Interview Question Bank
30 common interview questions, each with a note on what the interviewer is really asking. Search them, filter by topic, or pick one at random to practice. What you type stays in your browser.
30 questions
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Tell me about yourself.About you
They want a two-minute summary that leads to this job, not your life story. Try: what you do now, one or two things you’re proud of, and why this role is the natural next step.
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What are your strengths?About you
Pick two or three that matter for this job and back each with a short example. A strength with proof beats a list of adjectives.
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What is a weakness you’re working on?About you
Choose something real but not central to the job, and say what you’re doing about it. The point is self-awareness, not a disguised strength.
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How would your colleagues describe you?About you
Use words you’ve actually heard, ideally in feedback or a review, and add a moment that shows each one.
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Walk me through your resume.About you
Go in order, briefly, and spend the most time on the parts closest to this role. Explain any gaps or changes in a sentence, without apologizing.
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Why are you a good fit for this role?Experience and skills
Match two or three of the job ad’s main needs to things you’ve done, with results. This is where your preparation shows.
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What is your greatest achievement?Experience and skills
Choose a work example close to this job. Use the STAR shape: the situation, your task, what you did, and the result, with a number if you have one.
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Describe a project you led from start to finish.Experience and skills
Show planning, decisions and follow-through. Be clear about your own part, especially in a team project.
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How do you keep your skills up to date?Experience and skills
Name specific things: a course, a community, a habit such as reading release notes. Recent and concrete beats “I love learning”.
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Tell me about a time you learned something new quickly.Experience and skills
They’re checking how you learn. Explain what you had to learn, how you went about it, and how soon you were productive.
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Tell me about a time you disagreed with a colleague.Working with others
Show that you can disagree respectfully and still get the work done. Focus on how you listened and what you agreed in the end.
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Describe a time you worked with a difficult person.Working with others
Stay fair to the other person. Describe the behavior, not their character, what you did to make it work, and the outcome.
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How do you handle feedback?Working with others
Give an example of feedback you received and what you changed because of it. It shows you take feedback as information.
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Tell me about a time you helped a teammate.Working with others
Pick a moment where your help made a difference to the team’s result, not just a kind gesture.
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What kind of manager brings out your best work?Working with others
Be honest and specific, such as clear goals and regular check-ins, and avoid describing an impossible ideal.
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Tell me about a time something went wrong at work.Problems and pressure
Own your part, explain how you fixed or limited the damage, and say what you do differently now. The lesson is the answer.
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How do you prioritize when everything is urgent?Problems and pressure
Describe a method you actually use, such as sorting by impact and deadline or agreeing priorities with your manager, and give a real example.
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Describe a time you worked under a tight deadline.Problems and pressure
Show how you planned, what you cut or delegated, and how you kept quality. Mention the result and whether you met the deadline.
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Tell me about a decision you made without all the information.Problems and pressure
They want judgement. Explain what you knew, what you assumed, how you reduced the risk, and how it turned out.
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How do you handle stress?Problems and pressure
Mention practical habits that keep you effective, such as planning, breaks and asking for help early, with a short example.
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Why do you want to work here?Goals and motivation
Be specific about the company: its work, customers, values or a recent project. Then link it to what you want to do next.
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Why are you leaving your current job?Goals and motivation
Keep it positive and forward-looking: what you’re moving toward, not what you’re escaping. Don’t criticize your current employer.
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Where do you see yourself in a few years?Goals and motivation
Show ambition that fits the role: the skills you want to build and the responsibility you’d like to grow into here.
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What motivates you at work?Goals and motivation
Name something true that this job offers, such as solving problems for customers or improving how things work, with an example.
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What would you do in your first three months?Goals and motivation
Listen and learn first, then early contributions. Show you’ve thought about the role without claiming to have all the answers.
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What does success look like in this role after six months?Your questions for them
A strong question to ask them. It shows you’re thinking about results, and the answer tells you what really matters.
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What are the biggest challenges for the team right now?Your questions for them
Ask this to understand the job’s real difficulties, and use the answer to mention how you’d help.
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How does the team usually work together day to day?Your questions for them
Useful for judging fit: meetings, tools, remote or in person, and how decisions are made.
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What do you enjoy most about working here?Your questions for them
A friendly question that often gives an honest picture of the culture.
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What are the next steps in the process?Your questions for them
Always worth asking at the end, so you know when to expect news and when it’s fine to follow up.
Prepare for the questions that keep coming up
Most interviews come back to the same few themes: who you are, what you’ve done, how you work with people, how you handle problems, why you want this job, and what you’d like to ask. The wording changes, but the themes don’t. Working through a question bank before an interview lets you find your examples in advance, so you’re not searching your memory under pressure.
How to use it
- Skim the list, or pick a topic to focus on one theme.
- Open a question to read what the interviewer is usually trying to learn, and how to approach it.
- For each, note a real example from your work. Questions that ask about “a time when…” suit the STAR shape.
- Use Pick a question to practice: answer out loud, as if in the interview, then check your answer against the note.
Answering “Tell me about a time…”
Behavioral questions ask for a real example, and the clearest way to give one is the STAR shape: the Situation, your Task, the Action you took, and the Result. Spend most of the answer on what you did, and end with what came of it, ideally a number or a clear change. The STAR Answer Builder helps you shape and time each story.
Questions to ask them
The last group lists questions for you to ask at the end. Asking one or two shows interest and helps you judge the job. Pick ones you genuinely want answered, and avoid anything the job ad or website already makes clear.
Practicing well
- Out loud, not in your head: an answer that sounds fine silently often runs long when spoken.
- Time yourself: most answers should take one to two minutes.
- Record one or two on your phone and listen back for filler words and missing results.
- Practice with someone if you can, and ask them to pick questions at random, as an interviewer would.
On the day
- Bring your examples, not a script: a few words per story on a card is enough.
- It’s fine to pause before answering, or to ask for a question to be repeated.
- Afterwards, send a short thank-you; Letter Templates has one ready.