How to Master 5 of the Most Common Interview Questions

Going into an interview, there are certain questions that you have a very high probability of hearing. These are the questions that should be anticipated and rehearsed beforehand, but I am continually surprised to see that candidates in general are completely unprepared for them. If you simply have an answer ready for each of the following questions, you can instantly gain a degree of respect in your interviewer’s eyes.

Below I have listed five of the most common introductory and basic interview questions that you shouldn’t have to think about once you’re in the interview. I’ll go through the stated question, what the interviewer is really trying to find out, how you can trip up, and what characteristics your answer should have. Interview novices should find this revealing, and even you veterans could probably use a refresher as you stop to think how your answers to these questions have changed since the last time you interviewed.


Interview Question #1

The stated question. So tell me about yourself.

The real question. How do your qualifications and experience relate to this job?

What not to do. Soliloquize about your childhood pastimes, favorite hobbies, and relationship with your grandmother. They are not asking for your life story; they just want to know what you think makes you a good candidate for the job.

How to respond. This is where you give your elevator speech, which you will have tailored to this specific position beforehand. Unless you’re interviewing for an internship early in your college career, start at what college you attended and tell a brief story about your professional life, connecting all the points, giving a specific, defining example when possible, but being sparse on the details.


Interview Question #2

The stated question. What is your greatest weakness? (An alternative question is “Tell me about a time you failed.”)

The real question. Are you self-aware?

What not to do. Do not respond with one of the classic cop-outs that pretends one of your strengths is actually a weakness, like “Sometimes I work too hard” or “I’m so detail-oriented I sometimes lose the big picture”.

How to respond. Try to craft an answer that has the following 4 characteristics:

1) The weakness is a past weakness – i.e. one you have already corrected.
2) The weakness is actually more of a “challenge”. You may be able to think of one that is universal to those in your position, and that the interviewer can relate to.
3) You have a specific short story that demonstrates your weakness.
4) You have a specific short story illustrating how you subsequently corrected the weakness, which had tangible results.


Interview Question #3

The stated question. Tell me about a time you had to resolve a conflict.

The real question. Are you going to cause problems and be difficult to work with, or do you have people skills?

What not to do. Don’t respond with anything having to do with a conflict you were actually involved in. For the purposes of the interview, you have gotten along with everyone you’ve ever worked with.

How to respond. Tell a story about how two separate parties were fighting, and you stepped in to mediate. Make sure it is clear that you addressed the problem immediately once you came onto the scene.


Interview Question #4

The stated question. You are given multiple tasks with high priority. How do you prioritize?

The real question. Do you have basic communication and time management skills?

What not to do. There isn’t really a wrong way that people commonly answer this one. Just make sure to have a coherent answer prepared.

How to respond. Some situations like this can be avoided if you do a good job of communicating in the first place, so I make that point first. A good answer will generally revolve around communicating with all involved parties to reach a solution if that matter is extremely urgent. If both tasks are high priority but not due immediately, you should stay and work until they are both done. Basic common sense.


Interview Question #5

The stated question. Where do you see yourself five years from now?

The real question. Do you really think this position is a good fit for you? Also, are you intelligent enough to plan for the future?

What not to do. Actually make a guess at what you’ll be doing five years in the future.

How to respond. If you’re in your low to mid twenties, you probably should first admit that while you like to plan for the future, you can’t be sure what your life will be like five years from now (That’s just to make sure your following answer won’t sound presumptuous.) Rather than treating the “five years” as a concrete time period, instead simply mention the next milestone at the company. For example, “It is a dream of mine to become a VP at a bulge bracket investment bank, so that is where I am focusing all my energy at the moment.” You want to strike a balance between lying and saying you’ll stay at this job until the day you die, vs. making them think you’ll bolt the instant a better opportunity comes along.

For any of these answers, you always want to give a short, concise example that demonstrates what you’re saying.

Any points that I missed? What do you like to include in your answers to these common questions? Feel free to write out your personal response to one of these questions (scrubbed of identifying information, of course).

 

“It is a dream of mine to become a VP at a bulge bracket investment bank, so that is where I am focusing all my energy at the moment.”

Please do not say this. You can accomplish the same thing by saying you would like to do a differentiated aspect of the job on the next rung of the lagger (client-facing role in this case, manage other consulting for a MBB, have your own book as a trader, lead a product design team as a programmer, etc.)

 
meabric:

“It is a dream of mine to become a VP at a bulge bracket investment bank, so that is where I am focusing all my energy at the moment.”

Please do not say this. You can accomplish the same thing by saying you would like to do a differentiated aspect of the job on the next rung of the lagger (client-facing role in this case, manage other consulting for a MBB, have your own book as a trader, lead a product design team as a programmer, etc.)

Sorry for the confusion - the speaker in my example was supposed to be an experienced associate, with the next rung being the VP. I was trying to say exactly what you just put more eloquently.

 

good stuff, couple questions Any advice for when they ask you what your salary expectations are? Also, what if they ask you about your current salary if you're in a low paying job?

"And the last thing, how much do you charge for a career consultation and would you accept a check?"
 
jaciems:

good stuff, couple questions
Any advice for when they ask you what your salary expectations are?
Also, what if they ask you about your current salary if you're in a low paying job?

You always want to delay the salary part of the discussion as long as possible, though for many of the more standardized positions you won't be able to delay at all. I say something like, "I'm not as interested about salary so much as the opportunity to ____ that I think this position will provide. If it's OK with you, I'd rather discuss whether this is a good fit for both of us first. At that point, we'll have a much better idea about how much value I can provide, and we can discuss a salary based on market rates."

You can't say something like this if you're applying for a position held by a thousand other people at an international bank. It might also not go over as well if the position is highly undefined and the interviewer is just trying to find out if they can afford you. In that case, I still try to delay the salary discussion until the end; they should be able to estimate how much I will cost based on my education and experience.

Either way, if they press you, you have to go ahead and answer the question. The key is to be informed about your value.

 

Don't agree 100% with number 2. If I ask, "What is your greatest weakness" I expect a current weakness -- besides being self aware I want some humility. But agree that the weakness shouldn't really be a weakness or anything that is job killing e.g. I have trouble multitasking. Also, do talk about how you are trying to correct the weakness, as you mention.

 
mojo12:

Don't agree 100% with number 2. If I ask, "What is your greatest weakness" I expect a current weakness -- besides being self aware I want some humility.

There are definitely a lot of people who think the same way you do, but consider this: during the last election, I'm sure you wanted to hear Obama talk about how he was going to pay for the Affordable Care Act, and Romney talk about why he pioneered the statewide roadmap for the law, but then decided the national expansion was a bad idea. Neither was ever actually answered - instead, they talked about what they wanted to talk about. And as long as the politician stays on subject, the voters reward him for it. The same principle applies here. I can demonstrate some humility and self awareness by admitting I have faults and talking about one I corrected, but I'm making a sales pitch. I'm not going to talk about what's wrong with me.
 
Take_It_To_The_Bank:

I appreciate the effort to help others, but this reads exactly like one of those articles you see on Yahoo and LinkedIn and I don't see anything that hasn't been said before.

You're right that there are a lot of similar articles, but it's a shame that they contain a lot of bad information. Once I start hearing people answer these questions correctly, I'll stop trying to teach them how.

 
NYU:

Anyone else use the "I get lost in the details and sometimes forget to see the bigger picture" as a weakness? It's been my current go-to for interviews. Personally I thought it was 10x better than 'I take on too much' or 'I have problems delegating'. Is it really that cheesy and see through?

What does that even mean? Your quality of work is bad because you just type in the numbers and don't bother to check the reasonability of the output, or think about other factors besides the ones in the standard template?

I actually like the "I have problems delegating" answer. It's a classic overachiever fault that most people can relate to, and if you have a good story about how you learned to delegate, it's a home run.

 

Good stuff, I think you covered the ones that do not only come up every interview, but are also the most annoying usually.

I was once asked "What would you do if you had $50m in the bank?". That is such an irrelevant question...

I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. See my Blog & AMA
 

Technically in what is your main weakness. You are telling them half truth which is 50% True & 50% Lies.

“It is our fate to be tormented with large and small dilemmas as we daily wind our way through the risky, fractious world that gave us birth” Edward O. Wilson.
 
Nomadchimp:

Technically in what is your main weakness. You are telling them half truth which is 50% True & 50% Lies.

I strongly recommend that you be as truthful as possible in any interview. Reframing the question and talking about the subject from a slightly different perspective isn't a lie; it's just answering the question you would rather answer. While it is sometimes OK to withhold information as part of the sales and negotiation process, never give false information, or leave out information that substantially creates a lie.

 

Good post. Would be nice for all the new chimps to read this before creating new interview question threads.

All the world's indeed a stage, And we are merely players, Performers and portrayers, Each another's audience, Outside the gilded cage - Limelight (1981)
 

To me this really shows (obvious to you all I know) that these questions need to be prepared and that honesty alone even if well meant just wont cut it.

I'll be honest, I did just about every mistake listed on these questions when I first interviewed. For me however chemistry between interviewer and interviewee was the most important.

But not always. I've noticed interviewer who specifically ask those questions are usually the ones who are looking for the type of anwers listed here to see if "you fit WSO reading type profile" (just my personal opinion).

The interview process for these types of interviewers is a minefield but at the same type they might care less about chemistry and just want a specific profile.

 

Great points. The point of these market model questions is less about being right and more about can you develop a methodology that 1) Makes sense 2) Includes the relevant variables and 3) Doesn't result in an outlandish conclusion.

When I interview potential candidates I often ask questions like this because I want to know how well they think on their feet, do they look flustered when tasked with a seemingly random forecast, and how well they can take constructive criticism.

Great post!

"Everybody needs money. That's why they call it money." - Mickey Bergman - Heist (2001)
 

A couple of people have told me recently that they have been asked questions about their willingness to travel. I'm wondering if they are running into issues with the Millennials not wanting to be on the road 24-7. I always thought everyone pretty much knew that travel was a big part of consulting work.

Have you seen these travel related questions popping up?

"Everybody needs money. That's why they call it money." - Mickey Bergman - Heist (2001)
 

It is actually quite interesting that you mention that. Generally, what you hear is that people who are in their first two year of consulting all want to travel. You get to live in new places, rack up miles and hotel points, save a ton of money on living expenses, etc. There are quite a few advantages.

As you can imagine, there also a few disadvantages. Your possessions can be summarized by the suit case you carry with you. You lose contact with a lot of friends. You are always working when in another city and therefore do not really get to enjoy it.

I can only speak from what I see in my company, but actually most people do not want to travel. They are happy to work from the office and even if they finish late, at least they go back to their own bed each night. I did find this very surprising and I would love to know whether it is the case within other companies as well.

 

WorkHorse: do you mean on how to build them or where to get the data for them?

If it is to build them, I am not entirely sure. All our training is done in company to be perfectly honest. I am happy to do a post on that but the (very simplified) principle of it is:

  • Gather all your inputs
  • These should feed into an output sheet
  • You will then have a control panel through which you can change your model's assumptions (e.g. GDP growth of X% for the next 5 years)
  • You will then have a summary sheet in which only the final information is presented (e.g. the toothpaste caps market in Europe, from 2012-2018)

This is incredibly crude so please do let me know if you would like me to expand.

If you were referring to the data, you will use research agencies, databases (e.g. Eurostat - not recommended), google (so much google...), market reports, etc.

 

Great post.

Paps:

Also note that the interviewer could not care less about whether you do know the real number or not. He will however expect some common sense when you answer your question (e.g. do not say that a typical household in the UK is composed of 10 people)

This. One of the most important part of a market size question is to always do a sanity check of your answer and always be ready to explain what assumption you've made that you think is most likely to be the source of the error. A interviewee may have the framework and method down cold and made no errors in their math, but if they somewhere made an assumption which leads to the average american household spending $1000 a month on McDonalds and just blurt it out without thinking, that's an automatic rejection. .

 

With regards to market sizing assumptions, you can find yourself in two types of situations. The first is a market sizing question that is general enough (e.g. how many boxers are sold in the UK every year?) that you should be able to make decent assumptions through the use of common sense.

The second is a market sizing question that is quite industry or country specific. If this is the case, common sense will go a long way but you also need to make use of the interviewer. Ask him whether your assumption makes sense. Far from being penalized, it is often viewed as a good thing. It means you think before you talk.

So here is a quick recap of things to do when preparing and goint through market sizing questions:

1) Practice - obvious one but you have no idea how many people come in for an interview without having ever attempted to solve a market sizing question. Look around you: there is a market for everything you see. Try to estimate it 2) Look up common information before the interview. Things like population figures (Europe, US, China, country you are applying to), avg. number of people in a household, size of the largest cities 3) Use common sense and ask questions

 

Victor Cheng's Case interview secrets - Covers the entire case, but has some good points and methods to market sizing Ace the Case - Lots of examples of market size questions and how you should approach them with issue trees. Case in point - Some examples of market size questions and methods, but as Case interview secrets, it focuses on how to solve entire cases and presents the "Ivy case system"

EDIT: Just realized you might not be looking for case prep books, but professional subject books. Interested in those as well.

 

Great post! In regards to the hr question, I have a lot of problems with this! I've done mindless back office work with nothing interesting (i'm not being modest). It was all individual work and if I came across a problem it was incredibly small and took less than a minute to resolve. What am I supposed to do in these cases? It's not to say I'm great at everything I do, it's just that everything I do is pretty straight forward/easy.. what can i say to the hr questions?

 

Good stuff. When I was in my first few interview, I never understood why someone would ask these questions either. However after a while you learn to play the game. To this day I don't understand why people put so much value on brainteasers or mental math questions for example. I guess at the end of the day it's all about filtering people out and using these helps.

I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. See my Blog & AMA
 

I never heard Trump say this, but this actually could be a good idea... anyway to answer your question. the usual FCFF formula would require some tweaks: Instead of FCFF = EBIT(1-tax rate) - Net Investments (Capex - D&A) - Delta Working Cap it would become EBT(1-tax rate) + D&A - Capex *(1-tax shield for capex) - Delta working cap

We'd see a lot less LBOs and less M&A and a lot more organic growth through heavy capex but the issue is that usually people need debt to pay for capex so he'd be just shifting the shield from interest to capex could amount to nil in terms of encouraging more Capex.

So is there anything in favor of moving the tax shield from interest expense to Capex ? yeah, killing LBOs and M&A if that's what he wants.

I think the dual shield we have (D&A & interest) is the best approach for encouraging heavy investments so perhaps giving a bigger shield could help if he feels companies don't do enough capex.

 

Use your brain.

They don't want some polished, replicated answer that you picked up on some online message board were 75% of the people only have second hand info. If a chick says "tell me about yourself", how do you sound attractive and desireable, while not being a dick or arrogant.

do the same thing...

 

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