Do you have a job interview coming up? The most important part of interview preparation is practicing your responses to common interview questions. Knowing in advance how you will frame your experiences, strengths and weakness can go a long way in stressing less when attending interviews.

Of course, it may be tempting to memorize word-for-word your responses to these questions but you should avoid such case. It is a good practice to memorize relevant details, stories, points or career highlights that would address them and practice answering these questions.

Some of the questions are:

• Tell me about yourself
• Why do you want this job?
• Why should we hire you?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What are you looking for in this new position?
• What is your expected salary?
• How did you learn about this job?
• What do you do outside of work?
• Tell me about a time that you faced a challenge.
• What is your biggest accomplishment?
• Do you have any questions for us?

Tell me about yourself

This is a classic interview opener. Keep it relevant and to the point. Start with where you are now, then discuss how you got there. Connect that with how the job you’ve applied for and why you are a good fit for it based on your experience or interests and passions.

Why are you leaving your current job?

This job can be hard to answer. Especially if the reasons you are leaving are not great. You should never, under any circumstances talk negative about your prior workplace, boss or colleagues.

Keep it succinct and have a positive spin. Be honest about your reasoning but not too detailed

What is your expected salary?

You can’t go around this. You need to do your research ahead of time to know the average salary and what you are comfortable to accept. Knowing what you are worth will help you get the pay you deserve.

There are few strategies to answer this question:

• Flip the question and ask what is the range for the role is
• Try to delay answering until later in the interview process
• Provide a range you are comfortable accepting.

 Do you have any questions for us?

Although most questions were answered during the interview, it is always better to ask something than nothing. It shows you were listening and engaged through the interview.

Questions you can ask about the role:

• What does success look like in this role?
• What would an average day involve?
• What does your ideal candidate look like?
• What would you hope your candidate to achieve in the first week/month/3 months/

Important questions about the company

• What’s something you love about this company?
• What you tell me about the company culture?

Conclusion

Spending time getting ready for these typical interview questions will help you relax and allow you the chance to create meaningful, thorough responses.

But keep in mind that this interview is also a chance for you to learn more about the organization and the position.