How To Prepare For and Nail Your Next Job Interview

Job interviews can be nerve-racking, particularly if you're interviewing for your dream job. But it doesn't have to be that way. You can lower your anxiety and be more successful if you plan in advance. 

In this session, you'll learn:
 
*  How to answer the 3 most difficult interview questions including “tell me about yourself” and “why did you leave (or why are you leaving) your last position?” (Including what to say if you were fired).

* Three ways to respond to “what is your greatest weakness” without relying on the outdated practice of turning a negative into a position. For example, “my weakness is I work too much.”

*  How to prepare to when the interviewer asks, “why do you want to work here?” How to research employers online.  

*  What to say when the interviewer asks, “Do you have any questions for me?” Strategies to help you prepare questions for the hiring manager.

* The key to be successful during behavioral interviews. It’s about telling engaging stories that demonstrate your abilities.  

*  How to improve your communication skills, including 3 techniques to help you become a more effective listener and evaluate if interviewers are interested in you.   

*  Two potential job interview minefields, and how you can avoid them. How to prepare so you don’t blow the interview. 

*  Three ways to make sure recruiters and hiring managers remember you in a good way. 1 way is to convey excitement about the job and asking for the job.  

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Thank you for listening, I hope you found this episode insightful and relevant. If you're a coach, consultant, or entrepreneur, or just want to dive more deeply into content marketing. I hope you'll join me on my new podcast, Content Marketing School.

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(Previously recorded, Live Show)

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Transcript

Annette (00:07):

Hi, welcome to the smarter career moves podcast. I'm an at Richmond executive resume writer in principle of career intelligence resume writing and career services.

 Annette (00:31):

Hi, I'm a net Richmond. Thanks for joining me today for interview bootcamp, which is designed to help you beat the competition during your next job interview. During the session, we'll go over seven areas, including how to answer the three most difficult interview questions, including what to say. If you were fired, we'll talk about the importance of doing research. Before you go to the interview, I'll go over how to be memorable in a good way. We'll also go over the key to behavioral interviewing. It's all about telling a good example. I'll mention a few communication skills, including three effective listening techniques. I'll talk about two potential minefields and how you can avoid them and end with three ways to stand out from the crowd. An interview is a nerve wracking situation. Since you can't plan for everything in advance, you'll have to be able to think on your feet.

 Annette (01:26):

The good news is that you can plan a lot in advance. Let's start with the three most difficult interview questions. The first one is, tell me about yourself. This is a core question that is asked one way or another in most interviews, what the interviewer wants to know is what can you bring to the job? What do you have to offer the wrong answer is something like, what would you like to know? But you don't want to give them your life story either. That's not what they're looking for. He or she wants to hear about your strengths, your skills, your abilities and experiences, especially related to the job you were interviewing for prepare for this answer ahead of time, choose two or three talking points that are relevant to the job you're interviewing for points that are interesting and showcase your achievements. Try to stay focused on what the interviewer is seeking in a candidate.

 Annette (02:18):

Think about what skill you're trying to showcase. For example, completing a marathon, probably won't interest the interviewer, unless you're going to be working as a trainer. However, using that experience to explain your commitment and dedication to a goal, it could be an excellent selling point and keep it brief one or two minutes. Don't ramble on and on. Prepare for this by writing your answer out ahead of time and practicing it until it sounds natural. The second question they often ask is why are you leaving? Or why did you leave your last position? Every interviewer will ask you this. They want to know why are you available? What they're really trying to find out is if you were a problem for your last employer and will you be a problem for them, this is something you should prepare for in advance as well. If you were fired or laid off, tell the truth about it.

 Annette (03:12):

They're going to find out about it anyway. And it's better if they hear it from you. If you were laid off, you could just say the company was downsizing. That's not uncommon today. Try to put a positive spin on it. For example, if you were one of the last to be, let go say that. For example, I'm proud to say that I made it through three rounds of layoffs before being, let go. You might also want to mention that it was difficult to leave because of the relationships you built. This indicates that you were able to work well with others. Be sure to mention your excitement about working for a new company. If you were fired, be honest about it. Be honest, be direct, and then move on. Briefly. Explain why you were let go. And what you learned about yourself from the experience, explain how you've addressed any problems that were mentioned to you, whatever the circumstances avoid negative.

 Annette (04:03):

Talk about a previous employer. This will always come back to bite you. You can mention the job. Wasn't a good fit. For example, be prepared to say what wasn't working and what was missing. Maybe it wasn't a good fit because of the company's culture by stating clearly what you can offer your next employer. You'll end on a high note. Even if you weren't fired or laid off, the best idea is to script an answer. Be sure to emphasize the positive things, things you learned, relationships you build and projects you completed rather than anything negative. After you've answered the questions, try to move to a more positive area like your greatest strengths. The third question we're going to talk about is what is your greatest weakness? This is always a tricky question to admit there's something wrong with you in an interview goes against what you're there for to sell yourself.

 Annette (04:54):

You should prepare for this answer in advance to in the past a common strategy was to choose something negative. There's actually a positive, like I'm a perfectionist or I work too much, but there are better ways to answer this question. What a negative question like this one is presented. It's best to accentuate. The positive one way is to mention something that you have recently overcome late learning a software program. Another suggestion is to mention something that you're working on right now. Maybe you're taking a class to improve on something like your communication skills. A third idea is to mention something that's indirectly related to the job you are applying for. For example, if you're applying as an accountant, you might mention you're trying to improve your presentation skills, but be sure to talk about how you trying to improve them, like going to someplace like Toastmasters.

 Annette (05:49):

It's also essential to do your homework about the company. Some hiring managers will ask you why you want to work there. They want to know why you chose this particular company or this position. You don't want to say something like I saw the ad in new Epic for the position. You want to make some type of connection to the company. If you can, today, almost every company has a website. Many are active with social media. You can easily Google them to find out more information about the company. Go to LinkedIn, find out about the people who work there. There's no excuse not to research a company before your interview. See if they have a Facebook page or if they're on Twitter, read Facebook posts and read what they're tweeting check to see if they're advertising jobs on their Facebook page. If you do some research before the interview, you can speak about the things you've learned about the company.

 Annette (06:40):

Maybe you want to mention the company's policies and mission. If the company's values match your own, then say that you can also say that the position sounds like an exciting opportunity. Just make sure to focus on what you can do for the company and not what they can do for you. It's also important to make the end of the interview memorable. At the end of the interview, the hiring manager will also ask you if you have any questions, this will probably be the last time you talk and you want to end on a high note. Unfortunately, most people don't do that. They say something like, no, I think you've covered everything. Or I can't think of anything or no. There's nothing else that I really need to know wrong answer. Not only is this the wrong answer, but it indicates a lack of interest and imagination on your part.

 Annette (07:30):

They want to know if you're really interested in working for this company. Good questions to ask, relate to the questions you were asked during the interview. So make sure that you listen carefully, be ready to say yes, I do have some questions. Here are two things you can ask. Based on the interview, you can ask additional questions about the job, for example, what are you looking for in the person you hire? Or can you tell me more about the challenges for this person you hire in this position? You might also want to ask the hiring manager, how he or she came to the company. How long have they been there or what they like about it? If you don't ask questions, you have missed an opportunity to find out about the company. Remember that it's your decision to while they are interviewing you, you were also interviewing them.

 Annette (08:18):

This is your opportunity to ask why the person you're replacing left, where they promoted, or did they leave the company, keep this conversational. Remember this is you getting to know each other. You're getting to know more about them and them more about you. You're not doing an interrogation. Also. This is not the time to talk about salary or benefits, reserve that for after they offer you the job. Let's talk a little about behavioral interviewing. This is when the interviewer asks you for an example of something you've done. It's something specific like tell me about a time when you solve the problem. They're asking for a specific example. Interview is use Sydney to help them decide whether you're a good fit for the job based on your past behavior. The idea is if you did it before, you can do it again. These questions are very specific.

 Annette (09:10):

For example, you'll be asked for, for a time when you solve the problem, the answer calls for a specific example of a specific incident. This isn't a place where you want to try to think on your feet. You'll be much more effective. If you practice ahead of time to prepare, you'll need to have examples of everything you've claimed on your resume. If you increase sales by 10%, you need to be prepared to tell them how you did that. If you created the company's employee handbook, you need to be able to explain that the steps that were involved, if you claim to be very organized, you may be asked to give an example of how you organize a project or department or even the company party. Your example should be like the story. There are three steps beginning the project, the problem, et cetera, was the middle.

 Annette (10:01):

And an ending, which are the results. Try your best to make your story interesting. Give the interviewer something that will make them. Remember you. The more details you provide, the more you convince the interviewer of your abilities. A good interviewer will be able to see these skills you described in your example, your past actions using the position you're applying for. The important thing is to be prepared, to support the claims on your resume, with examples or stories of your achievements, to be successful on your job interview. You need to become a better listener. The three communications hips I have for you today, all focus on being a better listener. Be sure to quiet your inner voice. It's tough to concentrate on the interview when you're wondering things like how long have I been here or how many other people are they seeing, or I need to remember to tell them whatever it's really essential to focus on the interviewer.

 Annette (11:04):

Remember the last time you tried to carry on a conversation with someone who was looking around the room or checking his watch. People do this on interviews all the time. If the hiring manager notices that you keep looking down or out the window, they'll find it difficult to take you seriously. They won't think you're really interested in the job while you need to look away from time to time. So you're not staring. You need to try to keep your focus on the interviewer as much as possible practice doing this with your friends and family until you feel comfortable. The second thing is stop thinking about what you're going to say. Something we always talked about. Don't be so busy planning what you're going to say next that you miss what's being said by the interviewer. It's okay to have a few minutes. Pause at the end of the interviewer's question. Before you answer again, practice taking a few minutes to gather your thoughts during casual conversations, this will help you during a job interview. The third thing is to listen to the tone underlying the message. Do they sound interested? Do they sound friendly or are they just going through the motions? If they smiled, they smile with their whole face. Do their eyes light up. Are they giving you a fake smile at the end of the interview, practice these listening skills with your friends and family until they become second nature.

Annette (12:25):

Okay.

Annette (12:27):

Before we wrap things up, I want to talk about two potential minefields and how you can avoid them.

 Annette (12:34):

The first thing you need to talk about this may sound like a given, but you need to know your resume. Hold be prepared to discuss. Anything, have asked. This is particularly important. If your resume was done by a professional resume writer, the second thing is don't talk too much. Most people ramble when they're not prepared. So prepare as much as you can. Before the interview, do your homework. Visit the company's website, monitor their social media activity. Google them learn as much as you can before your meeting prepare for common interview questions in advance. So you can avoid talking too much. I'm going to close this session with three ways to be remembered in a good way. The first thing is be pleasant to everyone. Many employers ask the receptionist or the resistant, how the person treated them, always go in with a smile and greeting for everyone you meet.

 Annette (13:31):

The second thing is to project confidence. Even if you don't feel it, sit up straight, make good eye contact at the beginning and the end of the interview. The third thing is follow up. Be sure to follow up immediately. Certainly within 24 hours always ask the people you interview with for business card. So you'll have their contact information when you do follow up. Don't stop it. Thanks for your time. I hope to hear from you uses as an opportunity to briefly mention your accomplishments and reinforce what you can do to address the employer's needs. It's also a chance to mention anything relevant that you missed during the interview. Now that you've finished this session, you should be able to navigate the interview process more successfully. It's up to you just remember these essentials. Do your homework, learn about the company before you go look them up on Facebook, Twitter, Google, and LinkedIn, work on your communication skills.

 Annette (14:33):

Particularly your listening skills, know your resume, cold and planned stories to illustrate all of your accomplishments, smile and be friendly to everyone you meet. You never know who you're talking to always get the interviewer's business card so you can follow up, ask them at the end of the interview for their business cards to take with you. Plan your answers to the most common questions in advance. Write them out and practice until they sound natural. And finally just practice, practice, practice, everything you can ahead of time. This will help you be more successful in your next interview. Thanks again for joining me today. Good luck with your job search

Annette (15:21):

[Inaudible].

Annette (15:21):

Thank you for joining us for the smarter career moves podcast. Hope you enjoy today's show. If you did, please subscribe. Thank you.