Job Search Engine - Answering Interview Questions

All interview questions are not the same. Some require very specific answers. Some warrant more vague and open-ended answers. Still others do not and should not have to be answered at all. These more difficult questions require a special kind of strategy so that you can navigate around them. In the next few chapters we're going to talk about four types of questions and the special strategies required for handling each type:

1. Straightforward questions
2. Questions behind questions
3. Stress questions
4. Questions you ask the employer

We'll also talk about how to recognize and deal effectively with illegal questions. Finally, we'll review some of the most important facts about body language.

Straightforward Questions

Most of the questions in the interview will usually be straightforward. These questions are designed to assess whether you possess the kinds of skills, and to what degree you are in command of those skills, that the job requires. Your skills arsenal and Q statements should be able to help you answer almost all of these types of questions. Here are some examples of straightforward questions and recommended replies.

QUESTION: Tell me about yourself.

ANSWER: I have 7 years experience as a case manager, specializing in issues of adolescent behavior, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency. I earned a B.A. in psychology from the University of Wisconsin and a master's degree in social work from the University of Texas at Austin. In my last position at the Teen Discovery Center, I developed a curriculum to train juvenile offenders for job readiness. Within a year of the implementation of the program, over 75 percent of our clients found gainful employment and kept their jobs for at least 1 year. I'm applying here today as a licensed clinical social worker because I'd like to prove we can get similar results with your clients.

Your Positioning Statement: "Tell Me about Yourself"

The question "Tell me about yourself" is most often the first question to be posed in an interview.

Although it may be interpreted as a personal question that requires a personal answer, it is really an opportunity for you to introduce some of your most important employment-related skills as well as your education and accomplishments to the interviewer. Your response to "Tell me about yourself" should be a very brief synopsis, or "sound byte" about your background.

Your answer to this question is very important because it positions you for the rest of the interview. That's why some career coaches call this statement a positioning statement. I have found an excellent formula for positioning statements that fits for just about every type of job and every type of industry. The template is reproduced here so that you can fill in the blanks. A template filled in with hypothetical answers follows.

I don't usually recommend that my clients memorize any answers to interview questions . . . except this one.

Your positioning statement is extremely valuable. It can be used not just in an interview but in certain social situations, on the phone, or any time you have the opportunity to introduce yourself to someone who could hire you or who knows someone who could hire you. It's good always to have this statement ready when you're in a career transition. I suggest that you work with the template carefully so that you construct something that's comfortable to say and that really feels like a good fit for you.

Other Common Straightforward Questions

For other straightforward questions, you'll want to use your skills lists and Q statements that you prepared earlier in the book. For example, looking back at your skills arsenal:

1. Do you remember your general skills list by heart so that you can recall them in the interview?
2. Do you have a good command over your personal traits list so that you can supply examples of them to the interviewer?
3. Do you remember your list of three competencies, and do you have anecdotes to support them all?
4. Finally, do your Q statements really paint a clear picture of what you did, whom you did it for, where you did it, and, most important, the results you achieved? If so, great!

If your memory of your Q statement and skills lists are not quite up to par, now is the time to go back and review them or make changes so that you have plenty of information to demonstrate to the interviewer that you are his or her top choice. Here are some examples:

QUESTION: What are some of your strengths?

ANSWER: My strengths are my negotiating, training, and marketing skills. An example of my training ability is a project for which I trained a group of 16 new employees for the help desk, and they were able to function 20 percent faster than their predecessors.

To answer the question above, this interviewee:

• Cited three of her top skills from her skills arsenal
• Elaborated on one of them with a Q statement
Let's look at a different question of this type:

QUESTION: What would your last boss say about you?

ANSWER: I believe she would say I'm innovative, dependable, and professional. An example of my ability to innovate is that I wrote an award-winning software program for training new employees.

This time, the interviewee:

• Selected three top personal traits from his skills arsenal
• Elaborated on one qualitative example of the results of his work.

The same strategy applies for the next question:

QUESTION: What do you think your former coworkers would say about you?

ANSWER: I think they would say that I'm friendly, efficient, and professional. An example of my friendliness is that I always make it a policy to take a coworker out to lunch sometime during his or her first week of employment. I know how it feels to be new and how much it is appreciated when another employee makes the effort to reach out. It's important to me to help my coworkers feel comfortable. I'd like to bring the same kind of friendliness to your customers.

Confused? After a few more examples, you'll get the hang of it:

QUESTION: What accomplishments are you most proud of?

ANSWER: I'm most proud of producing, writing, and directing my own documentary, of winning a citywide triathlon, and of producing a show for CBS television. When I produced a movie-of the-week for CBS, I was able to cut 3 days out of the production schedule, saving the company over $650,000.

Again, the interviewee:

• Picked three accomplishments (one from his personal life)
• Elaborated on one of those accomplishments with a Q statement

QUESTION: What kinds of skills do you have that would benefit this company?

ANSWER: I believe that my management, budgeting, and purchasing skills would benefit the company. In my last company, I initiated a new procedure for purchasing materials that ended up in a 37 percent decrease in annual materials costs. That's what I'd like to do for your company.

• The phrase "That's what I'd like to do for your company" is very powerful and persuasive when it follows an impressive Q statement. Try it!

The next question is one that might apply to a person who is completely changing careers. The question is posed to assess whether she possesses the skills for the new career:

QUESTION: What prepares you to move from being a public health educator to a book editor?

ANSWER: Well, although I have not yet had professional experience in book editing, I have 7 years' experience in the writing, proofreading, and editing of public health education reports. I have written and edited at least 40 reports of more than 100 pages each and submitted them to the state of Florida Public Health Department for review. I was also commended twice for writing, editing, and proofreading grant applications for over $350,000, one of which was submitted to the state, and one to the federal government. In addition to editing at my last job, I took an adult education class in copyediting at Seminole College in Fairfield. I'd like to be able to make similar contributions to your company.

QUESTION: Why should I hire you?

ANSWER: If you want someone who is going to raise morale in the company, I believe I am the one. Under my leadership in my last company, not only did employee satisfaction increase from 1.7 to 4.9 on a scale of 1 to 5 in only 1 year, but also absenteeism decreased by over 51 percent. That's exactly what I'd like to do for your company.

If someone asks you why he or she should hire you, you may be tempted to say, "Because I am the best person for the job." Don't. Though you may be right, the interviewer can't judge that from an unsubstantiated opinion. Instead, you can win over the interviewer by pulling out one of your best Q statements and adding the tagline, "That's exactly what I'd like to do. . . ."

The person being asked the following question is applying for a sales engineer position in a pharmaceutical company:

QUESTION: What can you contribute to this company?

ANSWER: Well, I can contribute an excellent working knowledge of pharmaceutical products, superior presentation skills, and excellent postsales follow-up discipline. An example of my postsales follow-up procedure at my last company was that I always called my customers 3 days after the sale and made it a point to call every 2 months after that point to make sure they were satisfied. I was very happy that we earned over $2 million in repeat business from one major customer in the third quarter, due to my persistent follow-up efforts. I'd like to make the same kind of profits for this company.