Employer Questions to the Candidate

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Candidate Questions | Employer Questions | Candidate Research

  1. Tell me about yourself. (Take a moment and say "I would be happy to, what specifically do you want to know about me?")
  2. How would you describe yourself? (Be brief, no more than 2-3 minutes.)
  3. What did you think of your last boss? (Whether positive or negative, only answer positively and describe learnings.)
  4. Why have you left your previous positions? (Two-three sentences which are positive. No negatives about the company or boss.)
  5. Where do you see yourself five years from now? (Describe possible titles; more importantly, describe responsibilities.)
  6. Have you ever failed? (Describe briefly a situation and describe what you learned from it.)
  7. What are your strong points? Your weak points? (Everyone has weak points, describe one which you are addressing to improve!)
  8. How much money do you want? I need an exact figure?
  9. What is the most difficult thing you have ever done? (Describe briefly in 1-2 minutes and relate your solution or learnings.)
  10. Which qualifications do you feel make you a better candidate for this job than anyone else does? (Personal assets we reviewed in our interview.)
  11. But you've already done this work. What makes you think you would be interested in staying with us. (My interest is personal growth, how are you growing that will lead to my personal growth?)
  12. What have you done in you past jobs that you are particularly proud of? (Quantify accomplishments in $ or % improvement.)
  13. What makes you a good investment to our company? (Describe quantified personal contributions in $ or % improvements.)
  14. How would your co-workers describe you?
  15. Why are you interested in our company? (Describe 2-3 items of interest based on recruiter discussion and prior research.)
  16. What can you offer our company? (Look for 3-4 activities or contributions you can make immediately.)
  17. Describe a situation in which your work was criticized.
    Focus on how you resolved the situation and became a better person because of the experience.
  18. How would you describe your personality?
  19. How do you perform under pressure?
  20. What have you done to improve yourself over the past year?
  21. Have you ever fired anyone? What was the situation and how did you handle it?
  22. Are there any other questions you might have before I let you go? (Hold two or three business questions in reserve for this potential question.)