Strong communication skills are sought after in almost every industry and job role. During interviews, hiring managers will test your communication abilities with targeted questions.
It’s essential to prepare responses that highlight your oral, written, interpersonal, and presentation communication skills. This shows you can collaborate effectively and represent the company positively when interacting with diverse stakeholders.
In this article, we’ll examine 10 common communication interview questions, why employers ask them, and how to craft winning answers. Master these questions and you’ll impress interviewers with your communication savvy.
1. Tell Me About Your Greatest Accomplishment
Hiring managers use this open-ended question to assess your communication skills from multiple angles,
First, they evaluate how well you describe your accomplishment. Summarize the situation, your specific role, actions taken, and the positive end results. Use storytelling techniques to explain it clearly and compellingly.
Second, they determine if the accomplishment itself demonstrates important communication abilities. For example, did you lead a major presentation, write an impactful proposal, resolve customer complaints, or pitch media stories? Choose an example highlighting communication talents needed for the role.
Lastly your presentation eye contact, conciseness, and enthusiasm as you answer reveal your poise and presence. Be ready to discuss your proudest moment.
2. Describe a Time You Faced Conflict and How You Addressed It
Conflict is inevitable in any workplace. Hiring managers want to know you can communicate through disagreements effectively.
In your answer, briefly set the stage by describing a specific conflict situation you faced. Then go into details on how you navigated the issue professionally:
- Remained composed and objective, listening fully to all perspectives
- Avoided escalating emotions, instead focusing the discussion on issues, not people
- Found common ground and areas you could agree upon or compromise
- Clearly reiterated your position while also understanding others’ points of view
- Identified solutions that satisfied all parties involved in the conflict
- Followed up respectfully once the conflict was resolved
Stay positive as you talk through your actions This highlights your maturity and ability to bridge communication gaps
3. Do You Work Well With Other People?
Collaboration and teamwork are vital to most positions. This question reveals how well you communicate with colleagues.
Share that you thrive when working collaboratively and provide examples, such as:
- Brainstorming ideas and solving problems as a group
- Fostering friendships with teammates through office social events and team lunches
- Volunteering for cross-departmental projects to interact with wider groups
- Identifying opportunities for different departments to work together and achieve shared goals
- Building relationships with colleagues by learning about their responsibilities and interests
Convey your passion for meeting new people, developing relationships, and bringing out the strengths of a team.
4. How Would You Describe Yourself?
This open-ended question evaluates your self-awareness and how you articulate your personal brand.
Pick two or three top words that reflect your authentic self and the value you bring professionally. For example:
- Uplifting – You radiate positivity and motivate those around you.
- Analytical – You leverage data to provide thoughtful solutions and insights.
- Collaborative – You build relationships and bring out the best in team members.
- Innovative – You spark creativity and fresh perspectives.
Back up the descriptors with examples demonstrating those qualities. Close with how the traits make you a great culture fit who will thrive in the position.
5. Why Are You a Good Fit for This Position?
Hiring managers want to know you understand the required communication abilities and can articulate why you’re an excellent match.
Analyze the job description and highlight qualifications showing you fit the role. For example:
- If it requires public speaking, discuss your experience delivering influential presentations.
- If it involves email marketing, describe your expertise driving campaign engagement.
- If it needs social media skills, share how you’ve expanded followers and engagement.
Tie your qualifications directly back to the position’s communication responsibilities and how you’ll apply your strengths to benefit the company.
6. How Would You Handle an Angry Customer?
For customer-facing roles especially, interviewers will test your interpersonal communication tactics when dealing with difficult situations and people.
Your response should demonstrate empathy, conflict resolution skills, and commitment to service excellence. For example:
- Listen patiently and apologize for any issues, without getting defensive.
- Ask probing questions to understand fully their frustrations and the resolution they seek.
- Remain calm and professional in your tone, even when facing aggressive behavior.
- Share how their feedback helps you improve customer service processes.
- Provide options and solutions that get to the heart of their concerns.
- Follow up to ensure their needs were met and issues resolved to their satisfaction.
Show you can de-escalate tensions and rebuild rapport through caring communication.
7. Tell Me About a Time You Overcame a Communication Barrier
Barriers can hinder effective communication. Interviewers want to confirm you know how to spot and overcome them.
Choose an example like a language gap, lack of context, technology breakdowns, or delivery mistakes. Explain how you addressed the barrier:
- Noticed early warning signs of communication struggles, such as missing deadlines.
- Diagnosed the root causes, like cultural miscommunications or outdated contact lists.
- Implemented solutions, for instance launching a project kickoff meeting to get everyone aligned.
- Improved ongoing communication, like sending recap emails after meetings.
- Checked in frequently to confirm messages were received and clarify any confusion.
Demonstrate your perseverance and creativity in finding ways for communication to prevail.
8. How Do You Stay Up-To-Date on Communication Trends and Technologies?
Today’s communication methods and best practices constantly evolve. Hiring managers evaluate your commitment to honing your skills.
Highlight your multipronged approach to ongoing learning:
- Reading industry publications focused on leadership communication, marketing, social media, and other topics based on your field/role.
- Following thought leaders on channels like podcasts, blogs, Twitter chats, LinkedIn threads, and more.
- Taking professional development courses related to communication, writing, presenting, and relationship-building.
- Joining Toastmasters or other groups that allow you to practice public speaking and leadership communication.
- Monitoring changes in tools and technology used for communication.
Convey your passion for continuous improvement by regularly expanding your communication toolbox.
9. Tell Me About a Time You Successfully Persuaded Someone
Many positions require persuasion and influence to drive change, build consensus, or achieve buy-in. This question reveals those abilities.
Outline a scenario where you persuaded someone to adopt a new policy, embrace a program, support an investment, or make another significant decision. Discuss:
- How you prepared a compelling case leveraging facts, benefits, and logical arguments.
- How you aligned your pitch with the motivations and priorities of the person you aimed to persuade.
- How you listened carefully for concerns then tailored your message to address those specifically.
- How you inspired commitment by connecting emotionally and appealing to shared goals.
- How your persistence and influencing skills led to the desired decision and impactful result.
Demonstrate your expertise in planning strategic, multifaceted persuasion campaigns.
10. Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?
Employers want to see you have a vision for advancing your communication proficiency long-term.
Share goals indicating you’ll continue honing abilities that make you an asset, such as:
- Positioning yourself as an expert presenter who heads corporate conferences and trainings.
- Managing a marketing team and spearheading high-impact campaigns.
- Leading business development initiatives that expand company visibility and partnerships.
- Applying your cross-cultural communication skills in international roles.
Convey excitement for growing in your career while applying and enhancing your communication strengths.
With preparation for questions like these, you can master the communication portion of your interview. Showcase the diverse talents that enable you to communicate successfully across channels and situations. Prove you have the communication skills to thrive in the role while representing the company at the highest level.
You notice that a team member never reaches out when they don’t understand your message. How do you respond?
Task collaboration is key to meeting company goals, which is why candidates may need to be able to work with coworkers who are slow to respond or who don’t talk to each other as much.
Can they take the right approach that makes them more productive and makes it easy to finish tasks, even if some team members don’t want to do their part?
In this case, candidates could say how they would be as clear as possible about what they need when giving instructions for a task. This would involve explaining what’s required in a step-by-step list. To keep an eye on things, they would actively check in with employees through the method of communication they preferred and ask if they needed any help or support.
Also, they might say that they will use planned one-on-one time to give feedback and encourage the team member to ask questions, share any doubts, or talk about problems they’d like to solve.
How would you help a team member who lacks good verbal communication skills?
Because candidates may have to work with people whose communication skills aren’t all the same, you can use this question to see how well they can get their coworkers to talk to each other and get things done.
Example answer: Interviewees may discuss their methods to include team members lacking communication skills. There may be an open-door policy, and team members should know that they want to hear from them and talk to them freely.
They may also reach out using the employee’s preferred method of communication. That is, if an employee is more comfortable writing things down, they could use a communication tool like Slack to send important messages that way. Coffee chats and informal meetings may also be encouraged so that everyone feels included.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS Interview Questions and Answers! (PASS Competency-Based Interviews!)
What interview questions do interviewers ask?
Interviewers typically ask communication interview questions indirectly, making them important to prepare for. In this article, we discuss communication interview questions and provide skills interviewers look for. We also list common questions related to communication and example answers to use as a guide.
What are communication skills interview questions?
Communication skills interview questions are questions that are asked during a job interview to measure and test a person’s ability to communicate in various settings and communication styles.
How do interviewers determine communication skills?
Interviewers use your responses to these behavioral and competency-based interview questions about communication (along with your behavior during the interview) to determine the level of your verbal and non-verbal communication abilities. Plan your responses to help you provide a stronger interview and make you stand out among other candidates.
Why are communication interview questions important?
For this reason, applicants must have superb active listening skills. To write effective blog posts, a writer’s written communication skills must also be excellent. In this respect, communication interview questions are essential when hiring marketing candidates.
