Eight common questions, answered
Shannon has worked on a community pharmacy counter for three years and is applying for a senior post at another pharmacy, with the cover letter that goes with her CV. Shannon and both pharmacies are made up. Swap in your own facts: an answer only works if it is true and you can talk about it.
Moorside has a large care home service, and that’s the part of my job I enjoy most. Your advert says the senior assistant will be supported to train as a pharmacy technician, which is the step I want to take next. I also saw on your website that you’ve started blood pressure checks, and I’d like to help run them.
Employers ask this to see that you are really interested in them, so read their website and “about us” page first (National Careers Service). Name two things you found and connect each to what you want to do.
- Situation: Last winter two of our five counter staff were off sick in the same fortnight, in the busiest weeks for flu vaccinations.
- Task: The pharmacist asked me to keep the counter and the prescription collections running with the three of us left.
- Action: I suggested we split each day so one person always covered prescriptions and one the counter, and I moved the care home orders to the quiet first hour. I put the plan on the staff board and asked everyone at closing what needed to change for the next day.
- Result: No care home delivery was late in those two weeks, and the manager kept the early-morning order slot after everyone was back.
Say “I” for what you did and “we” only for the result. The panel is hiring you, not the team.
I’m careful, and I stay calm when it’s busy. On a Saturday I can serve 150 customers and I still check every prescription with the patient before it goes over the counter. I’m also good with older patients and the care homes: both homes ask for me when they ring about orders.
Plan your answer around two or three examples that are relevant to the job (National Careers Service). Each strength here comes with a fact that proves it.
I used to find it hard to tell a customer I couldn’t answer their question, because I didn’t want to keep them waiting. Now I tell them straight away that I’m fetching the pharmacist and why, and most people are glad I did. It’s one of the reasons I want the technician training: I’d like to be able to answer more myself.
Be honest and say how you are working to improve it (National Careers Service). Choose a real weakness that does not stop you doing the job.
I’ve learned a lot at Bridgecroft, but it’s a small pharmacy with no senior assistant post and no technician training. I’m ready to take on more, and this role would let me do that.
If you are leaving by choice, be positive about why you want a new job and why their company suits you better (National Careers Service). Never criticise your employer.
- What does a typical day involve for the senior assistant?
- How does the technician training work, and when could I start it?
- What would you want me to have done in my first three months?
You will usually be asked this near the end, so write two or three questions down before the interview (National Careers Service). The answers help you decide too.
Practise with questions from your own CV
Interviewers usually base their questions on the jobs you have done (National Careers Service), so your CV is the best guide to what they will ask. Paste it below and each line of your work history becomes a likely question, with a reminder of the follow-up that comes next.
Example: the work lines from Shannon Doyle’s pharmacy assistant CV. Paste your own CV, or just its bullet points, and the questions change as you type.
What you paste stays on this page. It is not uploaded or saved.
Questions to practise
- Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult customer.From your CV: “Serve about 120 customers a day and advise on non-prescription medicines, referring questions to the pharmacist when they need it.”They may ask about the numbers in it, so know where each one comes from and which part was your own work.
- How do you make sure a patient understands what is happening?From your CV: “Hand out prescriptions and check that each patient understands the dose and when to take it.”Have a number ready: how many, how often, how much or how fast.
- Talk me through this part of your job. What did a normal week look like?From your CV: “Take calls from three GP surgeries and two care homes about repeat prescriptions and deliveries.”They may ask about the numbers in it, so know where each one comes from and which part was your own work.
- Which part of this work are you most proud of, and why?From your CV: “Label stock, fill the shelves and put together the weekly wholesaler orders.”Have a number ready: how many, how often, how much or how fast.
- What would your manager say you do best in this part of the job?From your CV: “Enter prescriptions and stock on the pharmacy system, following the pharmacist’s and technicians’ instructions.”Have a number ready: how many, how often, how much or how fast.
- Tell me about a time you were trusted with money, keys or private information.From your CV: “Cash up and lock the till at closing twice a week.”They may ask about the numbers in it, so know where each one comes from and which part was your own work.
- How do you make sure cash or private information is handled properly?From your CV: “Served on the till and kept the health and beauty aisle stocked and tidy.”Have a number ready: how many, how often, how much or how fast.
Paste the bullet points from your work history, one per line, to see the questions they lead to.
How to answer with STAR
The STAR method gives an answer its shape: the situation you had to deal with, the task you were given, the action you took, and the result, including what you learned (National Careers Service: The STAR method, checked 17 October 2026).
- Your example can come from work, home or volunteering (National Careers Service). If you have little work history, use school, college or a club.
- Keep it short and to the point, and say it in a conversational way so it does not sound rehearsed (National Careers Service). Two minutes is plenty.
- Spend most of the answer on the action, and say “I”.
- End with the result, with a number if you have one, and be ready for follow-up questions about it (National Careers Service).
What the questions will be about
Most questions fall into a few groups (National Careers Service: How to answer common interview questions, checked 17 October 2026).
| Questions about | For example | How to prepare |
|---|---|---|
| The employer | What do you know about us? Why do you want to work for us? | Read their website and “about us” pages for their products, services and values. |
| You | What do you do in your spare time? | Pick interests that show a quality the job needs, such as team sports for teamwork. |
| Your work history | When have you faced a challenging situation? Have you ever taken the initiative? Have you ever failed at a task? | Prepare a STAR example for each, tailored to the job description. Volunteering and life outside work count. |
| Strengths | What are your main strengths? Why should we hire you? | Two or three examples that are relevant to the job, backed by your qualifications or training. |
| Weaknesses | Do you have any weaknesses? | Be honest and say how you are working to improve it. |
| Leaving your last job | Why did you leave? Why have you been out of work? | Be positive. After redundancy, explain the situation and how you have responded since; after a long break, explain why and what you did in that time, such as retraining or volunteering. |
Questions about your health
In England, Scotland and Wales, an employer must not ask about your health before offering you work, except in the cases the law allows, such as finding out whether you need adjustments for an assessment or whether you can do a task that is intrinsic to the job (Equality Act 2010, section 60, checked 17 October 2026). You can raise an adjustment you need for the interview yourself, and our disability disclosure letter shows one way to word it.
Before the interview and on the day
Most of the preparation is the same for any job (National Careers Service: Interview tips, checked 17 October 2026).
- Check whether the interview is in person, by phone or by video.
- Read the job description again, look over your CV or application form, and prepare examples for what they might ask.
- Give yourself plenty of time to arrive, or check your computer and internet connection if the interview is online, and be ready 5 to 10 minutes before it starts.
- Know how to contact the interviewer in case you are running late or have technical problems.
- If you do not understand a question, ask them to repeat or explain it. You can look at your notes before you answer.
- Afterwards, send a short thank-you email. If you are not offered the job, ask for feedback: most people go to a few interviews before they are offered a role.
What to take with you
If the invitation asks you to bring something, that comes first. Otherwise this short list covers most interviews.
- The invitation, with the address, the time and the name of the person to ask for, and a phone number in case you are delayed.
- A copy of your CV or application form and the job advert, with the examples and questions you wrote down. You can look at your notes before you answer (National Careers Service).
- Proof of your right to work, such as your passport, if they ask for it. Every employer has to check it before you start; what counts as proof depends on your nationality.
- Anything the advert names as essential, such as a driving licence or a qualification certificate, and a portfolio if your work can be shown.
- For a video interview: the link, a charged device, headphones if you have them, and a quiet room where the camera shows nothing you would rather they did not see.