Job Coconut has been doing a little behind the scenes research and we have been talking to a number of recruiters around Europe about Interview Questions & how to spot a tricky question and in what way should they be answered.

We just couldn’t keep them to ourselves so with their permission of course we wanted to share them with you.

We know that sitting an interview can be a scary time – you are sitting outside the interview room rehearsing your answers, worrying about the right way to shake hands, do you take the glass of water offered or not?

We get it – our job here is to help make this time easy and less stressful as possible. So keep reading & let us know how you got on.

So what have we found out?

There are only 3 types of Interview Questions:

1. Personal Interview Questions
2. Motivational Interview Questions
3. Competency Based Interview Questions

Now, don’t get us wrong – here are many questions that can be asked under each type – but there is only 3 main types of interview questions. Let’s break it down:

Personal Interview Questions:

These are the type of questions a recruiter will ask to try and see what type of personality you have – if you would be a good cultural fit for the company and the team etc.

Top 3 Questions for Personal Interview Questions:

1. 3 words that describe you?
2. Do you have any questions for me?
3. If you could be any breakfast cereal what would it be? (Less likely to pop up but you get the idea and wouldn’t you like to be fully prepared?)

Motivational Interview Questions:

Here are questions that the recruiter will ask to try and see why you really want the job, what you like about the company and how you feel about living in a particular location.

These type of interview questions are really to see if you’ve done your homework and researched everything involved (Job, Location & Company).

Top 3 Questions for Motivational Interview Questions:

Top Tip: Make sure you listen carefully here because these questions are the ones that many job seekers fail on. The questions may sound similar but make sure to listen out for the buzzwords.

• Why would you like to work for us?

Here you only want to talk about the company, your reasons for wanting to join the team, perhaps their culture, their career prospects is what has drawn you to them.

• Why do you want to work in (Country)?

Obviously you only talk about the country that the company and job are in. For example, if the job is in Dublin, you talk about the main reasons why you want to live and work there.

• Why did you apply for this job?

Here you just talk about the job, not the company, not the location – just the job. Say what you like about the job, what you can see yourself doing in it and how you can see it help you in your career path.

Competency Based Interview Questions:

These questions are to see how you have handled similar situations in the past and how you would handle hypothetical situations if you were to get this particular job now. What are they looking for? EXAMPLES. Examples of previous work done and how you would apply your knowledge in future jobs.

What do Competency Based Questions sound like?

You will know you are being asked these type of questions when you here:

• How would you do….
• Explain to me how you would….
• What would you do if this….

There you have it – the 3 main types of interview questions in one easy to read blogs by your favourite Job Board – Job Coconut.

Feel free to browse our other blogs for some great career advice & top tips on your job search.

Until next time.