There are some common interview questions that come up time and time again, so you should try to prepare your answers in advance. The thing to remember is to keep your answers brief and to the point. If you are faced with a tricky question, don’t panic. Just take a moment to think about your response before you answer.

Here are some of the most common interview questions:

Tell me about yourself.
This is a very common interview question. Talk mostly about work items that relate to the job for which you are being interviewed. Mention your qualifications, skills and career history.

What are your strengths?
This is a great opportunity to sell yourself! Pick three or four key strengths in advance. Make sure that you can back them up with real examples.

What are your weaknesses?
Call them ‘areas for improvement’ rather than ‘weaknesses’. You could mention a lack of experience in an area not vital to the role, or a weakness that might also be perceived as a positive.

What experience do you have that is relevant to this role?
Events, campaign and project experience, extensive travel, and organisation/supervision of junior staff are all good examples.

What sort of people do you find it difficult to work with?
Make it clear that you get on with most people, that you are very much a team player, and that ‘difficult people’ are those who don’t share your high professional standards.

What appeals to you about this role/firm/organisation?
This is where your research on the company will come in use.

Where would you like to be in your career five years from now?
This is an assessment of your ambition and career planning. You should discuss your long-term goals, but if you really don’t have any, say something that is appropriate to the position you have applied for.

Tell me about your proudest achievement.
Don’t think of this as bragging. It’s more of an opportunity to share your greatest career high. It’s also a chance to sell yourself, as your competitors will do gladly without hesitation.

What do you enjoy most about your current/last job?
The key here is to list areas of your current or previous jobs that are relevant to the position in question. You can mention that you are looking forward to expanding your experience/scope in these areas.

Why do/did you want to leave your current/last job?
Mention that you are/were looking for more challenges, responsibility, experience and a change of environment. Explain why you feel/felt you are/were no longer receiving these things from your current/last role. But remember not to speak negatively about your current/last company.

Tell me about a difficult situation you have had to deal with in the work place.
Choose a difficult work situation that you did not cause. Explain how you identified the problem, and the solution you applied to overcome it.

What interests do you have outside of your work?
This is often asked to try and ascertain your ‘downtime’ personality. If you don’t like certain things, don’t say you do to impress, just provide honest answers.

Overall, you don’t want to be caught off-guard during an interview. Spending a good amount of time thinking of potential questions and honest, well thought out answers will absolutely pay off. However you must also ensure that you do not come across as overly “rehearsed” in your answers.