Most interviews are the same twelve questions in a different order. Tell me about yourself. Why this role. Why us. A strength, a weakness. A conflict, a failure, a success. Why you are leaving. Where you want to be. Salary. Do you have questions. Each one has a reason the interviewer asks it, and the answer that works is the one that gives them that reason's answer in under two minutes with a fact in it. Prepare five stories from your work, and the twelve are covered.
Key points
- Twelve questions cover most of a first and second interview. Prepare all twelve.
- Each has a reason behind it. Answer the reason, not the words.
- Five stories with a number in each cover the eight questions that want a story.
- Under two minutes an answer. Out loud, timed, the day before.
- The last question, "do you have questions", is also a question. Have three.
The twelve
| Question | What they are asking | The shape of the answer |
|---|---|---|
| Tell me about yourself | Can you summarise, and is the summary this role? | Ninety seconds: what you do, the one thing that proves it, why this role. Own guide. |
| Why do you want this role? | Did you read the posting? | The work in the posting, in your words, and the part you want most |
| Why us? | Did you read anything about us? | One fact about the company that is the reason. Own guide. |
| What is your greatest strength? | Can you name one and prove it? | One, with a story and a number |
| What is your greatest weakness? | Are you honest, and do you work on it? | A real one, what you do about it, evidence. Own guide. |
| Tell me about a conflict | How do you handle people? | A story: the disagreement, what you did, how it ended |
| Tell me about a failure | Do you own mistakes and learn? | A real failure, what you did after, what changed |
| Tell me about a success | What are you proud of, and is it the kind of work we do? | The story with the biggest number that fits the role |
| Why are you leaving? | Will you say something bad about an employer? | One sentence, forward-looking, no complaint |
| Where do you want to be in five years? | Does this role lead somewhere you want to go? | A direction, not a title, that this role is a step on |
| What are your salary expectations? | Are we in the same range? | A range from the market. Own guide. |
| Do you have questions for us? | Did you prepare, and do you want this? | Three questions only this company can answer. Own guide. |
Twelve questions, five stories. Prepare the stories and the questions take care of themselves.
The eight that want a story
Strength, weakness, conflict, failure, success, and most variants of "tell me about a time" want a story. The guide on behavioural questions has the shape: the situation in one sentence, what you did in three or four, what changed with a number. Five stories, chosen so that together they cover the posting's must-haves, answer all eight. The same story can answer two questions when the framing changes: a success story told for "strength" leads with the skill, and told for "success" leads with the result.
The four that want a reason
Why this role, why us, why are you leaving, and where in five years. These are not stories. They are one or two sentences with a fact. "Why us" wants a fact about the company. "Why this role" wants the posting read back in your words. "Why are you leaving" wants one forward-looking sentence: "I want to work on X, and this role is X." "Five years" wants a direction: "doing this work at a larger scale, with a team."
Never a complaint. A complaint about a former employer answers a question they did not ask, which is whether you will complain about them.
Length
Ninety seconds to two minutes for a story. Thirty seconds for a reason. Timed, out loud, the day before. The guide on the interview preparation checklist has the hours. A story that runs past three minutes loses the room, and the room will not tell you.
When you have no story
For a question like "tell me about a time you led a team" when you never have: say so in one sentence, then tell the closest story. "I have not managed a team. The closest is the project where I coordinated three contractors, and here is how that went." The honest sentence costs nothing and the closest story answers the real question, which is whether you can.
Practice, on this site
Practice runs these twelve and the variants, one at a time, with your answer spoken or typed, and a grade that says whether the answer had a situation, an action, a result and a number. It is the day-before run-through with someone listening. The guide on mock interviews has how to use it, and Prepare writes the questions the posting implies, which are the twelve plus the role's own.
Questions
What if they ask something not on the list?
Most of what is not on the list is a variant of something on it. "Tell me about a time you had to learn something fast" is the success story with the learning in front. "What would your last manager say about you?" is the strength. Map it, then answer.
Do I memorise answers?
Memorise the stories, not the words. A memorised answer sounds like one. A story you have told out loud twice comes out differently each time and sounds like you.
How do I answer "why are you leaving" after a layoff?
One sentence with the fact: "The company cut the team in March, and I have used the time since to do X." The guide on explaining a layoff has the sentence.
Is it fine to pause before answering?
Yes. Three seconds of thought reads as thought. Starting to talk before you know the story reads as the other thing.
What about technical questions?
Separate preparation, in the format the role uses, which the recruiter or the posting will tell you. The twelve still come, usually in the first and last interviews.