Sunday, January 25, 2009

Great Interview Responses

By Edward Baker

Want to know the secret to standing out in your interview? It's giving the best answers to common interview questions. How you handle these can make or break your job interview. The secret is being prepared. Here are five common interview questions and how to answer them, so you stand out from the crowd.

What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Telling them your strengths is pretty straight forward, just keep them in line with what the job you're applying for requires. Most people get tripped up on their weaknesses. What you want do is be honest about your weaknesses, but put a positive spin on them. Example: "Spending too much time polishing my presentations has always been a weakness, that's why I set definite deadlines and stick to them."

Tell me about your background can appear to be a testing interview question. It is difficult to know what angle to take or how to keep the answer confined. Your task is to sell your best features. This question is a gimme - you have complete control over your response and you should take advantage of that. Prepare a list of your most compelling features and practice talking about htem to yourself.

"Why do you want to leave your current post?" The skill in answering this interview question is to remain upbeat and truthful. Never say anything derogatory about your current employer. Never lie. Tell them your story in a way that allows you to sell your candidacy in the most attractive light.

Tell us about when you dealt with ...[this problem]. This is a typical introduction to a competency based interview question. Have two or three examples prepared in advance through which you can sell a number of different skills and attributes. You can use this question as an invitation to talk about that example in the terms that you have designed in advance.

How would your colleagues talk about you? Use stories to respond to this question. Prepare a few in advance through which you can sell a variety of skills. Have some quotes ready prepared, such as "Jack, who worked with me when I was at Crazy Joe's used to say that I was always his go to guy for problem solving." When you couch it in these terms, the interview panel will pscyhologically "believe" that Jack had said that to them himself.

Some more quick tips: Stay upbeat and positive; always be honest; prepare in advance. Best of luck in your interview. - 16732

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