Behavioral & HR interview questions and answers

Question 1

Tell me about yourself.

Accepted Answer

Keep it to about 60 to 90 seconds. Study, projects, what you want next. Sample answer: "I'm a final-year computer science student at [university]. Most of my hands-on experience comes from projects: for my second-year group project I built the frontend and part of the API for a [type] system using React and Spring Boot, and last summer I did a three-month internship on the [team] team where I worked on internal tooling and shipped a feature the support team still uses. I enjoy backend and API work the most, and I'm looking for a graduate role where I can go deeper into that with people I can learn from, which is why this position stood out." Do not recite your whole CV. Pick the two or three things most relevant to this job: a project, your internship, and what you want to do next. Analogy: they want a short, structured story that connects your studies and projects to this role. In an interview: Structure it as: what you study, the projects and internship that show what you can do, and what kind of work you want next, ending with why this role fits.

Question 2

How did you get into software / computer science?

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "In school I liked maths and problem solving, and I took an intro programming course in my first year of university mostly out of curiosity. The moment it clicked was a group project where we built a small web app that people actually used during a campus event. Seeing something I built get used made me switch my focus to software. Since then I've done a hardware project, a bigger software project, and an internship, and each one confirmed I want to do this." Tell it as a short story with a turning point, not a list of courses. Analogy: they want to see genuine interest and that this is a deliberate choice, not just the degree you happened to do. In an interview: Name what drew you in, the project or moment it clicked, and how your choices since then have built on it.

Question 3

Why do you want to work here?

Accepted Answer

Name something specific about the company, then connect it to you. Research them first. Sample answer: "Two reasons. First, the product: I looked at [product] and the problem you're solving in [area] is one I find genuinely interesting, and I'd like to work on something real that people use. Second, from your engineering blog and your internship page, it's clear you invest in mentoring junior people, which matters a lot to me for my first full-time role. I want to join somewhere I'll be stretched but also supported while I ramp up." Avoid generic praise like 'you're a great company'. Mention the product, the tech, the mentoring, or something a team member said publicly. Analogy: they want proof you researched them, and for a junior candidate they especially want to hear that you value learning and mentorship. In an interview: Cite one or two specific things about the company and tie them to what you want from your first role: real work plus support to grow.

Question 4

Why do you want this role?

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "It matches where I want to grow. Through my projects and internship I've done a mix of frontend and backend, and I've realised I want to go deeper on the backend and system side. This graduate role has real backend work and a structured onboarding, so I'd have a clear path to build those skills properly instead of picking them up in a rush." Match the role's actual responsibilities to your interests and to what you have already tried. Analogy: they want the role to be a deliberate choice, so you will be motivated and stay. In an interview: Point to specific things in the job description, show you have already dabbled in that direction, and say why this is the right place to do it properly.

Question 5

Why didn't you stay at your internship company, or why are you also applying elsewhere?

Accepted Answer

Stay positive. Frame it as choosing the best fit, not rejecting anyone. Sample answer: "I had a good experience during my internship and I learned a lot, and I did consider staying. I'm applying broadly for my first full-time role because I want to make a considered choice about where I start my career, and I'm looking for [more backend work / a specific team / a certain kind of product] that fit here really well." If you did not get a return offer: "They weren't hiring graduates on that team this cycle, so a return offer wasn't on the table. My manager is happy to be a reference." Never badmouth the internship company, team, or people. Analogy: they are checking that you left on good terms and are choosing deliberately, not just applying everywhere at random. In an interview: Speak well of the internship, say you want to make a deliberate choice for your first full-time role, and give one honest reason this place fits.

Question 6

What do you know about our company?

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "You're a [size] company founded in [year], and your main product is [product], used mostly by [customer type]. You've been growing the [area] team, and from your blog you ship regularly and care about [something specific]. Your main competitors are [A] and [B], and your angle seems to be [differentiator]. I also had a look at your open-source repos and your careers page to understand how the internship and graduate programme work." Before the interview, read: the homepage, the about and careers pages, recent blog posts and news, and try the product if you can. Analogy: this is a research check. A weak answer signals low interest, which matters more when you have less experience to fall back on. In an interview: Cover what they do, who for, how they are doing, and one specific thing you noticed about how they work or how their graduate programme runs.

Question 7

What are your greatest strengths?

Accepted Answer

Pick two or three that matter for this job, and back each with a quick example from a project or your internship. Sample answer: "Three things. I'm good at breaking a vague requirement into a plan: in my group project I turned the client's one-paragraph brief into a set of user stories and a database design the team could work from. I'm reliable: across four years of coursework and my internship I've never missed a deadline. And I pick things up quickly: during my internship I had to learn a message queue from scratch and had a working prototype in a day." Do not just list adjectives. Attach a one-sentence proof to each. Analogy: they want strengths relevant to the role with evidence, and for a junior candidate 'learns fast' and 'reliable' carry a lot of weight. In an interview: Name a few strengths that map to the job and give a one-line concrete example for each, from a project or internship.

Question 8

What is your greatest weakness?

Accepted Answer

Give a real weakness, then what you are doing about it. Do not use a fake one like 'I work too hard'. Sample answer: "I used to try to get code perfect before showing anyone, which slowed my group down because they couldn't see my part until late. During my internship I started opening a draft pull request early and asking for feedback when I was maybe 60 percent done. It felt uncomfortable at first but my reviews got faster and my code got better, so I've kept doing it." Other honest options for a student: nervous about presenting to a room, tend to go deep on one part and lose track of time, find it hard to ask for help. Always pair it with the fix. Analogy: they want self-awareness and a growth mindset. A scripted non-answer is worse than an honest small flaw. In an interview: State one genuine weakness, the impact it had on a project, and the specific change you made after noticing it.

Question 9

How would your classmates or teammates describe you?

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "My project teammates would probably say I'm the one who keeps track of what's left to do and nudges people before a deadline, and that I'm calm when something breaks the night before a demo. They might also say I can be a bit stubborn about finishing a feature properly rather than leaving it half done. My friends would say I'm the planner of the group." Pick three or four adjectives and be ready with an example. Mixing a small honest flaw with the positives makes it believable. Analogy: they are cross-checking your self-image and looking for signs of how you work in a team. In an interview: Give a few specific adjectives a real teammate would use, with a brief example ready, and include one honest minor flaw.

Question 10

What do you want to learn or improve in this role?

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "I want to get properly good at backend architecture and system design. My projects have given me a taste of designing APIs and databases, but always small and always under time pressure. I want to learn how experienced engineers design a service that has to scale and stay reliable, and this role plus your onboarding programme looks like the right place to do that." Pick something the role actually offers, so the answer also says 'this job is right for me'. Analogy: they want ambition and confidence that the role will keep you engaged past the first year. In an interview: Name a concrete skill the role develops, show you have already started on it in a small way, and connect it back to why this job fits.

Question 11

How do you structure a behavioral answer? (The STAR method.)

Accepted Answer

STAR keeps a story tight and clear: Situation: one or two sentences of context. Which project, when, what was going on. Task: what you specifically had to do, and why it mattered. Action: the steps YOU took (say 'I', not just 'we'). This is most of the answer. Result: how it turned out, with a concrete outcome, plus what you learned. Aim for 60 to 90 seconds. Prepare three or four flexible stories from your projects, hackathons, internship, or a part-time job (a conflict, a mistake, a leadership moment, a hard technical problem) and reshape them to fit the question. Analogy: they want a specific real example with a clear outcome, not a general statement of how you 'usually' work. In an interview: Give situation and task briefly, spend most of the time on your specific actions, and finish with the result and a lesson.

Question 12

Tell me about a conflict or disagreement in a team project and how you handled it.

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "In my second-year group project, a teammate and I disagreed on the database design: he wanted to store everything in one big table, I wanted it normalised. It was blocking both of us. I suggested we spend 20 minutes listing the actual queries the app needed. Once we saw the queries, it was clear a few related tables were cleaner, and he agreed. We didn't lose more time on it and the project went fine. Since then I try to settle design arguments by looking at concrete requirements instead of opinions." Show that you stayed calm, tried to understand the other view, and reached a resolution. Do not make the other person the villain. Analogy: they are testing whether you handle disagreement maturely and can work with people you do not agree with, which matters a lot in a team. In an interview: Describe the disagreement neutrally, the step you took to resolve it with evidence rather than opinion, the outcome, and what you took from it.

Question 13

Tell me about a time you failed or made a mistake.

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "During my internship I made a change I thought was trivial and pushed it without asking for a proper review. It broke a small feature on the staging site for about half an hour. I told my mentor straight away, we reverted it, and I fixed it properly with a review the next day. My mentor wasn't angry, but I learned that the changes that look 'obviously fine' are exactly the ones worth a second pair of eyes, and I've asked for review on everything since." Pick a real, moderate mistake. Own it fully, show how you fixed it, and what you changed so it does not happen again. Analogy: they want accountability and learning. A story where the failure was secretly someone else's fault is a red flag. In an interview: Name a real mistake, take responsibility without excuses, explain how you fixed it, and end with the habit you changed.

Question 14

Tell me about a time you showed leadership.

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "In our final group project, we were two weeks from the deadline and the work wasn't coming together, partly because nobody was tracking the whole picture. I wasn't the official lead, but I made a shared checklist of everything left, split it clearly, and started a quick 10-minute call each morning so we could flag blockers. I also took on the integration work myself because nobody else wanted it. We submitted on time and got a good grade, and the team asked me to run coordination for our next module too." Leadership does not need a title. Organising, unblocking others, and taking on the unglamorous work all count. Analogy: they want to see initiative and the ability to move a group forward without being told to. In an interview: Describe a moment you took responsibility for the group's outcome, the specific things you did to organise it, and the result.

Question 15

Tell me about a time a teammate was not doing their part.

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "On a group assignment one teammate kept missing his parts and going quiet. Instead of complaining to the others or straight to the tutor, I messaged him to check in, and it turned out he was overwhelmed with another course and didn't want to admit it. We re-split the work so his piece was smaller and clearer, and I paired with him for the first hour to get him started. He delivered the rest. If that hadn't worked, my next step would have been to raise it with the whole group and then the tutor." Show empathy first, a private conversation, then a clear escalation path. Analogy: they want to see you address problems directly and kindly, and know when to escalate. In an interview: Start with a private, non-accusatory check-in to find the cause, adjust the plan, pair to help, and have a clear escalation step ready.

Question 16

Tell me about a time you had to learn something new quickly.

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "For a hackathon we decided to use a technology none of us knew, [React Native], and we had 24 hours. I gave myself the first two hours to learn it: I followed the official quick-start, built one tiny working screen, and then we split the real features. It wasn't perfect but it worked in the demo, and I wrote up my notes afterwards so my teammates could catch up. That approach, small working example first, then the real thing, is how I learn new tools now." Show a method: a time box, a small hands-on example, the official docs, then the real work. Analogy: they want to know you can pick up unfamiliar tools fast and mostly on your own, which is most of a junior engineer's early months. In an interview: Describe your method: a time box, a tiny hands-on prototype, the official docs, and then applying it to the real task.

Question 17

Where do you see yourself in five years?

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "In five years I'd like to be a solid mid-level engineer who owns a real part of a system and can mentor the interns and new grads coming in, the way people did for me. I'm not fixed on a title, more on the kind of work: designing and being responsible for something that matters. A graduate role with a clear path and good mentoring is exactly the right first step toward that." Show direction and ambition. Do not name a job the company cannot offer, and avoid 'I want to start my own company' unless that is genuinely fine here. Analogy: they want to see you have goals and that growing at this company fits them, so you will stay past the graduate programme. In an interview: Describe the kind of responsibility and impact you want, stay flexible on titles, and connect it to a realistic path starting from this role.

Question 18

What are your salary expectations?

Accepted Answer

For a graduate or intern role, you usually do not need to name a number. Sample answer: "I'd expect something in line with the market for a graduate engineer in [city], and I'm comfortable with your standard offer for this level. The main things I'm weighing are the learning, the team, and the mentoring." If they push for a number: "From what I've seen on [levels.fyi / Glassdoor / local reports], graduate roles here are around [X to Y], so somewhere in that range works for me." Do research first so you are not surprised, but for a first role it is fine to defer to their band. Analogy: for a junior role they want a realistic answer that shows you did light research and are not going to be difficult about a standard graduate offer. In an interview: Say you expect the market rate for a graduate in the area and are fine with their standard offer, with a researched range ready if pushed.

Question 19

When can you start? Are you willing to relocate or work extra hours?

Accepted Answer

Start date: "I finish my final exams in [month], so I could start any time after [date]. If you need someone sooner, I have some flexibility." Relocation: be honest. "I'm open to relocating to [city] for this role, and I'd want to talk through timing and whether there's relocation support." Or: "I'd prefer to stay in [city], but I'm happy to be in the office [X days] and to travel occasionally." Extra hours: "I'll put in extra time when there's a real deadline or something is broken. I don't think long hours should be the normal week, and I'd like to understand how often crunch happens here." Answer honestly. Agreeing to something you cannot actually do just creates a problem later. Analogy: they want practical clarity, and honest answers save both sides a bad fit. In an interview: Give a real earliest start date around your exams, be straight about relocation, and say you will step up for genuine deadlines while asking how common they are.

Question 20

Why should we hire you?

Accepted Answer

Sample answer: "You're looking for a graduate who has solid fundamentals, has actually built things, and will learn fast. My coursework covers the CS basics well, my group projects and internship show I can ship real features and work in a team, and I've shown I pick up new tech quickly, like learning a message queue in a day during my internship. I'm genuinely interested in the backend work this role involves, so I'll be motivated to get good at it. I think I'd be useful within a few weeks and a strong engineer within a year." Match your fundamentals, your projects, and your eagerness to learn against what a graduate role actually needs. Analogy: this is your closing pitch. For a junior role it is fundamentals plus evidence of building things plus attitude. In an interview: Restate what a graduate role needs, give two or three matching points with evidence from projects or your internship, and add that you are motivated to grow here.

Question 21

"Do you have any questions for us?" What should you ask?

Accepted Answer

Always have two or three ready. Saying 'no' looks uninterested, and for a junior candidate it is often read as a lack of enthusiasm. Good questions: About the role: "What would I actually work on in the first few months?" "What does a good first year look like for someone in this role?" About the team: "How is the team structured, and who would I work with most?" "How do you handle code review and testing?" About growth: "How do graduates usually grow here?" "Is there mentoring, and how does it work?" About the company: "What's the biggest thing changing for the company this year?" "What do you enjoy most about working here?" Adapt to who you are talking to. Avoid asking only about salary, holidays, and working from home in a first round. Analogy: your questions show what you care about and how seriously you are considering the role. In an interview: Ask what you would work on early, how the team works, and how graduates grow and get mentored, and tailor it to whoever is interviewing you.

Question 22

What are good questions to ask specifically about an internship?

Accepted Answer

"What would an intern actually work on day to day, one project or several smaller tasks?" "Would I be paired with a mentor or a buddy?" "What technologies does the team use, and would I get to work with them directly?" "How is feedback given during the internship, and is there a mid-point review?" "What have past interns gone on to do? Do interns often get return offers?" "What does a normal week look like for someone on the team?" Asking at least one question here matters a lot; interviewers often read it as the main sign of genuine interest. Analogy: for an internship they mainly want to see curiosity and that you will make the most of it. In an interview: Ask about the actual work, mentorship, the tech you would touch, how feedback works, and what past interns went on to do.

Behavioral & HR interview questions

About you

Motivation and fit

Strengths and growth

Behavioral stories (STAR)

Logistics and closing

Questions to ask them