The definitive student job interview question and answer guide.
Whether you
are a high school student, college student or recent graduate we will help you
stand out from the crowd and make the right impression in your job interview.
Typical Student Interview Questions
These interview questions demand preparation and research. Ask
for a job description, research the company, get whatever relevant information
you can on the job and the company.
Go beyond what you find on the company website and
follow their social networks. Create a list of how you match the required
skills, the company ethos and how you can contribute to company objectives.
Why are you the right person for this job?
Students
typically lack work experience so focus on relevant transferable competencies that are
key to job performance such as:
- a strong work ethic
- willingness and ability to
learn and assimilate quickly - problem analysis and solving
- decision-making
- organizing and planning
- communication skills
See the 12 core competencies
required for successful job performance.
What has been your biggest achievement at College/School?
Focus on an achievement that sets you apart from the other candidates and
highlights your potential value to the employer. Answers such as getting your
academic qualification are to be avoided as they do not distinguish you from
other students, unless you had to overcome exceptional challenges.
However the
employer is also not looking for super-hero stuff but rather evidence that
you have the skills they want in an employee in this job.
Look at
successes where you used competencies such as your:
- communication skills
- initiative
- creativity
- persuasiveness
- organizational skills
- resilience and
perseverance
to achieve a demanding objective.
What goals have you set yourself for the next 5 years?
This is hard to answer with absolute specifics, so focus on general career
objectives rather than job titles and narrowly-defined goals.
Good
examples include:
- supervisory responsibility
- increased skills set
- training and
learning objectives
Use the company website or LinkedIn profiles to get an idea
of the sort of career paths employees have
followed. This will help you determine realistic career routes within the
organization.
How would your professors or teachers describe you?
Focus on the characteristics that match the job opportunity. What made you a
good student and team member?
Competencies that are valued in any
employee/employer relationship include hard-work, responsible, conscientious,
dependable, adaptable, honest, enthusiastic, organized, disciplined. You can
refer to your references and recommendations to support your interview
answer.
What are your strengths and weaknesses?
This is all about displaying sufficient insight into yourself to acknowledge
your areas of strength and where you can improve.
Focus on those strengths that
are relevant to the job opportunity. This list of strengths and weaknesses will
really help you with this question.
Why do you want this job?
Use your research to highlight the match between this job and your skills and
interests. Focus on areas that are critical to the job such as:
- the opportunity to apply your knowledge
- to work
through complex problems - to improve systems
- to be part of a dynamic team
- to
meet demanding challenges
Relate specific job responsibilities to your
education and whatever work experience you may have. Focus on how your personal
motivations align with the company’s mission and goals.
Entry Level Job Interview Questions
Behavioral Student Job Interview Questions and Answers
The complete guide to answering behavioral interview questions will help you
prepare good answers. Remember that you can use examples from both your academic
and extracurricular activities.
Tell me about a tough challenge you had to overcome.
Possible challenges a student has to deal with include:
- balancing multiple
demands - meeting deadlines
- managing finances
- working with other students to
achieve group objectives - obtaining the right resources to complete a project
Describe a time when you had to contribute to a team to attain an
objective
Most jobs involve teamwork so be ready for this type of question. What was
your role in the group and what did you specifically do to ensure team goals
were met?
Possible examples include a group project, an extracurricular event or
volunteer work.
Prepare behavioral answers for these frequently asked student job interview questions:
Tell me about a time you had to carefully manage your priorities
to meet a tight deadline.
Have you ever disagreed with your professors/teachers in evaluating
your performance? How did you handle the situation?
Please describe a situation where you had to come up with an
innovative solution to a problem.
Tell me about a time you had to make a difficult decision, how did
you go about this?
Questions to ask in your student interview
Be ready with a number of insightful questions to ask the interviewer. Good questions to ask in your student interview include:
What are the most immediate priorities in this job?
What is the critical function or responsibility in this job?
What would be the ideal competencies for this job?
Find a list of suitable and smart questions to ask the interviewer
How to handle your lack of work experience
Practice with a mock student job interview
As a student you will not be experienced in interviewing and a great way to overcome this challenge is to practice with a mock student interview.
Answer typical mock job interview questions for students and get feedback on how you are coming across. Practice really does make perfect!
This interview checklist will make you feel confident that you have everything covered for your interview.
What to do when you don’t know the answer in your student job interview.
Student job interview tips
Be sure to take the right documents with you including:
As a student you are unlikely to have professional employment references, find out about character reference letters for students.
Always follow up after your student job interview. Student Interview Thank You Letter
As a student you will be fairly new to the interview process. Make sure you are aware of the right job interview etiquette
Do you know these top interview tips for graduates?
Are you applying for an internship?
Entry level job applications
