Job Interview Questions

Tell me about yourself.

Interviewers love this question! It's so open ended that it makes a lot of us uncomfortable. Don't fall into their trap. Answer with a short synopsis of your professional experience - you're not going to start with "I was born..."! Think of this answer as your "elevator speech" at a networking event.

This should be a 2 minute answer that summarizes your background in broad strokes. You can end this summary with a little more detail on your current (or last) position and what you're looking for.

Still not sure how to answer this one?

Take a look at this fictional response...

As you can see from my resume, I'm a senior level sales professional with a strong track record of exceeding my numbers everywhere I've been. I was fortunate to get some excellent training in my early career through my tenure at IBM. I think the lessons I learned there really shaped my career. I moved into National Accounts with IBM and then into sales management, where I've been ever since.

I've managed sales teams on a national basis, and have had the privilege of working with some very talented reps along the way. I'm a strong coach and mentor and consider people development a key strength.

All of my sales experience has been in the B to B arena, typically working on multi-year, multi-million dollar deals. Despite my management responsibilities, I've never lost my passion for working directly with customers. I still spend at least 50-60% of my time in front of customers.

Unfortunately, my current company was recently acquired by Mega, Inc. and we are getting out of the business I support. I see the writing on the wall and have started to look for a new opportunity...get the idea??

What's your motivation for leaving your present company/position?

I'm all for honesty, but your answer to this question needs to be tempered with good judgment. If you work in a terrible place, with a horrible boss, now is not the time to vent. Instead, craft this answer in terms of what you're looking for... better opportunity, bigger challenge.

It's OK to tell the interviewer that your current situation is not providing these things to you. Keep this positive. You do not want to give the interviewer the idea that you're running away from something. Instead, you want to be focused on moving toward something that will be better for you.

It's never appropriate to criticize your current company or your current boss. It's also poor form to talk about money in this context. Leaving your current position in order to make more money is not a good answer.

If pushed to reveal negative information, keep it very general. You might need to say something like: Recent management changes have resulted in a change in a) direction b) corporate culture c) sales strategy...whatever fits.

Avoid making value judgments - these are just changes that have caused you to re-evaluate whether your current company is still the best fit for you. Changes are not good or bad - they are just changes. Keep your attitude positive and upbeat. Don't let the interviewer drag you down!