How are you feeling about interviews so far? I hope that the last two posts have helped you to realize that there really is a science to interviewing. I’d like to continue talking about basic interviewing skills with the following points:
Be prepared for the questions
I have talked in other posts about being prepared, but here are a few more things to think about. The following questions will always be asked in some form: What is your work experience? What skills do you have? What is your educational background? Why did you leave your last job? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Why do you want to work at this company? Why should we hire you instead of someone else? Work through these questions now so that they won’t take you by surprise when you encounter them.
Give concrete examples
Giving examples to back up your statements is a wonderful thing to include in your interview. Remember how you’ve always heard, “show, don’t tell”? This is how you do that in an interview. When you are asked a question, give an example of how you actually did whatever you are talking about. If you explain that you are good at sales, throw in your sales quotas from your last job or mention that you received a commendation or other reward. If you say you are good at customer service, back it up by explaining how you often received complements from customers.
Always Be Positive
This is both about yourself and about everyone else. Don’t mention things that you are not good at and don’t bring up weaknesses unless that is the actual question. More importantly, be positive about your past coworkers and supervisors. You see, while you are complaining about your last boss who was a jerk, you may be talking to your future boss. What he’s thinking is that you’ll be talking like that about him to someone else in the future. Instead, make the commitment to yourself that you will only say positive things about everyone. Even if you hated your boss and the two of you clashed constantly, find something that you respected about her. Maybe she was always on time or she had a great work ethic. That way, when you are asked “how did you get along with your last supervisor” you can say “Well, we didn’t always agree, but I really admired the fact that she was such a good sales woman. She always exceeded her quotas.” You come out looking like the bigger person instead of a disgruntled former employee.