Updated October 2026.
It amazes me that people will spend four years or more in college and take maybe one class on how to interview. I can’t think of a single skill you could invest time in, get great at, and earn a better return on. Here are the 50 interview questions I see come up most, plus the interviewing advice I’ve shared with job seekers for decades, refreshed for today’s video calls and AI-screened interviews.
The 50 most common interview questions
Practice answering these with a friend, spouse, mentor or family member. Better to make your mistakes with them than in the interview of your life. As my Vice President, Dennis Billingsley, says, “If you are answering these types of questions for the first time in an interview, you’re in trouble.” You know the questions are coming, so have your answers ready. Writing them down, and recording yourself answering on video, will give you better answers and more confidence.
- Tell me about yourself.
- What are your strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
- Why did you leave your last job?
- What are your accomplishments?
- Why do you want this job?
- Why do you want to leave your current job?
- Why do you want to come to work here?
- What are your personal and professional goals?
- What do you like most about your current job?
- What do you like least about your current job?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- Tell me about your favorite boss and what you liked about him or her.
- How would you describe yourself?
- What was the most difficult situation you have faced? How did you react?
- How would a close friend describe you?
- Give an example of a time when you took the initiative at work.
- Think of a crisis where things got out of control. Why did it happen and what was your role?
- Have you ever failed?
- If you had your life to live over again, what would you do differently?
- Why did you select your college or university?
- What college subjects did you enjoy the most and why?
- What college subjects did you enjoy the least and why?
- What are your hobbies?
- Did you hold any positions of leadership in any organizations?
- If you had the chance to repeat your career, what would you do differently?
- What past jobs have you held?
- What job did you enjoy the most?
- Why should I hire you?
- If you could meet anyone in history, living or dead, who would you meet and why?
- What words best describe you?
- What criteria are you using to evaluate the company you hope to work for?
- What do you know about our company?
- Describe your ideal boss.
- Give an example of when you have gone the extra mile.
- Describe your management style.
- Are you willing to relocate?
- How do you feel about working overtime?
- Have you ever been fired?
- Why should we choose you over any other candidate?
- Tell me about a time you had to learn something new quickly.
- How do you handle feedback, good and bad?
- Tell me about a disagreement with a coworker and how you worked it out.
- How do you stay productive when working remotely or on a hybrid team?
- How do you use AI tools in your work today?
- What is the biggest lesson your last role taught you?
- How do you prioritize when everything feels urgent?
- What would your first 90 days here look like?
- What motivates you to do your best work?
- What’s the most important thing you want me to remember about you from this interview?
Why interviewing is the skill that pays you back
Picture yourself as a ship at sea on a 40-year career voyage. All along the way, people and companies are making judgments about you. If you leave it to chance, you drift and move up only when you happen to bump into the right person at the right time. If you master interviewing and people skills, you take the wheel.
Most people never study how to interview. Read a few good books on it, do role-play interviews with a friend, take a Dale Carnegie or Toastmasters class, and you’ll be ahead of almost everyone you compete with. Will it take some work? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely YES! Skip the turn onto “I Give Up Avenue,” make the right turn on “Whatever It Takes,” and it leads to “The Heights of Success.”
Follow the Boy Scout motto, “Be Prepared.” It’s much better to be prepared and have no opportunity than to have an opportunity and not be prepared for it. Keep your resume and LinkedIn profile current. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called someone with a great opportunity and they weren’t ready. Opportunity knocks at funny times. Always be ready.
Master the first impression
People size each other up within seconds of meeting, then spend the rest of the conversation finding out whether they were right. That’s why the first impression may be the most important part of your whole interview.
In person, pick a seat facing the door your interviewer will come through and watch it like a hawk. Greet whoever comes out with a smile and that “Hi, you must be my interviewer” look. Skip the magazine while you wait, so you aren’t shuffling papers when your moment comes. On a video call, join a few minutes early, look into the camera, smile and be ready the second they appear.
Next, match their speed. I tell people to think in miles per hour. If your interviewer comes out at 80 and you’re at 30, you’re out. The same goes the other way. People like people who are like themselves, so come out neutral, leaning toward high energy, and gear up or down to match.
Then give a great handshake. Come in at a slight angle for a full, firm grip. The most successful people I know have the best handshakes, so practice with a friend until it’s second nature. The little things make all the difference.
Let the interviewer run the show
A lot of good candidates get ruled out because they fire off well thought out questions too early and throw the interviewer off rhythm. Your goal is to get into a real conversation. Sometimes you score more points by smiling and nodding and listening well. Try less to impress and more to be impressed.
Bring your own questions
Have 20 written questions for YOU to ask on every interview. You may not ask them all, but having them with you will boost your confidence. Remember MOPFI, taught by Dale Carnegie: Make Other People Feel Important. Here’s a great one: “You seem like the kind of person who could work anywhere you want. Why did you choose to work for this company?”
Just to be safe, don’t open with “What are the benefits?” or “What’s the salary?” Let them bring it up.
Salary negotiation
My favorite salary poem comes from my favorite book, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill:
I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid.
In salary talks, he who speaks first often loses. Try to get the employer to share the first number, and if you’re pressed, give a range rather than a single figure. Many job postings now list a pay range up front, so do your homework before you walk in.
References and research
Bring a clean list of strong references, or have it ready to email the moment they ask. It shows you’re organized. If you keep getting to the reference stage without an offer, have a trusted friend check what your references are actually saying.
Study the company before every interview. Read its website and recent news, watch its videos on YouTube, and look up your interviewer on LinkedIn so you know their background.
Get your head right
Arrive early. Better to be an hour early than a minute late. Use that time to picture your best interview ever, the one where everything clicked, and run it through your mind several times before you go in. Employers are looking for confidence and energy, so walk in with both. Dress a notch above what you think you need, because most people won’t tell you when your clothes are working against you.
The biggest part of interviewing is your attitude. Here’s a poem I’ve shared for years:
The Man Who Thinks He Can
If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t!
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch that you won’t.
If you think you’re outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself
Before you can win the prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can!
Say thank you
Send a thank you note after every interview. Email is fine, and a handwritten note still stands out. When you land the job, be a class act and let EVERYONE who helped during your search know where you’re going and thank them. Most people skip this step, so it’s an easy way to stand out.
Keep going
Watch my 18 interviewing tips video on YouTube, then keep reading: 18 Interviewing Tips, Tips for Job Seekers and How to Ace Your Next Executive Interview.
Hiring? We can help! Email Joseph Michaels International at info@josephmichaels.com. Looking for your next role? Visit josephmichaels.com.
Warm regards,
Joe Pelayo
Joseph Michaels International
Host, The Top Five News Show