Job interview in English: the most common questions, sample answers and phrases

A job interview in English is doubly stressful: they assess your experience and hear every language slip at the same time. The good news: the questions are predictable. Most recruiters ask the same handful, and you can prepare and rehearse the answers out loud.

1. "Tell me about yourself"

The first and most important question. The recruiter does not want your life story, but 60–90 seconds about who you are professionally and why you fit this role. A now → before → next structure works well:

I'm a backend developer with five years of experience, currently working on payment systems at a fintech company. Before that, I built internal tools for a logistics firm, which taught me to work closely with non-technical users. Now I'm looking for a role where I can take more ownership of system design, which is why this position caught my attention.

2. Behavioural questions and the STAR method

"Tell me about a time when…" questions test how you work in practice. Answer with the STAR method:

• Situation: briefly, what the context was,
• Task: what your job was,
• Action: what you did (say "I", not "we"),
• Result: what came of it, ideally in numbers.

An example for "Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult problem":

Last year our checkout service started failing under peak traffic (situation). I was responsible for finding the cause before Black Friday (task). I added detailed logging, found a database lock in one query and rewrote it with a queue (action). Errors dropped by 90% and we handled twice the usual traffic without issues (result).

The most common behavioural questions:

• Tell me about a time you made a mistake.
• Describe a situation when you disagreed with a colleague.
• Tell me about a project you're proud of.
• Give an example of how you handled a tight deadline.

3. Questions about motivation and expectations

• Why do you want to work here? Show you know the company: the product, the technology, the culture. "I've been following your move to…"
• Why are you leaving your current job? Talk about what you are looking for, not what you are running from: "I'm looking for…", not "My boss is…".
• What are your strengths and weaknesses? Give a real weakness, together with what you do about it: "I used to take on too much myself, so now I…".
• Where do you see yourself in five years? Answer with a direction of growth, not a job title.

4. Phrases worth having ready

That's a great question. Let me think about it for a second.Buys you time instead of a nervous silence. Could you rephrase the question, please?When you did not understand the question. Normal and professional. To give you a concrete example…A move to specifics that recruiters like. What I learned from that was…Closes a story about a mistake or a difficult situation. I'd be happy to walk you through it.When you offer to talk about a project in detail.

At the end you will hear "Do you have any questions for us?". Always have two ready, for example "What does success look like in this role after six months?" or "How is the team structured?".

5. Mistakes non-native speakers make most often

6. How to prepare in a week

1. Days 1–2: write down your "Tell me about yourself" and three STAR stories. Bullet points, not full sentences.
2. Days 3–5: practise them out loud every day, in a conversation with someone who asks questions and follows up. Reading them in your head does not prepare you to speak.
3. Day 6: a dress rehearsal in a mode that corrects every mistake, to catch what keeps repeating.
4. Day 7: a light conversation without interruptions, for confidence.

Not sure how you want to be corrected in these rehearsals? Read our guide to correction styles.