Evaluate Responses to Common Interview Questions

Author: Xena Wang

You’ve received a great response to the job you’ve posted. You’ve worked with HR to narrow your list of potential candidates and schedule interviews. You’ve done all your prep work, and you have your list of questions prepared. How will you measure the responses the candidates provide? What does a “good” answer to some of the most common interview questions look like?

Good vs. Bad Answers

As a first step, it’s useful to understand what components differentiate a good and bad answer to common interview questions.

A good answer includes narratives or examples that are:

• Specific, clear, and self-aware

• Relatively recent

• Related to the core competencies highlighted in the job description

A bad answer includes narratives or examples that are:

• Too personal, unprofessional, or irrelevant

• Overly negative

• A poor reflection on your character or skills

With this information in mind, here are some things to look for in candidates’ responses to some of the common questions you might pose.

Question #1: Why are you interested in this role?

Perhaps this role is the perfect next step in the candidate’s career trajectory, or maybe it’s a lateral move that has better benefits. It could be a back-up role the candidate applied to because the job market is competitive, or a stretch position they weren’t expecting to be called in for. Whatever the circumstance, you’ll want the candidate to focus their answer on two things:

• Specific aspects of the role that they find compelling and why. (How does the role align with their career goals?)

• The value they would bring to the team or organization through this role. (What can they offer you, given their unique skills and background experience?)

Scenario

A candidate works at a tech company as a programmer, but they want to pivot into a primarily client-facing role. The candidate already has a deep understanding of technological developments and coding. They want a job that combines their expertise and provides increased opportunities to engage with the software’s users. To achieve this, they are interviewing for a sales associate position at a prominent software company.

Bad answer: I saw that the position was open, and I wanted to apply because I’m not fulfilled in my current job. I spend most of my time working on the computer, but I want to travel more and talk to people. Based on the job description, I think this role could be interesting since it involves more face-to-face interaction with clients.

This is a bad response because it’s vague. It focuses solely on what the candidate wants without explaining why interacting with customers is important to them or how it fits into their current career goals. It also fails to explain the value they would add as a new hire.

Good answer: I’m excited for this role because I’ve been looking to build more in-person client relationships. In my current role, I’ve developed strong technical skills, and I see this as an opportunity to use my expertise to help our customers better understand our products and choose the ones that best fit their needs.

I see that this job requires 50% travel or more, which excites me as I’m someone who enjoys experiencing new environments and people, but also having a home base I can return to.

Right now, I’m mostly working independently at my computer. I’ve still managed to cultivate strong relationships with various clients in the past couple of years, but I would thrive on the opportunity to travel and meet them face-to-face. Being in-person would also help me better understand their pain points and how to solve them. When it comes to problem solving, I think communication is much easier for both parties in-person than over a screen when possible.

Unlike the bad response, the candidate in this example focuses on the positive aspects of their present role while also explaining the opportunities the new role would provide them. In addition, they explain how those opportunities better align with their current goals and how their contributions would benefit the company and its clientele.

Question #2: Tell me about a time when you worked well as part of a team

Here you’re looking for the candidate to showcase transferable soft skills like collaboration, adaptability, and communication. These are key skills that would be beneficial in nearly all work environments and teams. This question can also be an opportunity for the candidate to showcase their leadership expertise.

Scenario

A college senior is preparing for their job search before graduation. They aren’t sure what industry they want to pursue yet, but they know they enjoy—and are good at—leading teams. The senior is interviewing for an event planner role at a local nonprofit that hosts fundraisers and community programs.

Bad answer: Last semester, I had a group project for a history class presentation. I took the lead by telling everyone to take one part and to meet back again in two weeks. I did my work, my classmates did theirs, and we grouped it all together at the end. Our professor said we had a great presentation.

This response at least underscores teamwork since the group accomplished their assignment. However, it lacks emphasis on three things: effective communication (ordering people to take part rather than discussing work division), collaboration (everyone only doing their part and bringing it together in the end), and specificity (role responsibilities and project road map).

Good answer: Last semester, we had a four-person group project for our history class. My classmates were unsure who would tackle which part, so I took action and delegated the tasks: one each for research, outline, graphics, and speaking.

Since public speaking is my strength, I offered to present on behalf of the group. The project was due in two weeks, so I scheduled a couple of midweek ­check-ins—both for accountability and to make sure that our content was on the right track.

There was an instance where a team member didn’t get the outline by our check-in time, which delayed the graphics creation. I spoke with the individual to let them know that our grade relied on all of us working together and supporting each other. They understood where I was coming from and submitted their outline the next day.

Ultimately, we finished the project on time—and our professor said it was one of the best presentations in recent years!

This response shows how the candidate took initiative by discussing and assigning upcoming tasks. It also shows how the candidate worked well in a team setting: first, by noticing friction with a member neglecting their assignment; then, by speaking with the person and communicating the group’s shared responsibilities in order to resolve the issue. As a bonus, it also reflects how the candidate’s collaborative leadership led to a successful outcome.

Question #3: Have you ever had difficulty working with a manager or other team members?

When the candidate answers this question, you’ll be listening to hear if they remain respectful and ­professional—even if they worked with a nightmare manager or on a dysfunctional teams. Everyone has disagreements at times—including the highest-performing teams—but that doesn’t mean people can’t work together toward a common goal.

Be wary of candidates who criticize, blame, or complain. You’re looking for the candidate to stay neutral and stick to the facts.

Scenario

A midlevel employee is excited about a senior learning and development role at a rival pharmaceutical company. This new position encompasses designing and implementing programs from interns to the C-suite. On their own, the employee has already created sessions on onboarding, upskilling, and career growth. However, this senior L&D job requires collaborative input from multiple individuals across departments.

Bad answer:Yes. I had a disagreement with a colleague who wanted things done her way. Basically, I planned to run a career-building webinar for our summer interns. I took the initiative to reach out to one of our partners with HR expertise to participate, but this colleague was upset that I didn’t consult her first since she’s the liaison for this person.

I told her I was trying to streamline the requests so we could launch the webinar quickly. The colleague didn’t see my perspective and thought I was upstaging her. She told me that moving forward, I’d have check in with her before contacting this HR partner.

Anyway, I’ve since organized nine professional development webinars. I’ve also come up with creative methods that don’t involve waiting for their approval so we can launch these events faster.

While the candidate didn’t explicitly belittle their colleague, their negative tone suggests that they think the colleague overreacted in the situation. Although this answer does highlight their accomplishments, it ultimately demonstrates how they don’t take accountability or collaborate to find solutions.

Good answer: I had a misunderstanding with a teammate regarding project communication. I wanted to ask one of our partners with HR expertise to participate in a career-building webinar for our summer interns. However, I overlooked informing my teammate, who was the liaison for this colleague, and she felt like I was trying to overshadow her role.

Instead of letting this misinterpretation escalate, I initiated a private conversation with her to ­communicate my intentions. I apologized for not looping her in before contacting our HR partner and reassured her that moving forward, I would first check in with her about project tasks.

Together, we found a compromise that strengthened our working relationship and responsibilities. She’s continued to be a great help in setting up similar professional development webinars.

A good response like this reflects the candidate’s ability to handle challenging people and situations constructively. This answer also states the obstacles, the efforts made trying to resolve them, and the results.

Question #4: Tell me about a time you failed

This feels like a trick question—and to some extent, it is. You want the candidate to share an experience introducing a minor lapse in judgment and how they learned and improved from it. Red flags include an example that’s too serious (such as a mistake that got the candidate fired) or that’s related to your role’s core competencies. The ideal answer will explain the situation, consequences, and solution.

Scenario

A consultant with two years of experience is grateful to have learned about various industries in their job. Now, they wish to focus solely on public policy analysis. Consulting has made them comfortable with high-pressure, fast-paced environments, and they are well prepared to transition into similar settings. Furthermore, the candidate also finds overlaps between this job opportunity and their consulting history: collaborating with several stakeholders to identify and solve problems—all while operating under strict timelines.

Bad answer: I didn’t submit a report on time for a critical client presentation, which impacted the ­timeline and reflected poorly on our team. My manager was upset since she knows I’m not normally like that. I apologized to her, but we did end up losing the client.

This is a bad answer because while it addresses the failure, it doesn’t acknowledge how the candidate learned from their mistake. It only touches on the issue and aftermath.

Good answer: During a particularly hectic work period, I didn’t submit a report on time for a client presentation. This impacted the project timeline and our team’s reputation. My manager was upset since this lapse was uncharacteristic of my usual behavior. I then took immediate responsibility by personally apologizing to my manager, my colleagues, and especially the clients.

The clients were understandably frustrated but ­appreciated my accountability. After that event, I implemented new strategies for myself to improve time management skills and communication with teammates when I needed support to meet deadlines. I also helped our team develop a contingency reference PDF that will help prevent similar situations in the future.

This response shows that we all make mistakes at work (they’re inevitable), but what we do after messing up matters more. It shows how the candidate handled the mistake, which reveals their integrity and resilience in difficult circumstances. Those are the kind of people that make up strong teams.

Interviews are meaningful opportunities to explore a candidate’s experience, mindset, and skills. As you consider how these qualities align with the role and your organization, listen with these pointers—and an open mind.

Xena Wang (pronounced Zenna) is experienced in executive search, higher education, arts and culture, and nonprofits. She is an advocate for empowering individuals’ personal and professional growth and fostering meaningful relationships across generations. A graduate of Swarthmore College and Harvard Extension School’s Museum Studies program, Xena is involved in her community through the Swarthmore Alumni Council, Harvard Club of Philadelphia, and coleading the Philadelphia H4A chapter.