If You Were a Tree ...

Even in this tight employment market, job applicants can blow it in the interview. To help college graduates prepare for career-launching interviews, Jobtrak.com, an employment exchange, recently compiled a list of the top 15 questions from the country’s leading employers:

1. Tell me about yourself.

2. What do you know about our company?

3. Why do you want to work for us?

4. What unique qualities or abilities would you bring to this job?

5. What are your major strengths and weaknesses?

6. How long do you plan to stay at our company? Where do you see yourself in five years?

7. Tell me about a time that you failed at something, and what you did afterward.

8. Describe a time when you worked on a team project. What was your relative position on the team? Were you satisfied with your contribution? How could it have been better?

9. Why did you choose your school and course of study?

10. Think back to a situation in which there was a conflict you had to resolve. Tell me how you resolved that conflict.

11. Tell me about a project that you had either at work or at school. Describe in detail how you managed it and what the outcome was.

12. What do you do in your spare time?

13. What salary are you expecting?

14. What other types of jobs or companies are you considering?

15. Have you any questions for us?