Quintessential Careers:
At the Job Interview, Don't Answer Questions -- Tell Stories Instead
by Joe Turner
Many years ago when I hated what I was doing for a living, my career coach encouraged me to
write down several short stories about times and events in my life where I influenced the outcome.
I was stumped at first, but after a few days, I came up with over 15 pages of stories of times in
my life where I influenced the outcome and either grew myself and/or bettered the existence of
either others or myself.
So what does this have to do with a job interview?
If you read other books on job interviews, you'll notice they feed you lists of interview questions
to learn answers to. An interview is not an interrogation, however, it's a conversation. To make
it that way you need to come armed with a multitude of small stories about both your business
and personal life.
When you go into an interview, you need to leave your nerves at the door. The best way to prepare
is to be you. The best way to do this is to tell your own story (or stories). So before the interview
have your stories ready to go.
Here's Why Stories Work
A competency-based interviewer will spend about half the interview on your job skills, and about
half on your behavioral competencies. He or she will be looking for evidence of how you have acted
in real situations in the past. So having your stories ready to go plays very well for this type of interview.
A company wants to find out:
The best way to do that is to take the initiative and have several personal stories that you can
tell, taking maybe 30 to 90 seconds each.
You may want to start by developing your stories around these areas:
Actions speak louder than words. Your actions in the past will tell a company much more than
any generic response. Since you already know the questions that a company wants answered,
it's now an easy process to answer these questions with actual examples of your past actions.
Final Thoughts
Your job interview should not be an interrogation. You should always think of it as a conversation
between two equals. When you accomplish this you come away a step closer to your goal of landing
the job you really want, because…
It's the conversation that wins an interview, and
To have a real conversation, prepare beforehand and have your stories ready.
Questions about some of the terminology used in this article? Get more information (definitions and links) on key college, career, and job-search
terms by going to our Job-Seeker's Glossary of Job-Hunting Terms.
Have you taken advantage of all of our job interviewing
resources? Find articles, tutorials, and more -- all written to help job-seekers learn
how to master all types of job interviews.
And check out all our Career
Storytelling Tools for Job-Seekers.
Employers are using competency-based interviews more often today. In a traditional interview,
the interviewer will ask you questions focused on whether you have the skills and knowledge
needed to do the job. A competency-based interview goes further by asking you additional
questions about your character and personal attributes that can better determine whether you fit
their corporate culture. These are called “behavioral competencies.”
It's the conversation that wins the job.
As a recruiter, Joe Turner has spent the past 15 years finding and placing
top candidates in some of the best jobs of their career. He makes it easy for
anyone to find and land the job they really want all on their own in the shortest
time possible. Discover
more insider job-search secrets.
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