The best way to ensure that you put your best foot forward during an interview with a prospective employer is to ensure that you are well prepared before hand. Luckily for you, as much as the questions asked at interview may vary from interview to interview or job to job, there are some questions you absolutely should not leave you house without preparing for.

This is perhaps the first and most common question you can expect at a job interview. Knowing that this question is always going to be asked puts you at an advantage, as being prepared will enable you to draw attention to your specific background and skills by highlighting  work experiences and any other relevant details you feel might be relevant to the new position your seeking.

You might be tempted to fall for the trap of talking about your life story, but the idea isn’t to tell them every single thing, attempt to sell yourself if a few short sentences, writing and memorising a personal statement before hand can go a long way in helping you craft the image you want the prospective employer to have.

This is an easy one. You already know the employer is looking to hire the best person for the job, and simply put YOU ARE the best person for the job, now prove it! Don’t be apprehensive about stating exactly what makes you special, let them know what you can bring to the table.

As much as you aren’t supposed to say you want to have taken your interviewers position by then, your answer can be centred around the skills and experience you hope to have gained by that time,    there isn’t a need to state a specific job position you  hope to have attained, express your passions while also making it clear that you have focus and direction with the responsibilities you’re hoping to take on.

As much as this another opportunity for you to sell yourself in the interview, be confident but make sure you don’t sound cocky or over confident.

When highlighting your strengths remember not to over-exaggerate your talents, make sure what ever you state as your strength is something you can easily justify with illustration or explanation when asked.

Try not ruin your whole interview by telling the employer you are lazy or that you don’t respond well to authority… The idea here isn’t to destroy you chances of getting job by scaring the employer away, instead the idea is more to show that you can be self reflective and honest.

So as much as you have to respond with a weakness, make sure you have decided what your weakness is well before the interview, preferably it should be one you can say you have been working on improving and one that the prospective employer can be confident in your ability to overcome.

This question simply requires you to tell the truth. Keep in mind that the interviewer is also an employer so it wouldn’t look good to bad mouth your previous employer. Be honest, but also diplomatic about your response.

If you got fired, make sure not to lie about it. Accept responsibility where it is due and express how   it has motivated strength, improvement and growth in you.

This isn’t a complicated one, but it is an easy one to be unprepared for. You might be thinking that your perform those tasks daily and therefore neglect to prepare for a question like this.

Make sure you not only examine your previous employment letter for the list of responsibilities, consider the other things you do that might not be stated on that list, if you got promoted then you can use the opportunity outline how you responsibilities have grown and lastly make sure you research the responsibilities required of the new position you are applying for to see if there are any tasks you performed that can pass for related experience.

Do your research! Find out what the job pays before you go to the interview, and when asked try to give an approximation of your expected pay as opposed to a specific figure, make sure you don’t give the impression that you are inflexible, even if you are.

This could be described as some kind of trick question. You don’t want to be overeager in your description, remember not to let your guard down till you are safely off the office premises. Your description should be short and to the point, your description should give the employer that you’re not only serious about your work, but that you aren’t going to be a problem to work with if hired.

The wrong to do here is to say, “No, I don’t”. Take the opportunity to get some insight about the company, ask questions about your prospective job and new position. Asking an intelligent question when prompted, could actually be the thing that makes the lasting impression on your interviewer.