Adriana Herrera, Interview Destiny FounderUse this Basic Questions in an Interview and Answers article to help you impress your interviewer.

If you want everything you need to ace your interview, click here.

Adriana Herrera, Interview Destiny FounderUse this Basic Questions in an Interview and Answers article to help you impress your interviewer.

If you want everything you need to ace your interview, click here.

Basic Questions in an Interview and Answers (10 Great Examples)

by | Last updated Jul 8, 2022

Basic Questions in an Interview and Answers (Feature Icon)

Are you getting ready for a job interview?

If so, then this article is for you! We’re going to go over basic questions in an interview and answers.

Knowing what basic interview questions will be asked is key to preparing answers that will impress your interviewer.

This article will help you prepare for your next job interview by providing the most basic, and frequently asked, interview questions and tips on how to answer interview questions confidently.

By the end of this article, you will be confident in your ability to handle basic job interview questions with ease. So let’s get started!

Basic Questions in an Interview and Answers (Feature Icon)

Basic Questions in an Interview and Answers (10 Great Examples)

To impress the interviewer with interview answers that stand out and land you the job offer it’s important to know what basic interview questions will be asked, why the interviewer asks a certain question, and what the interviewer is looking for in your interview answer.

The interview questions and answers below will provide insights that will help you create amazing interview answers. 

What are the basic interview questions and answers?

 

Tell me about yourself.


Example interview answer:

I have spent the last 7 years in the art sale industry.

I was drawn to the industry because of my love for art history.

I recently held the position of Art Gallery Sales Consultant at the West Chelsea Art Gallery where I was responsible for the sale of pieces that had not sold in the first six months, procuring in demand art pieces, and budgeting.

In the role I sold 93% of all art pieces over six months old, procured 156 pieces of art that resulted in $22 Million in sales, and balanced the P&L.

I worked on a team of 7 people. Our main objective was to heighten the reputation of the gallery through reach and sales. Together we successfully increased sales by 68% and grew our audience 1420% across four social media channels resulting in a reach of 33 Million people.

My success in the position has given me the experience and skills needed to negotiate hard to obtain art pieces, increase gallery sales, and increase a gallery’s reach.

In the next year I want to work in a position where I can meaningfully apply my skills and experiences while growing my art investor outreach skills.

If you’d like, I am happy to put you in touch with my former employer who can share more about my work.

I also have a letter of reference from them, which I have here.

Would you like to see it?”


The interviewer asks this question to:

  • Build rapport
  • Get an overview of your background
  • Set the tone for the interview


The interviewer is looking for your interview answer to include:

  • Details about your professional background
  • Information about how your background relates to the duties of the position
  • Authentic enthusiasm
  • No more than two – three minutes of information

Use our fill-in-the-blank Tell me about yourself interview answer generator to easily create an impressive answer to this question

Practice your answer to this interview question now. »

Walk me through your resume.


Example interview answer:

“Sure! I’m a marketing professional with three years of experience. As my resume shares, my objective is to find a company where I can grow my career and contribute my skills and experience as a Product Marketer.

The last position I held was at Acme Corporation as a Junior Product Marketer. In the two years that I held the position I successfully researched the company’s competitive landscape, identified gaps in the market, developed strategies to reach new customers, and worked with the marketing team to lift new customer revenue by 27%, generating $1.3 Million in new revenue.

Prior to my position as Junior Product Marketer at Acme I started with the company as an Intern in their new graduate program. The program consisted of 14 graduate Interns. As an Intern I was responsible for supporting the marketing team with customer research. I noticed that the company was asking customers leading questions that resulted in skewed data. I brought this to the attention of the team alongside suggestions to fix the errors. The suggestions were accepted and the customer research data changed greatly. The team used the data to make changes that resulted in an increase in sales. 

I’m proud to be one of three Interns that was offered a marketing position with the company. I believe it was the fact that I really cared about what we were doing and was brave enough to bring up an issue with solutions that made the difference.

I went to the University of Michigan where I got a Bachelors in Science in Marketing. I believe it’s important to give back and volunteer every other Saturday at the Food Bank.

As listed in my resume, my top skills are being proactive, dependable, problem solving, and strategizing. I understand that this position supports the marketing team by researching and developing new go-to market activities. I have had great success in this area and my skills and experiences would help me to achieve similar successes in this role.

Is there a specific part of my resume that you would like me to provide additional details and/or clarification?”

The interviewer asks this question to:

  • Learn more about the information that is highlighted on your resume
  • Understand how you speak about your own work, skills, and experiences
  • Ask questions about skills and qualifications on your resume

The interviewer is looking for your interview answer to include:

  • Quantified details that communicate why you are the most qualified for the job
  • Additional information they can’t get from reading your resume
  • Explain how the information on your resume relates to the duties of the job you are interviewing for 

What are your goals for the next five years?


Example interview answer:

“Over the next five years I would like to continue growing my career in marketing by taking on roles where I can contribute my talents while learning new skills.

In five years I would like to have developed the skills and experiences needed to successfully hold the role of Marketing Director.

Some of the skills and experiences I know I need to develop include learning to manage an entire department’s budget, developing reports that are provided to the executive leadership team, and representing the company’s work by giving presentations at conferences.

From what I have learned about this position so far it sounds like it puts me on track to achieve my five year goals. This is one of the reasons I’m excited to be here today. Thank you for the opportunity!”


The interviewer asks this question to:

  • Understand how you think about your career growth
  • Figure out if you are someone who wants to grow with the company
  • Figure out if your career goals match opportunities the company can provide

The interviewer is looking for your interview answer to include:

  • A clear statement of what your professional five year goals are 
  • Skills you want to develop

If we hired you, what would you achieve in the first 90 days?


Example interview answer:

If I was hired as a Customer Support Representative in my first 90 days I would achieve several things such as:

  • Learning everything there is to know about this company’s mission, vision, and values so that I am an expert on them and can align all my work with what the company stands for
  • Getting to know my co-workers, how our roles work together, and developing systems to create efficiency so we can all be successful
  • Getting to know the team’s systems and processes and when helpful providing recommendations of tactics I’ve learned to streamline workflows
  • Immersing myself in customer issues and so that I can identify areas of improvement more quickly
  • Identifying three initiatives that I could work on to improve overall customer satisfaction
  • Using the information I’ve put together to create, and implement, strategies that help me solve customer issues 10% faster
  • Building a process with my team lead where I can get weekly feedback to make sure I am ontrack 

In the first few weeks there will be a lot of training and knowledge transfer. As we approach 90 days my attention will be focused on hitting team and personal metrics. I’m excited for the possibility to dive in and get started!


The interviewer asks this question to:

  • Assess your understanding of the job’s duties and responsibilities
  • Assess how you would build a foundation to be successful in the position
  • Assess how you think, organize, strategize, and plan

The interviewer is looking for your interview answer to include:

  • Qualitative and quantitative outcomes and results 
  • An understanding that you know how to piece together information to create, and execute a plan
  • Step-by-step details that make them believe you can achieve what you say

Why do you want this job?


Example interview answer:

“I want the Head Chef job because it would provide me an opportunity to use my talents, experiences, and background cooking in fast-paced kitchens, running restaurants, and in food chemistry to help the company evolve its identity while providing me opportunities to grow my career and one day open my own restaurant.

I have previously successfully developed restaurant menus that delighted guests, made things work in the kitchen easier, and increased profit by 43%.

I love food, being creative, and bringing joy to others through food. I have been able to develop a successful balance between the art of food and the science of running a profitable restaurant. The opportunity to contribute my talents to your restaurant as your Head Chef excites me.

My work history, achievements, and leadership skills are like puzzle pieces for this job, they fit perfectly. I could be very successful in the role which in turns means the entire team and restaurant would be successful.”


The interviewer asks this question to:

  • Understand your motivations (professional and personal)
  • Assess if the job is something you really want to do

The interviewer is looking for your interview answer to include:

  • Details on why the job appeals to you
  • Information on how the job connects to a bigger picture

What makes you qualified for this position?


Example interview answer:

I am qualified for this position because the primary duties and responsibilities are to:

  • Grow the company’s library of how-to articles
  • Build a team of freelance content writers
  • Increase Website visitors 

I have previously:

  • Created SEO optimized editorial calendars 
  • Hired, trained, and mentored a team of 11 content writers
  • Increased the monthly Web traffic of 12 unique domains by 1,200 – 78,000 new monthly unique visitors
  • Been recognized for my work with a Webbie Award for Best New Company Blog

My track record of success shows that I can easily handle the requirements of this position, and more!


The interviewer asks this question to:

  • Assess your understanding of your own abilities, skills, and experience and how they relate to the position 
  • Learn details of accomplishments that relate to the position
  • Assess your understanding of the job’s duties and responsibilities

The interviewer is looking for your interview answer to include:

  • Concrete and concise statements that connect your achievements and abilities to the needs of the position
  • Details that convince them that hiring you will reflect well on them

Tell me about a time you failed.


Example interview answer:

“When I first started working as a medical device trainer I was thrown in the deep end of the pool. The person who was supposed to train me went on Paternity leave. He left me details to help me complete specific tasks but he did not leave me any insights on how-to work with challenging employee personalities nor did he leave me a note letting me know that I may encounter challenging personalities.

Being a positive and upbeat person I was naive to the idea that some people just never have anything nice to say. In my first rep product training there were three people that heckled me. They heckled me as if they were at a comedy club or sporting event.

My instinct was to warn them and then kick them out of the training if they continued. But, being new I wanted everyone to like me so I didn’t trust my instinct or what I’ve learned professionally.

The training was slotted for 45 minutes. By the 30 minute mark they had become so unrulelly that no one was listening to me. When I tried to assert myself they made some really harsh comments and I ended up crying in front of everyone. The training was an epic, embarrassing, disaster, and failure.

That evening I wanted to quit. I was embarrassed and afraid that no one would take me seriously after I cried at work, in my first training. I called my mentor for advice and they persuaded me not to quit. They explained that quitting was easy. That if I quit I’d get nothing out of the experience. They convinced me that staying and working through what happened would be a gift.

The experience taught me to trust myself, trust what I have learned, that when things get hard there are gifts in the learning lessons, and that it’s important to lean on others for help. With help from my mentor and executives at the company I learned how to navigate, lead, hold accountable, and grow hard to work with personalities. These skills have been beneficial in any role I’ve held and made me a go-to formal and informal resource to help others navigate tough work situations.

While I hope this position doesn’t see many tough work situations, if any were to arise I would be able to help successfully resolve them.”


The interviewer asks this question to:

  • Assess your self awareness and honesty 
  • Assess how you handle failure

The interviewer is looking for your interview answer to include:

  • A specific situation in which you failed with details of what happened, what you did, how you handled the situation, what you learned, and how you would apply what you learned to the position you are applying for 
  • Details about what you learned and apply the information you learned

What is your ideal working environment?


Example interview answer:

“I thrive in work environments where I am given the ability to be autonomous and own results. For me this doesn’t necessarily mean working alone, though I am happy to, it means being able to have the freedom to generate results.

My ideal work environment includes working with a team that is collaborative, proactive, and where everyone has the same level of accountability and opportunity to grow. An ideal work environment has transparency at all levels and has systems in place to facilitate new ideas and encourage and support individuals when needed.”


The interviewer asks this question to:

  • Assess if you are aware of what working conditions are best for you 
  • Assess if the company’s working environment is a match for you

The interviewer is looking for your interview answer to include:

  • Specific details that let them know you are aware of how, when, and where you work best
  • Details that give them confidence that you are adaptable and can successful work in any environment

Why should we hire you over someone else?


Example interview answer:

“I am passionate about cannabis and cultivation. I want to find a position where I can learn new skills and use cutting methodologies and technologies. This position excites me because it would provide me that opportunity.

Additionally, this position requires the ability to hire, train, and lead dozens of seasonal harvesters. In Oregon I previously hired, trained, and oversaw 224 harvesters on the largest grow operation in the state. In a period of 11 weeks the team harvested and prepared over 98 acres without one day of problems or one day of compliance issues.

I believe that my ability to successfully identify, hire, and train the right people makes me an invaluable asset to this position. I also have the needed budgeting, compliance, and reporting skills. I would be able to hit the ground running and positively impact the cultivation’s output without much difficulty. “


The interviewer asks this question to:

  • Assess if you are know what the job requires
  • Assess if you really want the job

The interviewer is looking for your interview answer to include:

  • Passion 
  • Excitement 
  • Readiness to get started 
  • Organized concrete examples (with metrics) that explain why you are qualified for the position and how your qualifications are applicable to the job’s duties and responsibilities

To easily create an answer to this interview question use our fill-in-the-blank Why should I hire you?” interview answer generator 

    Do you have any questions for me?


    Example interview answer:

    Yes, I do have a few questions for you…

    • How does the company measure the success of this position?
    • How does the company recognize and reward its employees?
    • What are the company’s processes to promote employees and issue pay raises?
    • On average, how long do employees who start in this role stay with the company?
    • Do you see any reasons why I would not be a fit for this position?


    The interviewer asks this question to:

    • Assess how you think about the company and position 
    • Gauge your interest in the company and position

    The interviewer is looking for your interview answer to include:

    • A question (or more) that lets them know you have researched the company and position and want to learn more
    • A question (or more) that lets them know you are interested in being successful with the company over a long period of time
    • A question (or more) that lets them know you were actively engaged in the conversation and are taking the opportunity to ask intelligent stage appropriate interview questions

    Want extra help to build your skills and confidence to ask the interviewer questions? Pick questions to ask the interviewer from our question library and use our software to practice asking the interviewer your questions.

      If you’re overwhelmed by what to say in your interview use our universal interview answer generator to help you create impressive interview answers.

      Conclusion

      I hope these basic questions in an interview and answers have been helpful to your job interview preparation! Remember, the interviewer is looking for certain things in your answer, so be sure to focus on those points.

      If you want to go beyond basic interview questions and prepare to answer any question the interviewer might ask then be sure to create your InterviewDestiny account now!

      Do you want to ace your interview?

      InterviewDestiny provides you the tools you need to get the job offer.

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