interview questions & answers

  • Unfortunately, when it comes to answering interview questions there are no 'black and white' set answers. Answering interview questions successfully very much depends on the interviewer, their style of questioning and what type of job you are interviewing for.

    The best preparation you can do is to practice answering interview questions and prepare an array of answers that you can use during any interview. This will ensure you survive the toughest interviews!

    Q: So, tell me more about yourself...

    This is a common line used to open an interview, which can prompt you to talk about anything; your career, hobbies, interests or any other personal information.

    Play this one safe - a good answer would be to give a brief overview to your skills and experience across your career, concluding with your current situation and why you are at the interview. Remember to keep it to the point, concise and ideally no longer than 2 minutes.

    It's an introduction, if you waffle or start to sound boring the interviewer will be asleep before the interview has even started! It's vital you get a good start.

  • Q: Why did you leave your last job?

    When answering this question try to keep this answer positive instead of negative. For example, "I felt that I had achieved everything possible within the business, and was not moving in a direction that would help progress my career" INSTEAD OF "I did not agree with the way the business was managed" - this would make you sound negative and will greatly reduce any chance you have of being offered the position. If you were made redundant - say so. There is no reason to hide this fact!

  • Q: Where do you see yourself in 3-5 years?

    Be careful with this one, it could be a ‘make or break' interview question. The key to answering this one successfully is to understand what your role within the company would be and what the employer is looking for.

    A good approach is to show the employer that your goals and ambitions are realistic . A good answer could be that you want to study or develop your skills that will improve your performance, benefit the company and help progress in your career.

  • Q: Do you have any questions for me?

    This usually indicates the interview is coming to a close. It is a great opportunity to engage in dialogue with the interviewer and build further rapport or relationship, if not already done so. We recommend that you ALWAYS should ask questions as it demonstrates that you have a serious interest in the position.

    Some interviewers will be looking for you to have the courage to ask honest questions about the company, the positive and negatives about working there, so that you understand what you are getting yourself into and what is going to be asked of you.

  • Further Interview Advice & Coaching

    Would you like some further interview advice or coaching? Why not ask the experts? TheEngineersCV.co.uk is a team of professional consultants with a combined 18 years experience within engineering recruitment. We provide One-to-One Career Guidenace and Interview Coaching Services to Engineering professionals across the UK and Europe.

  • Call us on 020 3239 5744 to discuss this service further.