common interview questions and answers

QUESTION: where would you like to be in your career five years from now?
Intent: Early in your career interviewer want to get a sense of your personal goals, ambitions, drive and directions. At mid-career, they will be listening for responses relevant to their their needs.
Context: You'll need to decide how much to share. If you want to run your own business five years from now and need a certain kind of experience in a competitive company, don’t reveal that. But if you want to become a VP by the time I am 35 and are interviewing on a merit base environment, go ahead and tell the interviewer.

response: "My goal is to be a corporate VP by the time I am 35" Or you might give a more subjective answer: "In five years, i5 want to have gained solid experience in marketing communications and be developing skills in5 another  marketing function."

QUESTION: Tell me about your proudest achievement?
Intent: this question often worded as "significant accomplishment," rank among the most predictable and important things you'll be asked. Interviewers want to hear how you tackled something big. It is vital you give them organized, articulate story.
Context: this is a behavioral question – meaning you’re being asking to talk about a specific example from your professional history. Pick an example or story about how you handled a major project that is both significant to you and rich in detail
Response: set up the story by providing context. Recount the situation and your role in it. Next, discuss what you did, including any analysis or problem solving, any process you set up and obstacles.

QUESTION: give me an example of a time when you had to think out of the box
Intent: this is code for asking about your innovativeness, creativity and initiative. Interviewer want to learn about not only a specific creative idea but also about how you came up with it and more importantly, what you did with that insight.
Context: this is another behavioral question, and the example you select is critical. It should be relevant to the job you’re interviewed for, and your impact in the story should be significant.
Response: tell interviewer how you came up with a creative solution to a customer problem, improved an internal process or made a sale via an innovative strategy

QUESTION: what negative thing would your last boss say about you?
Intent: this is another way of asking about your weakness.
Context: a good approach is to discuss weaknesses you can develop into strengths. However, do not say you work too hard or are a perfectionist. These answers are tired and transparent. Come up with something visible to a past boss that was perhaps mentioned in your performance reviews as a developmental area.
Response: “I don’t think she would have called it negative, but she identified that I need to work on being more dynamic in presentation skills. I have sought out practice opportunities and joined Toastmasters. I have seen some real improvement.”

QUESTION: what can you do for us that other candidates can’t?
Intent: some interview questions are more important than others. This is one of them. It’s another way asking, “Why should we hire you?”
Context: there are two nuances to this question. The first is asking you to compare yourself to other candidates – usually difficult if not impossible task. More importantly, the interviewer is asking you to articulate why you are special. Your response should sum up your main selling points, related specially to job requirements.
Response: consider what you have to offer: past experience directly related to the job; specialized knowledge; relevant situational expertise and experience (growth, change, turnaround, startup); skills; networks; demonstrated commitment and enthusiasm for the business or your profession; future potential