Fair warning: a 5 minute read on 77 job interview questions you may be asked during your next interview. If you are interested in an easy way to get to know me, click here. This link will take you straight to the blog with the questions as well as my answers  as if I were a candidate. Either way, good luck in your interview!

There are two factors that play a crucial role during the interview process: what you say and what you don’t say. The latter refers to your appearance. I will publish a separate blog on the topic soon. The former is now in your hands after you read all the commonly and less commonly asked questions in this blog. To be prepared means to expect it to happen.

While the questions on this list have no particular order of importance, I divided them into three groups: work related questions, character related questions, and personal questions. Sometimes some of them fit into two categories. Certain questions are rather similar in context of the verbiage so I put them close together. Nevertheless, they may be asked so you’d better be prepared.

Disclaimer: None of these questions are mine. I compiled a list of them from various posts on social media. Human resources managers were happy – and maybe proud – to share their unique interview questions. I put them together so that you can get ready for the cannonade without feeling ambushed.

1. What’s the hardest thing you have done in your life?

2. On a scale from 1-10, how much do you want to work for us?

3. What information should I share to make it a 10?

4. When have you felt most like yourself at work and why?

5. What do you never want to do again?

6. What is your dream job?

7. Tell me about one of your projects that you are the most passionate about?

8. How hard have you fallen and how hard have you flown?

9. Tell me what you know about our company.

10. Tell me about your best boss.

11. Tell me about your worst boss.

12. You have to pick one:
a) you are making sure the details are correct
b) you are better at understanding the big picture

13. Can you tell me about a particularly challenging problem you had to solve in your previous role and how you went about solving it?

14. Tell me about a time when you went above and beyond what was required of you.

15. Tell me about a time a project went badly.

16. Describe the time when you did not perform your abilities.

17. What do you want to learn next and how can we help you get there?

18. What’s your superpower?

19. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

20. What is something that you’ve changed your mind about in the last 10 years?

21. If you could fit a pool with anything what would it be?

22. Tell me about your biggest accomplishment at your current or last job.

23. If you would fix something in your current team what would it be and why?

24. What kind of work gets you into flow state?

24. What types of projects or work give you energy?

25. What are you really good at or most interested in doing professionally?

26. What are you not good at or not interested in doing professionally?

27. What kind of work did you hate doing in your last role?

28. Tell me your story.

29. Tell me about a day at work for you, from start to finish.

30. Why are you leaving your current job or left your last job?

31. What’s the biggest risk you have taken throughout your career?

32. Tell me about your proudest moments.

33. Pretend I am your manager and fill in the blank in this sentence: As your manager, if I consistently_________, you and I are going to have a very hard time working together.

34. Can you tell me about a time you faced a challenge and how you overcame it? 

35. What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever worked on?

36. What can somebody do to get where you are twice as fast?

37. What project are you most proud of?

38. When we call your references, what will they tell us about you?

39. Why do you want to work here?

40. What’s your favourite question to be asked in an interview?

41. What was the biggest mistake you have made working on a project?

42. Looking back, if you had to pick a life experience, project or something that mattered, what would you do differently now and why?

43. What’s your biggest weakness and what have you done to address it?

44. What was your biggest setback and what would you have done differently today?

45. If you owned a company, what are the three things you would find most important?

46. What problem should we fix that we are not currently addressing as a company?

47. If you were the CEO what would you do or change first?

48. What would make you leave?

49. What question didn’t I ask you today but should have to learn why you are fit for this position?

50. Can you do the job?

51. What would you ask yourself, if you really wanted this job?

52. When can you start?

53. What questions were you really prepared for today that we didn’t ask?

54. Do you have questions for me?

1. Why is this position open to external candidates?
2. What traits will help me succeed long-term at the company?
3. What’s the hardest thing about the job?

55. Who are you outside of work?

56. Tell me about a law or a rule you broke recently and why?

57. If you and I were to disagree on something how would we go about resolving it?

58. What’s the biggest failure that taught you the most that has made your life better?

59. What drives you and gets you out of bed on weekends?

60. What do you consider as your top two achievements in life and why?

61. What should have I asked?

62. If you planted your heart, what would it grow into?

63. If you were a baked good, which one would you be and why?

64. If money wasn’t a constraint in your life, what would you spend your time doing?

65. If you had a magic wand what would you change about higher education?

66. Would you rather ask for a permission or forgiveness?

67. What do you like to do most when you are not working?

68. What are you passionate about?

69. Do you like purple?

70. Tell me the name of an artist you recently added to your playlist?

71. How do you utilize your downtime?

72. What kind of personal projects do you work on in your free time?

73. What do you want to learn next?

74. Is your heart a sponge or a fist?

75. What current book are you reading?

76. What’s your favourite joke?

77. What’s something about you that I wouldn’t know from looking at you resume?