Graduate interview Q&A – nine common interview questions

Interviewing for your first graduate job? Not everyone is lucky enough to land a job after interviewing with only one company, but improve your chances of getting the role you want at a company you like by wowing the interviewers.

How? Preparation, preparation, preparation.

Here are nine common graduate interview questions – make sure you’re fully prepared for them!

1. Tell me a bit about yourself

A lot of interviewers will cut to the chase and might not ask you this, after all, they have reviewed your resume and already know your work experience and education history.

For those that do ask, prepare a brief statement that indicates what in your recent past has led you to be sitting in front of them in your interview, e.g.;

“I developed an interest in events management during my second year of university while I was on the student events committee – I’d love to utilise my degree as well as the skills I picked up while coordinating events. This role seems perfect for that because...”

2. Why do you want to work here?

Definitely one that involves some Googling. Research the company prior to the interview so you can talk compellingly about why this is the organisation for you. It’s all about value alignment, e.g.;

“I saw on your company blog that you partner with a lot of charities and organisations. Environmental issues are particularly close to my heart after taking a semester on it at university that had a big focus corporate waste. When I looked at your competitors, it’s clear that you are leading the way in your industry on this important topic.”

3. How you have demonstrated leadership qualities at university?

This is what’s known as a behavioural interview question (and comes in all shapes and sizes) – the interviewer is encouraging you to use a real life example of something to see how you react and deal with different situations, in this case, taking the lead.

Consider group projects you’ve taken charge of while at university, these are a perfect example of how you had to take the reins on something, make tough decisions and influence others, e.g.;

“I was team leader for a four week project at university. The role involved assessing my team’s skills and attributes and coming up with a plan that meant everyone involved got to do a task they were good at, but also enjoyed. There were a few glitches along the way, but I’m glad it wasn’t all smooth sailing, otherwise I wouldn’t have learnt how to deal with issues such as team conflict, tight deadlines and being put on the spot when a decision must be made.”

4. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Although it might sound like a trick questions, employers genuinely do want to know that you have enough self-awareness to realise you’re not perfect.

Always follow up on your weakness with how you plan to improve on it, e.g.;

“My organisation skills were terrible in school but I’ve found that completing my degree has taught me how to prioritise tasks and meet tight deadlines, so it’s something I want to keep working at when I’m in full-time employment.”

Highlight your strengths that match up to the role requirements. If the job description calls for someone with great presentation skills, then tell your interviewer about a class presentation you delivered and any positive feedback you received from it.

5. Where do you want to be in five years’ time?

If you’re interviewing for a graduate scheme, the hiring manager might like to hear that you wish to be an established member of the team by then, helping to mentor future graduates who join the business and sharing your experience and knowledge with them.

If not, it’s ok to say you don’t know exactly where you want to be, but try and have some ideas, e.g.;

“I know I want to learn x and x skills, which is why I’m so excited about this role and this company – I think I’ll develop personally and professionally here. If I had to say exactly, I’d like to be in a position where I can make a positive change through contributing to decision making, as well as leading and inspiring a team.”

6. What is your greatest achievement?

Similarly to when you describe your strengths, use the selection criteria for the role – your greatest achievement should align with this, e.g.;

“My team won a university sports challenge, despite one of us sustaining an injury on the day of the final game. I was really proud because we banded together and re-worked our strategy, taking home the winning title, even though we were one person short. It showed resilience and teamwork in the best ways possible.”

7. Why should we hire you?

This is where you really need to sell yourself to the hiring manager – tell them what you think you can bring to the team and be sure to mention the skills they require, e.g.;

“What I lack in years of experience, I make up in my ability to learn quickly when I’m really passionate about something. When I saw your job advert, and from talking to you about the role today, I know this job is something I would be passionate about and I’m confident I could add value to your team.”

8. Are you a team player?

Of course you are. But answer more than ‘yes’, e.g.;

“I like having the flexibility to handle projects alone as well as being part of a small or large team. I think the best part of teamwork is the inspiration element – there is always someone who has a great idea that you hadn’t thought of, and you would be missing out on that if you always worked solo.”

9. Do you have any questions for us?

Never say no. Even if the interviewer has covered off all the points you wanted to query, ask them to go into more detail about one of them. Otherwise, you’ll appear uninterested.

Here’s how:

“You mentioned that the role reports directly into you but there are other stakeholders, would you mind letting me know a bit more about how that would work?”

Now that you’ve prepared yourself for the questions you might face, make sure you are ready to make a good first impression – find out how to dress for your graduate interview.

And good luck!