Short answer: Most Canadian interviews mix questions about your background with behavioural questions that begin “Tell me about a time when”. Answer those with a short story: the situation, what you did, and how it turned out.
Which questions come up most often?
- Tell me about yourself.
- Why do you want this job?
- Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult customer or co-worker.
- Describe a mistake you made and what you did about it.
- How do you handle several tasks with the same deadline?
- What are your salary expectations?
- Do you have any questions for us?
How do you answer behavioural questions?
Use the STAR method:
- Situation: set the scene in one sentence.
- Task: say what you were responsible for.
- Action: explain what you did, step by step.
- Result: finish with the outcome and what you learned.
Prepare five or six stories ahead of time. Most can be adapted to several questions.
How should you answer “Tell me about yourself”?
Give a one-minute summary: your current or most recent role, one or two strengths with a quick example, and why this job is the next step. It is not a request for your life story.
What about the salary question?
Research the range first. Some provinces require employers to include pay in the posting, which gives you a starting point. Offer a range rather than a single number, and base it on the role, not on what you earned before.
What are employers not allowed to ask?
Human rights laws across Canada bar hiring decisions based on grounds such as age, religion, marital or family status, disability and place of origin, so questions on those topics are off limits. An employer can ask whether you are legally entitled to work in Canada. If you are asked something inappropriate, you can politely steer back to your ability to do the job.
What should you do afterward?
Send a short thank-you email within a day. Our guide on following up has wording you can use.
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