Interview Power. Tom Washington
By doing this, you will now have 30-50 stories to share in interviews. You will then be able to choose which story would best suit a particular question.
2) Identify Your Most Important Strengths
Identify and list the strengths, skills, and areas of experience you have that will virtually always be desirable for the types of positions you’ll be applying for. It can help to clip out want ads for desirable jobs to determine what employers are typically seeking. But don’t limit yourself to the ads. Ask yourself what personality skills (see pages 69-70), transferable skills, and technical/work content skills are important for success in your field. For more on transferable skills and work content skills, go to www.cmr-mvp.com and click on Books and Booklets. Prioritize these strengths. This will enable you to bring your top strengths into the interview at the earliest point possible.
Review your 30-50 accomplishments and determine which ones used the skills you most want to sell. The table on page 58 shows how this can be done. If you don’t have a good example for a particular skill from your list of 30-50, take a couple of minutes to recall the experience in which you best demonstrated that skill. Then write it down.
3) Practice Your Stories
Practice describing all of the accomplishments you think you might use in interviews. Practice so that for each accomplishment you have a one-minute, a two-minute, and a three-minute version. With your longer version you can add details that reveal more about the experience and more about you as a person. With a one-minute version you have to work hard to determine the most critical points. It takes effort to remove all but the most important points from a story. Use the two- or three-minute version when you believe it will best sell you and if the interviewer appears to have an adequate attention span.
4) Match Your Strengths And Stories With 40 Key Questions
Examine the following 40 questions which are all covered in detail in chapters 21-28. Determine which strengths and stories you would likely mention when asked those questions. In that way you’ll always mention your key strengths at the earliest opportunity.
Review the following questions. They come from the list of 101 toughest and most frequently asked questions. These are the most open-ended questions and the ones most likely to give you an opportunity to present the points you want to make.
1.Tell me about yourself.
2.What is your greatest strength?
3.What can you offer us that someone else can’t?
4.What are your three most important career accomplishments?
5.How would you describe yourself?
6.Why should I hire you?
7.Describe your biggest crisis in your life (or career).
8.What is unique about you?
26.What do you think determines a person’s progress with a good company?
27.Who has exercised the greatest influence over you?
32.What have you done to increase your personal development?
36.What was the most useful criticism you ever received?
37.What is the biggest change you’ve made in your life in the past ten years?
39.Can you work well under stress?
40.Are you a team player?
43.What are the things that motivate you?
45.What have you done that shows initiative?
46.What personal qualities are important for success in this field?
48.Are you willing to take calculated risks?
49.Can you establish effective methods and procedures?
51.We need someone who is resourceful.
52.What has been your biggest challenge?
53.Describe a team project where you are proud of the team’s result as well as of your personal contribution.
54.Describe a difficult decision you’ve made and the process you went through to reach that decision.
55.Give me three qualities that are really helping you get ahead and three qualities that you must work on if you are going to achieve your career goals.
59.Why do you want to get into this field?
61.How long will it take before you make a positive contribution to our organization?
62.What do you like most about this position?
63.Tell me about your duties at your present job.
64.What is the most important aspect of your job?
67.What is the most difficult situation you ever faced?
69.What jobs have you enjoyed most? Why?
70.What duties have you enjoyed most?
74.Why would you like to work for us?
80.What kind of recommendations will you get from previous employers?
84.How has your supervisor helped you grow?
85.What did your supervisor rate you highest on during your last review?
89.Can you supervise people?
93.How would your subordinates describe you as a supervisor?
95.How have you improved as a supervisor over the years?
Once you’ve completed all four steps, you’ll be ready to ace your interviews. Take the time to put all of these pieces together. Yes, it will take time—5-15 hours is typical—but the quality of your answers will bring about better results than you’ve ever experienced.
Skills/Accomplishments Table
Chapter 9
SELL YOURSELF
Knowing how to sell yourself is the key to successful interviewing. Understanding the psychology of interviewing and knowing what is motivating your interviewer will play a major role in selling yourself more effectively. Building credibility and projecting a winning personality are the first steps.
The Ultimate Question
The ultimate question in any interview is “Why should I hire you?” No matter what questions are asked (“What are your strengths?” “Do you work well as part of a team?” or “Can you supervise people well?”), they are all ultimately asking “Why should I hire you?” Every time you say something, it is to give the interviewer more reasons to hire you, adding so much weight to your side of the scale