homework for an interview

How to prepare for an interview (steps & tips)

Get ready to ace your next job interview with these essential tips! Learn how to research the company, practice your answers, and more.

Preparing for an interview can be nerve-wracking, but with the right mindset and a few key strategies, you can set yourself up for success. Whether you're applying for your dream job or just looking to improve your interview skills, there are a few steps you can take to make sure you're fully prepared and confident on the big day.

1. Research the Company

Before you walk into an interview, it's important to have a good understanding of the company and the role you're applying for. Spend some time researching the company's mission, values, and culture, as well as any recent news or developments that might be relevant to your interview. This information can help you tailor your answers and demonstrate your interest in the company.

2. Review the Job Description

Make sure you thoroughly review the job description and understand the responsibilities and qualifications required for the position. This will help you prepare thoughtful answers that align with the company's expectations and demonstrate your fit for the role. It's also a good idea to think about any relevant experiences or skills you can highlight during the interview.

3. Practice Your Answers

One of the best ways to prepare for an interview is to practice your answers to common interview questions. This can help you feel more comfortable and confident during the actual interview. You can find lists of common interview questions online and practice answering them aloud or with a friend. Be sure to focus on answering the question directly and succinctly, while also demonstrating your skills and experience.

4. Dress Appropriately

Make sure you dress appropriately for the interview, taking into account the company's culture and dress code. It's always better to err on the side of dressing too professionally, rather than too casually. Make sure your clothes are clean and wrinkle-free, and that your hair and makeup (if applicable) are neat and tidy.

5. Arrive Early

Plan to arrive at least 10-15 minutes early for your interview. This will give you time to check in with the receptionist, use the restroom, and calm your nerves before the interview. If you're unsure of the location or parking situation, do a test run ahead of time to avoid any last-minute surprises.

6. Bring a Copy of Your Resume

Make sure you bring a copy of your resume, along with any other relevant documents or certifications. This shows that you're organized and prepared, and can also help refresh your memory if you need to reference any past experiences or accomplishments during the interview.

7. Follow Up

After the interview, send a thank-you note or email to the interviewer. This shows that you're interested in the position and appreciate the opportunity to interview. You can also use this as an opportunity to reiterate your interest in the company and emphasize any relevant skills or experiences that you may have overlooked during the interview.

Interview Prep Tips

Listen carefully.

Listen carefully to the interviewer's questions and make sure you understand them before answering. Take a moment to gather your thoughts and give a clear, concise response. If you're unsure of the question, ask for clarification.

Be Authentic

Be yourself during the interview and let your personality shine through. Authenticity can make you stand out from other candidates and help the interviewer get a sense of your fit with the company culture.

Show Enthusiasm

Show enthusiasm and passion for the position and the company. This demonstrates your commitment and can make a positive impression on the interviewer.

Follow Professional Etiquette

Follow professional etiquette during the interview, such as greeting the interviewer with a firm handshake, maintaining appropriate eye contact, and avoiding interrupting or talking over the interviewer.

Practice Good Posture

Maintain good posture during the interview to convey confidence and professionalism. Sit up straight with your shoulders back and your feet firmly on the ground. Avoid fidgeting or slouching, which can convey nervousness or lack of confidence.

Showcase Your Accomplishments

Don't be shy about highlighting your accomplishments and successes during the interview. Use specific examples to illustrate your skills and experience, and explain how they would be beneficial to the company.

Research the Interviewer

If possible, research the interviewer ahead of time to gain insight into their background and interests. This can help you build rapport and establish common ground during the interview.

Be Prepared for Behavioral Questions

Be prepared to answer behavioral questions that ask you to provide specific examples of how you've handled certain situations in the past. Use the STAR method (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your answers.

Be Prepared to Address Weaknesses

Be prepared to address any weaknesses or gaps in your experience or skills. Provide honest, constructive feedback on how you're working to improve, and demonstrate a willingness to learn and grow.

Show Gratitude

Show gratitude throughout the interview process, from thanking the receptionist to expressing your appreciation to the interviewer. This demonstrates your professionalism and leaves a positive impression. After the interview, follow up with a thank-you note or email to reiterate your appreciation.

In conclusion, preparing for an interview requires a bit of research and planning, but it's well worth the effort. By following these tips, you can demonstrate your skills and experience, showcase your interest in the company, and ultimately land your dream job. Good luck!

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Doing Your Homework Before a Job Interview

Being prepared for a job interview is arguably more important than the interview itself. One of the worst feelings to have when in an interview is being asked a question you flat-out don’t know how to answer. There’s a simple way to avoid that feeling entirely – do your homework! Just because you already got your degree doesn’t mean you’re done studying. We understand job interviews can be extremely stressful. Here are some of the most popular interview questions, and assignments we can give you to answer them properly.

Question: Did you have a chance to check out our website? Assignment: This one’s pretty easy – ALWAYS check out the website!

• Make a note of their “vibe.” The larger headings may give you insight into what’s most important to them, and their verbiage could be a tell-tale sign of the company vision and culture.
• If they have an FAQ section, there’s a great place to find some company-centric questions YOU can ask at the end of the interview (we’ll touch on that later).
• Create a short list of 2-3 things in your head with some things you like about the company. This may involve leaving their home page and delving in a little deeper to what they do. Don’t just say “yep, your website looks great!” and move on from the question. Propel the conversation forward by noting an interesting project they’ve worked on, a charity they work with, or a special service they offer.

Question: Can you tell me a little bit about yourself? Assignment: As the great wordsmith Dr. Seuss once said, “There is no one alive that is youer than you!” Don’t let this question freak you out. If ever there’s a place in the interview process – from submitting your resume to your first day on the job – to show your personality, here it is! Think of the answer in advance.

• Something important to note about this question: the interviewer most likely cares less about your answer to this question, and cares more about the confidence and enthusiasm (dare we say “wit”) you approach your answer with.
• If you really want to focus on being succinct, consider answering this question by starting out with “I can summarize myself in three words.” (Try to avoid pulling a Dwight Schrute .) Don’t pick the overused buzzwords we see so often on resumes i.e. detail oriented, results-driven, successful, responsible and the like. Take some inventory on yourself and pick three words that can accurately summarize you.
• For a slightly more long-winded answer (but still not too abstract), try prefacing with “Those who know me best say I’m …” or “A quotation I try to live my life by is…” so you can have a jumping-off point. Homework is easy to do on these – just ask someone close to you to describe you (in a professional capacity), or recall your favorite quote and figure out why it speaks to you.
• If you’re a confident person who’s not waivered by nerves (and you’re confident the interview has started off well already), consider “Well, I googled myself today, and this is what I found…” or “The compliment people give me most frequently is…” These don’t necessarily require a predetermined answer, so make sure your head is clear if you approach the question this way.

Question: What’s your biggest strength? Assignment: Say what you mean, and be able to give some evidence to back it up.

• Talk about a strong quality or skill you have. It doesn’t have to be too specific, but if it’s a very general buzzword (organized, motivated, etc) be sure you can really speak to that quality. Give concrete examples of how you employed that skill in past roles you’ve been in (and if you’re a new grad, how you employed it in school) and bring it full-circle by telling your interviewer how it will apply to the role you’re in contention for. It’s like writing a paper for English class – you can’t just put a quote in your paper and move on! Give it some evidence and analysis to show you really know what you’re talking about.
• It’s always important to stay on track in an interview and keep all your answers relevant to the job at hand (unless otherwise asked). Don’t tell your interviewer that your biggest strength is being able to play FIFA for 36 hours without eating, or that the fudge brownies you bake are award-winning. Your interviewer will become frustrated if you veer too far off course.

Now that we’ve finished discussing some of the tougher interview questions that can leave you scratching your head, let’s talk about perhaps the toughest one of all: when your interviewer asks you “Do you have any questions for me?” Check back next week to get some awesome tips on the best questions to ask the person interviewing you. (Spoiler alert – when asked if you have any questions, the answer should NEVER be no!)

35+ Job Interview Questions and Answers for 2024 [Full List]

The time has come!

After creating a killer resume and cover letter and passing the first round, it is time to face the final challenge:

Your job interview .

And that scares even to the best of us .

Being judged and evaluated by people who have your future in their hands is more anxiety-inducing than meeting the in-laws.

You’ve heard the interviewers and hiring managers say there are no right or wrong answers to calm you down before an interview.

But here’s the thing:

They are almost always looking for a specific way of answering .

Which brings us to this guide. We’re going to cover the most common interview questions and answers, turning you into a bona fide interview expert by the time you’re done reading.

So, let’s get started!

To make this guide as practical as possible, we covered just about every interview question out there. 

Don’t let that put you off, though. You don’t have to read the whole thing end-to-end. To get the most out of the guide, we’d recommend:

• Going through all the common interview questions
• Checking out the situational interview questions section and learning how to answer questions that are relevant for you
• Learning what’s the idea behind behavioral interview questions, so you’re prepared to answer whatever the HR manager shoots at you

Most Common Job Interview Questions:

• Tell me something about yourself .
• How did you hear about this position?
• Why do you want to work here?
• Why did you decide to apply for this position?
• What is your greatest strength?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What do you know about this company/organization?
• Why should we hire you?
• What is your greatest accomplishment?
• What are your salary requirements?
• Do you have any questions for us?
• What are you looking for from a new position?
• Are you considering other positions in other companies?
• What is the professional achievement you’re most proud of?
• What kind of working environment do you work best in?
• Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Situational Job Interview Questions:

• Why haven’t you gotten your Bachelor’s Degree/Master’s Degree/Ph.D.?
• Why have you switched jobs so many times?
• Why did you change your career path?
• Why did you decide to leave your previous/current job?
• Why is there a gap in your work experience?
• Why were you fired?
• How do you feel about working weekends or late hours?
• How would your boss describe you?
• Do you have any serious medical conditions?
• What would your first 30, 60, or 90 days look like in this role?
• Are you a team player?
• Are you a risk-taker?
• How do you deal with pressure or stressful situation?
• Do you think there is a difference between hard work and smart work?
• How quickly do you adapt to new technology?
• Do you have any interests outside of work?
• What do you think our company/organization could do better?

Behavioral Questions in a Job Interview:

• Give an example of how you have handled a challenge in the workplace before.
• Give an example of when you performed well under pressure.
• Give an example of when you showed leadership qualities.

How to Answer 14 Most Common Job Interview Questions [+ Sample Answers]

These questions are the ones you’re bound to hear at just about any job interview - whether you’re an intern or a senior professional with a decade of work experience.

All of these questions are used to learn more about you, both as a person and a professional.

You might have heard the popular idea that there’s no right or wrong answers for job interview questions .

Well, while that might be true, there ARE a set of rules you need to follow when answering these questions.

If you understand what, exactly, the interviewer is looking for with each question, you’ll be able to give the right answer (and rock that interview!)

In this section, we’re going to go through 14 of the most common job interview questions and answers. We’re going to explain what the HR manager wants to see in you, as well as give you sample answers you could use.

So, let’s get started! 

1) Tell me something about yourself.

How hard can it be to talk about yourself? We do it on a daily basis without much thought to it.

However, recruitment managers are not looking for your whole life story, your third-grade achievements, or what you had for dinner last night. Instead, they are looking for a pitch . 

This is usually the first question asked in an interview, so it acts as your introduction. Make sure your answer is relevant to the position you are applying for. What you should be aiming for here is to present yourself as the ideal candidate for the job.

A good rule of thumb is to structure your talking points as follows:

• Briefly introduce yourself: What’s your name? How long have you been working as [profession]?
• What do you love about your job?
• What are your top 2-3 achievements that are relevant to the job you’re applying for?

Now, let’s go through some examples:

• Sample Answer 1:

Hey! So, my name is John Doe and I’ve worked as a business analyst for 5+ years in Company X and Company Y.

I have some background in data analysis, having studied Information Systems at [Made-Up] University.

Throughout my career, I’ve done some pretty impressive stuff (if I do say so myself, haha). 

For example, at Company X, I led a project for migrating all operations data to a new data warehousing system to cut down on costs. The new solution was a much better fit for our business, which eventually led to savings of up to $200,000 annually.

• Sample Answer 2:

I am Jane Doe, a recent college graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

I have just graduated with honors in Biochemistry. I know my way around a lab and have had multiple opportunities to put my knowledge into practice as a chemistry research assistant.

The lab felt like home, which is why I’d love to work as a lab assistant. I am passionate, hard-working, and extremely responsible. I am also looking forward to putting to practice all the things I learned during my time at university.

2) How did you hear about this position?

Although at first glance this might seem like a straightforward question, you should grab any opportunity you can to show your interest in the company. 

Even if you haven’t been continuously refreshing the company’s website for job listings, make it seem like you have (in a professional way, of course). Show excitement and curiosity.

If someone inside the company told you about the position or recommended that you apply, definitely make sure to mention that.

You’ll have a much better chance at getting hired if someone credible can vouch for your skills.

So, mention his/her name and his/her position inside the company and give their reasoning for inviting or recommending you to apply for the position. Tell the hiring managers what excites you about the job opportunity or what exactly caught your eye.

• Sample answer 1:

“I’ve known about [MadeUpTechnologies] for a long time - I’m a big fan of your products. I even own one of your latest phone models!

I love the company’s passion for creating super intuitive, beautiful hardware, and I would love to be a part of it.

So, when I saw your job ad at [RandomJobBoardWebsite], even though I wasn’t actively looking for a job at the time, I couldn’t help but apply!”

• Sample answer 2:

“I heard from Jim Doe, my old colleague and college friend, that [Company X] was looking for a new sales director. He encouraged me to apply, saying that my experience managing a sales team at [Some Software Company] would be helpful for [Company X].

I’ve heard a lot about [Company X] from Jim, and I’m a big fan of the way you do things there. I’ve always wanted to work for a company with a flat organizational structure.”

3) Why did you decide to apply for this position?

Through this question, the interviewers want to assess how passionate you are for the position. And no, the answer isn’t:

“Well, I’m very passionate about not starving to death.”

“Well, I needed the money, and you guys tend to pay a lot.”

What the interviewer is looking for here is to see how passionate you are about the job or the company. After all, job performance is directly linked to job satisfaction. The happier you are about your position at the company, the more productive you’ll be.

And here’s the kicker - your passion will be very evident during the interview.

When you’re talking to a person that’s passionate about something, you can pretty much feel them glow as they talk. And if you’re an HR manager who’s interviewed hundreds of people, this is a very good sign to hire the candidate.

So, use this knowledge to your advantage. 

When asked this question, your answer should include 2 things:

• What motivated you to apply for this position, specifically .
• Why this company? Have you heard of them before?

I’m very passionate about sustainability and renewable energy . In fact, I minored in Environmental Science at [XYZ University].

I’ve always wanted to put my engineering degree to a good cause - and the position as a Sustainability Coordinator at [Company XYZ] is just the right thing.

I’ve been following your company for the past few years, and I love how you’re changing the renewable energy landscape in America. 

Keep in mind, though, that if you don’t know much about the company or the position - that’s OK too. Just be honest and show your passion for the job. However, it’s always better to do your homework before going to an interview..

I’ve always wanted to get into marketing. Having done promotional jobs here and there, I never had an opportunity to do something more serious.

I do believe, though, that I have just the right skills to get started: copywriting, basic photoshop, and of course, lots of creativity.

So, I thought that an internship at [Company X] would be an awesome start to my career in marketing.

Want to find more samples answers to this question? Check out our article on 10+ best answers to “ Why do you want to work here? ”

4) What are your biggest strengths?

There are two answers you could go for here: what your actual strengths are, and what you think the hiring manager or HR representative wants to hear. We would most certainly suggest you go with the first answer. 

For this question, you would want to narrow your answer down to at most three strengths . Pick 1 or 2 skills that would help you really excel at the job, and 1 or 2 personal (more or less unrelated) skills. 

Not sure which ones are your top strengths? Check out the table below to learn which one’s perfect for your field:

After picking your strengths, back it up with a situation or story that shows how you have used it to benefit you on the job. 

After all, words are just that - words. The HR can’t know whether your “natural leadership” is an actual strength, or just means that you were super active in your high school class.

As you probably already know, this is one of the most common interview questions out there, so make sure you’re prepared for it before facing the HR manager!

My biggest strength is that I’m good at picking up new skills. I’ve worked a variety of different odd jobs - things like working as a waiter, house-keeper, cook, and a lot more (as you’ve probably seen on my resume).

For most of those jobs, I ended up picking up all the needed skills within 1 or 2 weeks (with basically no previous experience). 

So, I’m pretty sure while I don’t have any experience as a bartender, I have the right certification , and I believe I can get good at it within a week or two.

• Possible answer 2:

My biggest strength is that I’m very efficient at working under pressure. No matter the crisis or stress, I can make the right decisions on-the-spot.

As an event manager at Company X, we were organizing an IT conference for a client. There were a ton of last-minute hiccups - some speakers canceled and the catering company said they’d be late for the lunch break. On top of that, we were understaffed because 2 of our volunteer organizers got sick and couldn’t show up.

At that point, things looked so bleak that we were considering canceling the event or postponing it. Instead, I took the initiative in my hands and sorted through the problems one by one.

5) What is your biggest weakness?

Ah, this is always a tricky one! 

After all, you don’t want to mention your flaws during an interview, so it’s guaranteed to be a tough question.

The trick to answering this one is realizing that the interviewers don’t expect you to be perfect. Everyone has flaws, weaknesses, and things to improve on.

When asking this question, the HR manager is actually seeking to learn:

• Whether you have the right skills for the job. If you’re applying for the position of a server in a busy restaurant, and you say your biggest weakness is performing under pressure, then you’re definitely not getting a callback.
• If you’re self-aware and really know what your sticking points are.

And NO: fake humble-brag weaknesses don’t count as weaknesses. You can’t just say that your biggest weakness is that you work too hard, or that you’re a perfectionist.

The key here is to mention a weakness that’s real , but not something that would get in the way of you doing your job. You wouldn’t want to say you’re bad at math if you’re applying for an accountant position, would you

It’s also good practice to mention how you are working towards overcoming this weakness and realizing how it affects you negatively. If you can, just balance it with a positive side effect: treat it like two sides of the same coin.

My biggest weakness has always been my communication skills. I’ve been pretty shy and anxious as a kid. Over the years, however, I’ve been really working on the issue.

At this stage, I’m much better than I’ve ever been, but I’m still far from perfect.

This, however, won’t have any impact on my job as a programmer. Despite lacking communication skills, I’m very good at working in a team.

Well, as a recent graduate, I’d say my biggest weakness is the lack of real-life work experience.

While I’ve worked on a dozen software projects in the university, I don’t have the experience of working in a fully agile environment with an experienced team.

I am, however, willing to do my best and catch up as fast as I can.

Looking for more samples answers about your strengths and weaknesses ? Check out our full guide!

6) What do you know about this company/organization?

A quick search in the “About” page of the company/organization you are applying for should be enough, right? Well, yes and no. 

Think of this as an open-ended question. There’s no real wrong answer here, other than:

I don’t know anything about this organization. In fact, how did I end up here? Can you guys call me a cab real quick?

However , the more you actually know about the company, the better your chances of getting hired.

Imagine 2 equally competent candidates:

• One who doesn’t particularly care much about your company, and is only applying because they know you pay good salaries
• Another who’s been following your company blog for ages, loves your product, and has several friends already working in the company

Which one would you pick? Exactly, the second one!

So, with this job interview question, you want to convince the recruiter that you’re the candidate #2.

Now, how do you do that? Well, a rule of thumb here is to do some Googling before the interview and learn the following about the company:

• What does their product or service do?
• What impact does the product / service have?
• What’s the company culture like?
• What are the latest news about the company? How are they performing?
• ...And pretty much whatever other type of info you can dig up.

I hadn’t heard about you until recently, actually. I found out about [Company X] through your job ad on RandomJobBoard.

After doing some brief research on you guys, I ended up falling in love with your software and your mission.

Now, I’ve worked with a ton of different project management software - Example Software 1, Example Software 2 - but none of them were as intuitive and as Example Software 3.

Well, I know that you’re one of the biggest investment banks in [town / state / country]. Company X pops up on news pretty often - I’ve read that you’ve invested in some of the hottest tech IPOs, and have several up-and-coming biotech companies in your portfolio.

I got particularly interested by your recent investment in [Startup X], I found that interesting because of [Y Reason].

7) Why should we hire you?

Ah, the ultimate humble-brag question. 

Now, the real question is, how do you sell yourself without trying to look arrogant, desperate, or needy? 

A good rule of thumb here is to stay away from the extremes. Think you’re a good fit for the job? Say that “you have the right experience.”

Whatever you do, don’t oversell yourself:

“I’m the best salesman you’ve ever met!”

Instead, make a general statement (I’m a great fit for the position because…) and talk about your experiences and achievements.

Here are 3 general points you can mention:

• How you’re super passionate about working for the company (and why).
• How your skills fit their requirements.
• How you’re going to help the company solve their existing problems. Improve a metric, setup a process, etc.

Well, as a start, I have all the skills and work experience required for the job. I’ve worked as a Sales Manager for 5+ years, and over the past 2, I’ve closed several deals totalling in 6-figures.

Oh, and on top of that, I have experience working with tech companies, so I’ll be able to pick up all the product specifics much faster than the other candidates.

I have just the right skill-set to excel as an executive assistant. While I haven’t previously worked as a personal assistant, I pretty much fit the bill for the role.

I’m extremely organized, having managed several project teams in my university. I led the organization of Event #1 and Event #2. This involved continuous communication with 12+ companies, 30 speakers, and 15+ sponsors.

I’m very meticulous and organized, and I’m more than capable of helping the CEO get the most our of their free time.

Looking for more sample answers? Check out these 10+ answers to “ Why should we hire you? ”

8) What are your salary requirements?

This is always a tricky question. You don’t want to lowball yourself, but at the same time, you don’t want to be told “No” because you gave such an outrageous number.

When answering, keep these 3 things in mind:

• What’s the average salary for someone of your skill-level?
• How much does the company pay employees of your skill level? GlassDoor should be super helpful here.
• Finally, how much are you getting paid in your current company? In most cases, you can probably negotiate a pay bump from what you’re currently getting.

The final number you tell them should incorporate all 3 of the points we just mentioned. Do you know for a fact that the company is doing well (and compensates employees accordingly)? You’d quote a higher salary.

Is your skill-level above average? This should be reflected in your salary.

As a rule of thumb, you can figure out 2 numbers: what’s the “good” scenario, and what’s the “best” scenario?

Answer the interviewer with your “best” pay, and worst case scenario, they’ll negotiate it down.

Or, you can also answer with a range, and chances are, they’ll pick the number somewhere in the middle.

My salary expectation is around $70,000 annually.

My salary requirement is in the $30,000 - $40,000 range annually.

9) Do you have any questions for us?

You’ll hear this question in every interview you will attend. 

While there isn’t a right answer, there IS a wrong answer:

Nope, all good! Thanks, I’ll go show myself out.

Instead, with this question, you want to show your enthusiasm about the company. Imagine they’ve already hired you and you’re starting tomorrow - what would you like to know about them?

Keep in mind, though, that the questions shouldn’t be too easy (So, what does your company do?).

Other than showing the recruiter that you’re really interested in working for them, this is your opportunity to really find out more about the ins and outs of the place. 

The answers you get from the interviewer could also be an indicator of whether you really want to work there or not . 

So, what kind of questions can you ask? Here are some of the most essential ones:

• What does a regular day in this company look like?
• What’s the best thing about working for the company?
• What’s the worst thing about working for the company?
• What would you say are the biggest challenges a person in this position might face?
• What are the most important skills and qualities one must have to succeed in this position?
• What do you like best about working in this company?
• What are the most pressing issues and projects that need to be addressed?
• Do you have training programs available to employees?
• What sort of budget is there for my department?
• What kind of opportunities do you have for future development?
• What are the performance expectations for someone in this position?
• Do departments usually collaborate with one another?
• Do you celebrate birthdays or retirements in the office?
• Do employees usually hang out with each other outside of work?
• Is there anything else I can help you with at this stage?
• What is the next step in the hiring process?

For the complete list of all the questions you can ask the interviewer , check out our article!

10) What are you looking for in a new position?

The easiest way to answer this question would be to simply say that you’re looking for whatever the company is offering.

Look at it from the point of view of the potential employer. Would they hire someone if they answered this question with:

A good salary. And uhh, well, that’s about it!

This answer pretty much says that the moment they get a higher paying offer, they’re going to jump ship!

Instead, explain to the interviewer that this job at this company is the perfect fit for you. Mention what your short-term and long-term career goals are, and how this position ties to them.

I’m looking to further apply my machine learning skills that I developed during my 2+ years of work at [Startup X]. There, I used to do programmatic ads model design.

Now, I’m looking for an opportunity to work on a larger scale project that involves setting up programmatic ads for audiences of more than 10 million people.

I believe that worked with such a large-scale project will allow me to progress significantly faster in my career .

11) Are you considering other positions in other companies?

Here’s a tricky one: How much does the HR manager need to know here? 

If you admit to having interviews with other companies, it might look like you’re not 100% dedicated to this one. 

On the other hand, if you say you are not considering other positions, it might make you seem like you don’t have other options (and the company has the upper hand in salary negotiations).

The right way to go about here is to find common ground between the two answers.

The interviewer is probably asking because they want to know whether they have competition in hiring you. They also want to know if you are serious about the industry and are legitimately looking to be employed in this field of work.

If you do have other interviews lined up for other companies, express that you are keeping your options open but that you favor this job in comparison to the others. 

Don’t have many other options? Stick to the same approach.

Whatever you do, don’t make it seem like you’re desperate or that you don’t have any other options.

I have had two interviews during the past week with companies in X and Y industries.

However, as I’m very passionate about both your industry and the work you have done during the past several years, I am more inclined toward working for you, if everything works out.

Not yet - I wasn’t really actively looking for a job until my friend, [name], recommended your company. I’m not looking for just any company - I’m interested in an interesting, engaging project such as yours.

12) What is the professional achievement you’re most proud of?

This is another version of the “Why should we hire you” question, but with a focus on one very specific achievement.

This one’s pretty straightforward, just mention your #1 professional achievement and you’re good to go.

As a given, the achievement has to be related to the job you’re applying for. Let’s say you’re applying for the position of Sales Manager :

• [Incorrect Example]

“I’m very good at underwater basket-weaving, having woven 20+ baskets in the past year.”

• [Correct Example]

“In my previous sales position, I managed to hit and exceed department KPIs by 50%+ for 6 months in a row”

Keep in mind, though, that you want to be very specific with your answer. To get this right, try using the STAR method . It goes something like this:

• S: Situation - Set the scene and context.
• T: Task - Describe what your challenge or responsibility was.
• A: Action - List and dwell on all the actions you took towards addressing the challenge or responsibility.
• R: Result - Explain what the outcomes were and how they fit with the overall goal of the project or company.

So, find a work-related achievement that showcases your contribution through your skills and experience to something that matters to the company. 

• Sample Answer 1: 

My biggest achievement is the fact that I went from being an intern to managing company X’s entire marketing over 2 years.

As an intern, I basically had 0 instructions on what to do - it went like “hey, go learn social media advertising and get it going.” The founders didn’t exactly expect me to achieve much, and didn’t particularly care, as they were 100% focused on making the product work.

Instead of just complaining about a lack of direction, I started reading up on digital marketing - pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I learned how to do content marketing for example, from Neil Patel’s blog, and started putting everything into practice.

My first success was getting an article to go viral, generating over $5,000 revenue in a single day. While that’s not much for a software company, it felt like a lot for an intern.

After that, the founding team gave me a lot more trust, and assigned me a small marketing budget of $1,000 per month. With a lot more confidence in my abilities, I started experimenting with other strategies.

Then, over the next 2 years, I got promoted to Head of Marketing. After making a couple of hires, I managed to scale up our marketing efforts, growing the company from $2,000 to $30,000 monthly recurring revenue.

• Sample Answer 2: 

My greatest accomplishment so far is graduating from [University X] within 4 years, with a GPA of 3.9. My family was unable to support me financially, so I had to take care of all the university bills on my own.

Through hard work and dedication, I ended up graduating with almost no student loans. I managed this through a combination of:

• Working part-time while studying
• Doing seasonal full-time work during the summer
• Maintaining a high CGPA and winning 2 scholarships over 4 years

13) What kind of work environment do you like best?

The aim of this question is to assess whether you’ll fit in the company’s working environment . 

For example, some organizations are pretty structured and hierarchical, they require tight organization and have a well-planned day filled with rules and guidelines on how to do things.

If you’re the creative, think-out-of-the-box type who likes to break the rules and innovate, this is probably not going to cut it for you.

On the other hand, some companies are more laid back, with a lot less bureaucracy. “Go get us more sales” can actually be your main duty for the week if you’re working in an early stage startup.

If you’re the type who prefers to have strict to-dos and objectives, you probably won’t enjoy such a job.

So, the takeaway? Different people work best in different environments, and that’s okay. 

Before you go to the interview, go through the company’s website and social media pages to get a sense of the general vibe and environment there. 

Look at employee reviews on GlassDoor, or if you know someone already working there, ask them. 

Depending on what you learn, answer accordingly.

I work best in smaller companies. I really dislike the corporate world - rules, guidelines, SOPs, and so on. I perform best when I have a certain level of freedom to do things. Want to find innovative solutions to problems you didn’t even know you had? I’m your guy.

Want someone to just blindly follow instructions and do what they’re told? Then we’d probably not be a good fit.

I love working in a youthful, energetic environment. You know, when you’re working on a common goal with a team of people who are as passionate as you are?

I like to think of my work as a second home, and my coworkers as family. 

The last company I worked at had such an environment, and I excelled at the job.

I get that exact feeling about Company X, since the moment I walked in here for the interview. So, I’m pretty excited to get to know how you guys work!

14) Where do you see yourself in five years?

Sometimes the honest answer to this is “Hopefully not doing this.” especially with entry-level jobs. 

Don’t think the hiring manager doesn’t know it, though. There are diplomatic ways to go around it. 

In general, the motivation behind this question is for the interviewer to assess whether you are an ambitious person or not and whether you have realistic expectations for your career. 

Make sure to avoid any of the cliche answers such as…

“In your seat!”

“As the big boss man”

Instead, think realistically about what the next step after this position is, and whether it is possible to reach it within the company you are applying at. 

Within the next 5 years, I’d like to reach the position of a Senior Business Consultant. During the time period, I would like to accomplish the following:

Help 20+ organizations improve their business

Create a personal network of highly specialized professionals

Learn as much as I can about optimizing and improving clients’ businesses, as well as the essentials of operating a company

As a start, I want to learn if accounting is the right field for me. While I loved what I studied at the university, I want to see if working in the field feels the same.

If I do end up enjoying it, I’d like to specialize in either internal auditing or forensic accounting, as I really like to discover and solve problems. From what I’ve seen from your job ads, you guys are hiring for both, so I hope it’s going to be possible to move up from the position of an “intern” within the next few months!

Still not sure how to answer this one? We don’t blame you! Sometimes, you might not know what you’re doing next week, let alone next year! Check out our guide to answering the “ Where do you see yourself in 5 years? ” job interview question to find more possible answers.

How to Answer 18 Situational Job Interview Questions

You’re past the hard part. 

You already know the most common job interview questions, and can probably deflect whatever the interviewer throws at you.

Depending on your specific situation, though, you might also need to learn how to answer these situational job interview questions...

1) Why haven’t you gotten your Master’s Degree/Ph.D.?

As a start, keep in mind that the interviewer isn’t judging you for your decision.

After all, if they were looking for someone with a better degree, they wouldn’t have invited you to an interview. The degree is not the dealbreaker here, but your answer to the question might be.

When asking this question, the interviewer is trying to see your reasoning for pursuing a career instead of getting another degree.

Heck, there’s a chance that if you give them the right answer, they’re even going to like you more than someone with 3 Phds!

So, simply explain why you didn’t think that another degree was the right thing for you at the time.

Don’t say you were lazy or didn’t feel like it, or that it’s a waste of money (even if that might be the case). 

Instead, give compelling arguments, such as…

• You wanted to see whether your field was the right one for you.
• You didn’t have the financial resources at the time.
• You wanted to get some practical work experience before committing to another degree.

At this stage of my life, I decided to pursue my career instead of further education. On the one hand, I want to make sure that Marketing is what I want to do with my life.

On the other hand, I believe that in my field, practical work experience is a lot more valuable than academic.

So far, my decision has paid off pretty well - I’ve already gotten a lot of experience doing online marketing for 3+ companies and delivering awesome results to boot.

I might eventually decide to pursue a masters, but at this point, I really don’t see the point in that.

Because it’s not in sync with my future career path. I believe that for software engineering, practical experience matters a lot more than having a degree.

I’ve already done an internship as a Junior Javascript Back-end Developer, and I believe that it gave me a lot more knowledge than my B.A. in Computer Science.

While I am eventually planning on getting a Masters, it’s going to be in a more theoretical field, such as Artificial Intelligence.

2) Why have you switched jobs so many times?

If you’ve switched jobs in a very short period of time (2 or more full-time positions in 1 year), the interviewer is bound to ask about it.

After all, job-hopping is one of the biggest red flags for HR managers.

True, you might have had a reasonable cause. Maybe the second company you got hired in just wasn’t a good culture fit for you.

Well, you’ll have to communicate that.

Companies tend to be skeptical because of the following reasons…

• You might be a job hopper . Some people tend to switch jobs the moment they get a better salary offer.
• You might be unqualified for the job and you quit because you couldn’t deliver.
• You get bored easily and your solution to that is quitting.

So, your job here is to convince the interviewer that you don’t belong to any of those 3 categories. 

You need to make them realize that you will not jump ship a few months after getting hired just because some recruiter PM’d you on LinkedIn with a better offer.

The best way to answer this question is to explain the reason you switched jobs. It could be one of the following:

• The company culture wasn’t a good fit. This happens to the best of us - sometimes, the company just isn’t the right one.
• The job description was misleading and you ended up doing something you either didn’t enjoy, or were not qualified for.
• You learned that you simply didn’t enjoy the job, and are not willing to try out something different. While this isn’t the best potential answer, it’s honest and chances are, the HR manager will understand.

The last company I got hired in just wasn’t what I expected. The hiring manager didn’t communicate the role well enough.

As you already know, I’m a copywriter - I write sales copy. I work with:

-Landing pages

-Email marketing

-And sales pages

Around a week after I started work at the company, I realized that they were actually looking for something completely different. They asked me to write generic blog and social media posts, which is pretty far off from what I do.

This was really not what I expected, and not something I find interesting.

Well, as a start, my first job was in a big corporation straight out of university. While I did learn a lot there about Software Engineering practices, I also learned that a huge company with lots of regulations, rules, and the like isn’t for me.

So, at the end of my internship there, I decided to try working at a startup. I enjoyed that job a LOT more, as it gave me a lot of freedom when it comes to problem-solving. I wasn't told HOW to do it. Rather, I was given the option of coming up with my own solution.

Unfortunately, the company went belly-up after failing to raise money, putting me back on the job market. 

And here we are - [Company X] is pretty much THE place I’ve always wanted to work in. I’ve heard a lot about your company culture, and thought I’d really belong there.

3) Why did you change your career path?

If you recently changed your career path , the interviewer is sure to ask about it.

Don’t worry - there’s nothing wrong with this. 

A lot of people go through a career change . Some even do it several times in their lifetime! 

As long as you’re good at what you do, no one cares if you were a pediatrician in one year, and a professional chef in another.

When asked this question, all you have to do is answer truthfully. Explain how your old job just wasn’t for you, and how the job you’re applying for is so much more interesting.

• Sample Answer

I realized that being a doctor is not for me. While I did enjoy my 3 years in med school, the 6 year study period was too much.

I wanted to start making money and help out my family way before that, so I dropped out of university and started taking online courses in accounting.

At this point, I’m pretty good at it, having done 2 internships so far in [Company X] and [Company Y].

• Sample Answer 2

Simply because I enjoy doing sales much more than accounting. After 5 years of working as an accountant for Firm X, I decided I wanted to try something new.

I asked my boss at the time to let me transition to the sales team, and I ended up liking it AND being pretty good at it.

4) Why did you decide to leave your previous/current job?

When asking this question, the interviewer wants to learn:

• Did you have a good reason for leaving your last job? The HR manager doesn’t want someone that just jumps ship the moment things go bad.

“Oh, well, the company started bleeding cash and was on its way to bankruptcy.”

“I felt like it was time - I got to a point where everything I was doing felt monotonous. I learned as much as I could at this position while delivering amazing results. It was, however, time to switch to something new.”

• Did you leave on good terms? Meaning, did you go through the offboarding process, instructing your coworkers on how to take up your responsibilities? Or did you just say “Adios” and stopped showing up at work?

“Things started to get really boring, and the boss man was kind of mean. I totally deserve better, so I just ghosted them and now I’m looking for a new company. Hi!”

“I didn’t feel like the company’s values coincide with mine. The management was too controlling and micromanaging. I prefer to have some control over my work, and being able to contribute by going above and beyond my requirements.”

Of course, I went through the off-boarding properly. Meaning, gave a timely resignation notice , and transferred all the essential company knowledge to my replacement.”

• Did you leave voluntarily, or were you fired?

“I got fired for missing work for a week without an excuse.”

“I was fired, actually. The fault was in my communication skills at the time. I misunderstood my supervisor’s instructions and ended ended up setting a higher monthly spend on ad account for the client. The losses were not more than 3-figures, but apparently, the relationship with the client was already strained, so they ended up leaving.

Of course, I really took this to heart and worked very hard on improving my communication skills, to ensure that I don’t make any mistakes of this nature ever again.”

5) Why is there a gap in your work experience?

In most cases, a gap in your work experience doesn’t really mean anything. You probably have a very good reason for it.

The interviewer, however, will definitely ask about it, and you should answer adequately.

There’s no secret sauce to answering this question, just let the recruiter know about your situation, whatever that may be:

• Maternity leave
• Health issues
• Caring for a sick family member
• Time off to pursue further education
• Relocating to a different city
• Working on a personal project

Whichever the case may be, just explain the situation in brief and move on.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that if you were laid off at work, or you quit and had trouble getting a new job , you should be very subtle about it.

If the interviewer knows that you’re struggling to find a job , you’re going to give them the upper hand in salary negotiations.

“I had a baby and had to take maternity leave.”

“My father was sick, so I had to be the one to take care of him full-time over a few months.”

6) Why were you fired?

Now this is a tough one.

Getting fired is pretty much never good.

Keep in mind that we’re talking about getting fired, not getting laid off. There’s a huge difference between the two:

• Getting laid off means that you got let go for something that had nothing to do with your competence. I.e. budget cuts, company down-sizing, etc.
• Getting fired , on the other hand, means that you got let go for a reasonable cause. And chances are, it’s probably your fault.

If you got fired and the interviewer asks you about it, you should be honest. After all, they can easily check-in with your previous employer.

Your best shot here is to be critical about your mistakes, and explain what you’ve done to improve.

“None of it was my fault. My boss is a total tool, and he hates me for no real reason. He yelled at me for no real reason!”

In the example above, the interviewee gets defensive. That’s a pretty huge red flag for the HR manager.

Instead, try saying something that shows that you’re aware of your mistakes.”

“The main fault was in miscommunication. The interviewer was unclear about the job responsibilities - from what I understood, they were looking for a senior-level marketer to oversee their email marketing operations.

At the end of the day, though, it turned out that the company was looking to experiment with email marketing, and specifically for someone to set it up from scratch.

While I did my best to deliver, in the end it turned out that their niche doesn’t actually need email marketing. This was against the management’s vision, so that decided to let me go.”

7) How do you feel about working weekends or late hours?

You’re gonna get asked this question in one of the following 2 cases:

1) You’re applying for a job that requires working odd hours.

In this case, your answer is pretty straightforward - since you’re applying for such a job, you probably don’t have any problems working odd hours.

“Sure! I’m OK with working late hours or weekends, as long as you let me know about it at least a few days in advance.”

2) You’re applying for just about any other type of job.

Now, you should look at this as a red flag. Is the employer just checking your dedication, or are they looking for someone that’s going to work 24/7 with no overtime pay?

In this case, ask them to clarify what they mean.

“Given enough warning, sure. Is that something I’ll be required to do often? Do you offer overtime pay for this kind of situation?”

8) How would your boss or coworkers describe you?

This question is pretty much the same as “ what are your greatest strengths ,” the only difference is that it should be from the point of view from your boss or coworkers.

Here, you want to focus on your traits and achievements that you’ve previously been praised for (After all, the interviewer might ask for a reference!).

There are at least 2 ways to answer this question:

1) Describe a specific situation where you excelled at work (and received praise from your boss and coworkers)

“They’d say I’m super hard working. During my weekend-off, not one, but three of my coworkers got sick, and I had to spot for them.

The weekend was peak season in Nantucket, so the restaurant was getting seriously overwhelmed. All of a sudden, we went from being very prepared for the season, to complete panic.

Had to jump between serving, bussing, and line-cooking, but overall, managed to survive through the weekend successfully.”

2) Quote a performance review

If you’ve previously worked in an office job, you’re probably all too familiar with these.

Did your boss give you a glowing performance review? Make sure to mention it here!

“Well, in my last performance review in September, my boss described me as someone who takes initiative.

My position as a PR manager involves constantly keeping track of our clients brand reputation, and if something goes wrong, dealing with it as fast as possible.

In a lot of cases, you need to be very proactive - if you wait for your entire team to have a meeting on how to deal with the issue, it might already be too late.

There were 4-5 different situations where I had to take charge and react to problems literally the moment they arose, whether it was during my work hours, or not.”

9) Do you have any serious medical conditions?

When asking this question, the interviewer wants to learn if you have any medical conditions that could impair your ability to do the job correctly.

In most cases, you’re not obliged to give an answer. If you do have a health condition, and it doesn’t have anything to do with your career, you can simply choose not to answer, or to say “No.”

However, you might want to disclose anything that could potentially have an impact on how you perform.

For example, if the job requires you to lift heavy boxes, for example, and you’re not able to do so because of a condition, you should let the HR manager know.

• [Sample Answer 1]

“I don’t have any serious medical conditions”

• [Sample answer 2]

“I’m unable to lift heavy objects because of issues with my back, but it won’t have any impact on how I perform at an office job”

10) What would your first 30, 60, or 90 days look like in this role?

If you’re applying for a senior or leadership role, you’re probably going to get asked this question.

Chances are, at this stage of the interview, you already know a lot about your future position and the company.

Now, it’s time to show off your knowledge in your field, and explain how you’re going to start making things happen at the company.

So, here’s how to answer the question:

You’re probably going to need to get to know the company first. You’re going to be learning as much as possible, including information on:

• What does the company do?
• What are the key processes?
• What does your department do?
• What are the current problems and challenges?
• Where can you help?

You’ll start start making things happen. From all the info you gathered, suggest a handful (3 to 5) initiatives you could take on:

• You’d audit the company email marketing strategy and suggest improvements
• You’ll help come up with better ad copies for Facebook marketing
• You’ll help the team with their ongoing marketing initiatives

You’re already have started making an impact. Describe several things you think are going to be functioning better:

• Online ads are going to be performing better by 10-20%
• Email marketing operations are going to be more streamlined, taking significantly less manpower

11) Are you a team player?

Wherever you’re applying, the answer to this question should be a “Yes!”

Even if you’re applying for a completely solo role, chances are, you’re still going to have to work in a team occasionally . 

We’d recommend being very specific about your answer here - don’t just say yes. Give the interviewer an exact example of when you excelled at working with a team.

“I’m much better at working in a team than alone, actually. That’s what I love about working in advertising - everyone has their own specific type of a creative spark, and when you combine it all, magic happens!

I’m good at both leading and following in terms of creativity and brainstorming. I’m also super receptive to others ideas, and do my best to help them execute it without nay-saying or criticism.”

“Yep, definitely. I excel at team-work. 

This one time while working at [Company X], I was assigned to an existing team working on a web application for a business process management company.

They were working on a tight deadline, and needed help on the API side.

I optimised their development cycles and oversaw a team of three developers while collaborating with the other two dev teams.

Everything went pretty well, and we managed to finish the project on time.”

12) Are you a risk-taker?

This one’s pretty tricky, as the answer here depends on your profession and field.

Ask yourself - is risk-taking a valuable skill for the job?

If you’re a pilot, for example, the answer should be a strict “No!”

If, on the other hand, you’re a day trader, then risk is an essential part of your job.

So, depending on how valuable risk is for your job, answer accordingly.

You could also give a more strategic answer. Let’s say, for example, you work in investment banking. You need to be a risk taker to an extent, but being too risk-friendly might make the entire company go bankrupt.

The strategy in such a case would be to show that you’re all about calculated risk . You’re willing to take chances, but only when the odds are in your favor.

As with most interview questions, you should give examples of situations where you had to take risks, and what the end-results were.

“Yes, I’m a risk-taker. I believe that to achieve real results, you always need to be willing to take a certain level of risk.

Pretty much any marketing initiative you launch is tied to risk. You can plan everything from beginning till the end, but no matter how well you plan it out, things might just not work out.

It’s just part of the job - in order to succeed, you need to take launch risky campaigns on a regular basis, and hopefully, one in every 5 is going to bring you massive results.”

“I’m not a risk-taker, I’m more of a risk-manager. As someone who’s been in finance for years, I can say with a lot of confidence that there’s risk in everything.

The most important things are to one, minimize your risks, and two, minimize potential damages if everything goes very, very wrong.

While working at Investment Bank X, we had a very interesting policy for investing in new fintech projects. We used to avoid moon-shots, high-tech projects, as well as anything that had an experimental business model.

Our strategy was to invest in proven tech. As in, proven product-market fit, business model, etc. In most cases, these were runner up companies. We wouldn’t invest in that one innovative company that was all over the news - we’d instead invest in their latest competitor. More often than not, this ended up being more profitable, and significantly less risky.”

13) How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?

If you’re applying for a high-stress job, you’re guaranteed to get asked this question.

The aim of this question is to see if you’re the type of person who’d survive working at the job, or fall through the cracks when the first signs of trouble show up.

Obviously, you wouldn’t answer with the following…

“Well, I end up having a panic attack, crying, and running away from work.”

Instead, answer as follows…

• Say that yes, you do tend to perform well during stressful situations
• Give 1-2 examples of a situation where you had to perform well under pressure

Now, let’s go through some real-life examples:

“Though I can’t particularly say I enjoy stressful situations, I AM very good at working under pressure.

During chaos and panic, I tend to take a step back, think, plan, and prioritize.

For example, there have been times I’ve had to juggle multiple university projects and assignments at the same time. I would break up large assignments into small, individual tasks, and prioritize based on:

• How fast I could complete each task
• Figuring out which task would take the longest
• Which project had the earliest deadline

This way, my work became a lot more manageable. The most times I had to experience such situations, the better I performed overall.”

“I actually prefer working under pressure. I look at it as a challenge - a situation where I really have to up my game to succeed.

As a cook, working under pressure is pretty much part of the job. I’ve been in several situations where the restaurant was understaffed for the occasion. Heck, it’s pretty much a constant thing during peak season.

When there’s a ton of orders coming in and we can barely keep up, I tend to get significantly more productive than usual.”

14) Do you prefer hard work, or smart work?

By definition, hard work is when you, well, work hard. It’s when you’re willing to put in a lot of work to get the job done.

Smart work on the other hand, means doing the work efficiently. If you manage to get the job done in 2 hours instead of 5, with the same end-result, you’re doing smart work.

Keep in mind, though, that by asking this question, the interviewer is looking to understand what your work ethic is like. Meaning, they’re looking for a healthy combination of both, not just one.

That is, they want you to be the candidate who not only thinks smartly but works hard as well. 

So, your answer here shouldn’t be one-sided...

“Oh, I looove smart work. That’s when you come up with what to do, and make other people do it, right?”

Instead, explain how you excel at both:

“I don’t particularly have a preference - I believe that both hard and smart work is important to get the best results.

Smart work, on one hand, lets you figure out the best and most efficient way to get things done.

Hard work, on the other hand, means that you’ll do the job right. Even if there’s no way to do it smart or efficiently, you’ll be willing to put in long hours of work to get it done.

I’m the type that does both. 

For an example of smart for, during my time at [Made Up Corporation], I was in charge of the sales department. As a process improvement initiative, I migrated from an outdated, in-house CRM, to Pipedrive. This improved the department’s productivity by around 20%.

On the other hand, the whole migration process took around 3 months of hard work. As the software we were using was outdated, trying to learn how to map and migrate our data was a lot more complicated than we’d expected.”

15) How quickly do you adapt to new technology?

Today, whether you’re applying for a software engineering job, or as a cashier in a supermarket, you’re going to need to use technology at least on some level.

It’s very common for a company to adopt new tech - new point of service system, self check-out kiosks, customer management software, and whatever else.

So, you should be able to pick up new tech ASAP . Any new change shouldn’t completely disrupt your work.

So, when answering this question, you should talk about how tech-savvy you are.

• Sample Answer: 

“I’m pretty tech-savvy. I’ve worked with a lot of different Point of Service systems so far, and have zero difficulties learning how to use new ones.”

As a given, I own a PC, have used Office 365, and all the usual stuff.”

“I’ve always been interested in tech. In fact, I’m the type of person to actively seek out new software to help solve business problems at work.

I’ve worked with 3 different Customer Management Software in the past, such as PipeDrive, SalesForce, and Zoho CRM.”

16) Do you have any interests outside of work?

If the interviewer asks you this question, take it as a good sign!

It means that they liked your professional background, and now they’re just trying to get to know you and see if you’re a good fit for the company culture.

It’s pretty hard to go wrong here, unless you’re going to answer something like:

“I have literally no hobbies.”

“All I do is play video games all day.”

Just talk about your hobbies and interests , and you’re all set!

Bonus points if you can mention something that’s also relevant to your job (creative writing if you’re applying for a copywriting job, for example).

• Sample Answer 1

“I’m a big fan of creative writing. I have my own personal short-story blog, and contribute actively to several online writing communities (such as Writing Prompts on Reddit).

Oh, and I’m also a huge fan of the New York Giants.”

“Well, I’m very interested in all sorts of sports. I like to keep active, as it really helps keep me productive. Over the past 2 years, I’ve done a bit of everything - fencing, archery, hiking, and several other things.”

17) What do you think our company/organization could do better?

Well, this one’s interesting!

While not too common for most organizations, it’s a favorite amongst tech companies.

How come? Well, answering this question shows a couple of things…

• That you’re really passionate about the organization, and have done your research
• Are not afraid of giving feedback

Obviously, you should be very political about your feedback. You can’t just say that:

“Well, a lot of things really. I’m not enjoying this interview right here, for example.

And your product kinda sucks, no offense. But hey, there’s always room for improvement, am I right?”

Instead, you want to show off the research you’ve done. Talk about anything that might seem off about their product or business:

“I actually went through your resume builder before coming to the interview, and found several things that seemed kinda counter-intuitive.

Not to say that it’s too hard to understand, or something, but it took me a while to figure out some stuff.

If you want, I can open up my laptop and show you what I mean.”

How to Answer 3 Most Common Behavioral Questions in an Interview [w/ Possible Answers] 

Finally, behavioral job interview questions are questions that focus on how you’ve performed in the past, or how you’d perform in a specific situation.

They’re used to understand your thinking patterns, and whether you can think on your feet.

Remember the STAR interview method we discussed all the way up? Well, it can be used to answer just about any behavioral interview questions.

To brush up your memory, the main idea behind the STAR method is that each answer should involve the following:

Here are 3 of the most common behavioral interview questions (with sample answers):

1) Give an example of how you have handled a challenge in the workplace before.

What the interviewers want to know in this case is how well you handle conflict and difficulties.

So, the answer here should be pretty straightforward. You should describe a challenge you faced at work, and explain how you solved it.

“During my last job as a Google Ads expert, one of the company clients had accidentally butchered their own ad account. I noticed this over the weekend and saw that they were basically wasting money on nothing.

I took the initiative and immediately got in touch with the client to let them know about the issue. Then, we set up an impromptu meeting on the same day, and fixed the account before any real damage could be done.”

“During my last job, I was managing the creative and web dev team in charge of creating an online store for a client. Two days before deploying, we found a major bug that messed up the whole front-end user experience.

Now, we could have pushed the deadline a bit, but that would have messed up the relationship with the client. The project was already postponed once because of unforeseen circumstances, so this one was a do or die.

I assembled a task force consisting of web developers from my team, as well as some software engineers from another department. We focused 100% of our time on fixing the issue, and actually managed to launch on time at the end.”

2) Give an example of when you performed well under pressure.

For any high-stress work environment, you’re guaranteed to get asked this question.

“I actually perform a lot better when under a lot of pressure. The sense of urgency and importance really motivates me to up my game and make sure everything works out right.

When I worked as a Financial Analyst at [MadeUpFinanceCompanyInc], most of the work was very high pressure. I had to go above and beyond the line of duty to make sure we met the tight deadlines set by our clients. This often meant working 12 hour work days, and sometimes, working over the weekend.”

“As a seasonal worker, my entire career is high-pressure, haha... My last position was as a line cook during the summer at the SomeRestaurant in JacksonHole, Wyoming.

Around 3 out of 4 of the months were super high stress - there was a LOT of work, and the restaurant was pretty much always full. Heck, I’ve even had to skip breaks just to make sure we wouldn’t be understaffed.”

3) Give an example of when you showed leadership qualities.

Applying for a leadership position? You’ll definitely get asked this behavioral interview question.

Keep in mind, though, that this question doesn’t necessarily mean that you should have held a managerial position.

What the interviewer is asking for is a situation when you took the initiative and led a project or an initiative.

“As an entry-level marketer, there was not much expected of me at SoftwareCompanyInc.. My main to-dos involved doing research, and completing whatever tasks were assigned to me.

During a content marketing brainstorming session, I came up with an awesome idea to market the company. The gist of it was, we’d interview company clients who were very successful at using the software, create case studies on what exactly they’re doing, and include it in our email marketing strategy.

The Chief Marketing Officer loved the idea and put me in charge of executing the project, which I did with flying colors.”

[BONUS] Job Interview Infographic

Now, it’s time for a quick recap! Check our our new infographic on some of the most common job interview questions (and how to answer them):

Additional Interview Preparation Tips

And we’re finally here!

If you managed to get to this point, you definitely deserve a high-five!

Now, before we wrap up the article, let’s go through a couple of essential tips on acing your interview…

• Make sure you’re prepared to answer all the common job interview questions. Wherever you’re applying, you’ll likely be asked several of these questions.
• Think of the answers you’ll give for the situational interview questions (whichever ones apply to you). I.e. gap in your work experience, why were you fired, etc.
• Understand how to answer behavioral job interview questions. If you know how the STAR method works, this shouldn’t be difficult at all.
• Follow basic interview etiquette. Make eye-contact with the interviewer, but polite, and so on.

And finally, good luck on the interview! You got this!

Suggested readings:

• How to Make a Resume & Land That Job
• How to Make a Cover Letter
• How to Ace a Video Interview
• Thank You Email After Interview
• Phone Interview Questions & Tips

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Career Thinker

Career Advice To Target Your Next Job

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Interview homework before the interview.

Congratulations, you have an interview scheduled, but the real work begins before the interview called “Homework.” During an interview, the interviewer will determine if you’re a right fit for the company, and you want to make sure the company is a right fit for you. Landing a job is more than landing a paycheck; you need to ensure a job will add to your long-term career goals and add to your quality of life.

Many candidates feel the meaning of doing your homework for an interview is to just read up on the company and review their website, but in today’s market, you need to be the most prepared candidate they see. You need to know as much as you possibly can about the company, its mission, its problems, and how you can help make them grow and make money. It would be best to answer questions during the interview without hesitation; the more about the company you know, the more confident you will answer. Use every resource available to you before your interview, review the company and understand what their needs are so you can sell yourself. You need to approach the interview with a high level of thought and analysis to be super successful; the bigger the job titles, the more preparation you’re expected to do. It is appropriate to bring a list of your questions and copied research to the interview, as long it’s not an abundance of pages. Keep your notes and questions neatly on one side of your portfolio.

What to Research

You want to research different types of information about the company to get a better understanding of the entire company. This information will give insight into their business culture, history, and challenges they face so you can steer your answers to their question to their needs. It will also help you list important and meaningful questions you can ask them during the interview; this will make the interview more conversational than one-sided. Doing your homework will also help you answer the most commonly asked interview questions, which we review on our page Interviewing Questions.

• Company Website  – A company website will set the tone for how the company wants to be seen, but you can find a lot about its story, history, mission statement, and philosophy. On many company websites, especially if they’re public, you can find out names and information on their top-level executives; you might even come across someone who you worked with within the past. Many have a section (Press Room, Investor, or News) where you can find their latest annual or quarterly reports and news on the company.
• Google the Company – This will give you a list of sites with information on the company; many listings may be directly connected to the company’s website, so don’t just look at the 1st page of search results; review several pages. Take note of how old some of the information is on the Google search; you don’t want to ask many years out of date.
• Google Yourself – Review what a Google search reveals about you and be prepared to answer any questions the interviewer may ask if they did an online search with your name.
• Google Your Interviewer – When you are setting up your interview, get the title and name with the correct spelling of who will be interviewing you. Google these individuals to get their career history which can lead to someone who might know or who worked with them; it can also give an insight into the direction the interview might take. Also, having a conversation with the interviewer about where they came from and why they joined the company is an excellent topic to discuss.
• Linkedin & Facebook – Reach out to your network and let them know what company and who you will be interviewing with; you might be surprised how many will know the company or interviewer and can give you valuable information for your interview. If you’re still employed and looking to change jobs, you will need to be careful with this method, so your job search doesn’t get back to your current employer.
• Recruiters – If you are working with a recruiter, reach out to them; they want you to succeed. Ask them questions about what key items the interviewer and company are looking for. If other candidates are interviewed for the position, ask the recruiter what the company liked and dislikes.
• Blogs and Message Boards  – Read through any blogs or message boards for the company or industry to gain additional insight.
• Other Websites  – These sites can provide information about the companies you’re interviewing.

www.GlassDoor.com  – (free membership) Glassdoor will give you an overview of the company (choose company under search), it will also give you reviews about the company and interviews with them, but these are written anonymously by employees or job seekers. Each reviewer gives the company a rating and pros/cons about the company, similar to product reviews you find on items you research. You need to understand that sometimes disgruntle employees might unfairly lash out against the company for unjustified reasons, but take note of any trends with these reviews.

www.Vault.com  – (free and paid membership) Industry blog, discussions, newsletters company, profession, and industry overviews. Get the inside story with exclusive in-depth profiles of top employers. Employer rankings are the best to work for in your industry; employee reviews, survey respondents share their real-world experiences about your potential employer, workplace, culture, getting hired, and more.

www.Hoovers.com  – ( free trial, paid membership) A comprehensive insight and analysis about the companies, industries, and people that drive the economy. Offering proprietary business information through the internet, data feeds, wireless devices, and co-branding agreements with other online services.

www.BBB.org   – Better Business Bureau, find out what clients and customers a saying about the company.

www.forbes.com   – Review current business news articles on companies.

www.Bloomberg.com  Review company snapshots, news & press releases, key statistics,

financials, and the company profile and executives.

http://online.wsj.com/home-page  – Review current business news article on companies.

• Library  – Take a trip to your local library and speak to the librarian for assistance. Many libraries stock research resources that can give insight on companies and industries.
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5 Types of Homework Assignments for a Skills-First Hiring Process

CVs and interviews don’t predict job performance, but work assignments can.

It’s really simple; hiring managers need to place competence in context to assess candidates’ technical and interpersonal skills .

If a structured interview process can help flush out candidates with the right attitude and cultural alignment, homework assignments can highlight people with the perfect skillset for the role.

And for a hiring manager, the hiring confidence when selecting between candidates who list the right skills on their resume and those who nail take-home tasks is like night and day.

Curious if work assignments could be a good fit for your company? In this article, we discuss:

• what a homework assignment is all about
• why companies prioritize work assignments over interviews
• how to reassure candidates that work assignments aren’t ‘free work’
• the easiest way to incorporate take-home tasks into your hiring process
• five tips for designing an effective homework assignment

Let’s dive in!

What is a homework assignment?

A homework assignment or an interview project is a task given to a candidate during the interview process that tests whether they have the right skills for a role. Typically these assignments take about an hour or two to complete and have a specific deadline. But they can be more detailed and take up to 5 hours or longer, depending on the role seniority or complexity.

We recommend sticking to a maximum of two hour-projects to keep it fair and reasonable for candidates. As a hiring manager, your main goal is to get a reliable snapshot of a candidate’s technical fit for the job – not to subject applicants to NASA-level testing.

Alternatively, you could swap homework assignments for paid test projects. While many candidates frown upon the idea of completing longer take-home tasks for free (who doesn’t hate free labor?), paid projects are generally accepted as a reasonable alternative. Learn how we leverage paid projects at Toggl Hire.

If a candidate won’t complete an assignment that takes less than 2 hours of their time, likely, they aren’t really interested in the role. So it also doubles as a reliable method to screen out prospective bad hires .

Why do companies ask candidates to complete homework assignments?

Homework assignments help companies get a better idea of a candidate’s strengths and whether they’d be a good match for the role. It’s a bit like shopping online. Seeing a new pair of sneakers you want in a 2D image is great. But getting a fully immersive AR experience really brings the sneakers to life and builds your confidence you’re making the right choice!

These days, many companies prioritize work assignments over interviews , as the typical interview process is outdated. Interviews and CVs alone don’t help the hiring team explore a candidate’s actual abilities. Why? Well, firstly, candidates sometimes exaggerate their qualifications on CVs. Plus, a potential candidate could be great in an interview scenario but terrible at the actual job.

Another reason interviews are passé is that they can open up the hiring team to potential cognitive bias (hiring someone very similar to you). This might seem kind of nice, but in the end, you’ll have less diversity if everyone you hired was a mini-me, right?

Yet, interviews do have an important role to play in the hiring process. But not right in the beginning, necessarily. Shifting the interview portion further down the hiring process steps helps companies focus on quality candidates rather than the search for quality candidates. They could rather confirm the technical fit through skills assessments and then dig deeper during the second interview.

According to HBR, prioritizing homework assignments over interviews can help recruiters better match true competency with the job requirements:

One of us (Jeff) spent several years hiring writers for our firm. He used a scenario-driven writing assignment, administered after a short introductory call, to assess skills. Many publications use writing or editing tests for job candidates, but Jeff approached the task more analytically than most: After receiving the assignment, he conducted a follow-up conversation to understand not just what was on the page, but the candidate’s choices in crafting it. Not only did this give us a sense of how a candidate would perform, but they got a much better sense of the job itself, as we related elements of the task to actual role expectations. By using the same exercise repeatedly, it also built a database of responses over time, a positive feedback loop to better assess the next candidate. Geoff Tuff, a principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP – Harvard Business Review

The real benefits are that work assignments and skills assessments paint a truer picture and can also:

• help identify the best person for the job
• reveal an applicant’s work ethic
• reduce the risk of selecting candidates that have lapsed technical skills (especially with the rapid evolution of technology)
• are easy to deploy at scale – you can narrow down the number of applicants from 500 to 50 to save the hiring team loads of time
• help organizations draw in non-typical but strong candidates that broaden the team’s diversity, equity & inclusion
• reduce the risk and cost of a bad hire

What do candidates gain from completing homework assignments?

Job seekers may not often feel enthusiastic about interview assignments. And we get it. People are busy juggling so many things in their day to day that adding one more can feel overwhelming. But those who look at the bigger picture see it as an opportunity to shine.

Work assignments are a foolproof way for job seekers to demonstrate their skills and expertise . And if candidates happen to have any gaps in their experience, they can still demonstrate their aptitude through an online assignment.

It’s also an easy way for candidates to show they’re truly interested in the position and the employer and stand out from the crowd of other applicants.

Not only do these task projects give them a peek into their potential day-to-day responsibilities , but it’s also a window into whether the role is a good fit for them in the long run .

If they find the task takes too long or that the topic or sector is dryer than toast – they should put their sights elsewhere. But if it’s all systems go – then they’ve already got a head start on producing what’s needed for the role.

5 Types of take-home interview assignments

Take-home interview assignments are a popular choice for assessing technical and creative candidates. But now companies are seeing the benefits for other roles too.

Three things that hiring managers should consider for all these types of interview assignments:

• Letting candidates know about the test beforehand. That way, they’re not surprised and feel they’re starting off on the wrong foot.
• Automating everything they can in the testing process, so they don’t leave candidates high and dry in between lengthy hiring phases.
• Using the data they gain from these tests and candidate feedback to update their hiring process.

And now, onto the examples of homework assignments.

#1 Basic skills screening

Quick skills screening tests as a pre-qualifying step can help reduce the volume of applications without any manual effort. That means no manual resume screening or individual candidate feedback.

As applicants get instant feedback via skills test results (they either pass the required score threshold and move on or stop there), recruiters and hiring managers benefit in three major ways: 1) they save hours of their time by automating CV screening; 2) they can easily identify qualified applicants who should move to the interview stage; 3) they ensure a great candidate experience with modern skills-based hiring practices.

Good practices:

Keeping the tests short and sweet to respect candidates’ time and effort. We’d recommend 15 or 20-minute assessments at the kickoff. However, it’s important to ensure the tests are hard, so they actually act like a quality filter for your candidate pipeline.

Bad practices:

Focusing too much on theoretical, bookish questions that make the test feel like a school exam can harm your test completion rate and prevent great candidates from submitting their applications. Additionally, making the screening tests too long or too intrusive (e.g., taking snapshots through the computer camera) can create an unnecessary barrier and reduce your chances of sourcing top-quality people.

#2 Pre or post-interview coding challenges

While a job interview can help hiring managers assess interpersonal skills, such as communication , teamwork, or motivation, it’s not the best medium for evaluating hard skills . Online coding tests help the hiring team select technically capable developers that can contribute to the business.

A recruiter would typically source candidates with the right programming languages listed on their profile or resume. And then, it’s the hiring manager’s responsibility to work out if the applicant has what it takes to write good code. Easier said than done!

That’s why a coding assessment as a homework assignment has become the norm in tech hiring, and most developers are willing to take them on.

Remember, though; candidates don’t owe you free work. Your approach to designing a coding test will determine whether people continue in the hiring process or drop off.

First of all, decide what you want to assess and why. If you’re hoping to ascertain a candidate’s troubleshooting and problem-solving skills, time-boxing the assignment wouldn’t work to your advantage. The candidate can always use the ‘lack of time’ as an excuse for lower-quality work.

Another thing to remember is to set the test at the right skill level, depending on whether it’s a junior, intermediate or advanced role.

Testing skills that are nice to have or don’t match the role is a common mistake. Focusing on too many topics requires candidates to switch context from question to question – which is often confusing and tiring in such a short span of time.

Another issue employers run into is using clunky testing software that candidates need to figure out on the fly. If it takes effort to learn the platform or the platform doesn’t have the required features, developers will have to pay the price.

#3 Portfolio reviews and spec work during the job interview process

Ask any creative about their opinion on spec work, and you’ll likely hear that it sucks. And there are good reasons for graphic designers, writers, and other creatives to hate this kind of work – why should they commit to the project without any promise of payment?

If you’re hiring a professional from the creative field, we highly recommend starting with a live portfolio review . That’s when a candidate can take the interviewer through specific portfolio examples and share the backstory and lessons learned from that project. With creative roles, it’s often the unique style and quirks alongside the technical skills that can help determine the best person for the job.

However, sometimes paid spec work is a much fairer and more accurate way of getting insight into a candidate’s skillset. For tasks that require a highly personalized approach or solution, going the freelance gig route can yield better results.

Inform candidates ahead of time that you’d like to review their portfolio during a live interview. This will give them time to prepare and update their work samples. Ask questions that relate to their portfolio, even if the current samples don’t match your brief – you want to understand their creative process and practices. For paid spec work, make time to discuss the brief in person and agree on a check-in schedule to ensure work progresses in the right direction.

Springing this on the candidate without any warning and expecting the work to be delivered on a short deadline is a questionable move. Even if you’re opting for paid spec work, bear in mind these tasks are often completed in a vacuum and should be evaluated through a less critical lens. And finally, the not-so-secret secret: most creatives are terrible at maintaining their portfolios up-to-date. Giving them the heads-up will increase your chances of selecting the right talent.

#4 Time-boxed homework assignments that go in-depth to evaluate candidates’ competence

This type of home assignment can take many forms – from asking a marketing professional to write a press release for a product launch that already happened to requesting a business analyst to extract key insights from a dataset.

To ensure it’s not perceived as free work, time-boxed assessment projects often focus on real-world business problems that have been solved internally. This way, you can benchmark candidates’ work against your internal quality standard and reassure candidates of your intentions. The sole purpose of interview assignments is to confirm candidates’ technical fit in an efficient manner.

Keep the topic or assignment relevant to the role, and limit the necessary time it’ll take to complete to about 2-3 hours. Remember that the clarity of your brief will largely determine the quality of the deliverables, so be specific about your expectations.

Expecting someone to take 5-10 hours out of their busy schedule for an unpaid assignment is unrealistic.

#5 Paid projects during the interview process

Interviewing is exhausting for both the candidate and the interviewer. So it’s unsurprising that paid interview assignments have been gaining in popularity in recent years.

As a hiring manager, would you rather spend hours of your time interviewing candidates to filter out the bad apples or use the job interview as a way to get to know potential hires?

Homework assignments are exactly that – a simple, efficient method for spotting A-level candidates with the right skills for the job.

As you confirm the technical fit before the interview, both parties can focus on aligning on other important factors, such as the organizational fit , team culture, and manager expectations.

However, many employers have realized that the sentiment around homework assignments has shifted from acceptable to immoral, as applicants began calling assignments ‘free work’. Research shows that drop-off rates increased when candidates were asked to complete a take-home assignment.

Enter paid homework projects.

The perfect combo of practical competency assessment and paid work. Since the candidate receives compensation for their time, these types of assignments can be longer and more complex.

Anything from analyzing the growth funnel to tackling a programming challenge to designing an effective product onboarding experience can serve as a homework assignment idea.

What’s important to note is that these kinds of work assignments allow employers to get a glimpse into a candidate’s work ethic , thinking process, time management, and many other skills that are impossible to assess during the interview process.

If you’re paying for their time, treat them like consultants: provide access to important information, answer their questions and connect them with the right people internally. And be sure to outline the recruitment process at the very start; not everyone will happily take on a bigger commitment project, even when it’s paid.

As a hiring manager, stay in touch throughout the recruitment process to lay the foundations for a good working relationship. Provide clear requirements and timelines to reduce stress, and don’t forget about fair compensation – going below the market rate is disrespectful.

A great way to cause unnecessary stress is to ask candidates to present to a large audience or high-level execs they would never work with on a day-to-day basis.

Be sure to provide a clear agenda for the presentation call ahead of time and prep your interview panel for follow-up questions.

The work assignments and interview process windup

Work assignments are a good thing for companies and candidates alike. The result is like the difference between speed dating and a real dinner and a first date. Yes, they’re both exciting, but in the case of hiring, you need to hire someone that can demonstrate they have the right skills. The cost of hiring the wrong candidate is just too high for companies.

To find truly interested candidates, who have the right aptitude, introduce your team to the benefits of work assignments. You’ll save both parties loads of time and the hassle of a dragged-out interview process and other redundant hiring steps.

If you’re ready to explore how to transform your business’ hiring process from a time-consuming to a slick candidate pipeline, we leave you with five simple tips on designing an effective homework assignment.

5 simple tips for designing a great homework assignment:

• Replace resume screening with basic skills screening. Start the sifting process early with a quick skills screening test . This will weed out the bad eggs and leave you with a selection of good potential candidates.
• Make your assignment brief and easy to understand, and explain the key outputs you expect.
• Match the level of the homework assignment to the level of the role. Unrealistic tasks will only scare people off.
• Don’t request candidates to solve super-specific business problems. Make the assignment generalized, not based on a super specific problem your business is experiencing.
• Give the candidate a chance to show and tell. That way, you get insight into their thought process, presentation skills, and even emotional intelligence when their viewpoint is challenged.

Have a peek at our Test Library for more assignment ideas, and good luck!

Juste loves investigating through writing. A copywriter by trade, she spent the last ten years in startups, telling stories and building marketing teams. She works at Toggl Hire and writes about how businesses can recruit really great people.

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Before the Job Interview, Do Your Homework

By Eilene Zimmerman

• June 1, 2013

Q. You’ve just graduated from college and are entering a tough job market. What kind of interview preparation will help you stand out?

A. Research the company and the industry, says Adrien Fraise, founder of Modern Guild , which provides online career coaching to college students and high school seniors. “Know the major industry trends and news,” he says, and be able to talk about how they could affect the company.

Find out who runs the company and how they got there. “Look at their profiles on LinkedIn and see if you find a common bond,” says David Lewis , the chief executive of OperationsInc. , a human resources outsourcing and consulting firm in Norwalk, Conn. “If you are able to say, ‘I went to the same college as you’ or ‘I also majored in psychology,’ that demonstrates you really did your homework.”

Familiarize yourself with the company’s products or services and look for ways, even small ones, to possibly expand or add value. Note the positives, then talk about opportunities you see, says Moses Lee , C.E.O. of Seelio , a platform that lets students and recent college graduates post samples of their work and search for jobs.

“Let’s say you are talking about a recent marketing campaign,” he says. “You could say, ‘I enjoyed that campaign and if I had the opportunity to work on it, I might frame it so it resonated with millennials, too.’ ”

Q. What questions can you expect, and how can you prepare to answer them?

A. You may be asked to walk the interviewer through your résumé, so prepare concise, articulate anecdotes to illustrate what you did or learned in each experience you’ve listed, Mr. Fraise says. Highlight what you achieved and the skills you used — and how you want to keep using them. “Rehearse in front of the mirror and then in front of others,” he says. “Be so comfortable with it, it doesn’t sound scripted.”

Interviewers often ask questions like “Can you give me an example of when you had to work as part of a team or learned something new quickly?” Mr. Lewis says your examples might come from experiences in a club, fraternity or sorority. “Did you organize a membership push? Plan events? Do recruiting?” he says.

If you’re asked a question like “Why did you choose your college major?” be complete in your answer. “Don’t just say ‘because I really like psychology,’ “ Mr. Lewis advises. Instead, note from a business perspective why you liked the subject. “Maybe you found the classes to be informative about human behavior, which is a key to success in anyone’s business,” he says.

Take along samples of your work — whether from an internship, a class or an extracurricular activity — in a folder or on a laptop computer or tablet.

And always prepare questions to ask at the end of the interview, says Alexa Hamill, American campus recruiting leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia. Questions on the interviewer’s own career progress are a way to conclude, she says: “What opportunities have been presented to them? How were they trained and developed? This shows you are looking at the job as something potentially long term.”

Q. You want to exude confidence and maturity. What are some ways to bolster your confidence before an interview?

A. Develop a personal elevator pitch — a 30-second to one-minute summary of your academic career, your interests and what you did outside school — and correlate that to the job you want, Ms. Hamill says. PricewaterhouseCoopers offers a free tool on its site to help think through those questions, she says.

Q. What are some basic interview etiquette rules, in terms of dress and behavior?

A. Turn off your cellphone before walking into the company’s offices, and don’t take it out during your interview. “Don’t remind me you’re a 22-year-old,” Mr. Lewis says. “Have a firm handshake, maintain eye contact and don’t fidget.”

Remember not to talk about inappropriate topics like a recent fraternity party or something you saw on Facebook, Ms. Hamill says. When speaking to interviewers, “face them with your knees pointing toward them, sit up straight and stay engaged,” she says. After the interview, send a thank-you e-mail and include a link to your online portfolio or Web site if you have one.

Unless the company recommends dressing casually or informally for the interview, men should wear a suit and tie and women should wear a suit or skirt and blouse, Mr. Lewis says. You may be the only one in the office dressed that way, he says, but it’s usually better not “to walk into an interview dressed as if you are already part of the team.”

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How to Answer an Open-Ended Question from a Job Candidate

• Marlo Lyons

Five strategies for interviewers.

Interviewers should prepare for interviews just as thoroughly as candidates do. Being equipped with compelling stories and setting aside dedicated preparation time, such as 30 minutes beforehand, allows interviewers to mentally prepare and be fully present during the interview. Like with candidates, it’s not only the content of what is said that matters, but also the manner in which it’s conveyed. Demonstrating enthusiasm for the company and the position can leave a lasting impression on candidates, instilling confidence and enthusiasm in their decision-making process.

While interviewers often assume they hold all the power during the interview process, candidates are increasingly asking more insightful questions to assess whether they should make a move to a new company. Just as candidates prepare for interviews, interviewers need to be ready to answer open-ended questions from candidates because the responses could either ignite their enthusiasm or dampen their interest in the opportunity.

• Marlo Lyons is a career, executive, and team coach, as well as the award-winning author of Wanted – A New Career: The Definitive Playbook for Transitioning to a New Career or Finding Your Dream Job . You can reach her at marlolyonscoaching.com .

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Getting called for a job interview -- especially now, in an extremely difficult job market -- is a major feat in itself.

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Of course, you want to make it to the next round or, even better, get a call offering you the job. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way. Sometimes you won't get a call back due to something completely out of your control -- but sometimes, it is something you said or did that could have cost you the gig.

GOBankingRates spoke to career experts and hiring managers to find out the possible reasons you didn't make it past the interview round .

You Didn't Do Your Homework

If you didn't take the time to research the company you are interviewing with, this could be a red flag to your interviewer.

"It is critical to understand the company business, intention, history and mission," said Joe Mullings, career expert and founder and CEO of The Mullings Group . "It is not uncommon for an executive to start out testing an interviewee with, 'Tell me what you know about our company and what we do.' It is a very fair question to see what research has been done in preparation for the interview session. The more that you are able to articulate an organization's goals, mission and history, the more impressive you will be. It sets a serious tone and establishes a mindset of research, maturity and preparation -- all critical characteristics that are evaluated during most interview processes."

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You Didn't Research Who Your Interviews Are With

You will typically get the name and titles of the people you will be interviewing with ahead of time. Just as you should research the company, you should also research your interviewers.

"Being able to research and understand the interviewer's background and their current challenges that may be addressed by the role you are interviewing for is a competitive advantage," Mullings said.

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You Didn't Send a Thank You Email

A timely, polite follow-up after the interview can go a long way. Mullings said to always send a thank you email to your interviewer within 24 hours.

"You should thank the person for their time, reiterate your interest in the role, and perhaps let the person know you were thinking about a specific challenge that the role may present and thought of different approaches that you might consider in addressing the challenge," he said. "An important point here to keep in mind -- do not cut and paste the same response to each member of the interview team. It is not uncommon for interviewing team members to share these 'thank you' emails with each other, and if it is a simple cut-and-paste re-gift, it will not play well."

You Didn't Prepare Meaningful Questions

When your interviewer asks if you have questions for them, this is still part of the interview.

"Sophisticated interviewers will judge you by the quality of the questions you ask," Mullings said. "You should be prepared with a series of questions for the interviewers. Have them written down on a pad and get at least three to four questions out with each interviewer. Do not be afraid to have a series of questions that are similar but contextually appropriate for each person you interview with. Be sure the questions are addressing the role, the challenges with the role, why it is open and how it will impact the person you are interviewing with."

You Just Didn't Mesh Well With the Interviewer

Sometimes you and your interviewer just won't have a good interview "chemistry."

"This is not necessarily a mistake -- it's hard to avoid," said Stacey Kaye, a job search skills coach and founder of CampusToCareer.net .

You Came Across as Uninterested

"Recruiters are human and they want to know the person is interested in their company, the role and, in general, interested in other people," Kaye said.

If you seemed unenthusiastic, avoided eye contact, were unprepared or didn't ask meaningful questions, this could indicate a lack of interest to your interviewer.

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You Asked About Salary, Benefits or Time Off During an Initial Interview

While it's OK to ask these questions when you are further along in the interview process, you should not bring up these topics during the initial interview, Kaye said.

"Just like with dating, there is a certain dance during the interview process," she said. "During a first interview, the relationship has not progressed far enough to ask these questions, which come across as presumptuous. The time-off question comes across as not wanting to work hard."

You Started Off on the Wrong Foot

The first impression can be everything.

"Starting the interview on a negative note, such as not being on time or complaining about the weather or technology [can cost you a call-back]," Kaye said. "It takes about three seconds to make an impression on other people, and it's very hard to overcome a negative impression."

You Spoke Poorly About Your Former Workplace

Speaking poorly about former employers or managers could be a red flag for recruiters.

"This lack of emotional intelligence and reading the room can lead to poor interview performance," said Yair Riemer, CEO of the career development company Intoo . "There is a fine line between providing legitimate reasons for leaving a company -- such as a change in leadership -- and openly bad-mouthing a former manager or employer. It's not a great first impression."

You Pretended To Know About a Topic You Don't Actually Know About

"I'd much prefer a candidate say, 'I'm not familiar with that,' and then provide examples from their past on their continuous learning, appetite for being trained and engaging with new concepts, etc., than to pretend they know about a subject they don't," Riemer  said. "Honesty is the best policy. No one knows it all -- we learn most of what we need on the job -- so there is no shame in saying you don't know something."

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You Didn't Effectively Relate Your Experience to the Needs of the Current Position

Simply going through your resume isn't enough to land a job -- you must explain how your previous experience qualifies you for the open position.

"Interviewees that studied the position's responsibilities and duties and relate their experience, achievements and answers to the position's requirements show they are motivated, show they are detail-oriented, make their professional narrative and qualifications clear and, most importantly, make it very simple for the interviewer to understand how quickly the interviewee will be able to hit the ground running and positively fulfill the responsibilities of the position," said Adriana Herrera, founder of the job-seeker tool Interview Destiny .

Your Salary Expectations Are Too High

If you've made it to the point in the interview process when it's appropriate to discuss salary, be sure your expectations are in line with other salaries for the given role. You may not get a call back if your salary asks are above what the company is willing to pay -- even if you're qualified for the role.

"If you really need the job, make sure to compromise and be content with the initial offer that they can give you," said Chris Muktar, founder of the interview tip site WikiJob.co.uk .

You Are Under- or Overqualified

Sometimes, the reason you didn't get a call back will have nothing to do with your interview performance.

"[You might be] beaten to the post by a more qualified applicant," said Andrew Lynch, a recruitment expert and director of the job board Teaching Abroad Direct . "On the other hand, you could be overqualified, causing decision-makers to assume that you will soon move on or demand a higher salary."

Try to focus your job search on positions you feel confidently qualified for instead of opportunities that are below or above your current skillset.

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How to Write an Interview Summary (Full Guide + with Templates)

What is an Interview Summary?

An interview summary is a brief recap of the key points from an interview. It highlights the main takeaways and key information obtained during the interview.

The purpose of an interview summary is to provide a condensed overview of what was discussed. It allows the interviewer to easily reference back to the main points that were covered, without having to re-listen to an entire interview recording or re-read pages of notes.

An effective interview summary should:

• Concisely summarize the key discussion points
• Highlight the main takeaways and pieces of information learned
• Include brief context around why the interview occurred
• Identify next steps or follow-ups needed post-interview
• Be written clearly and coherently for the intended audience
• Omit unnecessary details and tangents
• Be 1-2 pages in length or less

The summary aims to capture the essence of the conversation in a short synopsis. It extracts the vital nuggets of information so readers understand what transpired without needing the full transcript.

Before the Interview

Before conducting an interview, it's important to thoroughly research the interviewee and their company. This will help you craft thoughtful questions and have insightful discussions during the interview.

Some tips for preparing before an interview:

• Research the interviewee's background, career history, accomplishments, etc. Review their LinkedIn profile or bio to get a sense of their expertise.
• Research the company they work for, including the products/services offered, company culture, recent news, etc. Understand the company's goals and challenges.
• Prepare a list of interview questions that are specific and relevant. Avoid generic questions that could apply to anyone. Tailor questions based on your research.
• Organize your questions so they flow well during the conversation. Start with an icebreaker, then move to career history and accomplishments, then discuss current role and goals, and wrap up with vision for the industry.
• Bring a notepad and pen to take thorough notes. Consider bringing a recorder as backup, if allowed.
• Bring copies of the interviewee's bio/resume, your questions, and any other relevant documents.
• Arrive early to set up any equipment and settle in. Test your recorder.

Thorough preparation and research sets the stage for an engaging, focused interview that provides unique insights. The interview will be more productive if you've done your homework beforehand.

During the Interview

Taking detailed notes during the interview is crucial for writing an accurate and comprehensive summary later. Come prepared with a notebook, laptop, or recording device to capture important points.

• Take detailed notes on the key points the interviewee makes, including facts, figures, examples, and direct quotes. Focus on writing down the substantive information rather than trying to transcribe everything verbatim.
• Ask follow-up questions to get clarification or probe for more details when needed. Taking notes isn't very useful if you don't understand something the interviewee said. Follow up right then to ensure you fully grasp their points.
• Record the interview if possible. An audio or video recording allows you to revisit the interview later and fill in any gaps in your notes. Be sure to get permission from the interviewee first. Let them know it's only for your own reference when writing the summary.

The interview itself is the most important part of the process for gathering the details needed to write a strong summary. Take thorough notes, ask good questions, and record the discussion if able. Having comprehensive documentation of what was said will make summarizing the key points much easier.

After the Interview

Review your notes soon after the interview while it's still fresh in your mind. Highlight the key points made and topics discussed. If you recorded the interview, transcribe the audio recording or take additional notes.

Focus on summarizing the main themes and takeaways rather than trying to capture everything verbatim. Look for insights about the interviewee's background, personality, skills, experience, goals, and fit for the role.

Identify any follow-up items you need to research or verify. Review any questions that need clarification. Make note of any red flags or concerns.

Ensure you understand the key points the interviewee communicated and that you can support them with your notes. Organize your notes into a logical structure in preparation for writing the summary.

Writing the Summary

When writing the interview summary, it's important to follow a logical structure to convey the key takeaways in a clear and concise way. Here are some tips:

• Organize the summary chronologically, following the flow of the interview. Start by briefly recapping when and where the interview took place, who was present, and the purpose of the interview.
• Focus on highlighting the key points and main themes that emerged from the interview. Don't try to include every single detail discussed. Instead, synthesize the most important insights, opinions, and pieces of information.
• Use subheadings to organize the summary by topic or theme. This helps cluster related information together for easy digestion.
• Use concise language and tight writing. Avoid verbosity. Summarize points succinctly instead of using long blocks of text.
• However, do ensure you include sufficient detail and context so the summary makes sense to someone who wasn't present at the interview. The right balance of brevity and detail is key.
• Only include relevant details. Don't pad the summary with tangential points or fluff. Every sentence should serve the purpose of conveying a key takeaway.
• Close the summary by briefly recapping the main conclusions from the interview and any planned next steps, if applicable.
• Keep the summary 1-2 pages maximum. Anything longer than that is too detailed for an interview recap.

Summary Structure

The summary should be structured with an introductory paragraph, a main body, and a conclusion.

Intro Paragraph

The introductory paragraph should provide some background information to set the context. This includes details like:

• Who conducted the interview
• Who was interviewed
• The date and location of the interview
• The purpose of the interview

Keep this section brief, as the focus should be on the key points covered in the interview.

The main body covers the key points and highlights from the interview. Organize this section thematically rather than chronologically. Group related topics and points together under headings to make it easy to follow.

Be concise and only include the most essential information - not every single thing discussed. Use paraphrasing rather than direct quotes to summarize the key points concisely.

The conclusion should summarize the main takeaways and highlights from the interview. Briefly recap the key points covered in the main body to reinforce the core information.

Keep this section short and avoid introducing any new information here. The conclusion should leave the reader with a clear understanding of the interview's purpose and the topics covered.

When writing an interview summary, focus on using clear, concise language to convey the key points. Avoid flowery or overly complex wording. The goal is to summarize the interview clearly and efficiently.

Relevant quotes from the interviewee can help bring their perspectives to life. Choose impactful quotes that get to the essence of what was said. But don't rely too heavily on quotes; paraphrase the key points in your own words as well.

Stick to the facts and objectives from the interview. Do not insert your own opinions or commentary. Report objectively on what was said, focusing on the most relevant and noteworthy information. Avoid speculation or subjective assessments.

By honing a clear, concise writing style that spotlights the interview details, you'll create a focused summary readers can quickly grasp. Remove any extraneous details that don't directly support the purpose of the summary. Every word should move the summary forward.

Things to Avoid

When writing an interview summary, it's important to avoid including your own personal opinions or bias. The goal is to objectively summarize the interview, not insert commentary. Stick to just the facts.

Additionally, be cautious with using jargon or technical terms, especially if they were used by the interviewee. Not all readers will be familiar with insider language, so it's best to rephrase responses in a way that's broadly understandable.

Finally, avoid including long blocks of transcribed text from the interview. The purpose of a summary is to distill and condense the key points into a readable format. Quote sparingly, if at all. Instead, paraphrase responses in your own words.

The summary should flow as a piece of writing unto itself, not simply a collection of verbatim quotes. Maintain objectivity, use accessible language, and condense effectively.

Editing Your Summary

After you've written your initial draft, it's important to take the time to edit your interview summary. This will help ensure it is clear, concise, and accurate.

When editing, focus on the following:

• Check for clarity - Make sure your summary flows logically and is easy for the reader to follow. Break up any lengthy paragraphs into shorter ones. Read it aloud to check for clarity.
• Check for brevity - Summaries should be concise, so look for any repetitive or unnecessary information that can be removed or condensed.
• Check for accuracy - Double check any key points, facts, or figures mentioned to ensure they are correct. Verify spelling of names.
• Have someone else review it - Get a second pair of eyes on your summary to provide feedback. They may catch things you missed.
• Format document consistently - Use consistent formatting like bolding interviewee names, indenting quotes, line spacing, etc. Format any lists or headers uniformly.
• Check for typos/grammar errors - Do a final sweep for any spelling, grammar, or punctuation errors. Reading backwards can help spot typos.

Putting in the time to properly edit your interview summary will help make it polished and professional. The editing process helps refine your work into a clear, accurate recounting of the key discussion points.

Sample Interview Summaries (Format #1)

Here are two example interview summaries, one shorter and one longer, to illustrate what effective summaries might look like:

Shorter Example

I interviewed Jane Doe, a product manager at Acme Software Company, to learn about her career path and experiences. Jane has worked in product management for 7 years. She started as an associate product manager after completing her MBA, and worked her way up to senior product manager. Jane finds product management rewarding because she enjoys collaborating cross-functionally, gathering customer insights, and shaping product strategy. One challenge she faces is prioritizing features with limited development resources. Jane's advice for aspiring product managers is to seek opportunities to demonstrate analytical skills and leadership potential.

Longer Example

On March 15, I interviewed Alex Johnson, a 10-year veteran at Smith & Jones Consulting Firm. Alex started as a business analyst before being promoted to senior consultant 2 years ago. He specializes in digital transformation projects across industries.

Alex enjoys consulting because he can work on diverse projects and help clients solve complex problems. He says every project brings new learning opportunities. However, traveling 4 days per week can be tiring. The most rewarding project Alex worked on was a 2-year digital transformation engagement for a large retailer. The project had a rocky start as the client team was initially resistant to change. However, Alex was able to build strong relationships and credibility over time. He helped craft a vision and roadmap focused on using technology to improve the customer experience. This project taught Alex the importance of empathy, strategic thinking and influencing skills in consulting.

Alex's advice for new consultants is to proactively seek feedback and self-reflect. He wishes he had focused more on developing soft skills earlier in his career. For aspiring consultants from non-traditional backgrounds, Alex suggests looking for entry-level roles and being patient. He believes the field is becoming more diverse. Alex's future goals are to become a partner and give back by mentoring up-and-coming consultants.

Interview Summary Examples (Format #2)

When creating an interview summary, you'll need to do legwork and gather information. If you want to get started in no time, here are a few interview summary examples and templates.

Here is a sample of the interview summary.

[Name of the candidate]

[Candidate's contact information]

[Date and location of the interview]

[Your name and position]

[Introduce the candidate, their education, and the role for which they've applied]

[Summarize the responses of the candidate]

[If necessary, include any relevant information or expand on the candidate's previous experience]

[Your recommendations or comments on the candidate]

[Your name, date, and signature]

Job Interview Summary Example

A job interview should include the purpose and necessary information in a few sentences.

Here's a sample of a job interview summary.

[Candidate Name]

[Purpose of the interview]

[Introduce the candidate and how their skillset matches the job description]

• [Write about the candidate's skills, abilities, and knowledge]
• [Who they are]
• [Why they should/should not be hired]

[Goal of the interview]

[End the summary with key takeaways of the interview]

[Write your recommendations]

Best Regards,

[Your Name]

Interview Summary Report Example

Here is an interview summary report example and template you can use to create the content.

Company Name: Interviewing the Candidate

[Summarize who you interviewed and why.]

[Use bullet points to write the remaining information.]

[Candidate background]

[Skills, abilities, and competencies]

[Relevant examples]

[Future prospects of the interviewee]

[Next, you need to focus on the main points in the right format.]

[If you want to write any point in detail, add the section here.]

[Conclude the summary and add the major takeaway from the interview.]

[Here you can write any recommendation.]

XY Company: Interviewing the John Cross

John Cross's education includes a bachelor's degree in writing, which is a requirement for the position of Content Manager. His experience includes working as a senior writer for over seven years.

• Before applying at XY, the candidate worked with YZ company for over three years as a senior writer.
• His role and responsibilities at the previous company included creating authentic content and managing the publishing process.
• He had worked closely with the designer and other team to ensure smooth operation.
• John has demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills and good judgment, with a keen interest in the position.

I'd recommend we conduct the next interview round with John to see if he aligns with the company's requirements.

Paul Wilson

Generating Your Interview Summaries With Glyph AI

To transcribe and summarize meetings or interviews quickly and accurately, consider using an AI tool like Glyph. Glyph saves time by automating these tasks for you.

Here’s how to use it for transcribing and creating summaries of interviews:

Navigate to your Glyph AI dashboard and choose "Upload a file" to begin uploading your interviews or conversations.

Then click the "Transcribe" button.

After the transcription is done, you can save the project and start generating summaries or analyze the interview using ready-made templates.

Whether it's to analyze a customer interview or a recruitment interview, you can select them. Wait for a few seconds, and voilà, you'll have the full summary of your interview with important key points and highlights.

To learn more about use case, check this https://www.joinglyph.com/use-cases/hr

To watch full demo in action, check this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pulrC2ykz0

How to Write a Good Interview Report? An interview report is a detailed document capturing the essence of the conversation between the interviewer and the interviewee. To craft an effective interview report, consider these tips:

• Focus on collecting relevant information about the interviewee. Prepare by researching and organizing your materials in advance.
• Adjust the writing style based on the audience. For example, a report for a magazine will differ in tone from one intended for a recruitment team.
• Use summary examples and templates as guides to create clear, concise reports tailored to your readers' needs.
• Fill in the template with essential details right after the interview. Doing so while the discussion is still fresh in your mind will help you complete the report efficiently.

What Does a Candidate Interview Summary Include? A candidate interview summary is a document prepared by the interviewer after the interview, summarizing the key information and responses provided by the candidate. It usually includes the candidate's name, location, skills, job interest, and responses.

The main purpose of this summary is to assist the hiring manager and recruitment team in determining whether the candidate is a suitable match for the company.

Why Are Interview Summaries Important? Interview summaries condense one-on-one interview sessions into concise, readable texts, facilitating the sharing of the candidate's profile with the team.

The benefits of interview summaries include:

• They provide a searchable record of the interview, making information easily accessible.
• They help speed up the decision-making process for hiring.
• Summaries are more straightforward to share and review than full reports.

Key Points to Remember An interview summary distills the critical aspects of the interview into a brief paragraph, efficiently conveying information that would otherwise require several paragraphs to describe.

If recording, transcribing, or summarizing interviews poses a challenge, consider using Glyph AI . This interview transcription software offers real-time, accurate interview summaries, streamlining the process with efficiency.

Your Multi-Purposed TranscriptionOS for Business Workflows

Opinion Is Biden afraid of reporters?

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President Biden’s team has largely kept him away from tough interviews during his time in office and instead opted for conversations with friendly comedians and podcast hosts. With polls showing that broad majorities of voters are concerned about his age and fitness for a second term, Biden is missing opportunities to address these issues (and others) by refusing to sit down with independent journalists.

So I asked my Post Opinions colleagues Charles Lane and Stephen Stromberg, who lead The Post’s Editorial Board: Is Biden’s selective media strategy a liability?

Alexi McCammond: The White House correspondents’ dinner festivities are officially over (phew!), so I wanted to chat about the press and its relationship with President Biden. Does that change, or should it, when one candidate is viewed as a threat to democracy?

Chuck Lane: Team Biden thinks so, because they’re feuding with the New York Times over what they allege is both-sidesism coverage between him and Donald Trump. For the record, I don’t agree that the Times is guilty. Clearly, it has a huge audience that Team Biden seems to want to address — but indirectly by working the refs and changing how Biden is covered.

Stephen Stromberg: This doesn’t necessarily reflect the specifics of the Times-Biden feud, but: Political operatives often misunderstand what journalists value and what motivates us. Partisans believe that it is important for their team to win because that would be better for the country. Ends often justify means. Good journalists are on no team because they believe that the public requires critical examination of important institutions.

Chuck: And FWIW, the White House has parceled out interviews with POTUS like diamonds, favoring softball pitchers. Like his recent interview with Howard Stern . Though in their shoes, I might do the same.

Alexi: Biden hasn’t done any formal interviews with White House reporters from venerable outlets like ours, the Times, the Wall Street Journal, etc., since becoming president. What is he risking by refusing those conversations?

Stephen: In our fragmented media environment, I often wonder whether this kind of avoidance matters much. It used to be that Walter Cronkite beamed into everyone’s homes, and his judgments — about whether a politician was aloof or even a war unwinnable — mattered. Now? Spurning the legacy media doesn’t carry the same risks.

Chuck: Clearly they’d rather take heat for avoiding an interview than for bungling one. Age issues freak them out, but even a younger Biden gave staff the willies because of his tendency to go off script.

Alexi: Wouldn’t a sharp interview or back-and-forth with a reporter help allay those concerns? Or at least give him a better platform to address said concerns instead of, I don’t know, a throwaway joke at the correspondents’ dinner?

Chuck: It would allay concern only if it went well. That’s the Catch-22.

Stephen: So, I did some homework for this! Biden also does markedly fewer news conferences than his predecessors. The University of California at Santa Barbara’s American Presidency Project keeps a running tally . George W. Bush averaged 26.3 a year; Obama 20.4, Trump 22 and Biden 11. Biden’s people will say that he does many less-formal exchanges with reporters, as he’s walking to Marine One, say. But these don’t provide reporters much opportunity for follow-up questions; it’s easier for the president to dodge questions he doesn’t like. And, of course, it requires a lot less stamina to say a few words than it does to submit yourself to an hour-plus grilling.

Chuck: No fair doing homework.

Alexi: Such a nerd, Stephen!

Stephen: Lol guilty as charged.

Alexi: But it is an important point. And that’s what matters here: We ask the tough questions for the voters! We can’t do that if he won’t engage.

Chuck: I refuse to continue on this uneven playing field! Just kidding. Also, you gotta wonder how much of this is Biden’s own decision. Is it possible staff wants to do more, but he doesn’t?

Alexi: Interesting. How much do you think it’s him vs. his team, Chuck? My understanding of his press shop suggests it’s them. It also seems that they want to reach Republican voters, who aren’t usually reading the same sources as Democrats.

Stephen: Well, that was part of the explanation for sitting down with Stern — that he might reach an audience on YouTube.

Chuck: Remember that presser Biden did at night responding to the special counsel report on his aging? Apparently that was his idea.

Stephen: Ooof, I’ve tried to forget, Chuck.

Chuck: Can’t unsee it.

Stephen: That said, a great way for Biden to dispel any questions about his age would be for him to sit down with The Post’s Editorial Board!

Alexi: +1 on that, Steve. With you two in charge of our Ed Board, I know we’d have the best Biden interview around.

Chuck: That partially compensates for the way Steve cheated by preparing in advance. But not entirely.

🙅🏽‍♀️ 🙅🏽‍♀️ 🙅🏽‍♀️

The next word.

Former New York Times columnist Frank Bruni talked with the Columbia Journalism Review about how the media must navigate this era of political grievances. Here’s what he had to say:

All too often, if a set of events on the surface has a political moral that we like, or seems to be telling a story that is our preferred story, we don’t muster or apply scrutiny. A journalist’s first response should always be skepticism and scrutiny. And if you want to maintain credibility and continue to have a constructive effect on society, you have to be careful that you’re not traveling far away from the truth.

Sometimes, the truth hurts. And sometimes, the media need to ask questions that make some people uncomfortable. For example, take a look at this essay for Politico magazine by Jack Shafer:

Why has the press not better covered Biden’s mental haziness? It seemed to have no problem conjecturing that Donald Trump was going mad during his term in office. ... While journalism can be useful in contributing to democracies, it should never allow itself to be enlisted by a candidate or a party to spike or bury truthful stories that some people think might wound democracy. If Biden’s batteries are as low as they seem to be ... then muffling the story about his condition is among the worst wounds the press could inflict on democracy.

In a similar vein, after Biden refused a Super Bowl Sunday sit-down interview for the second year in a row, Democratic strategist James Carville said it was a “sign” that Biden’s team had little confidence in him. “It’s the biggest television audience, not even close, and you get a chance to do a 20-, 25-minute interview on that day, and you don’t do it, that’s a kind of sign that the staff or yourself doesn’t have much confidence in you. There’s no other way to read this,” Carville told CNN .

This week, four years ago

As some parents hired virtual Zoom babysitters in the hopes of finding peace at home, Donald Trump pushed to include his signature on the stimulus checks that were mailed to millions of Americans during the pandemic. Meanwhile, some researchers were studying whether dogs could sniff out an odor associated with the coronavirus.

• Was #BringBackOurGirls activism worth nothing? Post Opinions columnist Karen Attiah looks back on the tragedy and promise of a global movement to rescue kidnapped Nigerian girls. Read more.
• Does it matter that some Democrats voted against Israel aid? Yes, as The Post’s Shadi Hamid explains in a new Post column .
• Is South Dakota Gov. Kristi L. Noem a dog murderer? Also yes .

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A bill from a member of the Legislature’s happiness committee would require schools to come up with homework policies that consider the mental and physical strain on students.

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Update: The Assembly education committee on April 24 approved an amended version of the bill that softens some requirements and gives districts until the 2027-28 school year. Some bills before California’s Legislature don’t come from passionate policy advocates, or from powerful interest groups.  

Sometimes, the inspiration comes from a family car ride. 

While campaigning two years ago, Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo ’s daughter, then nine, asked from the backseat what her mother could do if she won.

Schiavo answered that she’d be able to make laws. Then, her daughter Sofia asked her if she could make a law banning homework.

“It was a kind of a joke,” the Santa Clarita Valley Democrat said in an interview, “though I’m sure she’d be happy if homework were banned.”

Still, the conversation got Schiavo thinking, she said. And while Assembly Bill 2999 — which faces its first big test on Wednesday — is far from a ban on homework, it would require school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to develop guidelines for K-12 students and would urge schools to be more intentional about “good,” or meaningful homework. 

Among other things, the guidelines should consider students’ physical health, how long assignments take and how effective they are. But the bill’s main concern is mental health and when homework adds stress to students’ daily lives.

Homework’s impact on happiness is partly why Schiavo brought up the proposal last month during the first meeting of the Legislature’s select committee on happiness , led by former Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon .   

“This feeling of loneliness and disconnection — I know when my kid is not feeling connected,” Schiavo, a member of the happiness committee, told CalMatters. “It’s when she’s alone in her room (doing homework), not playing with her cousin, not having dinner with her family.” 

The bill analysis cites a survey of 15,000 California high schoolers from Challenge Success, a nonprofit affiliated with the Stanford Graduate School of Education. It found that 45% said homework was a major source of stress and that 52% considered most assignments to be busywork.  

The organization also reported in 2020 that students with higher workloads reported “symptoms of exhaustion and lower rates of sleep,” but that spending more time on homework did not necessarily lead to higher test scores.

Homework’s potential to also widen inequities is why Casey Cuny supports the measure. An English and mythology teacher at Valencia High School and 2024’s California Teacher of the Year , Cuny says language barriers, unreliable home internet, family responsibilities or other outside factors may contribute to a student falling behind on homework.

“I never want a kid’s grade to be low because they have divorced parents and their book was at their dad’s house when they were spending the weekend at mom’s house,” said Cuny, who plans to attend a press conference Wednesday to promote the bill.

In addition, as technology makes it easier for students to cheat — using artificial technology or chat threads to lift answers, for example — Schiavo says that the educators she has spoken to indicate they’re moving towards more in-class assignments. 

Cuny agrees that an emphasis on classwork does help to rein in cheating and allows him to give students immediate feedback. “I feel that I should teach them what I need to teach them when I’m with them in the room,” he said. 

The bill says the local homework policies should have input from teachers, parents, school counselors, social workers and students; be distributed at the beginning of every school year; and be reevaluated every five years.

The Assembly Committee on Education is expected to hear the bill Wednesday. Schiavo says she has received bipartisan support and so far, no official opposition or support is listed in the bill analysis. 

The measure’s provision for parental input may lead to disagreements given the recent culture war disputes between Democratic officials and parental rights groups backed by some Republican lawmakers. Because homework is such a big issue, “I’m sure there will be lively (school) board meetings,” Schiavo said.

Nevertheless, she says she hopes the proposal will overhaul the discussion around homework and mental health. The bill is especially pertinent now that the state is also poised to cut spending on mental health services for children with the passage of Proposition 1 .

Schiavo said the mother of a student with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder told her that the child’s struggle to finish homework has raised issues inside the house, as well as with the school’s principal and teachers.

“And I’m just like, it’s sixth grade!” Schaivo said. “What’s going on?”

Lawmakers want to help California be happy

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Lynn La Newsletter Writer

Lynn La is the WhatMatters newsletter writer. Prior to joining CalMatters, she developed thought leadership at an edtech company and was a senior editor at CNET. She also covered public health at The Sacramento... More by Lynn La

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Ray chan dies: ‘deadpool & wolverine’, ‘avengers: endgame’ production designer was “peerless”, says ryan reynolds, ‘deadpool & wolverine’ doesn’t require prior knowledge of mcu, director says: “this movie is built for entertainment”.

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Shawn Levy , the director of Deadpool and Wolverine , doesn’t like homework and does not require moviegoers to have prior knowledge of the MCU to enjoy his latest film.

The filmmaker revealed in a recent interview that the new Marvel movie starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman is meant to be entertaining.

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“I very much made this film with certainly a healthy respect and gratitude towards the rabid fan base that has peak fluency in the mythology and lore of these characters and this world. But I didn’t want to presume that,” he added. “This movie is built for entertainment, with no obligation to come prepared with prior research.”

During CinemaCon, Levy noted that although this is the third film featuring Deadpool, it’s not to be called Deadpool 3 .

“As far as crafting the Deadpool and Wolverine story, I just felt privileged every day because you’re talking about two massive movie stars in their most iconic roles,” Levy told Screen Rant during CinemaCon. “It also gave me an opportunity. It’s the third Deadpool movie, but it’s not Deadpool 3. It’s a different thing that’s very much Deadpool and Wolverine. And it’s not trying to copycat anything from the first two movies. They were awesome, but this is a two-hander character adventure.”

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