The more recent your graduation, the more intense the interest will be in your education. Because your work experience may be limited, expect to be quizzed for clues to your interests and motivation. For example, how you chose your college and your major (or why you switched), what your extra-curricular activities were, any internships you had, and any future career plans (or why you didn’t graduate or attend college). Of course, the more your college days recede into the distant past, the less interest there will be in your education. The interviewer can then focus his or her eagle eyes on your work experience.

Job Savvy

Each bolded interview question is followed by a description of what the interviewer is trying to ascertain by asking the question. Then you will be given examples of good answers and bad answers to the question.

Why did you choose your major and minor?

The interviewer wants a sense of your thinking process and interests, and this seems like a good place to start.

Good answer: Give a reasonable reason why. Perhaps these courses were relevant to your chosen career and provided a solid foundation for it. In many jobs, such as computer programming or engineering, it’s expected that you majored in computer science or engineering. In other jobs, a wide variety of majors is found in employees. Or perhaps you are passionately interested in the subject, even if it’s not “practical.” Even if you majored in the Greek and Roman classics, philosophy, or Far East studies, and are interviewing for a job where this is not remotely relevant, be prepared to defend your choice without being defensive. But regardless, be ready to discuss the skills you learned, whether it’s researching, writing, communication, or analytical skills.

Bad answer: An answer that shows lack of thought, laziness, or lack of direction. “Because I had to choose something,” “It was cool” or “an easy A,” or because your parents insisted, your friends were majoring in it, or the workload was lighter than other majors.

What extracurricular activities did you take part in?

The interviewer wants more of a sense of your interests and how you occupy your leisure time. They hope that you are a well-rounded person who devotes energy and time to something besides your studies.

Good answer: Show that you were interested and involved in things outside school hours—the more these are job-related or show traits the job requires, the better. Perhaps you worked on your college newspaper or yearbook as a prelude to your career in public relations or magazine, newspaper, or book publishing. Or perhaps you were on your college debate team, arguing topics from ethical to economic issues, or captain of the French club—good preparation for your legal career or a job that requires travel to French-speaking countries. Or your college basketball games taught you the importance of teamwork and listening to your coach. If you were busy working to pay for college or family bills, with little or no time for clubs or sports, don’t be afraid to admit this, noting how you got a jump start on the work world and responsibility over your peers.

Bad answer: Anything that smacks of being a couch potato who simply watched TV or goofed off with your frat buddies after (or instead of) your classes.

Job Savvy

The most important traits and skills employers look for, are (in order): (1) communication skills, (2) honesty/integrity, (3) interpersonal skills, (4) motivation/ initiative, (5) strong work ethic, and (6) teamwork skills. A survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) found that the trait or skill new college graduates are most likely to lack is, ironically, communication skills.

Did you have an internship or a cooperative work-study program? If so, what did you learn?

An internship (paid or unpaid) or cooperative work-study program is an excellent way to demonstrate work experience while still in college, differentiate yourself from your peers, and show seriousness of intent.

Good answer: Show how your internship or work-study program taught you a great deal about the field and valuable skills like working with others or research skills, which tie into the job you are seeking. Even if yours was of the coffee-fetching, photocopying, ho-hum variety, highlight the good points, like the chance to actually see and hear how the work was done and network with colleagues.

Bad answer: Bad-mouthing your internship or work-study program, having one in an utterly unrelated field (which makes the interviewer wonder about your real interest in this job), or acting like a smug know-it-all because of your experience.

Job Savvy

An internship or cooperative work-study program isn’t just a great way to land work experience that looks good on your resumé—it may lead to a job. Employers hired 38 percent of their interns and almost 51 percent of their work-study students, a survey of 360 employers by NACE found.

Why are you looking for a job in a field other than in your major?

The interviewer wants to know your thinking behind your change of direction. Changes of direction are common among young job-seekers—and many older ones as well—but he or she wants to be convinced this job in this field is right for you, now.

Good answer: Make a case on how you looked more carefully at your career goals and the job you are interviewing for is more suitable for various reasons. Perhaps it’s a fast-growing field with more opportunity, or you found you enjoyed a part-time job or volunteer work in this field so much you wanted to switch—and jobs for medieval French literature majors were limited. Focus squarely on this job, and relate the skills you developed in your major and any work experience to it as much as possible.

Bad answer: A vague response that reveals you haven’t given much thought to your change of direction, and perhaps are taking a scattershot approach to your career planning.

Name an accomplishment during your college years that you are proud of ....

The interviewer is looking for evidence that you devoted time and energy to setting a positive goal and achieving it, and demonstrated traits or skills which hopefully you will carry over to your career.

Good answer: Anything from an extracurricular activity (at college or outside of college) to a job or volunteer work that shows traits or skills in demand in the work world, such as leadership, initiative, or communication skills. Perhaps you captained the debate team and led it to victory, started a campus business making T-shirts, sponsored a child overseas with your parents, or were a candy striper at the local hospital. An answer I used with success was traveling alone to Europe for a month when I was 20 with savings from my jobs, my first time away from home. This showed planning, budgeting, initiative, and communication skills in finding rooms, transportation, meals, and tourist attractions, and dealing with different currencies (in those preeuro days).

Bad answer: Stunned silence, a fumbled response, or anything that tempts the interviewer to think your college years were one long spring break (or that the movie Animal House was modeled after your college experience).

Job Savvy

Be sure to dress appropriately and act professionally during the interview, even if the company has lots of young, casually dressed employees. Young job-seekers often are casually dressed in T-shirts, flip-flops, and shorts; answer their cell phones; and pepper interviews with words like “cool,” “awesome,” “you know,” and “like,” hiring managers complain.

If you had it to do over, what college courses would you take?

The interviewer hopes your answer will show your understanding of what the job will require, and include a relevant course or two.

Good answer: Naming courses relevant to the job at hand, in terms of knowledge or skills. For example, marketing, statistics, journalism, or public speaking courses are good answers, if you can make a case the job requires this subject matter or skills.

Bad answer: Anything that shows a complete change of direction from the major you chose, or courses irrelevant to the job at hand, like Chinese art history or philosophy.

In which courses did you get the worst grades? Why?

The interviewer is more interested in your explanation and how you relay bad news than with the subjects themselves—unless they are relevant to the job at hand, like math or accounting classes for a finance-related job, or English or journalism for a job that requires lots of writing. Don’t be surprised if he or she asks to see your college transcript to back up your claim.

Good answer: Frankly and briefly admitting the courses you got the worst grades in, but noting they weren’t in your major. If you didn’t do well in a course in your major, briefly explain why, noting the good grades in your other major courses.

Bad answer: Too many bad grades, which leave the distinct impression you’re lazy or not that smart, or no good explanation for any bad grades.

Job Jinx

Grade point average was near the bottom of the list of important things employers seek, outranked by communication skills and honesty, among others, the NACE survey found. But nearly two thirds of employers said they screened job-seekers for it anyway—while the biggest group said they only considered job-seekers whose GPA was 3.0 or higher.

Why didn’t you get better grades?

The interviewer wants to see that you take responsibility for your failings, and admit them calmly.

Good answer: Hopefully, you can cite a good reason, like a family emergency—perhaps your mother died, your father became very ill, or you had to work full-time to help out your family—or an extracurricular activity important to you took up lots of time, like being on a debate team, which required quite a bit of travel to compete with other schools.

Bad answer: Being defensive, which makes the interviewer think you don’t believe anything is your fault and that you had no choice.

Why did you choose your college?

He or she wants to see anything that shows seriousness of purpose and solid decision-making ability.

Good answer: Perhaps your school offered a particularly strong program in your field of interest, or features outstanding professors with time for their students.

Bad answer: Anything that confirms the interviewer’s worst fears that you chose your school for the chance to party nonstop without your parents around, because it was the only school that accepted you, or you were forced into it because your father or mother went there.

Job Savvy

One third of U.S. workers don’t meet their jobs’ minimum writing requirements, found a survey by the College Board’s National Commission on Writing of 64 companies in 6 industries (real estate/ insurance, finance/services, manufacturing, construction, transportation/utilities, and mining). Accuracy, clarity, spelling, punctuation, grammar, and conciseness were the top writing problems. Yet writing is more important than ever: Two thirds of salaried workers in big U.S. companies are in jobs that demand some form of writing.

How do you keep learning? (Or: How do you stay informed?)

The interviewer wants to know if you are a professional with an inquiring, curious mind who strives to keep up with information and update your skills. Continuing education has never been more important than today, since technology and globalization have changed every industry.

Good answer: You regularly read a local newspaper and at least one business publication, such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and/ or trade publications in your field to keep on top of what’s happening in the world and your industry. Perhaps you also belong to a professional association, attend its conferences, meetings, or workshops and read its newsletter, take a class to learn a new skill or even a graduate degree like an MBA at night, or teach a class or speak at conferences in your field.

Bad answer: Anything that implies you stopped learning when you finished school, perhaps have not cracked a book open since then, have closed your mind to new things, and get all your information from TV.

Why didn’t you finish college? (Or: Why didn’t you go to college?)

The interviewer hopes you had a solid reason, as opposed to lack of interest in learning or discipline.

Good answer: If there was any extenuating circumstance, like needing to drop out due to lack of money, needing to support your family, or health problems, by all means say so. If you are currently completing your college degree, or plan to, admit it, since this shows you realize its importance. Many people who didn’t finish college, stopped after a while, or didn’t attend right after high school go later in life when the timing is better, and sometimes go on to earn graduate degrees, including law and medicine.

Bad answer: An answer that shows insufficient interest in learning, displays the inability to focus or discipline yourself for very long, or leads the interviewer to wonder if you knew why then or even now.

Why did you leave college and return later?

The interviewer hopes to hear any good explanation for your stop-out.

Good answer: You chose to work full-time for a while to gain solid work experience and perhaps money to complete your degree. Or perhaps you traveled, which you found an invaluable learning experience, devoted time to caring for your family, or simply needed to explore your interests and focus your goals more clearly.

Bad answer: You can’t articulate a reason for either why you left or why you returned, or say you simply wanted to party a lot.

You’ve learned your college days can reveal a lot about you, so treat them as you would your work experience. Be ready to give examples of how you demonstrated communication skills, leadership, a strong work ethic, and other things that employers value highly. Don’t be surprised if your employer wants to know how you keep learning, even now.