3 common development job interview questions to prepare for

Of all the components of the job search, interviewing can be the least understood. Many people find interviewing to be among the most anxiety-provoking professional rights of passage, while others don’t give the process the research, thought, or preparation it necessitates. To help job seekers get into the right mindset and feel prepared for their next interview, Devex hosted a digital event featuring insights from Mike O’Connor, a career consultant and founder of the Actualized Self. O’Connor offered strategies and practices for all stages of the interview preparation process, including how to tackle some of the more common questions that you’re likely to field during your next interview. “You're going to get different variations of these kind of questions at different points,” O’Connor said. Here are some strategies for how to prepare for these traditional interview questions. 1. ‘Tell me about yourself’/ ‘What interested you in this role?’ While “more places [have] moved away from this” type of question, based on O’Connor’s experience working with clients, it is still one that is worth preparing for, as there’s still a strong possibility that it will come up in some form during the interview. The main purpose of a recruiter who asks this kind of question is to “gauge interest [and] enthusiasm” of a job candidate for a specific role, O’Connor explained. Since this question is often asked to begin an interview, it can be “a great way to just get momentum going in the interview [and] put people at ease, and put yourself at ease” by offering “a few reasons that are genuine” as to why you want a particular role or to work for a specific organization. 2. ‘What is your weakness’ / ‘What are potential areas of growth?’ This other common question is “one [that] trips people up a lot,” but approaching it more from an angle of identifying areas of growth and conveying ways that you have addressed potential weaknesses by adjusting and learning new skills or gaining new experiences is the best approach, O’Connor said. The purpose from a recruiter’s perspective with this question is to try and gauge “how self-aware are you, and how honest are you,” and to get “a sense [if] you're holding something back,” O’Connor said. Honesty is the best policy with this question, as long as you are able to “show steps you've taken to overcome that and just demonstrate that growth." It's important to convey that you're self-aware and actively taking steps to improve, "You show a growth mindset, and … it's a way to sort of carve out a win in [response to] a challenging question,” O’Connor said. 3. ‘What are your greatest strengths?’/ ‘What distinguishes you as a candidate?’ While this question can seem like an easy one to prepare for, it does require some thought so that job candidates do not miss a golden opportunity to clearly articulate why they are right for a position. One way to prepare for this question is to rely on the feedback of others who can confirm or even uncover the attributes that you ultimately will want a recruiter to know about. “If you've got three or five people telling you: ‘Here's the thing that's really sort of making you unique,’” you’ll be able to identify “some very specific, tangible examples of … skill sets that you have that make you stand out,” O’Connor said. More highlights from this event include: • The objective and subjective nature of questions and communication. • How to read the room, even on Zoom. • The role human biases play and how to leverage these to your advantage. • What to research prior to your interview and how to manage your time. • Science-backed performance hacks, answers to audience questions, and much more. You can also access the full set of slides that O’Connor presented, learn more about the the career development services O’Connor offers, and listen to the Actualized Self podcast on YouTube.