Interview questions will vary depending on the role, organisation and interviewer, but there are some common questions that candidates are likely to come across.
Preparing for these in advance can help you give clearer, more confident answers without sounding rehearsed. The aim is not to memorise a script, but to think about the examples, experience and achievements you want to draw on and how they relate to the role.
Below, we look at 10 common interview questions, why employers ask them and how you can structure an effective answer.
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This is often used as an opening question and gives the interviewer an overview of your experience, current position and what has brought you to this opportunity.
Keep your answer focused on your professional experience rather than giving your full life story.
A simple approach is:
“I’m currently working as a Finance Manager, where I lead a small team and oversee monthly reporting and budgeting. Over the last few years, I’ve also taken on more responsibility for process improvement, including introducing a new forecasting approach that reduced reporting time. I’m now looking for a role where I can build on that experience and take on broader commercial responsibility, which is what attracted me to this opportunity.”
Avoid talking through your CV from beginning to end. Give the interviewer a clear overview of where you are now, the experience or achievements most relevant to the opportunity and why the role interests you. If you have a long or varied career history, you do not need to cover every role. Instead, give the interviewer a clear thread through your career.
This question helps interviewers assess your self-awareness and whether your strengths match the role.
Choose one or two strengths that are relevant to the job and support them with evidence. For a weakness, choose a genuine area for development that is not fundamental to the role, and explain what you are doing to improve.
“One of my strengths is stakeholder communication. In my current role, I regularly explain complex information to non-specialist teams, helping them understand the implications and make informed decisions. One area I’ve been working on is delegating more effectively, so I’ve become much more deliberate about giving others ownership rather than taking everything on myself.”
Choose strengths that are genuinely relevant to the role and give an example that shows how you have demonstrated them in practice. When discussing a weakness, avoid relying on clichés such as “I’m a perfectionist”. Choose a genuine area for development that does not undermine an essential requirement of the role, and explain what you are doing to improve.
The interviewer wants to understand your motivation for moving and whether this opportunity represents a positive next step.
Keep your answer forward-looking. Briefly explain what you are looking for next and connect this to the responsibilities or opportunities in the job description.
If your contract is ending, your role is being made redundant or there is another straightforward reason for leaving, explain this honestly and briefly before focusing on what you are looking for next.
“I’ve learned a lot in my current role, but I’m ready for a position with greater responsibility and more opportunity to work strategically. This role particularly appealed to me because of the broader remit and the chance to work closely with senior stakeholders.”
Keep your answer professional and forward-looking, even if your experience with your current employer has been difficult. Avoid criticising your manager, colleagues or organisation. Focus instead on what you are looking for next and why this particular opportunity appeals to you.
This helps the interviewer understand your ambitions and whether they broadly align with the opportunity.
Talk about the skills, responsibilities or experience you would like to develop rather than focusing only on a job title. Link your ambitions back to what the role could offer.
If you are interviewing for a temporary, contract or interim role, focus on the skills, experience or type of work you would like to build over the next few years, rather than trying to map out a specific job title or progression route.
“In five years, I’d like to have developed my expertise further and taken on greater responsibility. I’m particularly interested in building my experience in [relevant area], which is one reason this opportunity stood out to me.”
You do not need to have every stage of your career mapped out. Focus on the skills, experience and level of responsibility you would like to develop. Try to show ambition without making the role you are interviewing for sound like a short-term stepping stone to something else.
Interviewers ask this to understand what you are capable of and what you consider meaningful success.
Choose an achievement that is relevant to the role and shows the skills, experience or qualities the employer is looking for. Briefly explain the challenge, what you personally did and the result.
“One of my proudest achievements was leading the introduction of a new reporting process across three teams. I worked with each team to understand their needs, created a simpler approach and supported the rollout. It reduced reporting time and gave senior leaders more consistent information.”
Choose an achievement that helps the interviewer understand what you could bring to the role. Be clear about your own contribution rather than only describing what the wider team achieved. Where possible, explain the difference your work made, whether that was improving a process, solving a problem, delivering a project or achieving a measurable result. Your example does not need to be a major project or headline achievement. Improving a process, solving a difficult problem, receiving positive feedback, supporting colleagues or delivering a strong outcome can all be good examples if they are relevant to the role.
This question assesses how you manage difficult conversations, differing opinions and working relationships.
Use the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method and choose an example where you remained professional, listened to different perspectives and worked towards a constructive outcome.
“During a project, a colleague and I had different views about how we should prioritise the work. I took the time to understand their concerns and explained my own reasoning, keeping the conversation focused on what the project needed to achieve. We agreed a revised approach that took both perspectives into account and allowed us to keep the project on track."
Choose an example that shows you can handle disagreement professionally and constructively. Avoid presenting yourself as someone who never experiences conflict, as differences of opinion are a normal part of working with others. Focus on how you listened, communicated and helped move the situation towards a positive outcome rather than on who was right or wrong.
The interviewer wants to understand how you manage competing demands while maintaining the quality of your work.
Give a specific example and explain how you prioritised, communicated and stayed organised. Choose an example that reflects the type of pressure you may encounter in the role.
“In my current role, I regularly manage several deadlines at once. During a particularly busy month, I prioritised tasks according to urgency and business impact, agreed expectations with stakeholders and reviewed progress daily. As a result, I met all key deadlines and kept stakeholders updated throughout.”
Give the interviewer evidence rather than simply saying that you “work well under pressure”. Explain how you prioritise, communicate and stay organised when demands increase. Avoid suggesting that regularly working excessive hours is your main way of coping, as employers will usually want to understand how you manage your workload effectively.
Interviewers ask this question to understand how you approach problems, respond to pressure and deal with difficult situations. They are usually less interested in the challenge itself than in how you handled it and what you learned.
Use the STAR method to keep your answer focused:
Choose an example that demonstrates skills relevant to the job description, such as problem-solving, resilience, communication, leadership or stakeholder management.
“In my previous role, we introduced a new system shortly before a key reporting deadline, which created delays and confusion across the team. I identified the main issues, worked with colleagues to agree a temporary process and created clear guidance so everyone knew what they needed to do. We met the reporting deadline, and the guidance was then used to support the wider rollout of the system.”
Choose a challenge that gives you an opportunity to demonstrate skills that are relevant to the role. Keep the focus on what you did to address the situation and what you learned from it. Avoid spending most of your answer blaming other people or explaining why the problem was outside your control.
Interviewers use this question to test whether you have researched the organisation and are genuinely interested in the opportunity.
Identify two or three specific reasons the organisation or role appeals to you. These could relate to its work, values, priorities, culture or the responsibilities outlined in the job description.
“I was particularly interested in the organisation’s current priorities and the emphasis it places on developing its people. The role also combines the technical work I already enjoy with greater stakeholder responsibility, which is exactly the direction I want to take my career.”
Make your answer specific to the organisation and the role. General comments such as “it seems like a great organisation” will tell the interviewer very little about your motivation. Use your research to identify what genuinely interests you, whether that is the organisation’s work, values, priorities, culture or the responsibilities of the role itself. Look beyond the organisation’s homepage. Recent news, its values and priorities, annual reports or strategy documents, and the job description itself can all help you identify specific reasons the opportunity interests you.
This question gives you the opportunity to summarise why you are a strong match for the role. The interviewer wants to understand what you can offer and how closely your experience, skills and motivation align with what they are looking for.
Choose two or three strengths that are directly relevant to the job description. These could include:
Rather than simply listing your strengths, back them up with brief evidence. Finish by explaining why the opportunity appeals to you and what you believe you could bring to the organisation.
“My experience is a strong match for the role because I have several years’ experience managing complex projects and working with a wide range of stakeholders, which are both key parts of the position. In my current role, I recently led a project that was delivered ahead of schedule and introduced a more efficient way of working for the wider team. I also have strong knowledge of the sector and I’m keen to build on that experience by taking on greater responsibility.”
Treat this as an opportunity to bring together the strongest points you have made during the interview. Focus on two or three things that make you a good match for the role and support them with evidence. Avoid comparing yourself with other candidates or relying on broad claims such as being hardworking, passionate or a good team player without explaining what that looks like in practice.
You may also be asked about your salary expectations, particularly as the recruitment process progresses.
Do some research before the interview so that you understand the typical salary range for your role, experience and location. If a salary range has been advertised, use this as your starting point. If you are working with a recruiter, they can also help you understand the salary range and overall package before the interview.
You might say:
“Based on my experience and the responsibilities of the role, I would be looking for a salary within the advertised range. I’d also be interested in understanding the overall package, including any benefits, before making a final decision.”
Have a realistic idea of the salary range you would consider. Avoid giving a figure with no explanation, but also try not to be so vague that the employer cannot tell whether your expectations are broadly aligned. If you are working with a recruiter, speak to them beforehand so you understand the salary range and wider package.
In some interviews, you may be asked an unexpected question. If this happens, stay calm and take a moment to think before answering.
If needed, ask the interviewer to repeat or clarify the question. It is also perfectly acceptable to say, “That’s an interesting question, let me think about that for a moment.”
Where possible, explain your thinking and relate your answer back to the role or relevant qualities such as adaptability, creativity or problem-solving. An unexpected question may be designed to see how you think, communicate or respond when you have not prepared an answer in advance.
An interview is a two-way conversation, so it is worth preparing a few questions of your own.
Focus on questions that help you understand the role, team and organisation, while also showing that you have thought seriously about the opportunity.
For example:
For more ideas, read our guide to the best questions to ask during an interview.
Preparing for common interview questions can help you organise your thoughts, choose your strongest examples and approach the interview with greater confidence.
If you are interviewing for a role through Sellick Partnership, your recruitment consultant can help you prepare by sharing information about the employer and interview process, discussing likely areas of focus and helping you think through the examples you want to use.
You can also contact Sellick Partnership to speak to one of our specialist recruitment consultants or browse our latest vacancies.
