You couldn’t wait to finish school and make your way into the real world. Now you find yourself in the real world, and you feel unprepared. As a recent graduate, trying to make your way into the workforce can be stressful, nerve racking, and much more difficult than you anticipated.
Nailing your job interview is key if you want to enter the professional field of your choice, especially as a recent graduate with little to no work experience.
To help you land that dream job, we’ve put together a list of common job interview questions and answers for fresh graduates.
1. What do you want out of your life?
This is an important question.
How you answer this question will give the interview a sense of who you are, and can also help them place whether or not your goals in life are cohesive with the job you are applying for and, more specifically, their company.
Try to answer in a way that showcases your dreams, but also connects you to the job you are applying for. Potential employers want to see that you can see their company as part of your future.
2. What are your long-term career goals?
This is similar to the question above, but more specifically related to what type of position and responsibilities you envision for yourself in the future. If the future career you see for yourself is not a possibility within the company you are applying with, that will be a red flag for the interviewer.
3. Why did you choose this job?
Your interviewer will want to see that you have done your research on the position and on the company. They want an answer that elaborates on a connection you can make between yourself and the job you are applying for. Describe to them situations or circumstances where you have completed similar tasks, or how you hold the same views as the company and their mission. Be unique.
4. How has your college experience prepared you for a career?
Potential employers aren’t looking for someone who acts like they are still a college student. With this question, they are really trying to gain insight on whether or not college has helped you mature and has given you the qualities that will help you succeed with them, or if the only thing you took away from college was how to throw a good party.
5. Describe a time where you excelled in a course or workplace, and a time where you struggled, and why?
Try to really elaborate on this question. They want to be confident that you have qualities that can help you succeed within their company, and the situations that your job may present. Help them trust that if you are faced with challenges, you are capable of working through them.
Conclusion
Being a recent graduate and trying to find your place in the real world can be extremely tough and discouraging. One way to better your chances of landing the job you’ve always wanted is to really ace the interview.
Really study interview questions and configure unique and strong answers, tailored to the company and position you are applying to.
These 5 job interview questions and answers for fresh graduates is a great place to start.
