Open-ended questions don’t have specific answers. They include questions like the following:
- Tell me about yourself. Walk me through your career. Why did you make the choices you made?
Such questions present an opportunity to tell your story in an engaging, articulate, and compelling way.
Explain why you selected the school(s) you selected, your major and your minor, and your GPA (if it’s above 3.3). Describe the jobs you’ve had and how you got them. Did you apply directly or did you get them through networking? What were your most significant accomplishments at each job? Highlight significant accomplishments that may or may not be explicit in your résumé. Often, a theme will emerge, but if that isn’t the case, talk about your decisions in a positive light.
- With which skills and functions are you most comfortable? If I were to assign you a project based on your expertise, what would I give you?
If you enjoy working with clients, talk about your specific achievements and how you helped your clients.
Have you served them well enough for them to be repeat customers? Have they referred other clients to you? If you are very strong analytically, give an example of the most analytical project on which you’ve worked and the project’s outcome.
- What are your weakest skills, and how are you addressing them? What areas would your supervisors say you need to develop?
Everyone has strengths and everyone has weaknesses. You should do a substantive assessment of your weaknesses prior to an interview. A weakness should never be a critical component of the job for which you are applying. If there is a trick to answering this question effectively, it’s to highlight what you are doing to strengthen each weakness. For example, if public speaking is something you consider a weakness, you can say that to improve this, you raise your hand as much as possible in class, and you volunteer to present whenever possible. The more prepared you are with the content of your presentation, the better you perform.
- What do you do for fun? What do you do in your free time? What do you like to read?
These questions present an opportunity to enthusiastically and specifically discuss what you enjoy doing in your spare time. If you enjoy tennis, talk about how long you have been playing and your favorite player. If you enjoy reading, mention the last great book you read.
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