No one can prepare for EVERY job interview question. Those sneaky interview questions that you wish you’d known were coming.

While there are as probably as many potential job interview questions as there are recruiters, it always is good to be prepared for anything. So, feast your eyes on this big fat checklist of potential interview questions.

Will you encounter them all? We hope no interviewer would be that sadistic.

Will you encounter a couple of them? Most likely.

Will you be well-served by being ready even if you’re not asked these very same ones? Without a doubt. To start your job interview planning adventure, have a look at these potential interview questions below.

Interviewing 101:

You could probably come up with most of these on your own. But just maybe there’s one interview question you never saw coming.

Why are you the right one to hire?
What strengths do you see yourself having?
In your previous position, what did you dislike?
How about weaknesses?
What’s your ideal employer like?
What draws you to this particular opportunity?
At what point did you most enjoy your work?
What attracted you to us?
Tell me something about you. (that’s not on your resume)
What do you bring to the table that others don’t or can’t?
Can you move to another location?
In your previous position, what were your responsibilities?
Why do you want to leave what you’re doing now?
What’s your familiarity with this line of work?
What do you know about us?
5 years from now where do you see yourself career-wise?
Any questions I can answer?

It’s all part of the job, isn’t it?

How did the last project you led turn out?
Share an example of a time you put forth that extra effort beyond what was required.
Have you had your work criticized?
Is there a time when everyone on your team wasn’t doing their part? How did you deal with it?
Can you recall a time you had to give challenging feedback? How did that go?
What’s your biggest failure and what did you learn?
When working with annoying people, how do you handle it?
As your supervisor, if I asked you to do something disagreeable, how would you handle that?
Can you share something difficult from your life and how you handled it?
Give me an example of how you handled a significant error.
Can you share how you’ve dealt with conflict in the workplace?
If you were at lunch and ordered a bacon cheeseburger with blue cheese, but the order came out with cheddar cheese and no bacon, how would you handle that?
How would you handle the discovery of fraud or other illegal activity?
Have you had a work assignment that was just too difficult? How did you handle it?
In the past two years, what has been your most challenging decision? How did you make it?
How would you handle multiple tasks with an unrealistic deadline?.

You want to get paid how much?

What do you have in mind for compensation?
What does your wage history look like?
If I were to provide you this wage you requested however allow you to create your work summary for the following year, what would it state?

So you’re looking for growth opportunities here?

What goals do you have for advancement?
Looking at the coming year how would you like to improve?
Specifically for this job, what goals would you have?
What additional training would your last supervisor recommend?

Don’t waste your time getting started:

How would you go about establishing a healthy bond with the team?
How long for you to make a substantial contribution?
What do you see getting done in the first 30 days of work?

Let’s Get Personal:

What’s your organizational style?
What would be your optimal workspace?
If you identified a preferred work culture — do you prefer organized or entrepreneurial?
What are some ideas you came up with or even implemented at work?
What methods or tools do you use to stay organized?
Would you say you’re detail-oriented or big-picture?
What’s your all-time proudest accomplishment.
Tell me a little about your favorite manager?
What do you think of your most recent boss?
Was there a particular person of influence in your career?
If you chose a personality type to work with, what would it be?
What are you most proud of?
What are your biggest life dreams?
Do you have a personal mission statement? How did you come up with it?
What would you like to become in the future?
If we ask your former employer to name three positive traits what would they be?
If your last manager had a negative to express about you, what would it be?
What do you like to do?
How would your closest friends describe your character in three words?
What are the three favorable character traits you wish you had?
If you were interviewing someone for this position, what would you be looking for?
Five words that define your character: Go!

Since we’re talking about you…

Who has been the biggest influence on your career?
What do you fear the most?
Tell me about your biggest regret and why?
What’s the single most valuable lesson you learned in school?
Why did you select your field of study?
What do you think you’ll miss about your work if you join us?
How do you handle being told no?
What is your best accomplishment beyond work?
What are the qualities of a great leader? How about a poor leader?
A leader should either be feared or liked. What do you think?
How do you feel about working for someone with less experience or practical knowledge than yourself?
On a 1-10 scale, what do you think of me as a recruiter?
Share something about yourself you prefer I didn’t know.
What’s the difference between good and exceptional?
What sort of car do you drive?
No right or wrong answer. You can be ANYWHERE in the world right now. Where is it?
What’s the last book you read cover-to-cover?
Do you subscribe to any magazines?
You won the lottery…NOW WHAT?
Who are your heroes?
What do you do just for fun?
What do you enjoy in your spare time?
Tell me about your favorite memory from childhood?

Brainteasers:

Some interviewers will use these types of interview questions not so much for their answers, but to see the reaction it gets when asked, Or, the way in which the interviewee attempts to compose an answer or even just consider it.

How many street lights are there in New York City?
If you could pick one superhero power, what would you choose and why?
How many golf balls are there in Florida?
How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?
Why are manhole covers round?
How many times a day does a clock’s hands overlap?
Describe the internet to someone who just woke up from a 30-year coma.
You are shrunk to the height of a nickel and thrown into a blender. Your mass is reduced so that your density is the same as usual. The blades start moving in 60 seconds. What do you do?

Still want more?

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
How would you test a calculator?
Sell this pencil to me.
What’s the number of times a clock’s hands overlap in a day?
Just how would certainly you consider an airplane without a scale?
How many golf balls can fit in a school bus?
Tell me 10 ways to make use of a pencil aside from writing.
Describe the internet to someone who just woke up from a 30-year coma.
If you were a pet, which one would you wish to be?
Why is a tennis ball fuzzy
How many gas stations are there in the United States? If you could eliminate just one of the US states, which one would certainly you do away with and also why?
With your eyes closed, tell me step-by-step how to link my shoes.
How much does the Starbucks in Times Square bring in, in annual revenue?

Being prepared for the interview questions you’ll encounter is such a large part of getting that job you’re really after. Even for that work-from-home job, you’ll need to do well on the interview, even if it is on Zoom, Skype or WebEx. Be sure to check our Career Search Engine too. https://veteransenterprise.com/want-to-work-from-home-kick-the-tires-first/

Workplace diversity has become a heated topic and a top priority for human resource departments. Today, companies are starting to realize that in order to truly attract top talent and run a business that appeals to the greatest amount of people, they need to be proactive about having a diverse talent acquisition plan. Some of them go the extra mile by posting openings on minority specific job boards.

But there are other simple things that any company can do to make sure they appeal to a wider talent pool and eliminate any unconscious biases during their hiring process. By taking intentional action on this front, companies can make sure they have a variety of perspectives contributing to their products — from women to minorities to veterans–and be more successful for it.

What companies can do to hire diversely

Blind Screening

Everyone makes unconscious judgments — often based on something as simple as a name on a resume. And this type of bias is so common that it’s quantifiable. In an age of great technological advancements and ever-increasing digital job applications and resumes, it is possible to filter categories such as name, college, etc. to remove potentially identifiable information about a candidate. This allows for hiring teams to review resumes without bias and the most qualified applicants can then be interviewed.

Having A Diverse Talent-Acquisition Team

Having a variety of people conducting screenings and interviews for a company helps establish checks and balances — as well as showing candidates that they’ll be welcomed and comfortable.

Using Inclusive Language in Job Descriptions

Diverse candidates, and particularly women, often inadvertently removed them from a talent pool before they even apply, due to job ads that include gender-biased wording. For instance, the words “dominate” and “competitive” are masculine-coded words. Other fields, such as teaching, experience the flip side by using feminine-coded words like “supportive”. To avoid this pitfall, focus job postings on company values and criteria that are important to job performance.

Emphasize Value-Based Hiring

Having well-defined company values and emphasizing them during all stages of the hiring process allows companies to create a team where everyone truly cares about the work they’re doing. Value-based hiring means, defining and committing to a set of organizational values and making job descriptions, interview questions, and employee evaluations reflect those values. Humans are inherently drawn to companies and positions where they feel they are valued. This philosophy helps draw out not only the most talented candidates, but also promotes employee retention.

Seek Out Candidates Where They Are

Companies who want to take their diversity search to the next level should think about posting jobs on sites specifically designed to appeal to non-traditional candidates. This requires going beyond posting vacancies on the standard Monster, Indeed and Job Service job boards. For instance, Equality Magazines oversee job boards on Hispanic Today, Black Perspective, Women in Business and Veterans Enterprise.

At the end of the day, diverse hiring comes down to one thing: intention. Companies must recognize the need to change their hiring practices. It is human nature to avoid change, however, in order to attract and build a more diverse work environment, traditional hiring strategies must be reconsidered and changed to attract candidates from non-traditional backgrounds.

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100 Plus Interview Questions to Think About