Best Careers Opportunities: 100 Potential Interview Questions

While there are as many different possible interview questions as there are interviewers, it always helps to be ready for anything. So we've prepared a list of 100 potential interview questions. Will you face them all? We pray no interviewer would be that cruel. Will you face a few? Probably. Will you be well-served by being ready even if you're not asked these exact questions? Absolutely.  

Basic Interview Questions:

• Tell me about yourself.
• What are your strengths?
• What are your weaknesses?
• Why do you want this job?
• Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?
• What's your ideal company?
• What attracted you to this company?
• Why should we hire you?
• What did you like least about your last job?
• When were you most satisfied in your job?
• What can you do for us that other candidates can't? 
• What were the responsibilities of your last position?  
• Why are you leaving your present job?
• What do you know about this industry?  
• What do you know about our company? 
• Are you willing to relocate?  
• Do you have any questions for me?

Behavioral Interview Questions:

• What was the last project you headed up, and what was its outcome? 
• Give me an example of a time that you felt you went above and beyond the call of duty at work. 
• Can you describe a time when your work was criticized? 
• Have you ever been on a team where someone was not pulling their own weight? How did you handle it? 
• Tell me about a time when you had to give someone difficult feedback. How did you handle it? 
• What is your greatest failure, and what did you learn from it? 
• What irritates you about other people, and how do you deal with it? 
• If I were your supervisor and asked you to do something that you disagreed with, what would you do?
• What was the most difficult period in your life, and how did you deal with it? 
• Give me an example of a time you did something wrong. How did you handle it? 
• What irritates you about other people, and how do you deal with it? 
• Tell me about a time where you had to deal with conflict on the job. 
• If you were at a business lunch and you ordered a rare steak and they brought it to you well done, what would you do? 
• If you found out your company was doing something against the law, like fraud, what would you do? 
• What assignment was too difficult for you, and how did you resolve the issue? 
• What's the most difficult decision you've made in the last two years and how did you come to that decision?
• Describe how you would handle a situation if you were required to finish multiple tasks by the end of the day, and there was no conceivable way that you could finish them. 

Salary Questions:

• What salary are you seeking?
• What's your salary history?
• If I were to give you this salary you requested but let you write your job description for the next year, what would it say?

Career Development Questions:

• What are you looking for in terms of career development? 
• How do you want to improve yourself in the next year?
• What kind of goals would you have in mind if you got this job? 
• If I were to ask your last supervisor to provide you additional training or exposure, what would she suggest?

Getting Started Questions:

• How would you go about establishing your credibility quickly with the team?
• How long will it take for you to make a significant contribution?
• What do you see yourself doing within the first 30 days of this job?
• If selected for this position, can you describe your strategy for the first 90 days?

More About You:

• How would you describe your work style? 
• What would be your ideal working environment? 
• What do you look for in terms of culture -- structured or entrepreneurial? 
• Give examples of ideas you've had or implemented.
• What techniques and tools do you use to keep yourself organized?   
• If you had to choose one, would you consider yourself a big-picture person or a detail-oriented person?  
• Tell me about your proudest achievement.  
• Who was your favorite manager and why?  
• What do you think of your previous boss? 
• Was there a person in your career who really made a difference? 
• What kind of personality do you work best with and why?  
• What are you most proud of? 
• What do you like to do?  
• What are your lifelong dreams?  
• What do you ultimately want to become? 
• What is your personal mission statement?   
• What are three positive things your last boss would say about you?  
• What negative thing would your last boss say about you? 
• What three character traits would your friends use to describe you? 
• What are three positive character traits you don't have?  
• If you were interviewing someone for this position, what traits would you look for?  
• List five words that describe your character.   
• Who has impacted you most in your career and how? 
• What is your greatest fear? 
• What is your biggest regret and why?   
• What's the most important thing you learned in school? 
• Why did you choose your major?  
• What will you miss about your present/last job?  
• What is your greatest achievement outside of work?  
• What are the qualities of a good leader? A bad leader?  
• Do you think a leader should be feared or liked?     
• How do you feel about taking no for an answer?  
• How would you feel about working for someone who knows less than you? 
• How do you think I rate as an interviewer? 
• Tell me one thing about yourself you wouldn't want me to know.  
• Tell me the difference between good and exceptional.  
• What kind of car do you drive? 
• There's no right or wrong answer, but if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be? 
• What's the last book you read?  
• What magazines do you subscribe to? 
• What's the best movie you've seen in the last year?  
• What would you do if you won the lottery? 
• Who are your heroes?
• What do you like to do for fun? 
• What do you do in your spare time? 
• What is your favorite memory from childhood? 

Brainteaser Questions:

• How many times do a clock's hands overlap in a day?
• How would you weigh a plane without scales?
• Tell me 10 ways to use a pencil other than writing.
• Sell me this pencil.
• If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?
• Why is there fuzz on a tennis ball?
• If you could choose one superhero power, what would it be and why? 
• If you could get rid of any one of the US states, which one would you get rid of and why? 
• With your eyes closed, tell me step-by-step how to tie my shoes.