It's the first question and, therefore, your first chance to get off on the right foot. Employ words that convey enthusiasm, responsibility, dedication, and success.
If the very first answer is uninspired especially an answer we all assume has been prepared and even rehearsed , I have almost never seen the interview improve very much. Many interviewers will simply cut their losses and move on to a more promising candidate. It's a plus if you have been savvy enough to "edit" what we all know is a well-rehearsed set speech to ensure that it's relevant to the job at hand.
Many interviewers will consider it a minus if all they've heard is a bunch of generalities with little or no actual specifics to back them up. No relevance to job or company. Some candidates believe this question is an invitation to discourse on their hobbies, interests, beliefs, and other personal topics. Some interviewers may give you the initial benefit of the doubt, but most will quickly probe for some job-related specifics.
Lack of enthusiasm. If you don't seem excited about interviewing for the job, most interviewers will not assume you'll suddenly "get religion" once you're hired. Some people are naturally nervous in the artificial and intimidating atmosphere of an interview, and most experienced interviewers won't consider this an automatic reason to have their secretary buzz them about that "emergency conference. Someone who asks a clarifying question, such as "What exactly do you want to know? What do you think the interviewer wants to know?
Your opinion about Michael Jordan's retirement? She wants to know about your experience, skills, talents, and education, so answer the question, articulately and succinctly, and get ready for what comes next. Despite the nuances, you should merely edit your "set piece" to respond to each of the above questions in essentially the same way. So although the first and fourth questions appear to be more targeted, all four questions are really looking for the same information.
These are more aggressive questions, the tone of each a bit more forceful. If you bypassed the work in Chapter 1, go back and do it now, before we move on. Use specifics to make this a short-and-sweet verbal picture of you, in which you frame yourself as an enthusiastic and competent professional—the ideal candidate for the job.
You want to sound fresh—not like you're reading from a set of internal cue cards. So know the content. Record yourself speaking it until it sounds sincere but spontaneous. You want to convey enthusiasm and confidence as well as knowledge and experience. What you don't know, you're eager to learn. Anticipate that the "killer" will surface early in the interview, so be prepared to use it as an opportunity to steer the interview in the direction you want it to take. Fine-tune your response to give a positive slant to any potential negatives, such as apparent job-hopping and tack of related experience.
By ending with a question, you get a much-deserved breather and, once again, demonstrate your involvement and enthusiasm. This may be a matter of his particular style, the introduction to his own brand of stress interview, or just a way to save time by seeing how you respond to pressure right from the get-go. In one respect, I think phrasing the first question this way helps you: He has virtually required that your answer match specific strengths, accomplishments, skills, etc.
You've gotten a bit more "direction" than a simple question like "Tell me about yourself" gives you. You've also been given a golden opportunity to display the extent of your pre- interview research.
And if you haven't done any, you may well find yourself in a sea of hot water. The interviewer has set you up, trying to separate the "misqualified" by using a single question. You, for example, may emphasize your ability to meet deadlines and cite specific instances, which clearly shows you worked virtually alone in your last position.
In the position for which you're interviewing, the successful candidate may have to coddle and cajole a wide variety of managers in several offices across the country to get input for the documents he is then supposed to produce—and then he will have to follow through by getting each one to sign off on the finished product.
Although "tenacity" and "meeting deadlines" may come trippingly off your tongue, the interviewer is seeking a very different—highly diplomatic, team player, etc. And, again, that would now not be you. To prepare for this question as well as the variations just mentioned , pull out those Data Input Sheets you labored over in Chapter 1 and write down the description of the position for which you're interviewing. This will help you clarify each specific job requirement in your mind.
Now, match your strengths and accomplishments directly to the requirements of the job. Say that you have a singular skill for meeting even the most unreasonable deadlines. You are tenacious. Nothing can stop you. If "meeting deadlines" is a key job requirement, be sure to cite two or three pertinent examples from your experience.
The more outrageous the deadline and herculean your efforts, the more important it is to bring to the interviewer's attention—at least twice. Are there any gaps in your qualifications? Probably a few—especially if you're reaching for the challenge at the next level of your career.
So now it's time to dig in and deal with the hard questions that you know will follow right on the tail of the ones above. Q: How would your best friend college roommate, favorite professor, favorite boss, mother, family, etc. Personally, I would start with the "best friend" variation if I were interviewing someone. Supposedly, that's who should know you best.
So if you presented me with a half-baked picture of yourself, I'd shorten the interview—by about seven-eighths of an hour. Another approach some interviewers prefer is to ask you to describe you best friend and how you differ from one another.
This is based on the untested but reasonable theory that if they're your "best" friend, you probably have quite a lot in common. Because you are supposedly describing your best friend, not yourself, some interviewers believe you may inadvertently reveal character insights read: flaws you would otherwise like to conceal.
So, take pains to describe a person the interviewer would find easy to hire. All of the other variations on this question may be used by experienced interviewers to hone in on specific times college, high school, last job or just to get a fuller picture of you—what your mother or father would say, for example, may give the interviewer a clear illustration of the kind of environment in which you were raised. Back to the Future Q: What do you want to be doing five years from now?
Are the company's goals and yours compatible? Are you looking for fast or steady growth in a position the interviewer knows is a virtual dead end? Are you requesting more money than he can ever pay? How have your goals and motivations changed as you have matured and gained work experience?
If you've recently become a manager, how has that change affected your future career outlook? If you've realized you need to acquire or hone a particular skill, how and when are you planning to do so? Green light Naturally, you want a position of responsibility in your field. But you don't want to give the impression that you're a piranha waiting to feed on the guppies in your new department.
So, start humbly: "Well, ultimately that will depend on my performance on the job, and on the growth and opportunities offered by my employer. That suits me fine. I enjoy building a team, developing its goals, and then working to accomplish them.
It's very rewarding. A general answer as above is okay, but don't be surprised when an interviewer asks the obvious follow-up questions using the answer to the above question as a guide : "Tell me about the last team you led"; "Tell me about the last project your team undertook"; ''What was the most satisfying position you've held, and why? If you refuse to offer more than a "general" answer—that is, no real specific goals— no matter how much the interviewer probes for more.
Your inability or unwillingness to cite specific, positive goals may give the impression, warranted or not, that you have not taken the time to really think about your future, which makes it impossible for the interviewer to assess whether there's a "fit" between his goals and yours.
If you insist you want to be in the same job for which you're applying unless it is a dead-end job and the interviewer would be pleased as punch if someone actually stayed longer than three weeks, unlike the last 14 people to hold the position!
Any answer that reveals unrealistic expectations. A savvy candidate should have some idea of the time it takes to climb the career ladder in a particular industry or even in a company.
Someone hoping to go from receptionist to CEO in two years will, of course, scare off most interviewers, but any expectations that are far too ambitious could give them pause. If a law school grad, for example, seeks to make partner in four years—when the average for all firms is seven and, for this one, 10—it will make even novice interviewers question the extent and effectiveness of your pre-interview research.
There's nothing wrong with being ambitious and confident beyond all bounds, but a savvy interviewee should temper such boundless expectations during the interview, knowing full well that some candidates do "break the rules" successfully, but most interviewers get a little nervous around people with completely unbridled ambition! If you have made an interviewer worry that her company couldn't possibly deliver on the promises you seem to want to hear, you can expect a follow-up question: "How soon after you're hired do you think you can contribute to our success?
So any candidate—but especially an overly ambitious young person—who blithely assures an interviewer they'll be productive from day one is cause for concern. The interviewer is really trying to assess, in the case of an inexperienced person, how "trainable" you are, and you've just told him you think you already know it all!
Not a good start. For some reason, some applicants fail to remember that this is an interview, not a conversation in a bar or with friends. As a result, they rattle off some remarkable responses that can only be deemed "fantasies"—to be retired, own their own business, etc. I would seriously discourage ever answering this question in such a manner.
These questions provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate how your goals and motivations have changed as you've matured and gained valuable work experience. If you've recently become a manager, talk about how that experience has affected your career outlook for the future. If you've realized that you must sharpen a particular skill to continue growing, tell the interviewer what you're doing about it. Und, zo, Dr. Freud Q: If you could change one thing about your personality just by snapping your fingers, what would it be and why?
A savvy candidate will take a trait previously or now identified as a weakness but, if you're really savvy, not a weakness that would ever get in the way of work and put together a brief answer that indicates awareness and motivation: "Boy, I had a hard time with procrastination in college. But I licked it because burning the midnight oil all through exam week every semester was driving me nuts.
Citing a weakness that is so basic or stupid that the interviewer has to wonder if that's the biggest thing she did say one thing you could change. The former puts you on comfortable turf—a positive question you can answer positively. The latter forces you to turn a negative question into a positive answer, and, because any negative question invites the unwary to descend into a sea of recriminations "Working for that last jerk, let me tell you!
In both cases, the interviewer is inviting conversation but not as "one way" and open- ended as in earlier questions. These might well be follow-up questions if "Tell me about yourself" or something similar didn't "open everything up'' as much as the interviewer hoped it would. You should, therefore, take them as a sign that you've yet to tell the interviewer what he wants to hear.
Dictator or Pushover? Q: Describe your management philosophy. Most companies want someone who can demonstrate a desire and ability to delegate, teach, and distribute work—and credit—fairly unless, of course, the interviewer is an autocratic bastard seeking a mirror image. In general, you probably want to come across as neither a dictator nor a pushover. A successful candidate should convey that he or she has the ability to succeed should opportunity present itself. But they should avoid giving the impression that they're fire-breathing workaholics ready to succeed no matter what or whom the cost.
Green light "More than anything else, I think that management is getting things done through other people. The manager's job is to provide the resources and environment in which people can work effectively. I try to do this by creating teams, judging people solely on the basis of their performance, distributing work fairly, and empowering workers, to the extent possible, to make their own decisions. I've found that this breeds loyalty and inspires hard work.
Webster Q: What does "success" mean to you? You should offer a balanced answer to this question, citing personal as well as professional examples. If your successes are exclusively job-related, an interviewer may wonder if you actually have a life. However, if you blather on about your personal goals and accomplishments, you may seem uncommitted to striving for success on the job.
Green light Strike a balance and talk about success in terms such as these: "I have always enjoyed supervising a design team. In fact, I've discovered that I'm better at working with other designers than designing everything myself. Unlike a lot of the people in my field, I'm also able to relate to the requirements of the manufacturing department. Of course, the financial rewards of managing a department give me the means to travel during my vacations.
That's the thing I love most in my personal life. Q: What does "failure" mean to you? A specific example to demonstrate what you mean by "failure," not a lengthy philosophical discussion more suited to a Bergman film than an interview.
He is looking for honesty, a clear analysis of what went wrong, a willingness to admit responsibility with a small plus if it's obvious you're taking responsibility for some aspects that weren't your fault , and the determination to change what caused it or examples to show how it's already been transformed. Green light "Failure is not getting the job done when I have the means to do so.
For example, once I was faced with a huge project. I should have realized at the outset that I didn't have the time. I must have been thinking there were 48 hours in a day!
I also didn't have the knowledge I needed to do it correctly. Instead of asking some of the other people in my department for help, I blundered through. That won't ever happen to me again if I can help it! Always remember why the interviewer is asking you such open-ended questions: to get you talking, hopefully so you reveal more than you would have if he or she had asked a more pointed question.
So answer such questions—clearly, succinctly, and specifically—but avoid any temptation to "confess" your many sins. Find out as much as you can about the company and how the position for which you're interviewing contributes to its goals. Give the interviewer strong answers using concrete examples that are relevant to the position you are after.
Convey the impression that you have the ability to succeed, should opportunities present themselves. But avoid giving the impression that you're a fire- breathing workaholic ready to succeed no matter what or whom the cost. When you talk about your management philosophy, let the interviewer know that you are able to delegate and still keep track of each person's progress.
Tell the interviewer how you've grown in each of the jobs you've held and how your career goals have changed as a result. Concentrate on what you learned from past failures, using examples that show how you've changed as a result of them.
Make sure to position yourself as a professional with a satisfying personal life. It's still true. The more work experience you have, the less anyone will care about what you did in college, even if you attended Podunk rather than Princeton.
As important as particular courses and extracurricular leadership positions may have been a decade ago, no amount of educational success can take the place of solid, real-world, on-the-job experience. But if your diploma is so fresh the ink could stain your fingers and your only summer job was intimately involved with salad ingredients, then the questions in this chapter are directed to you, the relatively inexperienced candidate facing that age-old Catch- You need experience to get the job, but how can you get experience if you can't get a job?
So it's back to "Creative Thinking How are you going to accomplish this? By concentrating on what the interviewer wants to hear and making sure you give it to him or her. If you weren't a member of many official school clubs or teams, talk about other activities you engaged in during college. Did you work part-time? Tutor other students? Work for extra course credit? Don't list just a major and minor on your resume; include pertinent courses, too. And a truly savvy candidate will ensure that each resume is custom-produced so the particular courses mesh as closely as possible with the requirements of the job.
What you've been doing—whatever you have been doing—should demonstrate a pattern that bears at least some passing relation to the job at hand. What you did during your summers, unless it was a pertinent internship or part-time job, is virtually irrelevant. You chose a major, courses, activities—most interviewers will want to know the reasons why you made those particular choices.
That will reveal to them where your "real" interests lie Let's Go Clubbing Q: What extracurricular activities were you involved in? Most interviewers are seeking a candidate who can illustrate industriousness, not just someone who did enough to eke by. They're expecting enthusiasm, confidence, energy, dependability, honesty. A problem solver. A team player. Someone who's willing to work hard to achieve difficult but worthy goals. Activities that show a healthy balance. You are probably a top candidate for a wide variety of jobs if you participated in one or more sports and a cultural club chess, theater, etc.
If you're able to demonstrate the ability to manage multiple priorities let's not forget course-work and maybe a part-time job here and good time-management skills. Here's a good answer: "I wish I'd had more time to write for the school paper.
Whenever I wasn't studying, I pretty much had to work to pay for college. But I learned a number of things from the jobs I held that most people learn only after they've been in their careers for a while—such as how to work with other people and how to manage my time effectively. Anything below a B average should lead you to expect a whole series of follow-up questions, forcing you to explain "why.
Never think a joke is a good answer: "Well, Mr. Johns, I didn't do much more than drink beer on weekends. The interviewer posing questions like these is just trying to get a handle on how you think, how you make choices and decisions, and how flexible or inflexible you seem to be in those choices. What were You Thinking?!? Q: Why did you choose your major? Why did you choose your minor? Which courses did you like most? Some interviewers may substitute this series of questions for the ubiquitous ''So, tell me about yourself"—your college experience is probably a good measure of "yourself.
Assuming that you took courses related to the job at hand, focus only on those that are career-oriented. Don't feel handicapped if you majored in something non-technical or non-professional. What was your thought process?
Did you choose a major because it was the easiest? Just because it was there? What other majors or minors did you consider? And why did you choose one and reject the others? If you are being interviewed for a highly technical job—engineering, science, programming, etc.
It will probably be a plus if you demonstrated a particular interest in chemistry or computers or mechanical engineering while still in high school. Green light Talk about the skills you developed, especially in courses you didn't necessarily like or want to take. I like to hear that a candidate did well in a course she really didn't care for.
I seem to spend an inordinate amount of time doing things I don't care for, but I still must do them to the best of my ability. When I interview people, I guarantee you I'm seeking someone with the same attitude.
When talking about particular courses, develop answers that focus on the subject, not the workload or the professor's personality. Talking about past troubles with an authority figure will introduce a possible negative into your current candidacy. And complaining about too much work is not the best way to impress any prospective boss.
Interviewers don't take kindly to freshly minted graduates who expect to start at a salary higher than their own. So acknowledge that you are well aware that despite your summa cum laude credentials, you probably have less job-related knowledge than the senior person in the mailroom. Humility is an attractive trait at times, especially when it's well-deserved: "I know this position has its share of unpleasant duties, but I'm sure everyone who's had this job before me has learned a lot by doing them.
Complaining about the workload of a course, semester, or year. Interviewers are seeking industriousness, not laziness. There are interviewers out there—and I'm one of them—who go out of their way to describe in excruciating detail the worst or most mind-numbingly boring aspects of the job. A successful candidate shouldn't be footed into expressing any negative reaction even a raised eyebrow when "garbage detail" is being discussed!
Change minors? Drop that course? Add that course? Again, what was the thought process? The change may well be considered a positive—if you explain and justify it well—unless, of course, it clearly was to eliminate a difficult major for an easier one, a stratagem to take more classes with a girlfriend, or something equally superfluous.
If you have changed majors, even more than once, you must be ready to admit that you simply didn't have all the answers when you were Don't worry, neither did the interviewer. I suspect many interviewers would find such candor refreshing and realistic. After all, how many high school seniors know that eventually they will or want to become accountants, or hospital administrators, or loading dock foremen, or, for that matter, interviewers for human resources?
But you should be prepared to show how your other studies contributed to making you the best candidate for the job. Q: Why are you applying for a job in a field other than your major? Life doesn't always turn out according to our plans. Especially when you're young, changes in direction are common. Changes are hard enough to live through without getting grilled about them.
But when the interviewer asks about one of your degree turns, you've got to respond. If you're applying for a retail management position and your degree is in geology, there's a good chance that you'll be asked this question.
But count on it—it's not the first time this employer has encountered someone like you. In today's job market, changing careers is common, and there's nothing unique about going into a field other than the one you majored in. So what do you do? You know you've piqued the employer's interest enough to get an interview, right?
So relax and answer the question. Keep it brief and positive: You've reexamined your career goals. You enjoy customer contact, the competitive nature of sales, and the varied management responsibilities required in retail, and you've decided it's the career you want to pursue. And, oh yeah perhaps with a sheepish grin , there are only 42 new jobs in geology this year—and you didn't get any of them!
Then it may be a good idea to pause and ask, "Have I answered your question? If he or she does have a concern, be prepared to explain how the skills required in your degree field transfer to the field in which you're seeking employment. You can use the same strategy with your prior work experience. Are there particular things a geologist must learn that directly translate into retail management?
Particular skills? I don't know, but you certainly better be ready to talk about them. Just because many students who major in more esoteric areas are, by definition, ill- prepared for some specific jobs, and because many people now change jobs, careers, and even industries more and more, does not mean that many interviewers will not make you sell them on how your learning will benefit them.
Q: If you were starting college tomorrow, what courses would you take? Be prepared to detail changes you would have made in your course selections that would have made you a better candidate for this job. At the same time, don't be afraid to admit that it took you a little while to find the right course of study.
A bit of candor is fine, but avoid offering a dissertation involving a wholesale change of major, minor, and hair color. Green light Consider this question a good opportunity to describe how courses that are completely unrelated to this or any other "real world" career nevertheless were valuable in your development.
Red light Don't claim you would have gone away to school so you could date more. Don't answer, "Same courses, but this time I'd pass.
You have been given an opportunity to show you know what the job entails and, because of that understanding, to declare you would have taken more pertinent courses while dropping that 17th century Chinese literature course like a hot chop stick. No company really believes that you're going to hit the ground running right out of college or graduate school.
Training and experience will be necessary to make you productive. So, as a relatively inexperienced candidate, you can expect an interviewer to do a bit of probing—trying to determine how "trainable" you are.
Stress how the real-world internship experience you've had complemented your academic training. But never pretend that college is where you learned the "Secret of Life. Well-thought-out answers that demonstrate consistent career concerns. Good recommendations from internship supervisors.
Red light If you sincerely believe—and, worse, actually tell the interviewer—that college is where you learned the "Secret of Life. Poor or no recommendation from your internship supervisor or a negative reaction from you about its value.
Even if your internship turned out to test nothing more than your coffee-making skills, you should never introduce such a negative into the interview. HPE6-A82 test torrent will help you solve your all your problems.
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