Blog Career & Leadership Development
Types of Interview Questions
Friday, November 23, 2018
Many people often feel extremely nervous during a job interview. This is normal, especially if you haven’t been interviewed in a long time. There are several types of questions that most employers will ask since they have to interview a large pool of candidates. Here is a list of different kinds of interview questions to help prepare you and calm your nerves.
Type 1: Direct Questions
These questions are close-ended in nature, and therefore will often require simply a yes or no answer. Ex. “Have you worked with Excel?”
Type 2: Non-Direct Questions
Non-direct questions are broad and more open-ended. Ex. “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”
Type 3: Hypothetical or Situational Questions
These questions are used to test your analytical, critical thinking, and problem solving skills. Ex. “How would you handle a difficult customer?”
Type 4: Behavior-Based Questions
These questions ask for specific examples from past experiences. Ex. “Tell me about a time when…”
To answer behavior-based questions, use the “STAR” technique:
Situation – Think of a situation in which you were involved that had a positive outcome.
Task – Describe the tasks involved in the situation.
Action – Specify what actions you took in the situation to complete the tasks and achieve your results.
Results – What specific result(s) followed due to your actions? How did others react?
Using the STAR technique, practice these behavioral-based questions below:
Time Management
- Tell me about a time when you had a large project with little time to complete it.
Conflict
- Give me an example of a time when you worked with someone you did not get along with. How did you handle it?
Leadership
- Tell me about a time when you led a team to completion of a project.
Problem Solving
- Describe for me a time when you had a large problem to solve. How did you solve it?
Use these examples to create additional questions on your own. The more prepared you are for the interview, the less you will be caught off-guard by a difficult question.
