Don't Wing It: Win Your Next Job Interview
Congratulations! If you’re reading this, you’re most likely doing great on your 21st century job hunt and you have an interview on the horizon. You should be prepared and use this opportunity to its fullest. There are several kinds of questions you should expect to hear, and a few you need to ask along the way.
Here are some questions you’ll surely get during the interview process, along with suggestions on how to answer them. Learn to recognize these, even if they’re framed differently.
Why did you leave your last job? Key points here are not to badmouth your prior employer and to convey information in a way that reflects positively on you. If you were laid off, say so. If you were terminated, discuss a few points in positive terms why your employer was not a good fit for you. If you’re seeking more money, frame that in terms of seeking more career advancement. Be honest but also realize that flakiness and instability are traits that interviewers sniff out like bloodhounds.
Tell me about yourself. Remember your elevator pitch? You’ll be glad you have one now – use it!
What is your greatest strength? If you cannot define your key strengths, it doesn’t give much confidence to the interviewer that you actually have any. Be sure that you can crisply identify 2-3 real assets you bring to a job and that you can present examples of how those strengths have helped you in the past. Make sure they’re relevant to the job at hand. You may think your best strength is your ability to make risotto from whatever is in your produce drawer, but unless you’re interviewing to be the next Iron Chef, that’s not relevant. Also, don’t go too generic with anything remotely like “I’m a people-person”. You can do better than that. Bonus point: once you’ve stated your strengths, ask the interviewer how he/she feels those assets or skills would impact your ability to succeed in this role.
What is one of your weaknesses? Again, if you can’t answer this question, the interviewer will assign a couple of weaknesses to you, and they may not flatter you. Think in terms of what experience or skill you want to enhance that you feel you could improve in your next job. In other words, frame your weakness as something learnable, rather than an enduring character trait. If you choose to focus on a personality trait or work-style issue, make it something that could also be seen as a strength in certain circumstances. Don’t be predictable and say anything remotely like “I’m a workaholic.” Interviewers see that coming a mile away.
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