Top Communication Interview Questions and Answers

We can never overemphasize the importance of communication skills. In any environment you find yourself in, the ability to properly communicate what is in your mind almost always comes second to none.

Simply imagine you have been working your ass off trying to land that dream job. After several gruesome hours of hard work and silent prayers, you get a call saying that you have an interview scheduled!

Now you’re feeling thrilled, excited and at the same time nervous. It makes no sense to be nervous, and yet there you are breaking in a cold sweat. It’s the day of the interview; the hour is finally upon you.

Upon entering the interview room, you meet this innocent and harmless-looking person that is supposed to interview you; still, you cannot find the strength to calm your racing heart.

Do you wonder why that is? Perhaps the answer to that question is lost on you.

You are nervous because you do not know the type of question that will be thrown your way. If you do not know what you will be asked, you certainly cannot prepare any answer consequently.

This article serves as a form of cheat sheet to the top communication interview questions. Knowing what to expect undoubtedly gives you a confidence boost, especially when you prepare your answers beforehand.

What Your Interviewer Looks Out For

In the process of being interviewed by the hiring manager, there are a couple of things that he/she looks out for.

Things like your communication skills; how effectively you are capable of communicating, how you can deal with difficult work-related situations, whether or not you are a team player. All these things mentioned are more or less linked with your ability to listen, observe, and communicate.

I call this article a cheat sheet because I have narrowed down a wide range of possible communication interview questions to what are the top communication interview questions.

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Here are the top communication interview questions.

Top Communication Interview Questions

Do you work well with other people?
Tell me about yourself.
How would your co-workers describe your personality?
What major challenges and problems have you faced? How did you handle them?
Describe a difficult work situation/project and how you overcame it.
What have you learned from your mistakes?
What was it like working for your supervisor?
How do you handle stress and pressure?
What can you offer us?

I’ll briefly go over all these questions and highlight their purpose, and the best possible way of answering them.

Do You Work Well With Others?

In every workspace, you find yourself, your colleagues, and superiors always loving a team player. Being a team player doesn’t only entail being selfless by putting the goal before first before your own whims and desires, it also entails being able to effectively communicate.

You have to be able to relay instructions perfectly to carry everyone along to achieve the best possible result.

Communication is a two-way street in that, you have to be good at conveying your messages as well as be good at listening to the people around you.

If you do not listen attentively, odds are will not be a good team player as you are liable to miss out on key points that will hold heavily on the outcome of the workplace goals, be it long-term or otherwise.

Keep this in mind when preparing a good answer.

Tell Me About Yourself

Funny enough, one of the hardest things to do is to accurately tell others about ourselves. The moment you are asked to do so, a million and one things fly through your mind, then the brain goes blank, and you are stuck stuttering.

The trick behind answering one of the communication interview questions is to do it expertly and looking confident while doing it is making a quick mental list.

In this list, mark out the things that you love doing the most, your passions, your ideals, and your personal code of conduct.

When you talk about these things like it is a typical conversation you would have with your friend, you will come off as someone who is comfortable in their skin, and quite self-aware. Confidence is attractive. Before heading out for that interview, be sure to do a quick soul-search.

How would your co-workers describe your personality?

Some experts believe that is in fact a trick question. Its main purpose is to see how you perceive yourself from the viewpoint of others.

Trick question or not, just stick to this cheat sheet, and you are guaranteed to blow through it. The thing to do here is to simply describe your personality as YOU see it.

Here’s the thing; when you are always yourself, odds are everyone will come to see you for who you really are without many varying opinions. You are you, and that’s just it.

Do not fall for the trick by trying to make yourself look like the best human being that has ever walked the earth. While it is good to give a positive lasting impression, you should always avoid overdoing it.

What major challenges and problems have you faced? How did you handle them?

One way of knowing if one is a good communicator is by being able to talk about your challenges with relative ease. A lot of people out there are not really good at talking about unpleasant memories for several reasons.

When you tell someone about the major challenges you have faced, you share with them an intimate part of your being, and doing that fosters some form of trust.

You need to be able to trust your colleagues and them, you. Take a deep breath, and take a trip down memory lane. Talk about the challenge and how you handled it as though you are talking to an old friend.

Describe a Difficult Work Situation and how You Overcame it.

This question is quite similar to the one I just finished talking about. The difference isn’t so big, and so the approach remains the same. The purpose of this question is to ascertain how diligent, resilient, and to confirm if truly you are a team player.

Let’s assume you do get this dream job, and everything seems like a ‘dream’, eventually, you will have to experience some tough work-related situation.

When that moment comes, and it is a definite ‘when’, it will confirm what you told the hiring manager during the course of your interview.

Different work-related problems indeed require a different set of skills to navigate through, but ultimately, diligence, resilience, and good teamwork will be at the core of your success.

What have you learned from your Mistakes?

The only way we can grow as people is by making mistakes and learning from them. The essence of the question is simply to discern if you are someone that is able to use their failures as a stepping stone to reach greater heights.

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What was it like working for your supervisor?

The next question in our compiled list of top communication interview questions is your experience in your last workplace when dealing with your supervisor.

This is quite straightforward. Based on your experience, your hiring manager can have an idea regarding what kind of subordinate you are.

How Do You Handle Stress And Pressure?

Your ability to manage stress and pressure well is an indispensable skill. There are times in the course of working when the pressure of deadlines and other factors will begin to pile up.

Are you the time to communicate and handle such pressure professionally or are you the type to lash out at co-workers and display some undesirable traits? Be sure your supervisor will keep a close eye on this.

What can you offer us?

This is another trick question. Your hiring manager already has your resume; he/she has studied it and is well aware of your skills, capabilities, and achievements. So, why ask this question when they are aware?

This question goes a long way in measuring your confidence and sense of self-worth. Sure, you may have some really good scoring points on your resume, but being able to sell your achievements and skills verbally is a whole different ball game.

The mistake people often do here is to overdo it. Overdoing often borders on lies. Lies are a fat NO in any interview.

Here is the trick; the things that you have achieved in the past were achieved by you, and not someone else. Even if you had a little help on the way, it doesn’t really matter; everyone needs help from time to time.

Use those achievements, the skills you learned along the way, the lessons you learned from your failures, use them to confidently tell your hiring manager the good things you can, and will offer the firm.

Some of the skills employers are looking for include; communication skills, teamwork, critical thinking, problem-solving, leadership, flexibility, and professionalism. Make sure you have these, as well as scenarios to back them up.

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Conclusion

This brings us to the end of our list of top communication interview questions. When you read this carefully, take your time before the big interview day and map everything.

Write your answers down and practice them in front of a mirror if need be; this is a highly advised practice.

Use this cheat sheet diligently, and with enough practice, you won’t break into cold sweat nor get a racing heart.

You will into that office with confidence, the type of confidence that you will leave an excellent first impression on the hiring manager.

FAQs

The 5 essential communication skills are:
Oral skills
Written skills
Non-verbal and visual communication
Active listening
Contextual communication

Conclusion-How do you prepare for a communications interview?

First, be well prepared. Make sure you do your research about the company. Also, you might want to look and appear confident as well as communicate your answers effectively and brilliantly. After all, it is a communications interview.

Also, Don’t speak poorly about your present or former employers, and definitely don’t tell lies or false stories! Lies are a no-no. Lastly, make sure you make a good impression through your walk, actions, the way you talk, manner, etc.