Interviews can be daunting. But going in prepared can help ease those nerves and set you up for success. To get you ready, I’ve put together this comprehensive article covering 600 of the most common global interview questions along with tips and example answers.
Whether you have an interview coming up for a job at a multinational corporation or a local small business, reviewing these questions will get you primed and ready to tackle anything that comes your way. I’ll cover the wide range of topics you may encounter, from behavioral questions to brainteasers to technical skills.
Let’s dive in!
Breakdown of Global Interview Questions
The 600 questions I’ll be covering can be grouped into the following categories
-
Personal and behavioral – Questions that aim to understand your personality, work style, motivations, and past experiences. This includes questions like “Tell me about yourself” and “What is your greatest weakness?”
-
Situational and hypothetical – Questions that assess how you would respond in a specific work-related circumstance. For example, “How would you handle an unhappy customer?”
-
Technical skills – Questions that test your knowledge and proficiency related to the job role, such as computer programming, accounting, healthcare procedures, and more.
-
Role-specific – Questions tailored to the particular position you are applying for at the company.
-
Company related – Questions aimed at gauging your knowledge of and interest in the company.
-
Brainteasers – Logic puzzles and unconventional questions designed to assess analytical thinking under pressure.
Let’s explore example questions and winning answers for each category:
Personal and Behavioral Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself
Tips: Keep your answer concise and focused on your professional background and skills relevant to the role. Avoid rambling or discussing your personal life.
Example: “I’m an accomplished marketing manager with over seven years of experience driving strategic initiatives for consumer product companies. I’m skilled at developing data-driven campaigns and managing cross-functional teams to achieve revenue growth. I’m seeking a senior marketing role at a consumer-focused organization where I can leverage my industry expertise to develop impactful campaigns.”
2. What are your greatest strengths?
Tips: Be honest while highlighting strengths that would add value in the role you are interviewing for. Provide examples of applying your strengths effectively.
Example: “One of my greatest strengths is my analytical ability. I have a track record of leveraging data insights to drive continuous process improvements. For example, in my last role I automated several reporting processes using RPA after analyzing performance data and identifying bottlenecks. This improved efficiency by over 20%.”
3. What is your greatest weakness?
Tips: Choose a minor weakness that will not significantly impact your ability to perform in the role. Demonstrate self-awareness and show steps you’re taking to improve.
Example: “My greatest weakness is that I sometimes overprepare when taking on a new project or task. While being diligent is important, this tendency can lead to getting stuck in planning mode longer than necessary. However, I am actively working to overcome this by setting firmer deadlines for myself during preparation to ensure I’m balancing planning with execution.”
Situational and Hypothetical Interview Questions
4. How would you handle an angry customer?
Tips: Show empathy, remain calm, be solution-oriented. Outline step-by-step approach to de-escalate and satisfy the customer.
Example: “First, I would empathize and apologize for their negative experience. I would let them fully express their frustration while maintaining a calm demeanor. Then, I would ask clarifying questions to get to the root of the issue. Once I fully understand the problem, I can work with the customer to come up with potential solutions or next steps to resolve their complaint to their satisfaction.”
5. If you disagreed with your manager about something, how would you handle it?
Tips: Demonstrate that you can disagree professionally and remain solution-focused. Show you can take perspective of manager into account as well.
Example: “First, I would request a meeting with my manager to better understand their perspective and reasoning behind their decision. I would prepare objective examples to explain my position. During the discussion, I would listen first, then politely provide my counterpoints. My goal would be finding common ground and a mutually beneficial solution, not proving one perspective right or wrong. If no agreement could be reached, I would defer to my manager’s judgment.”
6. Imagine you have a big project due in one week and your team is overwhelmed. What would you do?
Tips: Show leadership abilities, collaboration, time management, prioritization skills. Have a logical step-by-step approach.
Example: “First, I would meet with the team to understand capacity and constraints. Next, I would work with them to re-prioritize deliverables based on project goals, focusing on the most mission-critical items. I would then assign tasks based on team members’ strengths to optimize productivity. If more resources were needed, I would confer with leadership right away so they could allocate help. I would also implement a streamlined system for clear communication and progress tracking. With this collaborative approach I am confident we could still deliver an excellent final product by the deadline.”
Technical Skills Interview Questions
The types of technical interview questions will vary greatly depending on the specific job role. Here are some examples:
For a Programmer Role:
-
Explain inheritance in object oriented programming languages. Provide examples of implementation.
-
Describe the API rate limiting strategies you have used.
-
What testing frameworks have you worked with? Explain the benefits of test-driven development.
For a Registered Nurse Role:
-
Explain the steps you would take to prepare a patient for surgery.
-
What safety protocols do you follow when administering medication?
-
How do you stay updated on the latest clinical practices and medical technologies?
For an Accountant Role:
-
Walk me through the steps of the accounting cycle.
-
What metrics do you track to measure financial performance?
-
What experience do you have preparing taxes and auditing financial documents?
Role-Specific Interview Questions
Role-specific questions aim to assess if you have the right background and skillset specifically for the job you are applying for. Examples include:
For a Sales Role:
-
How do you go about identifying potential clients for a product or service?
-
Explain your approach to developing sales presentations and product demonstrations.
-
What sales strategies have you found most effective for closing deals?
For a Project Manager Role:
-
How do you ensure projects are delivered on time and within budget?
-
What project management tools are you experienced with? How have you used them?
-
Explain your approach to identifying and mitigating project risks.
For a Customer Support Role:
-
How would you handle a customer who is very upset about a product or service?
-
What metrics are most important for measuring customer satisfaction?
-
Tell me about a time you successfully up-sold a customer.
Company-Related Interview Questions
Do your research before the interview to be prepared for company-specific questions, such as:
-
Why do you want to work for our company?
-
What interests you about this role and our team?
-
What do you know about our products/services and mission?
-
How would you describe our company culture?
-
What differentiates us from competitors in our industry?
Be specific and demonstrate you truly understand and care about the company by providing thoughtful and informed responses.
Brainteaser Interview Questions
Brainteasers aim to assess analytical thinking and problem solving under pressure. Here are some examples along with approaches:
Question: You have 20 bottles of pills. 19 bottles have 1.0 gram pills, but one has pills of the wrong weight. How can you find the bottle with wrong-weight pills in just one weighing?
Approach: Number the bottles 1-20 and take one pill from bottles 1, 2, 3…10 and put them on a weighing scale. The difference in the expected and actual weight indicates which of those bottles has pills of wrong weight.
Question: There are five houses of different colors next to each other. The owners have different pets – cat, dog, bird, fish and horse. Determine the order of houses based on the following hints:
- The green house is to the left of the owner with a horse.
- The fish owner lives to the right of the blue house.
- The yellow house owner has a bird.
- The cat owner lives next to the owner with a fish.
- The owner with a dog lives to the left of the owner with a bird.
Approach: Based on the above hints, the order is: yellow (bird), blue (fish), green (horse), white (cat), red (dog)
Preparing responses for various types of questions relevant to the job will help ensure you ace the interview process no matter what you are faced with. Best of luck!
If you’re looking for more interview advice
What your interview will be like
Your interview most likely will be competency based. That means the interviewer will ask you questions about your experience and skills.
Do not worry if youre worried about answering those types of questions – thats normal.
