Questions at Blizzard Entertainment interviews
We analyzed 448 interview reviews for Blizzard Entertainment from various job sites, social network groups and forums.
Here are the most frequent job interview questions asked by HR managers during initial phone or onsite interviews. This list does not include technical or factual questions.
10 frequent non-technical questions at Blizzard Entertainment:
According to our research, hiring managers at Blizzard Entertainment ask soft skills interview questions 41% less than at other companies.
1. Tell me about yourself top question
How to answer
Most job candidates expect this to be one of the first interview questions and probably think of it as an “icebreaker” to get the interview started. It is much more than that! It is your opportunity to show the interviewer your relevance for the job. You want the employer to know that you are qualified to do the job, you are interested in doing the job and capable of getting it done.
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About Yourself
What is your current occupation? Define yourself professionally in one statement.
Pick 3 key skills that make you great at your work (your Key Selling Points). How have you applied these skills?
Try to give some numbers to support your statement.
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About The Company
Your first step is to Research the company to find out as much as you can about what they do and their approach to their business and their employees.
Based on what you know about the company and the job description, why are you interested in the position you are applying for?
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About The Fit
Now is the right time to show the fit between your skills and the company's requirements. Your answer works best if you emphasize your relevance. How do you do this? You will have already researched the company, studied the job description to identify their needs and possible pain points and prepared the relevant Star Stories that show how you addressed similar issues in the past. Your next step is to develop your Present-Past-Present approach.
Start with the Present. Focus on the skills and experience from your most recent positions. What has enabled you to get the job done successfully and how this relates to what the employer is looking to accomplish.
Next go back to the Past. Here is where your Star story comes in. Explain how you were able to use your skills and experience to accomplish a task that relates to an area of concern for the employer.
Finally come back to the Present – summarizing the lessons you learned and how they shaped your response and approach today.
Remember, the whole conversation is about the present, not the past. Just one sentence can summarize why your approach works, and its applicability and relevance to this position.
Pro Tip
You can also end with a question like:
“Do you know what the current needs in the company/department are, where my skills and experience can help?”
That can help you learn more about the company and the job, turn the “interrogation” into a conversation and will allow you to relax some tension.
Read our blog post to learn more about how to answer this question.
Statistics
This question is asked 8% less frequently at Blizzard Entertainment than at other companies.
2. Tell me about your greatest professional accomplishment
How to answer
Of all your accomplishments (and I am sure you’ve had a great many of them!), you should choose the one most relevant to this job position.
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About Yourself
In preparation for answering this question, list the top 3 professional accomplishments that you are most proud of. No need for lengthy descriptions, just a sentence or two for each one to help you recall each situation.
Write down your Key Selling Points - your top 3-5 skills that make you a strong professional.
Make sure you have developed the story behind each accomplishment and have a strong command of the details of what happened so that you can tell the story clearly and distinctly.
Along with each accomplishment, mark which of your Key Selling Points they showcase. How exactly?
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About The Company
Based on your research of the company, what are their current needs?
- What are the major projects going on?
- What are the expectations for the position you are applying for?
- Think about which of your accomplishment stories best fit their needs and expectations?
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About The Fit
Once you have decided on the appropriate accomplishment story, think how you will relate it in an interview and how you will make it relevant to the the job you are seeking. One approach is to use the Present-Past-Present technique.
Let's say that the accomplishment was leading your team in installing a new billing system and bringing it in on time and under budget.
You might start off in the Present by talking about the importance of having good leadership skills.
Then move to the Past to relate your story about how you successfully lead your team in accomplishing the objective.
Finally, come back to the Present to address how you will be able to help them reach their goals (the ones you learned about when researching the company) going forward.
Be sure to keep practicing your accomplishment story until it flows naturally and convincingly.
Pro Tip
Most enterprises are now going through major transformations, often called Digital Transformation.
Do your research on what it means and what is often involved, to get a better idea of the current goals and environments in companies. But one thing that definitely characterizes this transformation is striving for agility.
Whether the prospective employer is a long-established company or a startup, they are looking for people who demonstrate qualities like agility and adaptability, which are generally considered to be both helpful and quite a safe choice in most circumstances today.
Statistics
This question is asked 3.9x more frequently at Blizzard Entertainment than at other companies.
3. Why did you leave your last job?
How to answer
This question may be a little touchy for some people, but it's a question asked by interviewers, to find out why you left, in order to better understand how you may or may not make a good fit with their company.
Remember, never speak ill of your old company (this will not go over well).
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About Yourself
There are a number of reasons why people leave or plan to leave their jobs. One very important recent factor has been the impact on jobs and job security due to Covid-19 and all of the issues raised by remote vs. on-site work.
Regardless of the causes, there are three possible reasons that you left your last job or are planning to leave your current job:
- You are looking for a career change
- You are unhappy with your current employment
- You were let go.
Whatever the reason, it's best to always speak in a positive light.
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About The Company
Based on your research about the company and the position you are interviewing for, what do you like most about the company? What excites you about the work as it is outlined in the job description?
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About The Fit
Let's take a closer look at how you might respond to each of the three reasons for leaving your last job.
1. You were let go
You should simply state the facts (e.g. the company was downsizing, your position was eliminated, your department was offshored, etc.). Focus on the positive. You might want to share your accomplishments at your previous employment by relating a pertinent STAR story if you feel that would be relevant.
2. You are looking for career advancement or a career change
In your response you should be upfront, honest and as enthusiastic as you can be about the position. Consider using the Present-Past-Present method when giving this answer. Start with the Present by describing a career goal that is important to you. For instance you are a data analyst applying for a data management position and you are ready for this move. Then go back to the Past to indicate that at your previous job, there were little or no promotional opportunities in your field. Then come back to the Present and say that you are ready to take on the manager role and know that you will do an outstanding job for the company.
3. You are unhappy with your current employment
Sometimes a job just isn't going to take you to the next step in your career.
Keep two things in mind when answering this question, 1) never "bad mouth" your current employer and 2) focus on the postive when speaking about the job and your reason for wanting to leave.
The following is an example of how this question might be answered. This individual was looking to move up to a project manager position and did not feel that her current employer was the right place to achieve her goal. You might find her answer helpful in crafting your own response.
"I really like my job as assistant project manager and love working with all of my coworkers on the team. However, the way the department is set up there is no real path to promotion. There are currently 3 project managers and they are all relatively new in their jobs. As far as I can see, they are all doing a good job and opportunties for promotion may not be opening up in the foreseeable future."
Her comments were positive and her reasoning was clear and consise. Always try to keep your reasons positive and try not to create an impression that you were unhappy with the way you were treated.
Pro Tip
Whatever the reason you are looking for a new opportunity, make sure you are able to show how you are the perfect fit for the job for which you are interviewing!
Statistics
This question is asked 94% more frequently at Blizzard Entertainment than at other companies.
4. Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
How to answer
This question belongs to a family of behavioral, or even more precisely, reflective questions.
The interviewer wants to learn two things about you by asking this question.
- They want to know what you think about the job you are applying for. Remember, they are interviewing you for the job that's open right now. Are you a good fit and will you do a good job for them?
- Just as important, they want to get an idea of your ambitions and goals for yourself and if your goals align with their needs, especially going into the future.
In this way the employer should see how you see yourself today, and whether you are ambitious and strive to grow as a professional, and whether you like to learn and develop your skills.
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About Yourself
What challenges do you like overcoming? Where are you starting from and where might you be going?
For example, let's say the position you are applying for is junior accountant. It includes a wide range of tasks such as basic bookkeeping, financial analysis, and reporting. If accounting is your chosen field, then you would most likely want to move in the direction of obtaining your CPA so that you might step up to more responsibility as an accounting manager or senior auditor within the next 5 years. Your responses should make sense in how you see yourself growing in your professional career.
However, at this point, if you are happy just where you are and want to further your current skills, that is also fine as long as there is a growth path for you that can be imagined and described.
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About The Company
Research the company to learn what career opportunities may be available in the department you are applying to, and what the trends are in the company in general.
- Is the business expanding, are they opening new locations, or starting new projects?
- Or are they heavily automating and cutting staff?
Let’s say you are applying for a UX designer position for a brand-new product.
In the future, if the product becomes a success - which is what the company hopes for - the company will hire more designers and you may become a lead designer, or you may become a product manager.
On a side note: If you train your mind to be open to opportunities you will be amazed at how much this world has to offer to you!
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About The Fit
And, of course, try to see where the perfect fit lies between your own potential and aspirations, and the company’s trends and hopes.
However, beware of the risk of showing too much excitement for future opportunities compared to your attitude towards the current position.
As we said earlier, you must show interest and enthusiasm for the position you are applying for. If the interviewer senses that you are more enthusiastic about future growth than about the current position, they may conclude that you are not the right person for the job at hand.
Pro Tip
This question gives you a good opportunity to showcase your Key Selling Points (e.g. “As I am very good at delegating tasks, I can easily see myself leading a team of software testers in the future…”), and end your statement by asking about current initiatives and goals at the company.
In thinking about the possibilities that may lie ahead, you also might want to consider taking a personality test (I recommend 16Personalities which is based on the Myers-Briggs test), research the internet on what career paths are possible with your skills and current job.
It is generally NOT a good idea to say something like:
“Oh, I cannot imagine what happens to me tomorrow, let alone in 5 years”.
This will show you as a person who is unimaginative and not forward-thinking enough to grow with and be a good fit for the company.
Statistics
This question is asked 24% less frequently at Blizzard Entertainment than at other companies.
5. What gets you up and excited on Monday morning?
How to answer
Motivation is the one thing that leads people to get up and go to work.
This question is meant to help the interviewer learn more about you and what you value the most. They are interested in more than just your education or work experiences; they want to know what you are passionate about, especially in the workplace.
It is a great chance to make yourself stand out from other candidates and help potential employers see your value.
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About Yourself
This question requires serious self-examination; you should be asking it yourself long before the interviewer does.
- What do you feel when waking up on Monday?
- Can you take those feelings and apply them to specific moments from your life and past work experiences?
- What makes you motivated and happy?
Maybe it’s a pursuit to learn something new, or meet the special person at work, your helping others, being with good friends in the office, your friendly boss, the joy you feel by doing your work well and the feeling that boosts your self-esteem.
Talk about what motivates you personally and professionally.
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About The Company
Research the company and its culture.
- What will the environment be?
- What do you know about the possible kinds of feedback you will be receiving?
- What is at stake in this role?
- What goals drive the company and what direction does it appear to be taking?
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About The Fit
- How comfortable are you with the company’s goals and how it is going about achieving them?
- How do they compare to your own motivations?
Pick those that have a match and give some serious thought to what gets you up in the morning.
Don’t be afraid to talk about career goals — this is a great way to show them that you’re motivated to succeed.
Once you’ve described your career goal and briefly outlined your plan for getting there, connect your answer back to the job you’re interviewing for.
Make sure you demonstrate that you’ve really thought about the position and how it will fit into your life and career trajectory.
Mention your strengths, specific tasks you’re good at and how the positive feelings you receive from doing them will help you to achieve great results in your new job.
If, for example, you are applying for a teaching position – mention how passionate and creative you are coming up with different ways of teaching various subjects.
If you will be dealing with customers – show your enthusiasm about seeing satisfaction and happiness on your client’s faces.
If you are applying for a job as a software developer – say that you are excited to build awesome products in this area.
Pro Tip
The only motivation that can make you go to work on Monday is the happiness and joy you are getting by going to that place, the benefit you are gaining by going there.
Make sure the company you are applying to now IS the right place.
Statistics
This question is asked 68.0x more frequently at Blizzard Entertainment than at other companies.
6. What challenges are you looking for in this position?
How to answer
This is a typical question that interviewers ask to determine what you are looking for in your next job, whether you are qualified for the job and if you would be a good fit for the position.
They want to hire people with goals and motivation for their career; they want to understand how you approach novel situations and difficult tasks that you might expect to face, and the situations you consider to be a challenge.
This question can be a way for you to show how you handle these circumstances. It also helps the interviewer to know if you are a person who likes routines or a person who prefers dynamic changes in plans.
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About Yourself
- What qualities do you wish to develop in yourself both professionally and personally?
- What kind of culture do you want to work in?
- What motivates you?
- What will help you to achieve your future goals?
Choose those things that you’re already pretty good at, but still trying to improve even more.
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About The Company
Research the company, its culture and the work environment. Check their website, read up on any media report you can find about them, check out their social media platform.
Carefully read the job description to get an insight into what the company thinks the challenges are. Make sure to include them in your answers to demonstrate your skill set.
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About The Fit
The best way to answer this question is to discuss how you would like to be able to effectively apply your skills and experience to the new job.
Focus on those skills that you are most passionate about or have the most experience with. You can also mention that you are motivated by challenges, can effectively meet them, and have the flexibility and skills necessary to handle a stimulating job.
Describe specific examples of challenges you have met and the goals you have achieved in the past. Choose those that reveal your strengths.
Challenges clearly vary widely based on the position you are applying for.
For example, in sales you may speak about higher sales quotas, a larger sales territory, or a more prominent range of products or services.
In IT, they might be learning a new software program or incorporating the cloud in the company’s systems.
In a management position, it could be leading a larger team than you currently do or stepping into your first leadership role.
Pro Tip
Don’t suggest challenges that can prevent you from doing a job properly or those which are impossible to resolve.
Also don’t choose those that are too easy or too quick to resolve, because in such a way you will not be able to show that you are eager to grow further and meet difficult tasks.
Be honest and self-aware and don’t be afraid to speak about some of your points that may need improvement. Not those, of course, that are related to your crucial work duties.
Statistics
This question is asked 29.9x more frequently at Blizzard Entertainment than at other companies.
7. Tell me about a difficult work situation and how you overcame it
How to answer
Everyone faces some awkward, difficult, and possibly even dangerous situations on the job once in a while.
The interviewers aren’t asking you this question to remind you about any stress you have experienced in the past or so that you can complain about your old job. They are asking you this question to see how you handled the situation.
It says a lot about you as an employee and as a person. They want to know how you will deal with an unprepared situation that might arise during your work tenure.
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About Yourself
Try to think of a time when outside forces created a stressful situation.
- What was the context?
- What was the challenge?
- Did you step in?
- Were you able to create a solution that could make everyone happy?
- What did you learn from that situation?
- How would you handle this situation should it happen again in the future?
Avoid examples that make you seem indecisive or uncertain, and keep your answer positive.
This is your chance to show that you have problem-solving skills. Showcase these skills using the STAR method, which will help you effectively organize your response when answering this type of question.
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About The Company
Do your research about the company. What challenges and kinds of situations may you face in your new role?
Read carefully the job description and the list of responsibilities required.
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About The Fit
Do your best to ensure your interviewer that you are a person who can identify, isolate, and solve problems.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter how big of a difficulty you had with any particular project. What really matters is the process of how you overcame that difficulty and whether you are capable of handling difficult situations in the future.
Choose your example wisely: if you're looking at a team leader or manager role, it might be better to talk about a people issue rather than technical.
If you're looking at a developer or architect role, then highlight something more technical.
Name your soft skills as well, such as project management, dealing with difficult people, pushing back requirements that were inadequate, etc. Talk only about your fits which are relevant to the job you want to get.
Pro Tip
Any company would prefer to hire a mature person, capable of rising above complex situations.
Therefore, make it a point to describe a situation in which you utilized your strong personal and professional skills. Emphasize how the situation helped you grow in different aspects of life.
Statistics
This question is asked 6.9x more frequently at Blizzard Entertainment than at other companies.
8. What were your responsibilities in your last job?
How to answer
This is a good opportunity to demonstrate that you have experience or knowledge suitable for the job you are applying for.
Even if you have never done exactly this specific kind of job, usually you should be able to name a few “transferable” skills that you used in your previous work assignments that are quite easily applicable to the position you are applying for.
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About Yourself
Remember your last (or current) job and compile a list of things you had to do while working there.
If you don’t know where to start, picture your typical working day at one of your previous jobs, or college day if you are applying for your first job ever.
Describe the categories of tasks in bullet points. Then, try to remember the less ordinary tasks you had to do as well, and add them to the list.
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About The Company
Research the company and the job description.
- What do you expect to be doing in this job?
- How would your performance be measured?
List a few items in bullet points.
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About The Fit
Choose a few task categories that seem like a match between your experience and the requirements of the current position. Think of a couple of relevant examples to illustrate your experience.
Craft your stories using the STAR method.
Pro Tip
Optionally, you can end with a question like “Does this correspond with the expectations for this role? Could you give me an example of what is expected from a successful candidate within the first, say, 3 months?"
That can help you learn more about the company and the job, turn the "interrogation" into a conversation and will allow you to relax some tension.
Statistics
This question is asked 4.0x more frequently at Blizzard Entertainment than at other companies.
9. What is your ideal work environment?
How to answer
Happy and motivated employees are great at work when compared to employees who are uncomfortable with the organization’s work culture. This means that work culture plays an important role in the performance of the employees.
Interviewers ask this question to understand your potential in the workplace and your personality; they want to uncover whether you’re the sort of individual who can excel in the type of environment they offer.
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About Yourself
To describe your ideal work environment, you need to make the answer fit both your professional and personal preferences.
- What inspires and motivates you?
- What kind of work environment helps you to be at your best?
- What talents can you reveal when you are comfortable?
- What aspects of your character can increase your professional opportunities?
- Are you flexible enough to adjust to different environments without any issues if needed?
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About The Company
Your answer should reflect the working environment of the business you’re interviewing with, so it’s important that you research the company thoroughly.
Head over to their website and read their mission statement and other hints at their culture.
Look on LinkedIn for any contacts you may have that know about the company (or even better, that actually work or worked there) and reach out to them for insights. Read feedbacks on websites like Glassdoor.
- What goals does the company have?
- Does it have formal or informal structures?
- What does it value in its employees?
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About The Fit
Work environment not only means the culture of the company but also refers to the physical place where you will be working.
In addition to considering the type of company you will be working for, you should also think about things such as the size of the office, the size of your future team, and what you see around you, when you are in for the interview.
Make sure that your vision aligns with the company’s existing cultural and physical environment.
Regardless of the size of the company, you should be able to tell the interviewer why that company fits what you are looking for.
If you are applying to a larger company, you might want to emphasize that job security is important to you.
If your prospective job is with a smaller company - state that knowing everyone’s name allows you to feel connected.
To convince them that you’re the ideal candidate you should focus on your aspirations for future and professional growth.
Also, mention your teamwork skills. Say that it should be the place where you can work with different people to produce the best results possible.
Ensure the interviewer that you are someone who knows exactly what you want.
Pro Tip
If you want to leave a lasting impression of yourself, don’t build your answer just with the company, its website information and its manner of operations.
Try to be unique and stay away from clichés.
Statistics
This question is asked 7.6x more frequently at Blizzard Entertainment than at other companies.
10. What is your greatest weakness?
How to answer
This question ranks as the most challenging for many people. Fortunately, Mr. Simon is here to help!
Interviewers are not out to trick or trap you! They ask this question to gauge your level of self-awareness, your honesty and openness, and your capability for self-improvement.
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About Yourself
No one is perfect and your interviewer doesn't expect you to be perfect either.
While it is good to be honest and open, it will not help you to put yourself down.
What's important is to find a weakness that you have overcome. How you turned what might be considered a negative into a positive.
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About The Company
Research the company (website, social media, etc) to learn about the company culture.
What personal and professional qualities do they value?
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About The Fit
This is the time to clearly state a true weakness that you have overcome.
Be as specific as possible and stay away from vague cliches like “I work too hard.” It would be difficult for anyone to try and explain how they overcame a weakness like that
Mr. Simon emphasizes the Present-Past-Present method of responding to behavioral questions. When you are asked about your greatest weakness, you should be able to successfully use this approach as well. Here is an example of how someone might answer this question.
Present - "I have always had a fear of public speaking, and believe this may have held me back in my career, especially when having to make presentations to management."
Past - "Last year I learned about Toastmasters International and decided to join this group to help me gain confidence in myself and improve my ability to present to others in just about any situation."
Present - "By overcoming this weakness I believe that it has made me a much stronger candidate for this position, someone you can count on to make presentations to management, conduct training and communicate at a high level."
It's important to show how well you've overcome a weakness by motivating yourself and learning a new skill to grow professionally.
Pro Tip
Use this question to sell yourself!
Statistics
This question is asked 53% less frequently at Blizzard Entertainment than at other companies.
You don't have to be alone in your job search!
Mr. Simon invites you to join the Friends of Mr. Simon Meetup Group that supports both individuals seeking their next job role and working professionals. Members of our network come together to learn and practice new skills and network with others through our regular interactive events where they establish meaningful connections and have a chance to promote their personal brand and stand out in the marketplace.
Group membership is free of charge, courtesy of Mr. Simon.
Join our Friends of Mr. Simon Meetup Group to become part of our growing and supportive community!
This page has been updated on February 23, 2024.
