Common interview questions for graduates and how to answer them

You’re fresh out of university with a brand-new degree under your belt. Your CV is polished to within an inch of its life. Your job search has been successful and now you have a raft of interviews lined up. Whatever job you apply for, you’ll face a range of common interview questions; questions like:

• Why do you want to work here?
• What are your strengths?
• Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?

You may also face questions that relate to your new status as a graduate. Here are the most common graduate questions and how to answer them.

Why did you choose your degree subject? How is your degree relevant to this job?

The first thing to consider is whether your degree subject lends itself directly to the job or to the employer. For instance, if you studied engineering at university and you’re interviewing for an engineer position, then the connection is obvious. In this situation, you can say that a career in engineering was always your intention, which is why you chose that degree subject.

However, don’t worry if there’s no link between your degree subject and the job you’ve applied for. Give an honest reply, such as an enthusiasm for the subject, that it was a natural step on from your A level subjects, or that you initially thought a career in that area would suit you. Follow this up with a mention of the transferable skills that you developed during your university studies that are relevant to the job.

What did you learn about yourself at university?

The aim of this question is to discover how well you can assess your own behaviour, how self-aware you are, and how well you learn from both mistakes and success.

Consider how you’ve changed during university, what skills you’ve developed, and what challenges you’ve overcome. Make sure your reply is relevant to the job though.

What achievement are you most proud of from your time at university?

The key to answering this question is to keep the achievement relevant to the job you’ve applied for. For instance:

• organising a fundraiser could showcase people skills and communication
• being part of a contest-winning team could point to teamwork and competitiveness
• passing your degree with flying colours while acting as carer to a family member might suggest perseverance and organisational skills

Pick an achievement that you are genuinely proud of and that will demonstrate how you have the right skills for the job.

How did you develop your leadership skills at university?

Employers are always keen to recruit candidates who have the potential to move into supervisor or manager positions. So even though you may not have applied for a leadership role, it can still be useful to demonstrate this skill.

Consider any scenarios at university where you used leadership skills, either directly or by taking charge of a team project.

What was the worst element of your degree course?

No, this isn’t an opportunity to moan about student loans or annoying classmates. This question serves a similar purpose to ‘What are your weaknesses?’. It asks you to demonstrate how you learnt from your mistakes, overcame challenges, and performed under stress.

Answer this question by talking about a challenge that you overcame during your degree course. For instance, it might have been learning how to lead a team project when you’d previously lacked the confidence to speak out.

How to use the STAR technique to answer interview questions

One way to formulate answers is to use the STAR technique. STAR stands for situation, task, action, result.

• S – find a situation that is relevant to the question and the job
• T – explain the task you were asked to carry out in that situation
• A – explain the action you took to improve/answer that situation
• R – describe the result and the part you played in reaching that result

For example,

Question: How did you develop your leadership skills at university?

Answer: During my computer science degree course, I worked on project assignments both on my own and as part of a team. One team assignment was to design an app that would be linked to an existing database. It quickly became clear that the mix of personalities in the team wouldn’t work without leadership. I’m the sensible, quiet one normally but I could clearly see the process we would need to put in place to design an app that would work effectively with the database, so I put myself forward as team leader. In the end, our team achieved the highest project score on our course.

Wrapping it up

The key to success at any interview is preparation. Think through the kind of questions you may face and practice your replies. Keep your answers relevant, concise, and with the job in mind.