The Top Five Interview Questions You Need to Know

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2 The Top Five Interview Questions You Need to Know

3 Does This Sound familiar? No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No, No Hi John, this is Joyce from ABC Company and we would like to schedule you for a job interview for the position of... Congratulations! After all those No s, you now have an interview. But soon the excitement wears out and your heart begins to race. Those voices inside begin to take over. What if they think I m too old? What if they don t like me? What if.?

4 The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average tenure is now 4.6 years with a company. If you re over 45, the number is closer to seven years. Here in Silicon Valley and elsewhere around the country, I believe the number is closer to two years. But regardless whether the number is 7, 4 or 2, the bottom line is we don t interview very often. It s natural to feel nervous. But you can reduce your anxiety, and one of the best ways to do this is through preparation.

5 Here s a little secret I want to share with you. When it comes down to it, there are really only five questions any hiring manager really wants to know about you. It s just that these questions can be asked so many different ways. In the following pages, I share with you the five most commonly asked questions and how best to answer them. Remember, the future has yet to be written, and you hold the pen, so let s begin.

6 1.) Why are you sitting in front of me? This question can be posed several different ways, but it boils down to what happened with your previous job, or why you are looking for a new job, if you re currently working. If you ve had a long gap since your last job, that question may be raised as well. You need to answer this question with what I refer to as an Exit Statement. An Exit Statement consists of two parts. In the first part, you explain in 1-2 sentences what happened in your previous job. In the second part, you provide the opportunity the situation has allowed.

7 Here are two examples of the first part - Microsoft had a restructuring of their workforce resulting in the elimination of 400 positions. Mine was one of those. I ve been with my current company for three years and have worked with some amazing people. I m now looking for some new challenges. The key to the first part of the exit statement is to stay brief, to the point and leave any emotional tones out of the statement. No using words like unfortunately or thank goodness.

8 In the second part of the Exit Statement, you need to explain the opportunity the situation has provided you. For Example. Microsoft had a restructuring of their workforce resulting in the elimination of 400 positions. Mine was one of those. However, the layoff actually provided me the opportunity to seek out companies such as yours I have been following for some time now. I m very excited about the technologies in place here. I ve been with my current company for three years and have worked with some amazing people. I am now looking for some new challenges and your company really appeals to me because of the innovative products you offer.

9 2.) Tell me a little about yourself? Many of the clients I first talk with struggle with this question. They either ramble on, or they don t provide the relevant information the hiring manager is looking for. This is your elevator speech and your goal is to sell yourself within two minutes or less. To begin with, no need to talk about being born in the state of Nebraska during the storm of the century, or that your hobby is fishing. Rather, you are going to use what s referred to as your positioning statement.

10 Think of the positioning statement as four elements, and each element will be one to two sentences long. Let them know who you are in the present sense that includes a title and possibly a value-added statement. Explain the industries and environments you ve worked with. Tell them what your strengths are. Tell them what makes you unique.

11 Positioning Statement Example Future Hiring Manager: So Bill, I have your resume in front of me, but in your own words, please tell me a little about yourself. Soon To Be Hired Employee Well, I am a recent graduate from San Jose State University, where I carried a 3.75 GPA. During my four years in college, I worked several high volume customer service positions alongside many culturally diverse team members. My strengths include a strong attention to detail, excellent customer service skills, and dependability. And last year, I was recognized four times for employee of the month. Do you recognize the four elements in this statement?

12 3.) How much are you going to cost me? Update: As of October 2017, it is now illegal in California and several other states for a potential employer to ask about your previous salary. In addition, a California employer must state the salary range of the position, if asked. There are several other states considering adopting similar laws so make sure to review your city and local laws.

13 The Dreaded Salary Question. This is usually one of the first questions asked during the initial interview process. It is also the one question that is in your best interest to defer until the final interview stages. In fact, whoever addresses this question first usually loses the salary negotiation in the end. It s not a difficult question to deflect it just takes a little practice. On the following page are several examples for deflecting the dreaded question.

14 Future Hiring Manager, So Bill, what salary are you looking for? Soon To Be Hired Employee, I m really looking for the same thing you are fair and equitable pay based upon my experience and skills. Bonus Aikido Move: Are you able to share the salary range for this position? (Often times the interviewer will release this information without realizing they did, and now you have the upper hand when the offer comes at a later interview.) Future Hiring Manager, So Bill, what was your salary at XYZ Company? Soon To Be Hired Employee, I am sure the responsibilities with XYZ were very different than what you are expecting from me. Are you able to further discuss the responsibilities for this position?

15 4.) If I hire you, what do I have to worry about? This is the weakness question and it will be asked in many different ways. Most commonly, So, what do you think is your biggest weakness? Two rules to follow when asked this question. First, do not share a weakness if it s part of the job requirement. (Quite frankly, why apply for the position in the first place? You ll likely be miserable.) Secondly, when sharing a weakness explain what you are doing to address it.

16 Future Hiring Manager, So Bill, what do you think is your biggest weakness? Soon to Be Hired Employee, Probably that I have no programming skills. As a career coach, I work with many clients from different backgrounds and the one difference with technical clients is that they sometimes have to face a technical interview where they are asked to write code on a whiteboard. They often think since I m not a programmer, I cannot understand what they face. But I do. And I know it s not always about getting the answer correct, but rather how you answer the question. So over time I have gathered material on how to approach the technical interview and I provide this to my technical clients when they have a technical interview scheduled.

17 5.) What s in it for me, if I hire you? These are the behavioral questions and are often asked as: What was the last project you headed up and what was the outcome? What do you think was the most important idea you contributed in your last job? Why should I hire you? Give me an example of a difficult decision you recently made and how did you come to your conclusion? The answers to all behavioral type questions comes down to one word:

18 SOAR S ituation O bstacle A - ction R - esults

19 SOAR stories are your best friend! We all have SOAR stories, but the key is to put them in writing, study them, and have them ready in your mind for the interview. Set a goal of writing down between stories. For mine, I used an Excel Spreadsheet. One of the best ways I have found for developing SOAR stories is to research common interview questions and then to prepare your SOAR stories around them. As a bonus to this download, I am attaching a list of common interview questions to help you create your SOAR stories.

20 SOAR EXAMPLE Future Hiring Manager, Bill, tell me a time when your team was not working together effectively. How did you handle it? Soon To Be Hired Employee, When I first took over as manager of my department, we had a lot of customer complaints about having to leave messages for computer problems. All the technicians would be on the phones with other users and no one was available to answer the calls. Well, I went to my manager with the request for a staffing increase, so I could hire a non-technical coordinator who would answer the calls and assign the workload to the technicians. I needed a live person my users could speak with. This was approved, and not only did I increase customer satisfaction significantly, I trained the coordinator to help with quick fixes so customers did not have to wait for call back. Do you see the SOAR in this story?

21 In Conclusion Preparation is key to reducing the anxiety of interviewing. Fully understand the position you are applying for and do your research of the company. Be prepared to ask questions that demonstrate your research of the company or position. And have your SOAR stories ready. When you are interviewing, keep the following thought in mind: What is it I can do for the company?

22 Top 5 Interview Questions asked 25 different ways 1. Tell me about yourself? 2. Why should we hire you? 3. How would you describe your work style? 4. What do you consider the single most important idea you contributed in your most recent position? 5. Give me an example of a difficult decision you recently made and how did you come to that conclusion? 6. What was the last project you headed up and what was the outcome? 7. What is your idea job? 8. Where do you want your career to be in 5 years? 9. How did you set your career goals in your last job? 10. Describe a work goal you did not meet? 11. What has been your most significant career achievement? 12. If I were a former colleague, and was to recommend additional training for you, what would it be? 13. Tell me about a time when you used your education or training to solve a problem? 14. Give me an example of something that was difficult for you to learn, and how did you handle it? 15. What are your strengths? 16. What was your salary in your last job? 17. What was your greatest failure and what did you learn from it? 18. You are over-qualified for this position. Why would you be interested in it? 19. What was the most enjoyable course you took or book you read in the past year? Why? 20. Describe a time when you had a dispute with a supervisor or colleague and how was it resolved? 21. How do you stay on top of trends and developments for your field? 22. Give me a time when you had to establish your credibility quickly with a new team? 23. Tell me a time when your work was criticized? 24. What do you know about us? 25. Do you have any questions for me?