If you’ve been looking for a job, you know how tough it can be to land those interviews. You may not get another shot to talk about your many qualifications, so you need to nail it. The key to your success is researching and practicing how to answer interview questions. It helps to know the most common questions to expect. Resume.io did a survey recently among a sample of 2000 adults in the U.S. and these are the top 10 questions respondents reported being asked:
Top 10 most common interview questions in the U.S.
- Why should we hire you?
- Why do you want this job?
- What are your greatest strengths?
- Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
- Why did you apply for this job?
- Why do you think you’re a good fit for our company?
- Are you a team player?
- What is your greatest weakness?
- Describe a time when you failed and how you handled it.
- What do you think your starting salary should be?
Common interview questions are different for women
The study revealed some interesting gender differences in questions experienced by respondents. Women reported being asked some questions far more often than men, so if you want to know how to answer interview questions these are the ones you should REALLY prepare for.
Women are much more likely to be asked interview questions about their strengths
44% of women reported being asked the question “What are your greatest strengths?” vs. only 34% of men. Similarly, 45% were asked “Why should we hire you?” (a variation on the strengths question) vs only 37% of men. It appears that women need to be able to defend their fit for a role more often than men. No woman reading this will be shocked by that. Depressed, but not shocked.
Here’s the problem:
Women have a tough time articulating their strengths in interviews
While you are more likely to be asked questions about your strengths, you might not have the tools to do so effectively. There is a wide body of evidence highlighting the confidence gap between women and men. Women are consistently found to be as effective as men across a wide range of domains, but less confident about their abilities. If you can’t internalize your own strengths, it’s tough to convey them to someone else.
Case in point: A recent study cited in Harvard Business Review ran an experiment among 1500 workers. The researchers measured performance by having each worker complete a test with 20 analytical questions. They evaluated confidence by asking them to predict how many questions they answered correctly on the test. And they evaluated self-promotion by asking four subjective questions they might be asked on a performance review (which is much like an interview). Men rated their performance 33% higher than equally performing women. This higher level of self-promotion was consistent among different variations of the experiment.
This inability to blow your own horn is likely due in part to how we were raised. Women (and many people in non-Western cultures) are more likely to be brought up to be modest and socialized not to brag. Those norms are slowly changing, but many of us still struggle. If you can’t talk about your own strengths to a recruiter or hiring manager, who will? Below is a quote from Joan Kuhl, who has done a lot of training in this area:
Bragging has a bad rap. But communicating your worth and championing your contributions doesn’t have to look or sound like an ego trip. In fact, research shows self-promotion is a critical factor in being hired, promoted and getting bigger raises and bonuses.
Tips on how to identify and articulate your strengths before your interview
You can’t talk about them if you can’t identify them, right? There are many ways to dive deep and gain the language you need to talk about what you have to offer:
Tips on how to answer interview questions about your strengths
These types of questions relate to your strengths as they relate to the specific job you are applying for. Interviewers care about your strengths only in relation to how they make you a stronger applicant for their job.
Learn how to tell compelling stories about your strengths
- Make a list of a few strengths you feel are highly relevant to this job. Think about job-specific technical skills, professional skills like team building or communication, and personal character strengths.
- Craft some brief stories you can tell that illustrate how you have used those strengths. Use the STAR model shown below.
- Practice telling these stories until they are second nature.
Remember the acronym STAR to answer many types of interview questions. Crafting an answer with this structure gives your interviewer context and gives them a way to visualize how you might do something similar at their organization. Your stories don’t always need to come from work situations, there could be volunteer or personal experiences that shed light on your strengths as well.
- S: The situation you faced (Your set-up: “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…”).
- T: The task you were given (What was your challenge? What feat were you asked to accomplish?).
- A: The action you took (Not your team, but YOU. Many women focus on team accomplishments).
- R: The positive result of your action (Many applicants forget to include this).
It’s not bragging if you can back it up.
Muhammad Ali
Women are also much more likely to be asked interview questions about weaknesses and failures
Perhaps unconvinced by your on-point answers as to why your strengths make you a great fit for the job, you may well also be asked to detail your weaknesses. Here is how to tiptoe through that minefield to answer interview questions the way that recruiters want you to.
Tips on how to answer interview questions about weaknesses
First, be honest, because everyone has weaknesses. Pick small, concrete things and detail how you are working to improve. For example: “I know I need to learn more about Javascript, and I’m currently taking a course to advance my skills.” Avoid BS answers about how you work too hard because recruiters can see right through that. Also avoid weaknesses that are harder to improve, like not working well in teams.
Tips on how to address a time you have failed
Similarly, pick a real but rather insignificant failure and describe what you learned from the experience and how it allowed you to succeed in the future.
Your motivation will also be questioned
Other questions asked more often of women focus on their motivations. It’s helpful to do some reflection and research, to consider why you want the job and want to stay with the company for a while.
Tips on answering “Why do you want this job?”
Besides the temptingly snarky answer “because I need to eat”, here you want to show your insider knowledge of the company and find a way to demonstrate how their product/mission is a great fit with your career goals. It may also be appealing to you because of salary, benefits, or commute time, but they want to know that there is something about the job or company itself that truly resonates with you.
Tips on answering “Where do you think you’ll be in 5 years?”
This could be a coded way to ask: “are you planning to have kids and leave us soon after we have paid to train you?” Many applicants (and even companies) think this is a ridiculous question, especially now in our chaotic economy, but still, it persists. Come up with an answer that makes you sound committed to professional development and with a growth mindset, and ambitious (but just a little).
If you feel like you need some help learning how to interview more confidently, a 1-on-1 appointment where you can get personalized, targeted advice can make a HUGE difference. We can even do a mock interview for that all-important interview you have coming up. Learn more about how I help women to succeed.