Common Interview Questions for Freshers

Here are the top 20 fresher interview questions and the greatest replies for candidates who are going through their first interviews:

1Tell me about yourself

For new hires, the standard icebreaker question “tell me about yourself” gives the applicant the ability to establish the interview’s tone and position oneself favorably.

Why this question:

The interviewer won’t move on to the challenging level. The first question is typically to make the interviewee comfortable because they are skilled enough to manage all types of interviewers. This doesn’t imply that the response isn’t taken into account.

What do they “truly” want to know:

This one is simple to breeze through. You have known yourself for a very long time, after all. All those years, though, won’t mean anything if you enter this situation unprepared.

The interviewer frequently asks this question to learn more about you than is on your résumé.

Tips to Answer

To effectively respond to this question, please prepare thoroughly. It would be preferable if you provided a brief but precise overview of your background.

Observe these cues:

Talk specifically about your professional self.
Don’t recount your entire life’s events.
Describe your accomplishments and best qualities.
Give specifics, but avoid narrating your resume.

2Why should we hire you?

This fresher interview question provides you the chance to position yourself as the most qualified candidate for the position. It is often asked in the middle or at the end of the session.

Why this question:

It’s not the opportunity to explain why this is a terrific opportunity for you; instead, be direct and to the point. After all, the fact that you were chosen from a pool of applicants and got the job signifies something.

This self-evaluation determines whether you are qualified for the position being offered.

What do they “truly” want to know:

The interviewer normally means to ask, “What makes you best-fit for this position?” with this question.

Tips to Answer

Concentrate on your credentials and abilities and how they can benefit the business.

Start with your professional persona and then consider how you differ from other candidates who hold the same degree.
Compare those to the position’s job description.
Include qualities that will strengthen the company’s position in the market and demonstrate your alignment with its business philosophies and procedures.
Adapt your solution to the needs of the business.

3What are your strengths?

The majority of candidates assume they will be able to answer this question. They end up paying for their (over)confidence, though, because it’s difficult for them to formulate a response. Yes, the question is simple, but that is its entire purpose.

Why this question:

The purpose of this question is to gauge how you will react in a situation like this, so you should give it some thinking and planning in order to answer correctly. Interviewees frequently make mistakes with this question, despite it being one of the most frequently asked of freshers during job interviews.

Tips to Answer

Avoid overusing adjectives and refrain from listing all of your strengths. Instead, take a seat, reflect, and relax. Then, pick one or two abilities and explain why you believe them to be your strengths. Be sure to include any strengths the employer is searching for. You’ll have enough hints from previous studies to figure that out. And even if you can point to a long record of accomplishments, try not to come off as overconfident. Be positive throughout your entire response. I have strong ethical standards at work, you can begin. When I have a deadline at work, I try to do it on time or even earlier. When I attended college.

4What are your weaknesses?

You can combine your previous response with the question that comes next.

Why this question:

The inquiry is a test of character, according to an intriguing article in “The Business Insider” titled “What Hiring Managers Really Want To Know.” It is a question with several layers, which can be peeled through for each of them if I were to compare it to an onion. The first layer is straightforward: they are looking for signs or warning signs that indicate they shouldn’t hire you. They will then assess your capacity for forethought and composure under pressure. They also inquire about your level of self-awareness and your efforts to overcome them.

What do they “truly” want to know:

In summary, these are the true inquiries tucked under a more general “What are your shortcomings” statement.

Why shouldn’t we employ you?
How do you respond while under pressure?
How conscious of yourself are you?
Would your weaknesses affect how well you performed at work?
What are you doing to strengthen your areas of weakness?

Tips to Answer

Do not assert that you lack any because doing so is haughty, overconfident, and essentially untrue. Instead, discuss your shortcomings and how you’re attempting to overcome them.

Do not consider things like drinking, smoking, and staying up late to be your flaws.

5What long-term goals do you have? What are your immediate objectives?

This is a test of your dedication to the position. A seemingly unimportant question like this can reveal a lot about your maturity and level of commitment to your entire job graph.

Why this question:

From the standpoint of a recruiter, a job interview is an ideal opportunity to obtain targeted information from a candidate that will aid in making a judgment about them. These recruiters can better understand candidates by learning about their short- and long-term goals. This will allow them to reveal their motivations and reveal their life plans.

What do they “truly” want to know:

They can use this information to determine whether the applicant would be a good hire and stay with the business. What drives them, and where would they go if presented with a chance to advance those goals?

Tips to Answer

Have you not given your future, even five years from now or the next six months, any thought? begin to consider. This is how you should respond to this interview question for new hires.

Consider your goals for the next six months, a year, and five years.
Consider the Company before making decisions.
Start by describing short-term objectives.
Include long-term objectives, but avoid discussing money or other specifics.
Therefore, don’t claim that you wish to become very wealthy before fleeing to Prague.

There are interviewees who are affable enough to respond to that, yes. On the other hand, avoid stating that obtaining “your chair” is your long-term objective (the interviewers). That will essentially make you unemployed.

6How effectively can you deal with pressure or stress?

You will likely encounter this question in interviews with freshers.

Why this Question?

When an interviewer asks you this question, he is interested in learning how pressure affects you and how you handle it.

What do they “truly” want to know:

It is to know if you can maintain cool under pressure, have a good work ethic, and react appropriately to challenging situations.

They enquire:

What are your sources of tension?
Do they affect how you perform at work?
What should you do in a crisis
What are your weaknesses, the things that could cause you to face a crisis?
How do you respond to such a circumstance?

Tips to Answer

You can’t get away with pretending you are never impacted by any form of work pressure, therefore you need to be adequately prepared for this in advance. After all, practically everyone is occasionally impacted by work pressure.

The easiest method to respond to this question is to give concrete examples from your history where you succeeded in spite of extreme pressure. That can help the interviewer get a clear image of how you deal with pressure.

7Are you open to moving or traveling for work?

Although moving to a new city can be an exciting concept, the hiring manager who is asking you this question is searching for something different. He wants to assess how passionate and enthusiastic you are about your position.

Why this Question?

This query comes from a recruiter who is better familiar than the applicant with the requirements of the job. And they are selecting candidates based on a variety of criteria, including flexibility and availability at various locations as well as a propensity to travel for the position.

They are also evaluating your passion and commitment to the organization and the position that is being offered.

What do they “truly” want to know:

The recruiter will just inquire about:

For work, would you be willing to travel?
For the position, would you be amenable to transfers?
If needed, would you be able to enter?
Do you truly want this job?

Tips to Answer

Be sure to underline your eagerness to cooperate with the company in your response to this question. Demonstrate your excitement for the position.

Even if you are not willing to move, don’t reply with “No.”

8What are your hobbies?

Why this Question?

A potential employer can be curious about your physical condition, level of energy, or interpersonal skills. You are an all-rounder if you have interests outside of work, and your hobbies can reveal a lot about who you are.

What do they “truly” want to know:

Who is asking the question about your hobbies and interests will determine the specifics of the inquiry. If it’s HR or a first-line recruiter, they want to know more about you personally and how committed you are to your interests.

If it comes from your reporting manager, it is an attempt to learn more about you and determine whether you would get along with them outside of the confines of the office.

Tips to Answer

There are several interests and pastimes that should never be brought up during an interview. Even though you enjoy going out to parties, it is best to keep your opinions to yourself. The same is true for illicit activities including drinking, smoking, gambling, and other vices.

Make sure to be truthful and sincere when describing your hobbies while responding to this question. Even if it has been more than a year since your last visit to the gym, avoid claiming to be a fitness devotee. No matter what you say, be ready for follow-up inquiries. For instance, if you claim you enjoy watching movies, be ready to discuss your most recent viewing experience or your favorite genre.

Include, in brief, the following:

Combine your personal and professional interests
Mention the things that are good about you (health, education, learning)
Mention beneficial things for the community like volunteering, eco-friendly efforts, and assisting others.
Be sure to include your interests, and be ready for follow-ups.

9When can you start?

Though it might sound like a straightforward question, it’s not! It may feel like the most interesting interview question to the majority of applicants. However, please maintain your composure as this does not inevitably mean that you have been hired.

Why this Question?

Employers frequently ask this question when hiring someone who will start right away and whose role is crucial to the business’s operations.

What do they “truly” want to know:

The hiring managers are now evaluating your application based on how keen you are for the job and how quickly you would be able to start if hired. A quick as soon as possible offer them the upper hand in the negotiation process because it implies that you need this job immediately—perhaps you’re in between jobs.

Tips to Answer:

Avoid sounding overly frantic while responding to this inquiry, especially if you want to begin right now. You should express your desire to begin it as soon as feasible in your answer to this question.

Express your desire to join as soon as possible.
Consider your existing obligations, which for a fresher may include your graduation date and any impending plans.
Give a specific date.
Inquire about the demands and needs of the business.

10In five to ten years, where do you see yourself?

You could have a lot of responses when a recruiter asks you this question: “I would like to rise up the hierarchy,” “I want to be the best version of myself,” “At your role,” or “I want to envision myself as a consultant.” In an interview, you should not, however, speak any of these aloud.

Why this Question?

This is an open-ended question meant to get a better understanding of your professional aspirations as well as your level of maturity and commitment to your potential employer.

What do they “truly” want to know:

You’re aims
Your intention to support the brand going forward
whether you’d be a good match for the position

Tips to Answer

So, how do you respond to this? You can be sincere while still providing them with the responses they expect. Consider your real career trajectory and how it aligns with your larger professional objectives.

The best you can do is be sincere and make an effort to keep your response pertinent to your line of work and the sector. When you are submitting an application for the post of programmer, don’t mention that you intend to write a novel in five years.

11What is your dream profession?

It’s a pretty challenging question. It’s possible that the position for which you are being interviewed has nothing to do with your ideal employment. But refrain from bringing it up. Instead, try to relate it to the job for which you are applying.

Why this Question?

This question is used during interviews to find out what drives you in this job. Or, if you wish to take this on as a temporary assignment or if you plan to stay in the post.

What do they “truly” want to know

When a recruiter inquires about your ideal position, they are actually posing the following queries:

What motivates you?
What are your sources of motivational stress
Do these idealistic goals match our workplace?
Would you be a good fit for the existing organization?

There are also cases where the recruiter is a consultant rather than an employee of the organization. In that scenario, if they’re asking you about your ideal position, they may have already determined that you’d be a strong candidate for upcoming roles and may click with you if they notice a similarity.

Tips to Answer:

It is best to avoid responding with specific job titles. Don’t mention that you have aspirations for a job whose duties are impossible to fulfill while holding the post for which you are seeking. It’s a good idea to put more emphasis on talents than titles. The secret to addressing this issue is to concentrate on the industry.

12Are you ok with late-night and weekend shifts?

Another difficult topic that is frequently posed, particularly at startups, mid-sized businesses, and professions that focus on volume, like sales. So, if you want to attend one of these interviews, be prepared for this one.

Why this Question?

The query does not imply that your employer intends to sabotage your weekends. However, depending on the workload, employers do demand adaptable people that can deal with the stress at work and stay late as needed.

What do they “truly” want to know:

The recruiter is inquiring:

How accommodating are you?
Can you muster the courage to give up personal time to help a situation?
Can you take the strain at work?
Can we count on you to step up when necessary?

Tips to Answer

The best course of action is to respond cautiously and enthusiastically to being occasionally willing to do so. Inform them gently if there is a reason you don’t feel comfortable with it. Alternatively, you could just remark that while it would be acceptable occasionally, you typically want to maintain a work-life balance.

13Imagine a challenging work situation and describe how you would handle it

It can be challenging to make up a hypothetical work environment on the spot. It is one of the trickiest interview questions since it gauges a candidate’s inherent qualities, which are difficult to assess in a brief interview.

Why this Question?

This question is used during interviews to find out how you would handle an unexpected circumstance that might occur while you are working there.

What do they “truly” want to know:

A simple, open-ended inquiry like this one enables the interviewer to learn more about the applicant than is possible from prepared responses and the resume’s summary. Additionally, it enables them to comprehend the likely approaches the candidate would take to problems and the kinds of circumstances they may encounter in their position.

Tips to Answer

Keep your composure and be calm when this question is given to you. Think about any challenging circumstances you could have encountered in the past. Anything relating to your prior academic studies or professional background is acceptable. You can talk about the difficulty of deciding on your college stream or the unusual job path you were forced to choose. You can list the people who supported you at that point in your career. Or, if you were forced to take an odd career, how do you convince your family to support you?

If you are unable to connect this question to a specific instance from the past, you can instead make a connection to your present position’s job description. You should become familiar with the uncommon situations that could emerge at work and their potential repercussions. Avoid offering a detailed description that is not essential. Your ideal response needs to be succinct and backed up by pertinent information.

14What is your greatest achievement?

This closed-ended interview question is another challenging one for a new hire because it tests both aptitude and self-awareness.

Why this Question?

The interviewer wants to know about your past professional successes as well as your work ethic.

What do they “truly” want to know:

It is more about you than can be shown by the résumé and traditional interview questions. They can evaluate your maturity, insight, and behavior in various scenarios based on your response. Additionally, it provides insight into your soft skills, such as initiative, self-management, problem-solving, confidence, and adherence to duties.

Tips to Answer

The finest you can do is discuss a success that is directly relevant to your line of work. Give an example from your most recent employment where you excelled. Keep in mind to discuss the success that enhanced the company’s value. Put more emphasis on the company’s underlying ideals and demonstrate how you can contribute to its success.

On the contrary, if you have nothing specific to say, don’t lie. Be honest and admit that you are still looking for what you would consider your greatest success.

15What salary are you expecting?

Even though the question seems so simple, the solution is complicated. At the interview stage, when your selection for the position has not yet been made, you won’t want to blow the opportunity with an ambitious figure. You wouldn’t want to make a modest commitment and put yourself in a difficult situation either.

Why this Question?

This question serves as an evident filter for the interviewer, determining whether or not the candidate would realistically fit the company’s budget. A judgment must be made on maturity, self-awareness, and industry knowledge.

What do they “truly” want to know:

The questions they are actually asking are listed below:

Have you given your value any thought?
What sort of salary are you expecting?
Are you affordable for us?
What is the negotiation’s purview?
Do we choose you?

Tips to Answer

They may ask, but it doesn’t guarantee you’ll get what you say. In actuality, it’s also a test. Avoid saying anything that contradicts the situation. Before you quote any figures, do some investigation. In other words, be sensible and remember what to avoid saying in an interview.

16What is your knowledge of this company?

Why this Question?

This question is intended to determine whether you were interested in the position and the company enough to do some research before the interview. They want to hire people who are excited about working there and who have a specific job in mind for the business. They also want to assess how curious you are about various topics.

What do they truly want to know:

Are you truly committed to this position?
Have you spent any time or effort learning about our business?
How well aware are you of us? Our industry? What are our assets and weaknesses?
Should we make an investment in you and acquire you as a resource for us?

Tips to Answer

You can’t truly respond to this question without fumbling and guessing if you didn’t do your homework properly. Read up on the business you are interviewing for. Be ready with enough facts to base your responses on asking more questions of a similar nature.

17Who do you consider to be our key competitors?

A hiring manager is interested in how knowledgeable you are about the industry you are considering. And the rival businesses they compete against. Your response to this query demonstrates your level of industry knowledge.

What do they truly want to know:

It is if you have done in-depth company research that would make you a crucial hire. In essence, this means evaluating the candidate’s seriousness, dedication, and maturity.

Tips to Answer

You must conduct research on the company’s main competitors in order to provide a response to this question. Make sure you don’t tell the interviewer the information you’ve obtained. Instead, you ought to offer an analytical version.

You must not misrepresent the facts or disparage a company in any way. You risk losing credibility if you do this. Never forget that the interviewer wants to know how your services may assist the business to outperform its main rivals.

18What do you think about collaborating with others?

Unspoken business wisdom holds that hiring managers prioritize candidates who can work effectively with their teams. Future leaders are team players, therefore a candidate who struggles to work well with others is more of a burden than a benefit to the business.

Why this Question?

Beyond core competencies, the search for the best applicants also depends on the candidates’ employability competencies. These are what make sure a candidate stays useful to the company and contributes to its upward trajectory. Teamwork is still a crucial component of these employability skills.

What do they truly want to know:

The hiring managers enquire of you:

Are you a good team player?
How do you function when you must interact and coordinate with others both inside and outside the department?
Would you have a bad impact on the group? Would you obstruct or restrict operations?

Tips to Answer:

To demonstrate your ability to work well with others, give examples from your time in college or during an internship.

Do you want to explore the different career opportunities in IoT? Visit our blog.

19 What sort of working environment are you expecting?

Why this Question:

The ability of the employee to blend into the office culture is frequently something the employer is curious about. These elements could include the company’s size, leadership style, work-life balance, organizational structure, etc. For instance, a start-up will be very different from that of an MNC.

What do they “truly” want to know:

What is the question a recruiter is posing to you here?
Would you fit your job well in our company?
What bothers you the most? If you don’t find your ideal environment at a company, would you leave?

Tips to Answer

They can determine your most productive atmosphere with the help of your response to this query. The best you can do in this situation is display your adaptability. For a better knowledge of the business, it is preferable to visit its website.

20 Do you have any questions?

It is the inquiry that is most frequently posed toward the end of an interview. One of the last questions in your interview gives you one last chance to make an impression on the interviewer. There should be no danger of failing to prepare for it because of this.

Why this Question?

This question is frequently asked by interviewers to gauge how well you have prepared for the interview. Your readiness, enthusiasm, and willingness to work with the company are being assessed.

What do they “truly” want to know:

How enthusiastic are you about the job?
Are you responsive to learn from your mistakes?
How certain are you that you can succeed?
How zealous are you to do this task?

Tips to Answer

List the questions you want answered on your list. You should ask the right interviewer your question. For instance, if you are interviewing with HR, you should ask about the company’s organizational structure or the overall interviewing procedure. The nature of the task and the responsibilities associated should be the focus of your inquiries if you are interviewing the person who will be your manager.

Keep in mind that you shouldn’t inquire about things like parties and vacations that happen outside of the office. Asking the interviewer personal questions should be avoided. Make the process feel conversational by posing one question at a time.

Conclusion

The interview will go much more smoothly if you have all of these questions prepared in advance. To avoid sounding like you are simply repeating what you studied, do not memorize the questions. Remember that keeping the appropriate body language is just as important for landing the job as providing the right answers. We are offering placement-focused IT Courses in Chennai to fulfill your learning needs and achieve your dream job. You can access free job-ready skill development classes along with any course you enroll at SLA Jobs.

Top 20 Interview Questions and Answers for Freshers