How to Answer to Job Interview Questions
Posted in Interview Questions
The job interview is a crucial point in your job-search where job seekers can succeed in convincing prospective employers that you are indeed the ideal candidate for the position you are seeking. Answering job interview questions correctly takes skill, practice, and determination. You should always take time to prepare for an interview in advance. Review commonly asked questions and develop possible answers to give you an edge over your competition.
Many companies increasingly rely on behavior interviews since they use your previous behavior to indicate your future performance. Your responses require not only reflection, but also organization. To maximize your responses in the behavioral format:
- Anticipate the transferable skills and personal qualities that are required for the job.
- Review your resume. Any of the qualities and skills you have included in your resume is fair game for an interviewer to press.
- Reflect on your own professional, volunteer, educational and personal experience to develop brief stories that highlight these skills and qualities in you. You should have a story for each of the competencies on your resume as well as those you anticipate the job requires.
- Prepare stories by identifying the context, logically highlighting your actions in the situation, and identifying the results of your actions. Keep your responses concise and present them in less than two minutes.
When answering "behavioral questions", try to steer clear of the typical answers that interviewers are adept at spotting. Be honest about your mistakes since the experienced interviewer will be looking for "progress" and "growth", not perfection. Give an example of how you learned from your mistake and how that experience has benefited you in the long run.
Be succinct and concise. In all behavioral answers, the interviewer wants to hear:
- A brief description of the problem, challenge or situation.
- What your action was and how you decided to make that action.
- A brief description of the result of your action and your assessment of its result.
