30 Common Interview Questions Explanation (Part 1)

Interview is a highly structured process of screening talents. Students who have participated in many interviews must know that in addition to the professional skills Q&A for different positions, most of the interview questions thrown by interviewers from different companies in the interview are the same or similar, and their purpose and inspection points are also based on.

That is to say, making sufficient preparation and reserve before the interview can significantly reduce the error rate and tension in the interview, and greatly improve the interview pass rate.

As a veteran bacon senior who has interviewed many domestic and foreign graduates and has been in the human resources industry for many years, we have summarised 30 common frequently interview questions (3 parts in total) for international students with 0-3 years of work experience by combining my own experience and second-hand information. Understanding their inspection points, mastering the essentials of answers, and strictly preventing pitfalls, each interview will be more relaxed and calm.

1. Please Tell Me About Yourself

The recruiter asks you to introduce yourself, not to repeat what is already on your resume, but to have a quick understanding of your skills, research fields, personality characteristics and your overall portrait through your carefully summarised passage.

A good start is half of success. Every candidate should do a good job in introducing himself and making a good first impression on the interviewer. Here is an easy-to-use formula: self-introduction = opening greeting + basic information + relevant experience + reason for application + express gratitude.

Hand in hand to teach you how to introduce yourself, refer to "How to make a self-introduction that satisfies HR?"

2. Please Tell Me About Your Past Work/Internship Experince

This interview question is mainly for positions with certain work experience requirements. Recruiters hope to match the requirements of the recruitment position through your past experience. Therefore, we should prioritise the experience related to the position and try to oviate irrelevant experiences.

All the experiences and projects listed on the resume must be Memorisive of all details, even specific figures. On this issue, the interviewer usually asks more in-depth details about the part of your internship experience related to the recruitment position to examine your role in the project and your work ability.

3. As a Overseas Returnees, What Are Your Strengths Compared to a Local Student

Recruiters ask these two interview questions mainly for the following considerations: 

1. I don't know about international students and have doubts about the current situation of overseas returnees

2. Examine your self-awareness and self-confidence 

3. Find a reason to hire you.

4. What is The Most Rewarding Factor of Studying Abroad

To answer boldly and confidently, I have asked some international students about their advantages, and the usual answer is: foreign languages are better, and then there is no more. In fact, there are many other aspects that can be said, such as: strong independence, familiarity with foreign culture, strong learning ability, fast adaptation to the environment... It is best to say that the job requirements have the advantages of intersection.

For example: If you are interviewing for a product manager position in an overseas App/game company, being familiar with foreign culture is actually to know more about users, understand their ideas, and be able to grasp user needs.

5. What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses

The seemingly down-to-earth problem is often "hidden weapon". It's very simple to talk about the advantages, as long as you don't exaggerate and tell the truth. The difficult thing is to talk about your shortcomings. If you don't talk about them well, you may make the good impression accumulated and directly “kill” your odds of success.

The interviewer asked this interview question for three main purposes. In addition to business ability, we should also understand the personality of the job seeker; further see whether he is qualified for the recruitment position through his personality; create a pressure atmosphere, and further look at the interviewer's ability to solve problems and deal with stress.

The more common formula for answering such interview questions is: disadvantage generalisation + specific case + negative impact + correction plan. You must be sincere when answering such interview questions. It is best to cite specific cases to make the interviewer feel that you are not making up. Be sure to attach a correction plan, which can be said to "I have realised my (expression ability) shortcomings, so I will now read some books on expression skills and do some exercises on a daily basis..."

6. Share with Me Your Thoughts On Working Overtime

Companies that ask this interview question are very likely to need to work overtime appropriately or often, so recruiters must find an acceptable person, otherwise they will leave quickly and may also affect other colleagues.

If you like this job very much and decide to compromise on overtime, you can answer like this: "I am willing to accept the challenge of overtime, and it is my job to complete the work within my scope. But I will also strictly require my work efficiency to ensure that there is no overtime due to my own reasons such as inefficiency and lack of ability.

7. What Are Your Salary Expectations

The interviewer wants to know what your bottom line of salary is. If you match the company's position setting, you will be qualified; if you don't match, you will be accepted. If the gap is too big and the interviewer doesn't think it's up to you, you will be given up.

On the basis of accurately recognising yourself, you can finalise your acceptable salary range through online search (recommended to use Kanzhun.com), ask friends and other means in the interview. It is not easy to be too high or too low.

Don't flinch and lower your salary before the interview. When talking about your salary expectations, don't directly show your bottom card. Within a reasonable range, you can first quote a slightly higher price than expected, leaving room for bargaining/concession for both parties.

8. What’s Your Career Plan? Please Tell Me Your Plans for the Next 3-5 years

Answer according to the type of company or department function. In fact, many times, job seekers will ask such interview questions in a more obscure way, such as what kind of life you want to achieve in the next three years. To answer this interview question, we should start from the following aspects:

1. Prepare in advance. Understand the background of the industry, understand the skill requirements of the position you are applying for, understand the position of the company in the industry, what the product line is, and in which direction to develop in the future.

2. Combine personal ideals and company vision. For example, interviewing an online education company, it can be said that I hope to become a well-known lecturer in 3 years to help more students in xxx.

3. Combine personal development with career promotion path. For example, students who apply for a product manager can say that I plan to be independently responsible for the project within 1 year, become a senior product manager within 3 years, and a product director in 5 years. Of course, you can intersperse more work and study plans to make career planning sound fuller and more feasible, rather than fabricating it out of thin air.

9. Why did Your Choose Our Company/Why do You Like This Job

When the interviewer asks the above two interview questions or similar interview questions, there are probably the following points that can be examined. First, I want to see the importance and sincerity of this job/company, which is a kind of serious attitude withdrawal. The second is to examine your understanding of the work content/company culture and the industry. Third, I want to see if your hobbies are here and whether you can be self-driven at work.

Before the interview, you must do your homework well! You can check the company's vision, values, business products, development strategy, etc. on the Internet. Then answer from the following aspects:

• The company's advantages, status in the industry, growth space, etc. attract me;

• A loyal fan of the company's products also wants to contribute their own strength;

• Recognition and approval of the company's concept/vision/values;

• My career plan is highly consistent with the position provided by your company;

• My professional skills/interests and hobbies are highly consistent with the positions provided by your company.

When answering this interview question, be sure to point out what specifically attracts me to make a choice. Don't use some general and general answers to deal with the interviewer. Such as "Your company is great! Very well-known!" Reasons such as "the company is very close to my residence" will only make the interviewer feel that you are not prepared for the interview for this job.

11. You Lack Experience in This Field, How Would You Prove To Be Competent

This interview question is aimed at fresh graduates who have just graduated and entered the workplace and those who have jumped out of the industry. It is a interview question of "pressure surface" to test your flexibility in the face of pressure.

First of all, don't feel inferior because you don't have relevant work experience. Since you can get an interview, it means that the company doesn't care about your resume, and the description of work experience is insufficient. The key to answering this interview question is sincerity and calm in the face of pressure. 

You can organise your own answers according to the following structure:

1. Recognise your lack of experience first;

2. What advantages do I have to make up for my lack of experience?

3. What action will I take to overcome it and bring more value?

If you are interested in reading on, we have two more parts in this series. Parts 2 and 3.