Why they ask

The reasons can range from a genuinely curious icebreaker to “how about you talk for 15 minutes to make the time go faster.” Since you won’t know exactly what they’re after, don’t agonize over it.

How to answer

The goal is to give a concise blurb that covers “you in a nutshell” in one minute or less. You’re not telling them your life story, nor are you explaining your entire work history up until now. Don’t make their eyes glaze over.

Give them an elevator pitch: if you had an elevator ride to explain who you are and how you’d add value to your dream company, what would you say?

Example: “I have over 25 years of experience building software applications across multiple industries and languages - though don’t ask me anything about C++ because it’s been ages. I’ve managed teams, mentored dozens of engineers, poked holes in designs, and admittedly, have modified a database in production - though in my defense, I was very young and dumb. I’ve had great successes and wild failures, and after all this time, I’m still learning new ways of doing things. I love collaborating across disciplines and I’m hoping your company will be a great fit.”

Why they ask

Because they think this answer is relevant. The answer is usually money. Either you want more of it, or you’re out of work and you need something. But folks frown on coming right out and saying that, thinking it crass, when it’s often the unvarnished truth. We’d get less silly questions like this if everyone assumed a candidate’s position was, “I need money, you seem to have some, and my last gig had less than you and/or were jerks.”

How to answer

It depends.

If you were laid off: could be something like, “I was on a team that was supporting an end-of-life service and as soon as we turned the lights off, we got cut,” or, “The company made a cost-cutting RIF to reduce staff and my team got hit.”

If you were fired: regardless of the reason, your response is, “The job ended unexpectedly, but I was glad I had the opportunity to learn about X.”

The key point for both of these scenarios is to avoid showing bitterness, even if you feel it in your bones. Don’t bring the drama of a past relationship into a new one.

If you’re looking for a better opportunity: “I wasn’t growing in my last role anymore and I’m looking for a new challenge.”

First, this is a hypothetical question and especially dangerous. Tips on handling hypotheticals can be found here.

Why they ask

This is basically “do you play well with others.”

How to answer

Besides answering with a situational example vs a purely fantasy hypothetical one, describe a specific scenario where you had a conflict with a coworker and resolved it without escalating to a manager. If did have to escalate, demonstrate how you did it in an open and professional fashion. If you don’t have an example from work history, feel free to draw from your personal life (same techniques apply, conflict is everywhere).

The goal here is to demonstrate that you can talk to people without yelling, resorting to passive aggressive sniping, and/or talking shit about them behind their back to their peers or managers. Anything worth doing at a company usually takes a group. Showcase how you collaborate vs steamroll.

Why they ask

This is the dreaded goals question. Companies want to know if you set goals and can organize yourself to meet them.

Now, as someone with ADHD, I hate this question because I hate goals. I hate this question so much I answer it for candidates in interviews, whenever they ask, “What do you like about your company?” 

How to answer

If you like goals and achieve them on a regular basis, you can probably answer this question without thinking too hard about it.

If you’re like me and hate goals, talk about your growth mindset. This is what I use:

“If you had a time machine and you told me what my Future Self is doing 5 years from now, I’d like it to be so beyond my current competencies that my Present Self would laugh at you and think you were crazy. Now, I know that’s not a specific answer, but my issue with 5-year goals is that they’re usually too small. People vastly underestimate what they’re capable of doing in 5 years. So I don’t set achievable goals. I set DUMB goals: Dangerously Unattainable, Monstrously Big (I forget where I got that from). For instance, in 2018, I set a DUMB goal to write 10 books in 5 years. At the time, I hadn’t even written 1 yet. And for the record, I didn’t hit that goal. However, in the past 7 years, I’ve published 7, number 8 is on the way, and book 9 is in first draft mode. But that’s a lot more than what I would’ve gotten had my goal been, “Write a book.”

Disclaimer: This is not a great answer if you’re applying for a program manager type of role, where your literal job is driving specific milestone deliveries against specific dates. But then again, you probably didn’t have to think too hard about this question.

Why they ask

I’m not a fan of this question because this is an interview and you want to be picked, so your answers are automatically going to support your “I want you to pick me” goal. As the interviewer, I’d have no examples to back up your statements - unless I asked, which I wouldn’t, because there’s a better way to get this data point. Even worse, a savvy candidate might look at my company’s stated values on our “company culture” web page, pick some to restate in their own words, and I’d have no idea if they were bullshitting me.

The other reason I dislike this question is because most of the time, the average person does not think too hard about their personal values. We inherit many of them from the tribes we belong to (intentional or not). We like what we like, dislike what we don’t, and our decisions are usually some combination of risk mitigation, positive outcome expectations, effort avoidance, and whatever provides the lowest “ick factor”. 

How to answer

Frame your response with problem solving in mind, as in, “What tried-and-true strategies do you apply to solving complex difficulties?”

For example, my problem-solving values:

• Approach everything with a beginner’s curiosity.

• The best path is not always the straightest, nor is it meant to be traveled alone.

• Simplify & Clarify. Most things are misunderstandings.

• Be aware of Chesteron’s Fence.

• Always ask, “And then what?” 

Please note that while I’d prefer you to come up with your own list, I won’t know if you use mine in an interview, so I will blissfully continue on as if you did your own work. You’re on your own explaining any of those items, however.

Why they ask

This is a trick question.

How to answer

Don’t say money. Don’t say anything in the perks department like free snacks, beer on tap, a foosball table, fully remote work, etc. Even if you ultimately decide to avoid the role, an open offer is a powerful negotiation tool if you’re pursuing multiple roles at the same time.

The only answer to this question is “Nothing! It’s a slam dunk!”

Why they ask

It doesn’t matter because this question is garbage.

How to answer

Since candidates should avoid saying things like, “I like the money and you don’t seem like jerks,” answering this class of question basically turns into ego stroking. Pick something you like about the company and use that. If you know someone who works there, say nice things about them and how they love it there. If you like how company approaches problems, mention that, too. 

You can’t go wrong with, “I feel that I can add significant value with my X skills, expand my toolbox into Y areas, and work in a collaborative environment like (insert company name here).”

Why they ask

I despise this entire category of questions. While some companies might think they are fun, your average neurodivergent candidate (i.e., me) will fall into a deep, dark hole trying to figure out the right answer - and it will give me anxiety for two days afterward thinking that I’d been passed over because I wasn’t creative enough. Or worse, that I’d failed some ethical test.

How to answer

Answer this ridiculous question with a question. Lots of them.

“I have an elephant? Like a real, live elephant, and not a stuffed animal? Uh, how did I get the elephant? Did it parachute out of the sky? Did I wake up one morning and find it in my living room? How big is it? An adult? Did I wake up, walk out of my bedroom, and find an elephant’s head poking up through a hole in my spare bedroom with the rest of its gigantic body in my office? Or is it outside in my yard, tied to a tree? How long has it been there? Long enough to poop? Do I have a biohazard to clean up, too? Wait, have my neighbors noticed?

“I mean, I feel like the first thing I’d want to do with the elephant is get rid of it as fast as possible. But how do I do that? Who would I call? The police? A zoo? No matter who I call, they’re going to want to know where I got the elephant. They’ll want paperwork. Did I get paperwork with the elephant? I can’t tell them that I apparently interviewed today with an insane magic genie, who gifted me a 6-ton pachyderm as a prank.

“So, uh, I guess, uh, I’d just let it go into the woods.”

Why they ask

I have no idea. Maybe they want to see if you’re confident but not arrogant, or maybe they’re on the fence with the whole decision and are good at delegating. I never ask this. Ever.

How to answer

If it were me, I’d be both honest and sassy: “I can’t be sure, because I don’t know anything about the other candidates. It’s definitely possible that you’ve found someone smarter, more experienced, with fewer work life balance demands, and/or they’re cheaper by an order of magnitude. But if you were that other candidate, I’ll quote a movie actor who once assaulted an awards show host and say, “…if we get on the treadmill together, there's two things: You're getting off first, or I'm going to die.”

Why they ask

They want to know A: what you consider a major achievement, B: did you understand its impact, C: did you grow/stretch to achieve it, and D: what did YOU do vs what your team did. They’re not hiring your team. Don’t use the royal “we” when answering this question, unless you’re a VP and your big thing was an on-time delivery of an underfunded, understaffed product that still blew the customer’s socks off and earned you a promotion.

How to answer

This is the “toot your own horn” question. That said, be humble about it. There’s a fine line between being proud of overcoming adversity and bragging about how you crushed your enemies.

If possible, pick a professional achievement. There will be easier answers to sections B and C, because companies like to measure things. But if you’ve got an inspiring story about how you pulled yourself out of a literal gutter after a hurricane wiped out your town, walked seven miles to an army recruiting station, and enlisted with only the filthy clothes on your back, then by all means, tell that story. A candidate gave me this response in an interview once, and the follow-up questions demonstrated the sheer willpower and inspiring drive of an incredible young person. We hired them.

Why they ask

This is the converse of the “toot your horn” proudest achievement question. Companies want to know how you handle failure and whether you’re professional about it. Do you take ownership and learn from the experience, or do you spend your time pointing fingers and deflecting responsibility?

How to answer

Do not ever, under any circumstances, put blame on another party even if it was completely or even partially their fault. If you do have to mention the failings of another party to provide context, you must immediately explain how you A: missed that dependency and B: what mitigation steps you could’ve taken to insulate yourself and your deliverable from impact.

It’s best if you’ve got a good story prepared in advance for this question. Be honest and choose something you’re comfortable sharing with a stranger. It’s okay if it’s a hard story to tell (some people’s biggest failures involve fatalities) - but be ready to be vulnerable. Read the room and adjust accordingly if your interviewer doesn’t seem capable of hearing anything truly difficult.

A safe choice is something that doesn’t make you look incompetent, didn’t physically harm anyone, exposed a gap in an established process or industry standard, and had great learnings for more than just you. Bonus points if you can make it funny.