Sometimes you’d rather do anything else than think about the questions you’ll potentially face in an interview. After asking a group of our own candidates, currently in the interview process, we determined that the most challenging questions to answer are the behavioural ones.
Below, we have pulled out a few of the most popular behavioural interview questions and how you may want to answer them.
- Tell me about yourself.
Sounds like a relatively easy question to answer – who knows you better than you? However, without any direction, this could leave you wondering where to start! The best way to approach this question would be to ask your interviewer where they would like you to start. For example, they may want you to talk about your experiences that are relative to the job you are interviewing for.
To answer this question successfully, think about the job role and the necessary experience and start there. If your interviewer is looking for a particular skill, then talk about how you first acquired that skill and the environment in which you used it.
- What is your biggest strength and area of growth?
A tricky question to answer without feeling like your area of growth may be your downfall.
The interviewer wants to know that you can be reflective, self-aware and critical of your own abilities and areas for improvement.
A great way to show your prospective employer that you will be a valuable member of the team is to let them know that while you understand what weaknesses you have, you are constantly working on self-development and you are proactive in your approach to growing professionally.
- Talk to me about a time where you and another team member had a difference of opinion – How did you deal with it?
The best way to answer this question is to start by describing a project you worked on and the project’s scope. Whether you were the Project Lead or a team member within the project, it’s important that you’re able to deal with differing opinions. Being able to demonstrate that you can take everyone’s opinion on board and come to a resolution collaboratively is important to an employer.
- Talk to me about a challenge you faced and how you dealt with it? – What was the outcome?
Project can throw up all sorts of challenges and it is important for an employer to know that you can handle a situation. This type of question helps an employer measure your problem-solving skills and your ability to remain calm in challenging times.
Answering the question in stages will be the most effective way to conquer it. Address what went wrong, how proactive you were about finding a solution and what the outcome was.
- Why are you interested in this role?
This question ultimately comes down to the employer wanting to find out how much research you have done about the company. They want to know if you have taken the time to understand their company mission and to make sure that you are passionate about working for them.
Getting to know who your interviewer is will make a great conversational point and build a good rapport and will give them an idea whether you’d be a good cultural fit.
If you find some of these questions nerve wracking, find a friend to practice them on or sit on your own and go through the questions until you feel comfortable!
If you’re looking for a new IT Project Management role, visit our Careers page.
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