Common Questions You'll Be Asked During An English Job Interview

Hi, Bob the Canadian here.

In this English lesson,

I'm going to go over some of the most common questions

that you will be asked

if you go for a job interview in English,

but before we get started though,

if this is your first time here,

don't forget to click that red Subscribe button over there,

and give me a thumbs up

if this video helps you learn

just a little bit more English.

So one of the first questions that you will be asked

in an English job interview is the question,

"How would you describe yourself,"

or another version of it would be,

"Tell us a little bit about yourself."

This is a very open question.

It's usually the first question in a job interview,

and you can answer it in a number of ways.

You can talk about yourself as a person,

or you can talk about your interests.

So you could say, "I'm a very outgoing person

"and I love working with others."

You could say something like, "I've always loved technology,

"and I can't wait to have a job

"where I can work more closely with technology,"

or you could say something like,

"I've always loved teaching other people new things."

That's what I would say if I was in an interview

and if someone asked that question.

So the first question you're going to get asked

is going to be a question about you,

just kind of a broad, open question

about who you are as a person.

The second questions that you will be asked

in the job interview

might have to do with why you want the job.

So the interviewer may ask questions like,

"Why do you want to work for us,"

or, "Why are you applying for this job?"

One of the best ways to answer this

is to know something about the company

and to say things like,

"I've always admired the work that you do

"in the community," or, "the work that you do

"for your customers."

You may also want to talk about something

that the company did recently that impressed you.

So you could say, "I was impressed

"by how well you did this recent job."

So you really want to know something about the company

so that you can connect your strengths

and your abilities with what they do.

So you can say, "I've always loved working with people,

"and I know that your company specializes

"in helping people.

"I would love to work with you

"so that I can use my talents

"to help your company do a better job."

The third question you might be asked

in a job interview is, "Why should we hire you?"

This would be a time to talk about

the things that make you a good worker.

You should say things like, "I am always on time,"

hopefully you're always on time,

"I an an efficient and organized person."

You should say things like, "I like solving problems,"

or, "I like getting things done on time."

Whatever makes you a good worker,

whatever skills and talents you have,

this is the question where you should answer those.

Usually when I answer this question,

I say things like, "I love learning new things,

"I love solving problems, I'm always on time,

"and I'm very organized."

All of those things are true.

It sounds a little bit boastful,

but that pretty much describes me.

The fourth question you might have asked

in a job interview is,

"Where do you see yourself in five years?"

Even though they are possibly hiring you to start soon,

they'll still want to know

what some of your long-range plans are.

This would be a good time to be honest.

If you don't want to work your way up in the company,

you should just say so.

You should say, "If I get the position I'm applying for,

"I could see myself still doing that in five years

"and doing it well."

But, if you are someone who wants to work your way up

in the company, you should tell them.

When you work your way up,

it means that you want to get promotions.

So perhaps you start as a worker,

and then you want to be a foreman or a manager,

and eventually work your way up

to be in the leadership of the company.

So be honest, just tell them

where you see yourself in five years.

The fifth question you might be asked

in a job interview is, "What motivates you?"

When we talk about motivation,

we talk about, what makes you want to work hard,

and what makes you get things done?

You could say, "I am self-motivated,

"I usually enjoy my work,

"and I work hard regardless

"of whether someone is telling me what to do or not."

So that would be self-motivated.

You could say, "I am motivated by having a good schedule

"and a good agenda,

"and by having a manager or someone in charge of me

"who is very organized."

Or you could simply say, "I am motivated

"by having a really good manager or boss

"who tells me what to do all the time."

So people are motivated in different ways.

You should be honest to the job interviewer

about what motivates you the best.

The sixth thing you might be asked in a job interview is,

"Describe your last job."

What they're looking for here

is just a quick and simple description

of what you used to do at your previous job.

So you could say things like,

"I was a fifth grade teacher at an elementary school.

"I was full-time, and every day

"I taught fifth grade students all of the subjects."

You could say, "I was a waiter at a restaraunt.

"I worked there for seven years.

"I was on the shift that worked throughout the weekend,

"and I really enjoyed my work and helping people."

So just be ready to describe whatever your job was

before you started to look for a new job.

So be honest, be open, maybe talk about the things

you liked about that job

while you are describing it.

The seventh question you might be asked

in a job interview is, "What led you to this career?"

The job interviewer will want to know

why you got an education in the field that you did,

or why you have been working in this field,

or how you got involved in that field.

So if you are a teacher, you will want to say things like,

"I've always loved working with kids,

"I've always loved teaching people new things.

"Teaching just comes naturally to me."

If you are a chef, you would wanna say,

"I have always loved food.

"I have loved preparing food

"and I have loved eating food,

"and so food has been an important part of my life,

"and I have become a chef

"because I like preparing food for other people."

If you work in the computer field,

you'll wanna say, "I've always loved numbers

"and math and logic,

"and I have always loved technology,

"and so it was a natural fit for me

"to go into the field of computer programming."

So when they say, "What led you to this career,"

you'll wanna talk about your interest in the area

and your education a little bit.

The eighth question that you will probably be asked

in a job interview is,

"What is your greatest strength,"

or, "What are some of your strengths?"

You'll want to be honest here.

You really need to know yourself.

If your strength is solving problems, you should say,

"I am a really good problem solver."

If your strength is that you are good at planning things,

you should say, "I am really good

"at creating plans for big projects."

If your strength, or one of your strengths,

is that you are good with people,

that you enjoy talking with people

and encouraging them and motivating them,

you would say, "One of my strengths

"is that I work well with others.

"One of my strengths is that I enjoy

"working on teams or in groups with other people."

Talking about strengths naturally leads

to the next question where you'll be asked,

"What is your greatest weakness,"

or, "What are some of your weaknesses."

Again, here you need to be honest.

You need to simply tell them

what some of your weaknesses are,

specifically as a worker or as an employee.

So you should say things like,

"I don't work well with others.

"I work best on my own."

You should say things like,

"I get bored easily by repetitive tasks.

"I get bored easily if things repeat themselves,

"and I like having some variety in my day."

So notice I talked about my weaknesses,

but I also mentioned a strength after the weakness.

I think that is a good strategy,

when you get question number nine:

"What is your greatest weakness,"

or, "What are some of your weaknesses?"

A 10th question that you might be asked

in a job interview is,

"What is your biggest professional achievement?"

So what they'll wanna know

is something that you did at a past job

that went really, really well.

So I can't give you any specific examples,

but for this question,

"What is your biggest professional achievement,"

make sure when you go to the job interview,

you think about that time you solved

a really, really big problem

at one of your previous jobs,

or that time at one of your previous jobs

where you finished a really big project

and your boss was really, really happy.

So just be prepared to talk about something you've done

at a past job that went really, really well.

An 11th question that you might have in a job interview is,

"Have you ever had a big problem at work,

"and how did you overcome it?"

The job interviewer will want to know

what your problem-solving skills are like.

Many jobs have situations

where things don't go well,

and people need to think on their feet.

When you think on your feet, you're thinking quickly,

and you need to solve problems.

So make sure you go into the interview

thinking about a problem

that you had at a previous job,

and what you did to make that problem go away.

A 12th that you might be asked in a job interview is,

"What do you like to do outside of work?"

So you will want to be prepared

when you go to an interview

to talk about the things that you do for fun.

Even though it doesn't have anything to do with work,

this is a common question

that employers ask in job interviews,

so be ready to talk about your hobbies.

If you like to read, be ready to say

that you like to read.

If you like to go hiking,

be ready to talk about how you like to go hiking.

So certainly, when you go to a job interview,

you need to be ready to talk about your education,

you need to be able to talk about

your past jobs and experience,

but you also want to be able to talk about your hobbies.

Sounds kind of funny,

but they definitely will ask you this question.

A 13th question that you will most likely get asked

in a job interview is, "Do you work well with others?"

If you are applying for a job

where you will need to work on a team,

or where you will need to work closely with other people,

they'll want to know if you work well with others.

I'm not sure if you knew this,

I actually don't work well with others.

I work well by myself.

I am able to work well with others,

but I actually enjoy working by myself

more than I enjoy working with other people.

So be honest in your answer.

If you do work well with other people say,

"I work well with other people.

"I love working with other people,"

and then give some examples.

If you don't work well with other people,

I would say you should answer it this way.

You should say, "I prefer to work on projects

"or tasks by myself,

"but I am able to work with other people when I need to."

So that's the 13th question,

"Do you work well with other people?"

The 14th question that you will probably be asked

in a job interview is,

"Do you have any questions for us?"

Wherever you are applying for a job,

they will want to know

if you have any questions about their business.

This is a great time to ask about

how many hours per week you would need to work,

it's a good time to ask,

"What does a typical day look like,"

if you were to be hired for that job.

It's also a good time to have done some homework

on this company.

Wherever you are applying,

you'll want to know a little bit about the company

so that you can ask intelligent questions.

So the 14th question that you will probably be asked is,

"Do you have any questions for us,"

or, "Do you have any questions?"

Well, thank you so much for watching this English lesson

about some of the most common questions that you will hear

during a job interview.

I'm Bob the Canadian,

and you are learning English with me here on YouTube.

If this is your first time here though,

don't forget to click that red Subscribe button below,

and give me a thumbs up

if this video helped you learn

just a little bit more English,

and if you have a bit of time,

why don't you stick around

and watch one or two more videos?

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