INTERVIEW TIPS & TECHNIQUES GIVING RESULTS ORIENTED ANSWERS…… Companies are becoming lean, and the market place is more competitive. Due to those two facts, interviewers are looking for results-oriented people… people who can make a difference and can impact their bottom line. The interviewer is now more apt to look into your background and ask detail questions about your previous experience. These in-depth questions are designed to help locate results-oriented people. Your goal is to answer these questions specifically and in detail, using examples. You must relate your accomplishments and show how they benefit and impact the company. Our purpose is to give you examples of questions you might be asked, and how to answer those questions. ************************************************** Tell me about yourself? Often you will encounter this question during the start of the interview. It is one of the few general questions you will be asked. Your goal in answering this question is to stay fairly general, concise, and chronological. Practice your response and limit it to 1 to 2 minutes. You do not want to describe yourself so narrowly that you disqualify yourself from certain job opportunities. Make your answer a broad overview of your background, but do not ramble. Start with your education, quickly discuss why you chose a specific college and degree. Next, describe the jobs and positions you held. Focus mostly on the last part. The average interview is between 30 to 45 minutes. You want to leave plenty of time to answering more important questions. ************************************************** What are your faults? What are your weakness? What would your boss say is your weakness? Some people feel they must be overly truthful in answering this question. We always encourage honesty, however have this question and response well thought out before an interview. The interviewer is looking for reasons to eliminate you with this question. Do not give the interviewer an excuse to reject you. Remember, part of the interviewer's job is to weed through people and discard those they decide are unacceptable. This is the only question that a canned answer is acceptable. Such as, "I am a perfectionist," "I volunteer for too many overtime hours," etc. Remember, you are expected to have a fault. However, the fault must be one you can turn around into a positive attribute. Turn it around before you complete this response. You may not have the opportunity later and regret the negative impression. ************************************************* Why are you leaving your current position? You want to come across to the interviewer as a quality, competent individual that is looking to make a career change. You want to express that you have benefited from your time with your former employer, but you are ready to look toward the challenges of a new corporate career.
You do not want to turn this question into a negative bashing of your last job or boss. Both you and your former employer should look good. Remember in an interview not to make a negative comment about anything. If you find yourself slipping into negatives, turn the conversation to a positive note immediately. Many interviewers feel if you were unhappy at you last job, you will be unhappy again. ************************************************ What did you gain in your last job? This question, like the one above, must be a positive statement of your career experience. One reason the interviewer is talking to you is due to your background. It is your job to explain how the training and work experience you encountered will benefit the hiring company. Points to bring up should include: leadership training, motivation of staff, and a hard work ethic, to name a few. ************************************************ How do you handle deadlines? Your answer will show the degree to which your time management skills are developed, and your ability to accomplish tasks and get results. An appropriate answer would show how you ranked work according to importance. How you set up a plan to accomplish the project, and then show that you did meet the deadline. Bring up that the deadline would not have been met without your involvement. Also discuss how you brought the team together to get the job done. ************************************************ What is your location preference? Remain open on this question. Ask the interviewer, "Where would you like me to go?" If pushed to give a regional preference after you said you were open, remain flexible and enthusiastic. Do not balk if they throw a city at you that you are not interested in residing. This question is asked to test your flexibility in a brief period of time. Once you have received an offer you can properly weigh it against your preferences. *********************************************** What are your salary requirements? When answering this question you don't want to say something too high and get eliminated and you don't want to say something too low and get a substandard offer. Do your best to avoid a straight forward answer. Initially the interviewer is only testing your interviewing etiquette. If you are further pressured for a response, go on to say, "I am interested in coming to work for your company, and I will consider your best possible offer based upon my experience." Remember, until you win the interview, the issue of salary is a moot point. You may then be asked if you have a salary range you would consider accepting.
Make sure you have determined an acceptable salary range before the interview, by doing your homework and knowing what this company is willing to pay for a person at this level. Salaries are a sensitive issue with companies due to the prevailing economy. It is unfortunate, but we have seen excellent candidates thrown out because they quoted a figure out of the range. This is not a time for negotiating. Handle the money issue, and heavy negotiation, after the offer. ********************************************* Will you take a drug test? The only answer to the question is yes, a very positive yes. Often the willingness to take a drug test will be proof alone that you are drug free and an actual test may or may not be given. Employers want people who are drug free and can work without the negative and harmful effects of drugs. Other tests that may be brought up are physicals and current events testing. Read daily the newspaper, business magazines, etc. to keep abreast of the latest events to be prepared for the current event tests. ********************************************* Stress Questions… Most interviewers try to make the interview as comfortable as possible. However, sometimes the interviewer may use stress question tactics to see how determined, and capable your are when dealing with stressful situations. The first type of stress questions employ silence. Silence can be used to see if there is more information to be found than what you are revealing. After you answer a question, the interviewer may sit in silence. The urge is for you to feel the need to elaborate more, as if you left out something. Do not assume you have made a mistake or said something the interviewer does not like. The interviewer probably wants to see how you handle the situation. Remember, the flow of the interview is the responsibility of the interviewer. You are there for answers. Perhaps you can turn silence into an insightful question on your part. A drill of quick hard-hitting questions is another stress interview tactic. By pressuring you for answers, the interviewer is wanting to see how well you handle the situation and if you begin to give poor answers. If this happens to you, slow the interview down by carefully listening to the question, pausing, and then give a well-structured answer. Do not let pressure create mistakes. The third type of stress question is where the interviewer tests your determination. An interviewer will tell you how well you would fit into another job they have available. This is a tactic that is used to show any flaw in your ability to focus on an objective and complete that objective. An interviewer feels if they can tempt you away from the job for which you are interviewing, you must lack determination in your personality. This is not a label you want pinned on your file. Be resolved and determined that the job you are interviewing for is the job you want. You may thank the interviewer for bringing up the opportunity, but express your determination to pursue this job opportunity. Remember the interviewer can be very talented with this tactic. You will be convinced that there is a legitimate opportunity they are offering. Do not waver or you will be eliminated. Another tactic the interviewer will use is the brick wall approach. They will tell you something about the position that is negative. It may be high overtime, difficult job duties, extensive travel, or a long wait to be promoted with no
guarantees. They ask you how you feel about this situation. Your response should be, "I have no problem with that, I will do whatever needs to be done (site an example from your past) and I remain 100% committed to your company”. Do not fall into the trap and stop at the wall instead of walking around it. Show flexibility since this is why he is asking this question. It is very difficult for a company to measure commitment in 30 minutes. This approach is used to measure those qualities in a short amount of time.