20 Common Job Interview Questions and Answers (2026)

You have an interview booked, possibly a short phone call first, and a page of questions you could be asked. Most of them are predictable. The interviewer has a job description, a list of criteria and, in most UK organisations, a set of questions every candidate gets. Acas advises employers to "ask each applicant the same questions where possible", so the same handful come round again and again.

Below are the 20 that come up most, in the order an interview tends to run, with what each one is testing and an example answer. The example answers are written for fictional candidates: swap in your own facts, because an answer that could belong to anyone scores like it.

A note on words: UK employers ask for a CV, not a resume, and so do the answers here.

Before the interview: the phone or video screen

Many employers filter with a short call before the main interview. The person calling is often a recruiter rather than the hiring manager, and they want four things confirmed: you meet the essential criteria, you can explain your experience without reading it out, you actually want this job, and your salary expectations fit. The bar is to get through, not to shine. I would have questions 1, 3, 5 and 19 below ready before any screen.

The advantage of a phone call is that nobody can see your notes. The National Careers Service suggests having your CV, a pen and paper, and "prompt cards for any reminders you need" in front of you, being ready 10 minutes early, and leaving "a small gap at the end of each question before answering, to avoid talking over the interviewer". I would add the job description with the essential criteria highlighted, because recruiters often read a requirement straight off the advert and ask for your experience of it.

For a video call the same service says to log in "with at least half an hour to spare", use a laptop rather than a phone if you can, with the camera at eye level, and look at the camera rather than the screen. A pre-recorded video interview is different: there is no one on the other end, the questions appear on screen with a set time to answer, and the NCS notes these interviews "usually open at a set time and stay open for a few days". Use the practice question to find out whether you can re-record.

Opening questions

1. Tell me about yourself.

It sounds like a warm-up. It is the answer that sets up the rest of the interview, because the panel will pick up whatever you mention first. It is really asking why you are a good fit for this job, told through the parts of your background that prove it.

Use three parts and aim for 60 to 90 seconds, roughly 150 to 200 words spoken:

Who you are professionally, in a sentence or two. Your current role and the experience most relevant to this one.
The evidence: one or two results that match what the job description asks for.
Why you are here: why this role, now. Not "a new challenge".

Example: marketing manager applying for a broader role

"I'm a marketing manager with seven years in online retail, mostly fashion and homeware. My focus has been email and retention: in my current job I took our email channel from about £300,000 to just over £1 million a year in revenue, mainly by rebuilding how we segment customers. I'm applying because this role covers brand as well as performance marketing, and that combination is where I want to take my career next."

Example: career changer moving into data analysis

"My background is operations: five years running fulfilment for a mid-sized retailer. Over the last two years I've moved into the data side and built the dashboards our team uses for demand planning. I'm now moving into analytics on purpose, and this role appeals because I already understand the operational problems your data is trying to solve."

The answers that fail start at school or a first job, recite the CV they already hold, or could be delivered word for word at any interview. Write yours out, then say it aloud until it sounds spoken rather than read.

2. Walk me through your CV.

This one is about the logic of your career: why each move happened. Start at your earliest relevant role and go forward, one sentence on what you did and one on what you achieved or learned, and connect each move to the next. Keep it under three minutes and finish on why this job is the next step. If there is a gap, say what it was in a sentence and carry on; the guide to explaining a gap on your CV has wording for the common reasons.

Motivation questions

3. Why do you want this job?

This is about the role, not the employer (that is question 4). The interviewer is checking whether you want this specific job or any job. Point at two or three things in the job description and say why each matters to you.

"Two things. The role sits between product and the commercial team, which is the cross-functional work I've been moving towards for the last two years. And the job description puts pricing decisions with this role rather than with finance, which is exactly the part of my current job I'd like to do more of."

4. Why do you want to work here?

"You have a great reputation and I'm looking for a new challenge" fails because it says nothing about them. I would build the answer in three parts:

One reason you could not say about a competitor: something from their annual report, a product you have used, a recent announcement, a talk by someone who works there.
One reason this role is your right next step.
One honest link between your background or values and what they do.

The first part carries the answer, and it only comes from research. The National Careers Service starts with the employer's website and "about us" pages; I would go one step further and find something specific that a candidate who only read the homepage would not know.

Example: customer success

"I've used your product myself, and before that I handled the same problem with spreadsheets, so I understand it from the customer's side. I'm also drawn to the stage you're at: the product is established, but the customer success team is still small enough to shape what gets built next, and that's the work I want to be doing."

Example: returning after time away

"I've been selective about where I apply as I come back to work. You stood out for two reasons: the part-time pattern in the advert makes a return realistic for me now, and the case management side of the role is where my experience is strongest, so I can contribute properly from the start."

5. Why are you leaving your current job?

They want to know whether you are moving towards something or running from something. Give the real reason in neutral terms and turn to what you want next. Never criticise your employer or manager, however deserved; it makes the panel wonder what you will say about them.

Example: limited progression

"I've had three good years there and learned a lot about running a service desk. The team is now stable and there's no step up in my area for the foreseeable future, so I'd rather move deliberately now, into a role like this one with team leadership in it."

Example: made redundant

"My role was made redundant in a restructure in March, along with the rest of the regional team. It gave me the chance to decide what I wanted next rather than just taking the nearest job, and this role is the one that matched."

Redundancy is about a role, not a person, so say it plainly and do not apologise. The guide to finding a job after being laid off goes further on how to talk about it.

6. Why should we hire you?

Show that you understood what the role needs and join your evidence to it in a few sentences. Do not claim to be better than the other candidates; you have not met them.

"From the advert and what you've said today, the priorities are getting the new booking system live and bringing the team through the change. I led the switch to a new scheduling system at my current trust, including training 30 staff, and I've managed the rota for a team of twelve for two years. That's the experience you'd get from the first week."

Behavioural questions

Anything that starts "tell me about a time" wants a real example, and the standard structure is STAR. The National Careers Service defines it as the situation you had to deal with, the task you were given, the action you took, and the result, including "what you learned from the experience". Its advice is to "keep examples short and to the point". Most of the time should go on the action, and on what you did rather than the team. The STAR method guide has fully worked answers; in Civil Service interviews these are behaviour questions, based on the behaviours listed in the job description.

7. Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult colleague or stakeholder.

"I was running a product launch that needed sign-off from our head of legal, and our requests kept slipping down their list. Instead of escalating, I asked for twenty minutes to understand what was holding it up. Their real concern was one liability clause. We rewrote it together, approval came through within a week, and the launch went out on the date we'd promised."

Avoid stories where the other person is simply the villain. The panel is scoring what you did.

8. Describe a time you failed or made a mistake.

"In my first year managing people I gave a new starter a project on their own far too early. They struggled, it went in late, and they were visibly stressed. That was my mistake: I hadn't set any checkpoints. Since then every new joiner in my team gets a written onboarding plan with a check-in each week for the first two months, and the next three joiners all delivered their first project on time."

Choose a mistake that was genuinely yours and not a disaster, and spend most of the answer on what changed afterwards.

9. Tell me about a time you worked under pressure.

"A client moved a pitch forward by two weeks with three days' notice. I split the work into what the client had to see and what could follow, gave each person on the team one clear piece to own, and dropped two secondary documents we could send afterwards. We presented on the new date and the client renewed the contract."

10. Give an example of influencing someone without authority.

"I needed engineering to build a feature that wasn't on their roadmap. Rather than asking my manager to escalate, I wrote a one-page case showing the customers we were at risk of losing without it and the revenue attached to them, and walked the engineering lead through it. They moved it into the next sprint."

11. Tell me about a time you led people through a change.

"When two teams were merged, several people were worried about where their jobs were heading. In the first week I had a one-to-one with everyone, then ran a session where the new team rewrote its own goals. Nobody from my team left in the following six months, and two people took on roles in the merged structure that hadn't existed before."

Situational questions

12. What would you do in your first 30 days?

The trap is arriving with a plan to change things before you have seen inside. I would answer with what you would find out and from whom: "Most of the first month would be listening: one-to-ones with the team, time with the people who use our work, and reading the last few months of performance data. By the end of it I'd want a clear view of the three things most worth fixing, and a first proposal for one of them." If the job is senior enough to ask for this in detail, expect it as a presentation; the second interview presentation guide has a worked 90-day plan.

13. What would you do if you disagreed with your manager's decision?

"I'd tell them once, clearly, with whatever evidence I had. If they'd heard it and still decided differently, I'd back the decision and do it properly. If I thought it was unsafe or unlawful, I'd raise it through the proper route. Disagreeing and refusing are different things." That last sentence is what the interviewer is listening for.

Strengths and weaknesses

14. What is your greatest weakness?

The National Careers Service puts it simply: be honest, and "say how you're working to improve them". Choose a real weakness that will not stop you doing this job, and show what you do about it.

"I tend to want the full picture before I recommend anything, which slows me down when a quick, rough answer would be more useful. Last year a colleague had to chase me for a view I could have given in a day. Now I set myself a deadline for the first recommendation and say how confident I am in it, rather than waiting until I'm certain."

"I'm a perfectionist" is the answer every interviewer has heard; it reads as dodging the question. The weaknesses guide has examples by type of role.

15. What do you enjoy most about your work?

This is a strengths question, and the Civil Service uses them deliberately. Civil Service Careers explains that you "may also be asked questions about what interests you and what you enjoy doing" so the panel can assess your strengths and preferred style of working. Variations: "What does a good day at work look like?", "What do you find yourself putting off?"

A rehearsed answer to a strengths question sounds rehearsed, so answer honestly and quickly, with a short example of the thing you enjoy. Before the interview, think about which parts of your current job you would do more of if you could, and check they overlap with the job description. If the only honest answer points away from this role, that is worth knowing before you accept. The Civil Service Success Profiles guide explains how strengths and behaviours are scored.

Career and pay questions

16. Where do you see yourself in five years?

No one expects a prediction. The question checks whether your direction fits what this role can offer and whether you are likely to stay long enough to be worth training. Answer with a direction, not a title:

The area you want to get good at: "deeper expertise in product analytics".
Why this job is a step towards it: "this role gives me the technical grounding and the business context together".
What you expect to deliver by then: "to be the person who owns the analytics approach end to end".

Sixty to ninety seconds is plenty. What hurts: naming a role several levels up, naming a competitor, mentioning a plan to start your own business, and "I'm not really sure". If you have no fixed plan, talk about the skills you want to build and why this is the place to build them.

17. What are you looking for in your next role?

Answer in three terms: the kind of work, the scope, and the environment. Then join each to something you have learned about this job. "More hands-on work with customers, responsibility for a budget, and a team that plans a quarter ahead rather than week to week" is a good answer when the advert mentions all three, and a warning sign for both sides when it mentions none.

18. Are you interviewing anywhere else?

You do not have to name employers or stages. "I'm at different stages with a couple of other applications, but this is the role I'm most interested in and the one I've prepared most for" is honest and tells them the clock may be running. Only mention a live offer if it is real.

19. What are your salary expectations?

Decide your number before the interview, not during it. If the advert shows a salary or pay band, your range should sit inside it; I would not ask above a published band at interview unless you have a clear reason the panel will accept. If no salary is given, give a researched range rather than a single figure, with your real target at or near the bottom of it.

"Based on what similar roles in Manchester are advertised at, and my current package, I'm looking for between £42,000 and £46,000. I'm open to talking about the whole package if the role is the right one."

The salary negotiation guide covers what to do when they push back on the number.

The closing question

20. Do you have any questions for us?

Always say yes. Write down four or five and expect to use two or three, because some will be answered along the way. These are the ones I would keep on the list:

"What would success look like in this role after six months?"
"What is the hardest part of this job that the advert doesn't mention?"
"What have the people who did well in this team had in common?"
"Is there anything in my background you'd like me to say more about?"
"What happens next, and when should I expect to hear?"

Leave questions answered on their website, and detailed questions about holiday, until later. The fourth question is uncomfortable to ask and the most useful: it gives you a chance to deal with a doubt before the panel scores you.

A question they should not ask: your health

Under section 60 of the Equality Act 2010, an employer "must not ask about the health of the applicant" before offering work. There are exceptions, including a question necessary to establish whether you can take part in an assessment or "carry out a function that is intrinsic to the work", and diversity monitoring. Acas confirms that employers can ask about health or disability once they have offered you the job, "either outright or on a conditional basis".

If a question about sickness absence or health comes up at interview, I would not argue the law in the room. Bring it back to the job: "Nothing stops me doing the work this role involves. If there's a specific part of the job you want to check, I'm happy to talk about that." Then mention it in your feedback to HR afterwards if it bothered you.

The other side of the same law works in your favour. Acas tells employers: "By law you must ask anyone coming to an interview to tell you if they need reasonable adjustments so they can attend", and gives examples such as more time for a written test. If you need extra time, questions in writing or an accessible room, ask when you accept the invitation.

How to prepare in the week before

Do not try to script twenty answers. Prepare three strong STAR stories that can each bend to several of questions 7 to 11, a researched answer to question 4, your salary range, and your questions for question 20. The National Careers Service gives the same advice in fewer words: "Plan your answers around 2 or 3 examples that are relevant to the job."

Then say them out loud, more than once, to a person if you can. In a study by Tross and Maurer (Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 2008), 144 participants were given one of three levels of coaching before a structured experience-based interview: introduction only, introduction plus awareness training, or both plus skill training. Those who had the more comprehensive coaching received higher interview ratings. Rehearsal also catches the answer that runs to four minutes before a panel has to sit through it.

After the interview, send a short thank-you email the same working day, or first thing the next morning if the interview finished late; the guide to follow-up emails after an interview has templates. If you are invited back, the second round usually goes deeper into your examples and may add a presentation, which the second interview guide covers.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the most common job interview questions?

Tell me about yourself; why do you want this job; why do you want to work here; why are you leaving your current job; why should we hire you; tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult situation; what is your greatest weakness; where do you see yourself in five years; what are your salary expectations; and do you have any questions for us. Civil Service interviews add strengths questions about what you enjoy doing.

How do you answer "tell me about yourself" in an interview?

In three parts and about 60 to 90 seconds: who you are professionally, one or two pieces of evidence that match this job, and why you are applying for this role now. Do not walk through your CV in date order. The interviewer has it, and the question is really asking why you fit.

How do you answer "why do you want to work here"?

Give one reason you could not say about a competitor, one reason this role is the right next step for you, and one honest link between your background and what the organisation does. The first reason is the one that matters, and it only comes from reading about the employer beyond its homepage.

How should you answer "what is your greatest weakness"?

Name a real weakness that will not stop you doing this job, give a short example of when it cost you something, and say what you now do about it. The National Careers Service's advice is to be honest and say how you are working to improve. Avoid a strength in disguise such as perfectionism.

How should you answer "where do you see yourself in five years"?

Describe a direction rather than a job title: the area you want to get good at, why this role is a sensible step towards it, and what you expect to be able to deliver by then. A title several levels up, or a plan to leave and start a business, gives the interviewer a reason to doubt you will stay.

How many examples should I prepare for a job interview?

Three detailed stories in STAR form (situation, task, action, result), each one flexible enough to answer several behavioural questions. The National Careers Service suggests planning answers around 2 or 3 examples relevant to the job. Add a researched answer on why this employer and a salary range, and a few questions of your own.

How is a phone screen different from a full interview?

A phone screen is usually shorter and run by a recruiter or someone in HR rather than the hiring manager. It checks that you meet the essential criteria, can explain your experience clearly, want the job and fit the salary. The aim is to get through to the next round, so answer briefly and have your CV and notes in front of you.

Can a UK employer ask about my health or disability at interview?

Generally not before a job offer. Section 60 of the Equality Act 2010 stops an employer asking about an applicant's health before offering work, with exceptions such as checking whether you can take part in an assessment or carry out a function intrinsic to the job. Acas says employers can ask once they have offered you the job, outright or conditionally.