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There are plenty of questions asked in an interview that can make a normally confident person feel nervous. But if you plan ahead and rehearse some of the most common interview questions and the answers you have for them, you'll sound both confident and prepared.

Have both a copy of your own resume (even if you're interviewing for an entry-level job) and the job description in front of you during the interview or take a look at it before so you can use some of the same wording and tie yourself to the job even more closely.

Why Are You Looking for a Job?

This question can take many forms. Why did you leave your last job and why are you looking with this particular company? You need to be able to answer all those questions succinctly and in a way that makes the company want to hire you.

If you're currently employed, don't say anything bad about the employer, but emphasize your need for new responsibility, creativity or stability. If you're unemployed, emphasize any character-building hobbies like volunteering or practicing art.

The most important thing is to show that you've done some research on the company and give the interviewer a reason why you want to work there. Perhaps the position responsibilities include working with others, and you long for more collaboration with your peers. Or the company has a policy of casual Fridays and you think that makes a more inviting work environment. Keep focused on the job position and the company and align your answers with them.

Tell Me About a Weakness/Challenge

Everyone has a weakness. The trick to answering this question is to follow it up with a way you've worked to overcome your weakness with a specific anecdote related to your experience.

For instance, "I have always had a hard time with delegating tasks, but during last year's spring rush I realized I couldn't handle all the store orders myself and I discovered how rewarding collaboration can be." Or, "Public speaking is intimidating for me but when I had to hold a meeting about our last product, I realized that if I have some notes in front of me, it isn't so bad."

Highlight your strengths--what you've contributed to your previous jobs or academic assignments--while discussing your weaknesses.

How Much Money Do You Make?

When bargaining for a position, sometimes you don't want all the cards on the table immediately. If you'd rather not have your current salary influence the salary discussions at your new job, you might want to tactfully avoid this question.

"I am really interested in your position because of [it's location/the challenges it would provide/a foot in the door in the industry] and I wouldn't want my current salary to be a distraction to the hiring process," can give the impression that you make more than they may be willing to offer. "I currently earn a competitive salary and I'm sure that your company has similar policies," sidesteps the question.

If you follow your answer with an immediate question along the same lines--"Can you tell me about your benefits package?"--the interviewer may forget you didn't even answer the question!

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An appointment setter is a telemarketer who cultivates a lead list, can give a persuasive sales pitch for a product to potential clients and then arranges a meeting between a member of the sales team and that client. Appointment setters need to be excellent communicators, know the product or service they're selling and be able to make persuasive connections with people over the phone. Hundreds of companies--from private universities to gutter producers--hire appointment setters.

EW Scripps

EW Scripps and other media companies rely on appointment setters to increase advertising sales, as well as to sell multimedia product campaigns for websites.

EW Scripps publishes 14 daily and community newspapers and 10 broadcast television stations. It also is the parent company of a wire service and United Media, a syndicated cartoon and features service.

AT&T

AT&T and other telephone companies use appointment setters to contact potential clients in order to sign up for new services, including home and business telephone connections, Internet connections, cell phone plans and even digital television subscriptions.

AT&T is one of the largest U.S. wireless providers and provides access for the most wireless and broadband Internet subscribers in the United States.

ADT

Security companies like ADT hire appointment setters to make outgoing phone calls to both potential residential and commercial clients to set up appointments for sales representatives or system installers.

ADT is the largest security company in the world, providing security systems, services and solutions to more than five million homes and more than two million businesses and government buildings worldwide.

Transworld Systems

Appointment setters working for Transworld Systems or other debt-recovery companies call hundreds of other companies (who accept checks or credit) and convince those companies to allow Transworld to help them recover bad debt or past-due accounts.

Many companies write off bad debt or past-due accounts, but Transworld and other debt-collection agencies can sometimes recover part or all of the money owed.

Transworld is considered a leader in the debt collection business within the United States. More than 60,000 companies currently use Transworld for bad debt and past-due account collection.

Blackburn Group

The Blackburn Group and other risk and claim management companies use appointment setters to aggressively sell structured settlement, claim management and other insurance-related products and services.

The Blackburn Group provides risk and claim management for financial institutions, brokers, actuaries and the self insured. It currently manages $160 billion in assets all over the world.