Job Interview Questions and Answers

Tag: Best answers to the job interview question

  • Why are manhole covers round?

    This question is all about creativity and imagination, with a hint of knowledge. It’s one of the Microsoft interview questions that gained popularity in the 90’s. There is no definitive answer, but there are a number of reasonable ones.

    Matter of fact:
    “Because manholes are round.” This may lead to a follow up question, “why are manholes round.”

    Practical matter:
    “Because no matter how they’re positioned, round covers cannot fall through round manholes.” This isn’t actually true, as there is a whole class of polygons with constant width and diameter, but most interviewers won’t know this, even though the original interviewers at Microsoft did know this.

    One of the reasons most cited by people who deal with manholes leads to this answer.

    “It’s easier for a single person to move them around because, unlike any other shape, they can be rolled.”

    Some answers take a little more imagination than others, but are still based in the real world.

    “Round manhole covers have no edges. If one is dislodged and a car hits it, it won’t flatten the tires.” Still, people would probably not like the results of hitting a dislodged round manhole cover.

    Some lesser used answers will lead to a more positive reaction from the interviewer:

    Cost:
    “It’s cheaper to manufacture a round manhole cover to fit a man sized round hole, than it is to manufacture a square man sized manhole cover that fits a square hole – there’s less surface area needed.” This answer has been mentioned by some engineers.

    Practicality:
    “When workers need to bring equipment, or cables, into the hole, they won’t snag on a round hole like they would on the edges of a square hole.”

    The question has become so common that it often no longer serves its purpose. The original intent was not to get a specific answer, but to see how a person arrived at and explained whatever answer they gave. That included measuring people’s willingness to answer the question. The question was designed to measure logical thinking and open mindedness, more than knowledge of trivia. So if you can explain how you arrived at the answer, almost anything is fine.

    Odd answer:
    “Heavier people may have a harder time fitting into a manhole. They can more easily, and less painfully, squeeze into round holes than square holes or other shapes with corners.”

    The question may seem silly, but avoid answering like this. “Nobody told me I’d have to crawl down manholes for an accountant job.”

  • Why were you late for the interview?

    The best answer for this question is not to have to answer it. An interviewer knows if you can’t manage to make the interview on time, you’re a big risk for being late to work, missing deadlines, and mismanaging time in general. But, if something happens that makes it impossible to be on time, be prepared to explain it well.

    Overslept:
    “The alarm clock didn’t go off. I just overslept. It usually doesn’t happen.” The next thing most interviewers will say to this is “thanks for coming…Next!!!”

    Traffic Accident:
    “There’s a huge accident on the highway, a plane actually crash landed right across all the lanes, and all the alternates routes were jammed as a result. I left on time to get here an hour early, but there was no beating this traffic.”

    Any traffic excuse better relate to very unusual circumstances. Employers don’t want to hear about heavy traffic or accidents, no matter what. But if a bridge crumbles, or there’s a fire, an earthquake, or a real disaster, then there might be an excuse. But if there is, a call ahead is in order.

    “Hello, I’m scheduled for an interview at 9AM this morning. I wonder if we can move that back to 10AM. I’m on the train, and the tracks are blocked by a stalled semi truck. Word is it’s all about 45 minutes behind schedule.”

    In such situations it may even be better, if possible, to move the interview to another day or much later time, such as afternoon when an interview was scheduled for the morning. One important element of time management is respect for the other person’s schedule. Leaving a client hanging, or being late for a sales meeting, destroys sales.

    Miscommunication in time is a decent excuse, as long as the mistake was on the interviewer’s part.

    “I have the email on my phone, you wrote that our interview is for 10AM, not 9AM. I’m sorry we got crossed up.”

    Allowing for others’ mistakes shows a positive attitude, especially in a situation in which you gain by not embarrassing the other person.

    “Darn it, I thought you said 10AM, sorry.” Watch for eye rolling after an answer like this.

    If there isn’t a good reason, something out of the ordinary, this situation can’t be spun. Don’t make up stories, apologize and hope the interview turns better.

    This answer, given on a recent interview, is a loser. “I’m always late, get used to it.”

  • Are you willing to relocate?

    Interviewers ask this question, especially if you currently live far from the new potential job, such as in a different city or state. Sometimes they ask it if you live a long commute away even in the same city. In those cases the answer is obvious – you wouldn’t interview at a job in another state if you weren’t willing to relocate. But, they may have other offices and want to know if relocation is a possibility if needed.

    The first element to this is to have already decided whether or not you’re willing to relocate. If you say yes when you’re really not willing, you’ll find yourself out of a job in a short time. You can categorize your desire into a number of levels of willing or not willing to travel, and express the answer accordingly.

    Location restrictions can be as simple as setting a maximum commute time or mileage for a company with many branches in the same city. “I want to stay in the city, but I’m willing to commute up to 30 miles.” That closes the possibility of far away branches, but leaves open the possibility of working at a few branches around the city. Your range might be larger – “I can handle up to 100 miles, even if I have to stay in a hotel but can return home on the weekends.” A larger range is better, but make sure you’re really willing to travel that far. Some people commute daily from city to city on a train or even by airplane.

    Another restriction you can place on relocation is financial. Maybe you aren’t willing to relocate for one position, but are for another that pays more. “I can’t relocate for a position like this one, it just doesn’t pay enough, but if a promotion is possible down the line, I’d relocate.” Or, maybe you can relocate with a little financial help – “If the company pays relocation costs, then yes, I can relocate out of the city.”

    You can say no for now, but leave the possibility open for the future. Express this answer in general terms.

    “Relocation isn’t an option now, but who knows what the future brings.”

    If you’re completely open, make it known in direct terms. But be sure you can really do it.

    “I’ll work wherever the job is. So if a move is needed, let me know.”

    This answer, given at a recent interview, could have come from a politician. “I’m not able to relocate, but I’m willing.”

  • What were your favorite subjects in school and why?

    Be honest as much as possible, but face it, an answer that doesn’t include something to do with your career and the job you’re seeking is a useless answer to this question. Hopefully you’re interviewing for jobs that have to do with your career, and thus with subjects you enjoy. But even if not, relate the subject to the job.

    Some tips for this answer:

    • Mention subjects directly connected with the job. For example if the job is at a bank, mention you enjoyed accounting and finance classes.
    • Mention special projects outside of school work as these show a keen interest in the subject and field. For example, maybe you won an award at a science fair, and are now an engineer.
    • Mention subjects related to the main subject or job. For example, if you’re interviewing at a consulting firm mention part time classes you took in communications, or any activity or class that had something to do with interacting with people.
    • Mention subjects or activities related to general job skills. “I’m President of our home owner’s association” shows leadership, as well as responsibility to the community, and by extension to a boss or company.

    Engineer/Math:
    “I always loved math, from the time I first learned numbers. The more advanced the classes, the more I loved the challenge, and the feeling after learning something new or solving a problem. That’s why I’m a good engineer, because for me it’s not the comfort of having the solution, but the challenge of finding it. I teach an adult education math class at the junior college as a way to keep up my skills and to help other people learn what I love.”

    Florist/Art:
    “Art was my favorite subject. I remember finger painting in preschool, and I hand made all the decorations for our senior prom in HS – they were a big hit. I volunteer as a gardener at a local retirement home – I even take care of their inside flowers and plants to help bring some beauty to the people who can’t get out.”

    Salesman/Science:
    “I was always curious about how things work, which is why I liked science so much. But I love to talk to – I was captain of the debate team in College. Sales is the perfect combination for me – psychology, knowing how people think and react, and communication, talking but also listening. They’re all important skills.”

    For some jobs, this man’s answer might be important. “Recess!” We just can’t think of any.

  • What were your responsibilities in your last position?

    With this job interview question the interviewer wants an idea of what you’ve done at a previous job as a measure of whether you can handle the responsibilities on the new job. Here are some keys to answering this question well.

    Be honest, don’t make something up for this answer. The interviewer or hiring manager may check with someone at your last job, and they may ask them about your responsibilities. You can be honest while selling your responsibilities as important – they were important to the company or they wouldn’t have had someone in the job.

    For example, if you did something as simple as bring the morning paper to the boss’ desk, here are some answers you might give.

    “I provided daily reports to my boss about the current business conditions” is technically true, but someone asking about it and hearing “he brought me the morning paper” won’t be impressed.

    A better answer is “One of the things I did was to bring the boss the paper every morning. She liked to read up on current events, so that got her day started on the right foot.”

    Be specific and positive about what you did whenever answering questions about previous positions.

    “I ran overnight reports that weren’t ever read by anyone, it was a waste of time.” Maybe it’s true, but why mention it if it was meaningless?

    “There were reports that needed babysitting every night to make sure they completed. It wasn’t glamorous work, but it was necessary. Sometimes the reports weren’t read, but if they were needed, I made sure they were run and were accurate.” The same situation, expressed that way, paints you as a dependable person who doesn’t question the boss or consider some work “beneath” you.

    Tie previous responsibilities to the new position. This shows that you understand the potential job, and have experience for it.

    “I maintained a mailing list and wrote a weekly newsletter to all our customers. It was an important part of our overall marketing and customer retention efforts. I see you have a weekly newsletter, I look forward to working on it too.”

    One job applicant seemed to not want the new job, and to not like work in general. “I started out with a lot of responsibilities, but over time I would fail so badly they’d give them to someone else. I loved that job – I ended up getting paid for doing nothing.”

  • There’s a fire, and you can only save three things. What are they?

    Short of starting a fire to see what you’d carry out with you, this is the one of the best ways the interviewer has of determining your values and priorities. It’s a similar question to “if you could choose one thing to have while stranded on a desert island, what would it be?”

    Two elements are important when answering this question in a way that reflects positively on you.

    • Items with more than monetary value
    • Explain the reason you’d save these items

    Some items are self explanatory:
    “I’d save my baby, my husband and my dog. My dog is part of the family.” Maybe something else would be more important than the family pet, but if an interviewer needs an explanation for why you’d save your baby or spouse, you might be looking for a job in the wrong place.

    Be prepared for a follow up if you mention people, like “Let’s say people and pets can make it out on their own, what things would you grab?”

    Here again, it’s best to mention items with more than just a hard dollar value.

    Heirloom:
    “My important files, a sweater, and the painting my mother gave us when we were married. It’s not worth much, and it’s not much to look at, but we always keep it in a prominent place because I loved my mother, god rest her soul.”

    Sometimes sheer practicality is the best answer.

    “Even if I could save three things, I wouldn’t. My priority is my family and myself. That’s what they say in fire safety courses, don’t worry about things, get yourself and your family out of there.” It may not stick to the spirit of the question, but with the explanation it shows preparedness and attention to expert advice.

    Some other good answers include:

    Good Health:
    “If I could save three items I’d grab my son’s medicine, his jacket, and a blanket for my wife and I.” Talk about a father thinking about the family.

    Nothing in the question suggests the fire has to be at home. For a fire at the office this answer works:

    “I’d grab my laptop, my business cards and the morning’s printed reports.”

    It’s OK to mention work items like a laptop in a home fire scenario, but unless the interviewer is a pretty callous work-a-holic they’ll consider personal things important over a 100% focus on work.

    Nobody’s sure if this guy got the job, but his answer made his hobby, or obsession, clear. “My easy chair, the big screen TV and the cable box, I don’t want to miss any games.”

  • What was your greatest professional accomplishment?

    There are a number of keys to answering this question well. Knowing the company and new job is important, so that you can choose the right accomplishment and relate it to the position. Elements include:

    • Be honest, it’s fine to spin a little, but choose a real accomplishment.
    • Provide details – what you did, how you did it, and the results.
    • Relate it to the position you’re seeking.
    • Keys interviewers like to hear – reduced expenses, increased revenue, solved a problem or multiple problems, increased the company’s reputation.
    • If there’s proof, even better, provide it.

    Even mundane accomplishments might be big ones, so keep track of what you accomplish on the job for the next job search.

    General relation to new job:
    “I was in charge of the weekly newsletter, emailed to our mailing list of 1000 users. We built the email by hand, then sent it out using our own mail server – it was really slow and didn’t allow tracking except for who opened the email. I found a service that charged only $100 per month, had automated tools that cut the build time in half, and allowed us to track clicks on specific items. Our sales went up 10% after a few months of using that service – it was well worth the money. I always keep an eye out for methods to increase results beyond a small initial cost. You can read about it in the May Business Journal, they did a case study on it, I brought a copy.”

    Online store:
    “My last company spent over $2 million dollars building their online store, and stocking it with all their products. When I started work there, our new team realized Amazon had all the same items, and a store front for a small % of each sale. It was a bottom line deal – the Amazon fee per item came out to less than the incremental maintenance costs. So we switched to Amazon – the added bonus is the system was easier so we were able to list items more quickly. Raw sales increased, profits increased, and cost decreased. That may not be the specific solution for your company, but it’s one of the options I have in mind. I emailed the Amazon merchant URL to you.”

    If the accomplishment was all you, then mention it as all you. But don’t hesitate to mention working with a group, as employers love team work.

    Some accomplishments don’t impress no matter how they’re spun. “I found a sale on baloney, and suggested to everyone at the office they should eat sandwiches to save money.” That is baloney.

  • What kind of tree would you be if you were a tree?

    This is another example of the modern interview questions designed to get into your mind – your self image – and to throw you a curve to see how you react when not on safe ground.

    There’s really no wrong answer to a question like this, as long as there’s a good explanation for the selected tree. As strange as it sounds, making it fit to the position is a big plus.

    “Being in retail, I pride myself of always being available for extra shifts and not calling in sick. I’m an Evergreen, green and alive 365 days a year.”

    Some people take the purely pragmatic approach:

    “I’m not a tree, and I can’t be a tree, so please let’s move to the next question.”

    That type of answer, while acknowledging the seemingly silly nature of the question, won’t score any points with the interviewer. There’s a more productive way to say the same thing.

    “I like to keep my mind in the real world, so instead of thinking about the type of tree I would be, let’s just say like a tree with strong roots I’m firmly grounded.”

    In fact, trees in general have a number of positive aspects, any one of which make a good answer to the question.

    “I can’t think of only one, but I like to compare my curiosity to the trees’ leaves. Just as they spread out to gather the sun, I spread my mind to gather a lot of different information – I’m always learning new things.”

    When choosing a specific tree, stay away from those with negative connotations like the weeping willow. Everything about it, from its look to its name, denotes drooping or weakness. Choose strong trees, or trees with long life spans such as:

    • Oak
    • Sequoia
    • Pine

    In the answer, include the reason for choosing the tree.

    Strong:
    “I’d be an Oak, strong and steady.”

    Flexible:
    “Pines aren’t as strong as, say, an Oak tree. They’re the kinds of trees that bend but don’t break. That’s me – flexible and resilient.”

    Another good strategy for this question is to choose a specific tree.

    That old tree:
    “I recently read about a pine tree in the UK that’s over 4,500 years old. It’s the oldest living tree in the world. I’d be that tree – see and experience a lot, but always be around when needed.”

    The question is whimsical, so don’t take it too seriously like this candidate did. “I’m a tree after a forest fire, I’ve been burned, and I hope you don’t plan to do the same.”

  • What one thing in your life would you change?

    This is a tough question. Some answers can make you sound weak or indecisive, while variations of “I’d leave it just as it is,” especially without a good explanation, indicate someone who goes through life without much thought or care for their direction or goals.

    Three keys to this question are:

    • Pick a key turning point or missed opportunity
    • Connect it to actions being taken to make the change
    • Provide examples

    For instance, maybe you changed careers later in life.

    Late Choice:
    “I like where my life is right now, but I do wish I had gotten involved in this profession right from the start. I spent some years going from job to job, career to career, but once I got involved in this career, got some experience and took some classes, I started achieving worthwhile things. For example, being able to impact a bottom line by saving my company $100,000 by outsourcing design work really felt good.”

    There are a lot of other good answers, based of course on what really happened.

    Management Track:
    “I think I got onto a management track too early, based on the needs of former employers. Not that I didn’t enjoy it or didn’t do a good job, but I could have done a better job if I had spent some time on the line. That’s what a few years ago I started rolling up my sleeves and doing some of the work myself. Seeing things from other people’s perspective is important, as is knowing the every day concerns of all the different tasks in the department.”

    Communication:
    “I don’t think I’m as good a communicator as I could be. I’m taking communications classes and I’ve really come a long way. I could never speak in public before, but now I give monthly business seminars at the Jr. College to hone my communications skills.”

    If you wouldn’t change anything, give an explanation that leaves you sounding perceptive and thoughtful.

    “I guess I could go back to a lot of decisions and change them, in retrospect doing one thing rather than another looks better. But who knows, where’s the proof that turning left on this day would have been better than turning right? I’m happy with my life, personally and professionally, and I’m continuing to grow. Without all my decisions and experiences I wouldn’t be who I am. I’d leave it alone.”

    This job seeker came up with a great answer. “I wouldn’t change anything in the past, I’d change something in the future, on this job. So give me the chance to make that happen. Hire me.”

  • What one thing would you change about your last job?

    The danger in answering this question at face value is that it can make you appear to look backwards instead of looking forward to what you can affect. There are a number of ways to answer it.

    The first is to refuse to look back, and only talk about the future events you can affect. Make sure to at least mention the past as far as learning from it.

    Organization:
    “I’m not a person who looks back at what might have been. What happened in the past happened. I learned from it and moved forward. I am organized and patient so that I can tackle what comes efficiently and with the best of my abilities.”

    Great Team:
    “I wouldn’t change a thing, because those experiences added up to make me what I am today. One thing I learned was that a good team, working well together, can handle any problem. That’s why, as a manager, I surround myself with the best possible people. As one of my former bosses told me, ‘surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.’”

    Another way is to give a specific example, then explain what you learned from it. Talk about how that created a better outcome, or will create a better outcome in the future. Looking back is fine, as long as you don’t leave it at “boy, I wish I had done that differently,” without explaining how you’d do it differently.

    Fired:
    “I was fired from my first job because I wasn’t meeting the sales quotas. I was working hard, don’t get me wrong, but now I know if hard work doesn’t result in sales, work harder. I’ve never missed quotas since then, in fact I’ve always exceeded them.”

    Poor communication:
    “A few years ago a co-worker and I didn’t get along. We never talked about it, or communicated in any way, except to trade barbs. It hasn’t happened since then, but if I ever have trouble like that again I’ll sit down with the other person. If that doesn’t work, I’ll ask the boss to be a mediator. Communication is key.”

    Tardiness:
    “I was notoriously late for my second job. They never fired me, I left when the company restructured, but looking back I can see it created conflict with my boss and some bad feelings with co-workers. After that, I’ve always been more careful to manage my time and to be on time all the time. My last boss commended me for always being on time.”

    If the interview isn’t going well, maybe you’ll feel the same way as the woman who gave this answer. “I regret coming to this interview.”