How to answer the questions you will actually be asked
A structure, real example answers, and the mistakes that sink each one. Then the part no article can do: say your answer out loud and have it scored, free, without making an account.
- Opening60-90 seconds (roughly 150-200 spoken words)
How to Answer "Tell Me About Yourself" in an Interview
Answer in 60 to 90 seconds using present, past, future. Say what you do now, name the two or three experiences that got you here, then explain why this specific role is your next step. Keep it professional rather than personal, and finish by pointing at the job you are interviewing for.
Read it and score your answer - Motivation45-60 seconds (roughly 110-150 spoken words)
How to Answer "Why Do You Want to Work Here?"
Give one specific reason about the company, one about the role itself, and one about what you bring. Name something concrete you could only know by researching them — a product decision, a technical problem, the stage they are at — then explain why your experience fits it. Aim for 45 to 60 seconds.
Read it and score your answer - Compensation20-30 seconds — this is a short answer on purpose
How to Answer "What Are Your Salary Expectations?"
Early on, deflect politely and ask for their budgeted range. If pressed, give a researched range rather than a single number, anchor your target near the bottom of it, and tie it to market data for the role and location. Never give your current salary as the answer.
Read it and score your answer - Self-awareness40-60 seconds (roughly 100-140 spoken words)
How to Answer "What Is Your Greatest Weakness?"
Name one real weakness that is not central to the job, describe the concrete cost it has had, then spend most of your answer on the specific system you built to manage it and the evidence it is working. Around 45 seconds. Avoid disguised strengths like perfectionism.
Read it and score your answer - Behavioral90-120 seconds (roughly 200-250 spoken words)
How to Answer "Tell Me About a Time You Failed"
Use STAR: set up a real failure in one sentence, say what you were responsible for, describe what you did — including the decision that went wrong — and finish with the outcome and the specific change you made afterwards. Own it in the first person, and pick something that genuinely failed.
Read it and score your answer
Or practise all twenty questions for your actual interview
Paste the job posting and your CV. prepare.fyi builds the questions that company is most likely to ask, then you answer them out loud — with a live AI interviewer and a scored breakdown of every answer.