Behavioural Interview FAQs and My Answers
Introduce Yourself
Question: Tell me a little bit about yourself.
My Answer:
I am a programmer. About my previous work experience, I have been working as a web developer for the last 3 years. Before that, I also got 6 years' work experience as a software engineer. About my previous education history, my academic background is software engineering, I received my Bachelor degree from SOME_UNI and Master Degree from SOME_UNI. I choose this major to be a software engineer not only because of it is something I am good at, but also I love this industry and I really enjoy programming, it is something I am dedicated to with great passion. About my professional skills, I excel in software development, especially in web development, particularly ReactJS framework. If you are interested I am able to demonstrate a few of my personal full-stack projects to show what I am able to do and how I developed them. About my personal life, I enjoy football and music, and I am a cat lover. I have 2 cats which are 10 years old, they have been living with me for 10 years. About my career goal, I would like to find a position which can help me grow and become an expert in my area someday, that is what I am expecting. And about what I can give, the company and the team will benefit from my fast growth, and I am always ready to contribute my all to help the team succeed by delivering high-quality products. I am excited to discuss how your company might offer me this excellent opportunity which can help me to achieve my goal. Thank you.
Your Strength
Question: What are your greatest strengths?
About this question, you can give an answer considering these 3 aspects:
- Knowledge-based Skills: Acquired from education or experience. For example, computer skills, languages, degrees, training and technical abilities.
- Transferable Skills: Your portable skills that you take from job to job. For example, communication and people skills, analytical problem solving and planning skills.
- Personal Traits: Your unique qualities. For example, dependable, flexible, friendly, hard-working, expressive, formal, punctual, and being a team player.
My Answer:
Some of my key strengths are:
- My strong professional work experiences and technical skills. I was involved in the full implementation of designing, developing, testing, deploying of many projects. In these years, I have been learning and practising my skills every day and have gained many experiences which let me be able to handle lots of problems that may occur during software development.
- My strong time management, planning and problem-solving skills. In my most recent project called SOME_PROJECT (it is a full-stack project which is a social network application for developers), I carefully planned the tasks to do and strictly stuck with my schedule. The project is relatively big for a regular personal project, however, I finished this project in 2 weeks as I planned. About my problem-solving skills, I think my previous 2 interviews can be proof too. I think the interviewers are happy and impressed, I believe that is also why I am here now.
- Diligent, hard-working and being a team player. As I just mentioned, I completed a relatively big project in a short period of time, my diligence and hard work are also key to this achievement. And because of my those merits, I was awarded Outstanding Academic Achievement when I was studying at university, and was awarded Spot Award Winner, employee of the month, when I was working at my previous company. Before I leave my previous job, my supervisor evaluates me as 'incredibly hard-working', and actually all of my previous employers expressed recognition of my hard work. In my previous jobs, I always contributed my all to the team. I highly value communication and get along well with the team members. Because we are on the same team, we all have a common goal.
Your Weakness
Question: What is your biggest weakness?
The best strategy for answering this question is to minimise the negative influence of your weakness as less as possible. You need to emphasize the actions you took to overcome your weakness, you also need to give at least one example as proof.
My Answer:
I think my biggest weakness is that I may not have as much experience as other candidates you interview. Probably they have like 10 or 15 years experience but I only got 9 years. However, the bright side of that is I successfully passed the previous 2 interviews, which proves I am actually doing pretty good. It also can prove I have more potential for greater achievements. And my diligence and positive attitude will help me learn and grow fast. If needed I can and will work twice as hard.
One more thing about my weakness, sometimes I pay too much attention to details, spend hours to fix a small or trivial problem as I always want everything to be perfect. But I realise I have to prioritise things by importance and make choices between time and outcome. Sometimes time is much more valuable, it is not worth spending time on trivial things.
Motivation
Question: Why do you want to join our company?
The interviewer would like to know if you are capable and have a genuine motivation to join their company. A good answer to this question must show how well you know about this industry and company, and you need to express your passion for this position. So you should better do some research on the company you are interviewing. In general, you should start with the company culture, reputation, etc.
My Answer:
The company is a pioneer with a great reputation in the industry of computer-assisted legal research and risk management services. It would be a great honour for anyone who can join such a wonderful world-class company. Besides that, so many great software engineers are working in the company, I am thrilled to have an opportunity to work with them. I believe if I am successful with the application, I will learn a lot, develop more, and will have a bright future, and the company will definitely benefit from my hard work and fast growth.
Qualification
Question: Why do you think you are qualified for this job?
Before answering this question, you need to know well about what kind of employee they are seeking, and what kind of skills the job will need. And then, you can show the interviewer that you fulfil all their requirements, and you can give more than they expected.
My Answer:
I have learnt that the company is seeking an experienced senior software engineer who is excellent with solving problems and has strong experience and knowledge of software development. I have proven myself in the 2 previous interviews that I can fulfil all the requirements. And I can assure that with my passion, my work ethic, my positive attitude and my hard work, and of course, with my experience and expertise, I will give more than you expected.
Future Expectation
Question: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
The interviewer would like to know if you are going to stay longer with the company and if you have an actual plan to grow and develop. Keywords: 'Stay', 'Development'.
My Answer:
I always dreamed of finding a position where I can have further development, a home that I belong to. If I am successful with the application, I will treat the team and the company as my home, I will contribute my all to the team and the company for greater success. And I will surely learn a lot from the work as well as from the teammates, and if everything goes well, I would like to grow with the team and company, develop my skills and become an expert in my area so that I will be able to help my team for greater achievements.