usual attire

at the company you’re interviewing at, decide what you’re going
to wear, and try it on if you haven’t worn it in a while. Knowing what
you’re going to wear—and feeling not only comfortable but also
confident in it—will save you time and trouble on the big day.

3 Go over your checklist the night before. You’ve probably made a

checklist of items to take or things to do before your interview. Don’t
wait until the morning of your interview to run through the list and
make sure you’ve got everything covered. If you need to print copies
of your resume, cover letter, and directions, do it the night before.
If your interview is remote, check out the technology
in advance.

4 Do whatever relaxes you. Whether it’s meditating or doing yoga,

running, or taking or listening to soothing music, try to get rid
of your pre-interview jitters by doing whatever helps you relax.
Also, make sure to get a good night’s sleep, so you don’t have
to stifle a yawn while sitting across from your interviewer.

7 ways to calm your nerves before a job interview

5 Practice your power poses. Amy Cuddy, an assistant professor at
Harvard, celebrated the notion of power poses in a viral TED Talk
about body language. Power poses, Cuddy explains, can inspire a
sense of confidence in an individual and potentially influence one’s
chance at success in an interview. Even though it may feel unnatural
at first, take a few minutes to test out some power poses before
you head out for your interview.

6 Arrive early. One of the few things you do have control over is
showing up to the interview and checking in at least 10 minutes early.
This will give your potential new employer the impression that you’re
punctual and respectful of others’ time. To calm your nerves, give
yourself plenty of time to get there—and even consider arriving
an hour early and sitting at a coffee shop where you can take a few
deep breaths before going in to interview.

7 Put things in perspective. You may be interviewing for a great job

but remember that it isn’t the only opening out there and this isn’t
the only shot you’ll ever have. Being cognizant of that helps to put
everything in perspective and will help reassure you that nothing
that happens during the interview—however seemingly grave—
is the end of the world.

7 ways to calm your nerves before a job interview