Bad and Good Answers for Interview Questions

Here is a list of interview questions that I have prepared along with sample of bad and good answers for you to compare. You can use this as a reference to create your own answers for your forthcoming interview questions!

Tell me a little about you?
This question is to get to know about interviewee’s attitude, previous experiences working in the same or relevant industry and getting a first impression of your personality.

  • [BAD] Well I’m 21 years old. I’m single. I came from a small town. Uhh.. I have a, as you can see, a business degree. I also do volunteer work. I come from a large family. Uhh.. I’m sorry I’m not really sure what you mean by tell me about yourself so maybe you could ask more specific questions and I could honestly let you know whatever that it is you want to know.
  • [GOOD] Well, over the last 4 years, I managed all the South Asian businesses and enterprises, acquired a great deal of looking into the finer details of every business transaction as well as hands on experience with South Asian Business Culture. I am a type of person that puts an emphasis on the finer details of every transaction. Quite honestly, I believe that exact quality that increases my department productivity over the course of these 4 years.

What would you say of your good qualities?
Fantastic! Another prize question! You don’t have to boast but you can mention your finer qualities without being one of those people who are being pretentious by bragging and glorifying themselves. Give a thought about your worthiness “I’m worthy because… ?” and see what happens!

  • [BAD] I wouldn’t like to brag sir, lets just say I’m a regular gal, pulling her weight and doing her job like everyone else.
  • [GOOD] I was responsible for some of the most significant achievements and I tribute that to the fact that I’m thorough and I always do my homework before every transaction. I have great interpersonal skills and I consider myself pretty creative when it comes to problem solving.

Supposing you are the right person for the job, how much do you see yourself earning per annum?
You should do some homework about the average salary for that job, plus a little bit more if you have the right experiences for the job. Don’t ask for excessive amount.

  • [BAD] Umm, whatever its customary you know, I do not really know how much its offered.
  • [GOOD] I believe $60,000 a year would be fair. It would be nice if there is room for further consideration, but for now I think its fair.

Describe to me if you could your weaknesses please?
Saying something about your strength as a weaknesses is such a cliche (an answer being overused to the point of losing its original meaning). It can compromise your credibility. You can be honest but not harmful to yourself. You can comment about a weakness but you are placing efforts into remedying them. Give an impression to the interviewer that you are confident, able to fault and correct it, and trustworthy. No one is above making mistakes, and those who pass themselves as error free, it doesn’t inspire trust. Trust the interviewer ability to form a positive opinion on you even though you made a mistake in the past and that is what I did 🙂

  • [BAD] Well I can’t remember but I guess that I’m a a bit of a perfectionist? My weaknesses are I’m worrisome, nagy, completely indecisive. I constantly needed to be petted on the back to remind myself that I’m not half bad.
  • [GOOD] Well, since I’m new, I often ask many questions on a project maybe come out a bit of a nag but that’s because I want to make sure that I understand everything completely beforehand. You know, I want to get all the facts straight.
  • [GOOD-2] I can recall an instance when I was too harsh to an employee. She made a real blunder and I over-reacted. Things were the same between us quite awhile and it did harm our working relationship. She was actually a pretty good employee and I realized that I was too hard on her. But we work out things at the end and I did handle similar situation differently since then.

Why did you leave your previous workplace?
You should not lie in this instance, however if you are being a mafia person, it wouldn’t do anyone good. Find an additional close-enough reason that does not harm your chances.

  • [BAD] Frankly sir, that’s a fair question, I just did not get along with my supervisor. We didn’t see eye to eye on many things. We had constant clashes, so he let me go!
  • [GOOD] I wanted to concentrate on a particular professional aspect that this job was offering and I have much more to contribute in that area.

What do you love about your previous position?
Try to see the positive aspect of your work, appreciate that, and then reflect it. People who appreciate their job will have a great attitude on the work they do!

  • [BAD] Not much I have to say. Felt stuck. Under-rated.
  • [GOOD] I like managing a team! I like the team unity. I like the inter-office competition that keeps you on your toes, you know that team spirit. I like being the one leading a group such as I did.

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One thought on “Bad and Good Answers for Interview Questions

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