I'm curious, what do you say when you are say with :

"Have you applied to X firms" or "I noticed you interned with X firm, did you apply or why didn't you join then"

On one hand, I figure it is best to be honest. Because when you said you didnt apply back to the firm you had your internship is obviously a lie or you're not proactive enough (especially if you're applying in the same industry).

However when you do tell true, it opens a lot of loophole for the interviewer to "attack" you. Like once, the interviewer kept pushing to their rival as their rival have a better development structure. (To def, I kept saying I like their firm working culture and global initiative better) Or a second time when the interviewer just said "Oh, we can't offer you. They might counter offer you."

I once got bombarded by interviewer asking "Now tell me what can you offer, I have a guy who has a PhD in X, one with a degree from Cornell and a master from Brown. another with a double degree from NUS. You're just have a local degree plus not a very strong one too. What can you offer me?" Any suggestion for that too?

warning, this may be a long post...

...the effect of stress and tension to study 2 stupid things simultaneously (i brought this death upon myself), too much caffeine and being unemployed (i'm unemployed because the selection process for this job i wanted, took longer than expected) and lack of sleep. If my post is too long or deem not useful, please let me know and I shall refrain from doing so in the future.

Well I prefer to be honest than say I made mistake of not being proactive, opens a LOT MORE loopholes for them to grill you. But I must say once in a while those interview are good, for example I get to share my exp with everyone while thinking on how to counter the next one better haha.

If you really ask me what a degree to me? I did mine locally, and find it a waste of time. Sure I may have learnt stuff but I felt the local environment was not competitive enough or the exposure was lacking. I remember my finance lecturer scolding the class saying, "you call yourself finance graduate and you dont even know what the subprime/credit crunch is all about?!". Some how its the lack of knowledge beyond the text book. If I wanted to know about the stuff in books I would just stay at home and write a list of books and write about how well I know the topic in my resume. I wanted to develop myself beyond the knowledge and leave a bit of my ideology behind when I passed on. However there are a few exceptional people that rise up and most get sent overseas. Sorry if I may sound too critical, but this what happens when you have a few cousins whom graduated from Oxford and Harvard. You get a bit competitive/kiasu hehe. So having said all that, you might have a rough idea on how I set myself a part. (To everyone, If you respect and accept the idea of free opinion please accept this as my opinion and don't start a flame war. However constructive criticisms are always welcome)

Thanks for that info Gary, will keep them in mind. But some times the adrenaline kicks in and you get a bit too nervous or excited haha. That is why I always emphasise on how different and capitalise on my strength. Sadly my grade miss the mark and got a borderline close to 3.5/second upper. A mistake that cost me greatly and some thing I have to move on. So I hardly even get called for interview for the "cool" jobs(or jobs I want) but I have no problem getting the less competitive ones.

As for the job that compared with others, I got that(job interview) by a long shot! I applied for something else (some thing I didnt quite liked) and manage to get referred to some thing I loved! Sadly I didn't get that, either I didnt manage to impress them or they give priority within the firm. I will never know...

This is quite simple if you do a lot of research and attend a few interviews. Or what I do is "predict" what the interviewer going to ask and run it over and over in your head till it sound flawless to you.

Why do you choose our firm?
- I chose your firm because X factor like how the company position itself in the global or competitors, it culture/ideology/products (maybe)
Why do you think we should employ you rather than someone else with similar qualifications?
- Because I can offer X factors (again) like I did this (subject to specific industry) eg engineering you did X project give you a hands on approach or the long term aspiration to excel and exceed beyond expectation.
What skills do you have that will be useful to our company?
- quite similar to above
Do you mix well with people?
- up to you, but i would say Yes, name situation or event and some confrontation and how you solve it.
Do you like to organize and lead or prefer to be led?
- I would say depending on the situation, if I feel there are others that may a better leader I will encourage that some one to take lead while supporting him/her. However when the situation arise and I believe I am fit, I will take command.
Do you enjoy working with other people, or would you rather be left alone?
- quite similar to mixing with ppl question
What do you particularly like about this job?
- subjective, think hard yourself.
How long do you think you will stay with us?
- subjective, I would say as long as can continue to be an valuable asset to the firm and deliver what is expected of me.
How much do you know about our company?
- up to you to do the home work. I manage to impressing the interview by telling them I couldnt find much about them but I found their annual report and made a few assumption based on the financial statement. (Lucky for me, I was dead on)
Can you work independently?
- Depends on the jobs. Just go for flexibility. (either way is good)
Do you like traveling?
- depends on your job but be honest, you wont want to say yes and find yourself travelling too much. Dont want to be a hypocrite
What do you think would be particularly difficult about this job?
- subjective I once said the expectation to always deliver (if its a very competitive environment)but it will always keep me on my toe and pushing my own expectation(try to save yourself, like some ppl who posted before, try to save yourself from loopholes)
What will you do when things go wrong?
- subjective, but quick to admit mistake(if it yourself) and start a recovery or rescue plan.
How do you think we can achieve vision 2020?
- huh?! Less corruption! Let me be the PM (<--this is a joke)

Ok hope this help and dont kill me for such a long post... the effect of stress and tension to study 2 stupid things simultaneously (i brought this death upon myself), too much caffeine and being unemployed (i'm unemployed because the selection process for this job i wanted, took longer than expected) and lack of sleep. If my post is too long or deem not useful, please let me know and I shall refrain from doing so in the future.

I think just be yourself and modest with your answer. Of course be realistic and give them a reason to retain you or train you.

For example I applied to banking industry, I just said :
"If I am selected, I hope to see myself some where in a junior to middle level management in XX area or have a exposure that includes XX. On top of that I have completed my CFA and working to obtain full charter holder"

Just have fun. If you see X position earns the money you want and its possible to obtain in such a time frame, say that position but hide money as the reason!

This is easy, if you want to work in the banking industry this should be at the tip of your tongue!
in point form:
1) PM announce to lower the regulation for foreign institution in malaysia
2) What is the OPR (overnight policy rate) and make your deduction
3) How is the banking growing? Retail, commercial or investment
4) Name some BIG name and what they are doing or should or planning (eg Teh Hong Piow is the key judge for Miss Public Bank pageant )
5) (if you want to stand out, say this point and prepare to present your point in a logical and structure. If you fail to that and mention this point you are screw!)The banking industry is losing it competitive edge to places like singapore but we should do ...... or could do ....

Its a similar question to "what are your strength" or "competitive edge". Hence you should know how to answer that question before the interviewer ask you the question.

Haha you can always tell the interviewer that you are "gung-ho" bout the company. Anyway sweet_pez gave some pretty good advise.
Some HR really hate it when you apply to many different position. It a sign that you don't know what you want or you're too free and giving them problem.

Talk about audit and tax then highlight why tax. Sorry don't know much about tax and audit, but I would say "tax affects everyone where audit ... we dont audit individual people unless its for tax spot check"

Depends on what they ask the first time. But I'm guessing they will ask a bit more detail or technical question.

NEVER SAY ANYTHING BAD about your current employer. Try to be "politically correct" when answering the question.

Perhaps you can say something along the line like "I'm looking for a change in working environment?"