Test Your Job Interview Skills

Matt M. Starcevich, Ph.D. and Joe Howie, J.D.
(For individual use only, not to be reproduced or distributed without written permission.)
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Your next job interview could be the most important half hour of your career. This quiz helps you determine if you are prepared for a successful job interview.

What is the purpose of the job interview?

To provide you an opportunity to tell the employer about your qualifications and to do the best job of selling yourself.

To answer all the questions asked by the employer in an honest and convincing way.

To enable both the organization and potential employee to obtain the information needed to make an informed decision.

What is the best way to respond to the request, "Tell me about yourself?"

Describe your hobbies and interests so that you are more than just a name on a resume.

Describe how your qualifications would enable you to provide value if you were hired.

Describe what an ideal job would provide you by way of challenge and earnings potential

How should you respond to the request, "Tell me about your accomplishments or abilities?"

Quickly summarize educational degrees or certificates then state your prior job titles and employers in chronological order.

Describe the accomplishments or abilities that would be of the most value to the employer and give specific examples of having used them before.

Briefly list the jobs you have held throughout your career, highlighting the progression in job titles and compensation.

When talking about yourself during the interview, you should:

Describe your people skills in detail -- specific knowledge can be taught on the job but people skills are more ingrained and therefore more important when hiring.

Be sure to outline both your "book" knowledge and the practical experience you have acquired to show both academic and real-world accomplishments.

Emphasize your strengths wherever you have them, being sure to include people skills, job knowledge, and the tools you have learned to use.

How should you respond to the question, "What are your goals?"

Aim for the moon -- this is your best chance to show that you are ambitious and anxious to get on with your career.

Be humble as overly aggressive individuals threaten some people.

State what you think can realistically be accomplished in the short term (1-2 years).

What is the best way to respond to the question: "Why do you want this job?"

Indicate that it is right for your career.

Indicate that you feel you can learn a lot to be an effective employee.

Indicate how you can make valuable contributions in this job.

Which of the following is the most important information you need to find out during the interview?

Who your immediate supervisor would be and how he or she manages people.

The salary and benefit package.

What career path this job will put you on.

You have just been asked about an event in your life that you would rather not discuss, e.g., an arrest, bad credit, or failed courses. How do you respond?

Indicate that it is premature at this point to talk about those topics before any serious offer has been made.

Briefly but honestly relate what happened and what you learned or how you've changed

Now is a good time for humor, laughingly state that it was a long time ago and not a very smart move.

When is the best time to ask about or to respond to questions about the compensation package?

Toward the end of the interview when you feel the interviewer understands how your skills can benefit the organization.

When the interviewer asks, "How much do you need to earn?"

At the beginning of the interview, so you can tell if it is worth taking your time and the time of the interviewer.

What is the most important information that you need about the people you will be working with, your manager and colleagues?

The qualifications and experiences of the team members

How everyone gets along as a team.

Your immediate supervisor's descriptions and opinions of your team members.

Test Your Job Interview Skills