Transcript adapted by ListenLoop for language learners. Read alongside the video to consolidate comprehension.

Hello, my name is Niharika. When you apply for a job and you're called for an interview, there are various questions that are asked, and the better prepared you are, the more successful your interview will be. You might have come across various videos online that talk about the most common interview questions and answers. This video will be a little different because it's not just about the questions and answers; we are going to talk. I'm also going to explain what exactly the interviewer thinks when he or she is asking certain questions, what exact answers he is looking for, and what the common mistakes are that you usually make.

The first most common question that is asked by the interviewer is, "So tell me something about yourself," or he or she might also ask, "Run me through your CV." Here, the interviewer is not really interested in your answer. What they are looking for is your confidence, your enthusiasm, and the passion that you answer with. So, it's the best time to show off your communication skills. I have observed that many people end up saying, "Ah, I love watching movies; I think I love partying. I have so many friends, so I really enjoy partying." That's not the right way to answer this question. What you need to talk about is your education, where you grew up, or you can also talk about your past work experience, if you have any, and your personal interests. For example, you can say, "Ah, well, I grew up in France, and I studied accounting. I also worked for an accounting firm for about eight months, and I really enjoy numbers, so maybe that's exactly the reason I love to solve them. Solving them is so much fun, and in my spare time, I really like reading and also going out jogging, only if the weather allows me to." So that's the way you would answer this question.

The second most popular question that is asked by an interviewer is, "What are your strengths?" Here, the interviewer is looking at how positive you think about yourself. It's quite a general question; there's no right or wrong answer to it, but if you give out one-liners such as, "Oh, I'm a very friendly person; I love being with people, and people love being with me," that just doesn't sound great for an interview, does it? What you can say is, "My strongest trait is attention to detail. I totally believe in planning and execution. In fact, even when I was in college, I used to really organize my week, and many people, because of my very outgoing nature, have said that I am quite approachable; so I believe these are my strengths."

The third most common question that is asked is, "So what are your weaknesses?" Here, you need not be really negative about yourself. I have heard people saying, "Well, I am a very impatient person," or people also say, "I get angry easily." That's not the right answer. Maybe that is your weakness, but you need not bring it out. The best answer to this question is that what the interviewer is looking for is whether you can identify your weakness and how you can cover it up. One example you can use to answer this question is, "I think my weakness is that I am way too detail-oriented. I try to accomplish everything, and I just want everything to be perfect, but then I realize that I'm losing out on time, so maybe that makes me submit these projects pretty late. I think that is one of my weaknesses. So here, basically, what you are doing is displaying that maybe you run out of time, but you're also giving a very positive aspect to it: that you are a perfectionist. And that's exactly what we saw as a strength in the previous question too. So I think this is one of the best ways you can answer this question.

The next common question that is asked is, "Where do you see yourself in five years from now?" or the interviewer might also ask, "What are your long-term or short-term goals?" Here, I've seen people really struggle to answer this question, maybe because you yourself have no idea where you would like to be. Usually, people end up saying, "Oh, I would like to be the CEO of this company," or, "I would like to own an airline." That doesn't sound right. A good answer to this question would be, because here the interviewer is looking at how committed you are going to be to this company. They want to know your commitment because you know what's the attrition rate these days. One of the best answers that you can give would be, "Well, five years from now, I think I would like to be in a management position. Till then, I would like to gain practical experience and then eventually become a manager. Of course, I would like to share and also learn a lot of new things from my team members."

The next most popular question that is asked is, "So tell me something about our company" or "What do you know about our company?" Here, the interviewer, of course, has knowledge about his own company, but what he is looking for is whether you are serious about this job or not, and whether you have just come for one of those random interviews. Many people are usually let down because of the lack of research about the company. What you need to do is research. Go online, learn about the positive attributes of the company, learn about their products, their history, and so on. One of the best ways you can answer this question is, "Oh, well, your company is very well known for customer service, and you also won an award for the best service provider in the country. You also have a great clientele, so that's one of the best ways to answer this question."

The sixth most common question that is asked is, "How well do you handle change?" The philosophy behind this question is to know if you would be able to cope with change. Companies come up with different strategies, and employees come and go, so would you be able to handle that? People usually end up saying, "Oh, of course, I am great at handling change." The interviewer would not be impressed with this answer. You can answer this question with an example: "Well, of course, I can handle change because in my previous company, one of our immediate bosses had to quit, and there was a new boss who came in and completely changed our strategy on a project. So, of course, I'm very flexible and hardworking too, and we managed it with our team efforts, and definitely the results were pretty good." This is the way you could answer this question.

The next common question that is asked is, "How well do you work under pressure?" The reason behind this question is that the employer or the interviewer wants to know if you get really stressed out or panicked under pressure. These days, companies expect you to take more and more responsibility and a greater workload. The best way to answer this question is, "Well, definitely, working under pressure or without pressure works just the same for me. In fact, in one of the companies I was working for, there was a project that had to be completed in four days, which usually takes ten days. The whole team was so stressed out; they panicked and didn’t know what to do. But then I ensured that they settled down, we prioritized our work, and in a very organized manner, we completed the project. Of course, we also worked late nights, but that definitely helped us submit our project in four days. So I think working under pressure is not too bad for me." This is one of the best ways you can answer this question.

The last common question that is asked is, "How do you handle important decisions?" The reason behind this question is usually, if someone or the interviewer is hiring you for a management position or a lead position, he wants to know that someday when you have to handle a very important, critical decision, how would you do that? Many people end up saying, "You know what? I really haven't come across difficult situations." That's not the right answer. One of the best answers I can help you with is, "Handling decisions is definitely considered to be a little difficult, but I am sure I can do it because of my experience. I would rely on my experience, weigh the pros and cons, and take some advice from my team members, and I'm sure that would help me come to a decision. We will also look at the consequences of the decision. So definitely, I can go ahead and make decisions."

That brings me to the end of this lesson. I hope all of these questions and answers are helpful for your interview. If you are going for an interview, I wish you all the very best. Do well, and I will see you soon in the next lesson. Take care. Thank you.