The motives behind the 3 most common interview questions

For jobseekers, it’s extremely important to understand the motives behind these questions. Below are some examples and analyses to help you understand the motives behind the questions and organize your answers and thoughts appropriately.

Question one: Can you please introduce or tell us about yourself?

Before the interview, the interviewer will have carefully scrutinized the contents of your CV and will have a good idea of your work experience. For this reason, the question is aimed at gaining an understanding of your reasoning and communication skills. If it’s in front of a group, it will be more about observing the psychological resilience and presenting skills. The job seeker should introduce themselves in line with the information in their CV. The contents should be presented using spoken language, and should be clear and well-ordered while highlighting experiences and achievements related to the position.

Question two: Why did you choose our company?

The goal is extremely clear: The interviewer wants to understand your motives, objectives, and attitudes towards the position. Interviewers love jobseekers who understand the company. For this reason, don’t be too general when responding to questions. It’s advised to approach from the industry, company, and position levels. Obviously, a precondition of this is that you’ve made ample preparations by researching out about the company and the position.

Question three: What challenges and difficulties do you think you will face in this position?

The motive here is to see whether or not you are able to evaluate yourself objectively, whether or not you are able to analyze and foresee real circumstances, and how they go about solving problems. When replying to this type of question, most candidates appear extremely confident, as if they are able to overcome all difficulties. Interviewers, however, are never satisfied with these types of answers, viewing them as overly general. You should predict challenges from technical, intellectual and experience-based perspectives, while at the same time providing specific plans for tackling them, thus displaying your proactive attitude.

The interviewer’s questions have been carefully prepared. Though simple, the answers they prompt can be observed from a variety of angles. Don’t be overly hasty in your responses. First, gain an understanding of the question’s purpose, and then answer in line with your personal circumstances.