8 Common Job Interview Questions (And How to Answer Them)

Most interviews feel stressful for one simple reason: you don’t know which questions are coming. But in practice, interviewers reuse the same categories of questions over and over. If you prepare a strong set of stories, examples, and frameworks, you can answer confidently even when the wording changes.

Here are 8 of the most common interview questions, along with strategies to answer them effectively.

1. "Tell me about yourself."

This is rarely a personal question. It’s a prompt to give a 2–3 minute professional summary: what you do, what you’ve done, and what you’re aiming for next.

Use the "Present → Past → Pivot" structure:

Present: Your current role and scope (e.g., "I’m a backend engineer focused on distributed systems…").
Past: 1–2 high-signal wins with impact metrics.
Pivot: Why this specific role or company is the next logical step for you.

2. "Why do you want this job (and why us)?"

Great answers show fit and intent. Reference the company’s product, customers, and constraints—not just the brand name.

Role fit: "This role is heavy on X, and I’ve delivered X at scale…"
Company pull: "Your mission / product direction / engineering culture resonates because…"
Growth vector: "I’m excited to deepen my skills in Y, and this team is known for being strong in Y."

3. "What are your strengths?"

Choose two strengths tied to the role and prove them with evidence. Avoid generic traits like "hardworking" unless you attach a concrete example.

"One strength is building reliable services under tight deadlines—on Project A, I reduced incidents by 40% by adding circuit breakers and load shedding."

4. "What’s a weakness you’re working on?"

The goal isn’t confession—it’s self-awareness. Pick a real, non-fatal weakness and show the system you’re using to improve.

Weakness: Be specific, but ensure it isn't a dealbreaker for the role.
Impact: How it has manifested in your work.
Fix: What you changed (tools, habits, mentorship).
Proof: How you are measuring your improvement.

5. "Tell me about a time you dealt with conflict."

Behavioral questions are best answered with the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) plus one extra step: Reflection—what you learned.

Strong conflict stories focus on alignment and outcomes: how you clarified goals, handled disagreement respectfully, and delivered a better result because of the debate.

6. "Tell me about a failure (or a mistake)."

The best answers show ownership and improvement. Don’t blame external factors. Show how you changed your process: test coverage, review checklists, monitoring, rollout strategy, or stakeholder communication.

7. "Why are you leaving your current role?"

Keep it forward-looking and professional. A safe pattern is: "I’m proud of what I built at [Current Company], but I’m looking for more exposure to [Skill X], a larger scale, or a mission I connect with deeply."

8. "Do you have questions for us?"

Always ask questions. This is your chance to evaluate the team and show senior-level thinking.

Team impact: "What does success look like in the first 90 days?"
Technical direction: "What’s the biggest architectural challenge you’re tackling this year?"
Quality & Ops: "How do you approach incidents and postmortems?"
Collaboration: "How do product and engineering make tradeoffs?"

A simple prep plan for the next 7 days

Day 1–2: Build a story bank (3 wins, 2 conflicts, 1 failure, 1 leadership moment).
Day 3–4: Practice STAR answers out loud; tighten them to 90–150 seconds each.
Day 5: Research the company and draft "why us" bullets with specifics.
Day 6: Mock interview (record yourself); iterate on clarity and pacing.
Day 7: Light review, sleep, and logistics (setup, notes, links).

Closing thought

Interview performance is less about being perfect and more about being prepared. If you have a repeatable structure for your answers—and you’ve practiced saying them—you’ll sound clear, confident, and credible.