Some of the most common job interview questions are the ‘describe yourself’, ‘describe your boss’, ‘describe your deal job’ and ‘describe your management style’ interview questions.
This article provides the best answers for these typical job interview questions.
You can find more frequently asked questions reading the articles located in the topic – frequestly asked interview questions and answers.
The article is divided to 4 parts:
Typical Interview Questions and Best Answers
1. How to Answer the ‘Describe Yourself’ interview question
An important question that is asked during a job interview is the ‘How Would You Describe Yourself in one sentence or in five words?’ question.
When asking this question, the interviewer tries to find out what the interviewee thinks about himself/herself. It is very important that the interviewee answers this question in a manner that is logical without bragging or lessening his/her value.
In many cases, the interviewer can also phrase the question as ‘tell us 3 words to describe yourself’ or ‘give us 3 adjectives to describe yourself’.
In such a situation you can use positive words that bring about your most positive characteristics.
The words that you can use are: “Hardworking, loyal, quick learner, well adjust to changes, efficient team player, multi tasking, self-motivated and self confident”
The answer should also be ground in solid logic and should reference professional achievements.
Refer to the article – what is your greatest achievement.
Another good answer to this question is, “I would describe myself as a professional who is easy to get along with, and who can handle stressful situations and a heavy work load.”
Further reading – “examples of strengths and weaknesses”.
2. Typical interview question: ‘Describe Your Boss’?
Describing your manager or your boss is another tricky question that is generally asked by most of the interviewers.
Basically, these are not questions, but ways to gauge your comfort level in discussing your previous jobs, as well as a way to evaluate your experiences at your previous place of employment.
If you show signs of complete dissatisfaction, the interviewer may think that you need the job desperately and it might reflect negatively toward your candidacy and/or salary package.
Therefore, if you are asked to describe your boss, you should answer the question in the most diplomatic manner that is possible.
You can answer the question like this:
“My manager/boss was a good combination of professionalism and the personal touch. Having risen from the entry level of an employee, he knew most of the problems that employees faced. He was a good leader and had strong communication skills. He motivated me to come up with new ideas and always provided helpful feedback. He always set, changed, evaluated and monitored our work goals to improve our bottom line and I learned a lot from him”
The next questions could be – so, why do you want to leave your job?
Read further – why did you leave your current job?
- How would you describe your ideal job?: While this question may seem inconsequential at the time of the interview, this one can actually keep you apart from others who share the same educational qualifications or even have the same experience.
If asked about your ideal job, you should ensure the interviewer that you wish to have a job that gives you professional progress as well as creative satisfaction, along with providing a stability that is required by every person. - How would you Describe Your Leadership Style? A different set of questions will be asked to a person who would be appointed to be a team leader, a manager or even a CEO.
One of the most important questions asked during such an interview is: ‘What type of leader are you?’ Or ‘how would you describe your leadership style’ or ‘are you a leader or a follower?’ - How would you describe your management style? This question can be phrased: “please describe your management experience”. Or ‘what is your management style?’. The article suggests an answer to this interview question.
- Describe Your Communication Skills The interview may ask you a direct question wanting you to describe how you communicate with other or to tell more about these skills.
- How Would You Describe Your Personality? The question can be asked in different ways, like: ‘please describe your personality in 5 words.’ Or ‘how would you describe your own personality?’
- How Would Your Friends & Colleagues Describe You? The interviewer may ask several questions related to the lifestyle, psyche, personal traits and general attitude of the interviewee. One of these questions is: ‘how your friends or colleagues would describe you?’ and about your relationship with co workers.
