1. “So – Tell me about yourself.”

This question is vague, but you can spin it in your favor. The key is not to say too much - many young job-seekers turn the answer to this question into a recitation of their life story. Ixnay on that: instead, briefly recap where you went to college and what you majored in, and what your skills and goals are. If you’re feeling unsure, just ask “I’d be happy to. Is there anything in particular you’d like me to cover?”

A solid sample: “As you know, I majored in Communications at the University of Pennyslvania, and I was a member of the soccer team there for all four of my years. While I was in school, I also worked with the Penn’s Hillel Organization to plan special events for Jewish Students. Last summer, I worked as an intern at Dewey, Cheetham, and Howe Attorneys At Law – I enjoyed it, but I decided that the legal profession wasn’t for me. What really attracted me was the research aspect, so during the winter I worked for the Philadelphia Center for Responsible Government as a legislative researcher and I loved it. Now I’m getting ready to graduate and seeing where my degree is going to take me.”

2. “Why do you want to work here?”

For this question, you have to do your homework. Check that company’s description on JobDirect.com and their own website. You can also look at wetfeet.com to get more information about some potential employers. Familiarize yourself with the company, what they do, and where you’d fit, then explain concisely what about the company attracts you. Note - It’s okay to mention that you like their dress code or stock options, but steer clear of saying that you want the big salary or the four weeks vacation. Focus primarily on the product or service that the company offers.

“Since I’ve decided that research is what I really want to do for a living, I’ve been looking into different organizations that use researchers for various reasons. I was surprised to find that there were so many! But I knew that two things were really important to me – an organization whose goals and ideals match mine, and one with an extremely good reputation for accuracy. Both of those things are very true of the National Center for Children and Families, which makes me very excited about the possibility if working here. Plus, Washington D.C is such an exciting city – I went to Penn from a small town, and after having lived in Philly for four years, I’m never going back to suburbia again.”

3. “What are your skills?”

Here’s your chance to shine. In advance, choose two or three skills that you thinking are really your strengths and think back – to a time that you’ve had a challenge in a previous job, at school, or in athletics, which you have resolved using one of those skills. Briefly, tell your interviewer what you believe your skills are and then tell the story of that challenge to illustrate it. Practice to make sure your answer is clear and concise.

“The two things about myself that I’m always able to fall back on are my organizational skills and my attention to detail. In the business of research, I’m learning, a lot depends upon the ability to automatically double check-everything, back it up, and catalog it correctly – that’s bee helpful to my team more than once. For instance, during the spring I produced a long spreadsheet of members of the Pennsylvania State Legislature with their voting records cross-checked against the organizations they’d received money from. I gave the report to the staffer who’d requested it, but I discovered that my method had produced a template for that type of list-making, because - obsessive as I am – each legislator and each PAC had been assigned a number, so it made the whole process almost automatic after that.”

4. “Give an example of a mistake you’ve made at work or school, and how you corrected it.”

First of all, don’t say that you can’t think of one or that you don’t make mistakes – we all do, and HR people know it. What they’re hoping to see is how you deal with them. Give a concrete example of something you did (not too terrible, but a mistake nonetheless) and then explain how you were able to fix it, or – if you weren’t – what you did to make sure it wouldn’t happen again.

“Towards the end of my internship at Dewey, Cheetham and Howe, I was given the responsibility of creating a presentation for one of the senior associates. He asked me to make it with Microsoft PowerPoint, and I said that I would, but I didn’t really know much about PowerPoint. I created the presentation , but it meant working all night long for two nights in a row to teach myself how to use the software, and then to actually do the assignment I’d been given. The day I handed the presentation to him, I was exhausted and cranky – I should have gone right home, but instead I stayed and ended up snapping at a senior partner by the end of the day. Luckily, she wasn’t upset with me once she’d heard the story, but she helped me to understand that I should never have taken on that assignment. I was too embarrassed to admit what I didn’t know, and that’s what caused all the problems. Now, I definitely know better.”

5. “Is there anything else you’d like to tell me?”

This can be your opportunity to close the sale. Maybe there’s a question for which you’ve prepared a killer answer that hasn’t been asked yet. Or maybe you’d just like to make a short closing argument on your own behalf. In any case, this one is optional – it’s perfectly appropriate to say that no, there’s nothing else, but you have some questions you’d like to ask. (You do have some questions planned, don’t you? Check out next month’s Interview Science article for some help with that.)