Critical Interviewing Tips: Key Job Interview Advice -- #6

Q-Tips: Critical Interviewing Tips
Key Job Interview Advice -- #6

These job interviewing related tips -- preparing for job interviews, tips for handling tricky interview questions, and more -- have been gathered from numerous sources throughout Quintessential Careers and organized here for your convenience.

In sales, it's a proven theory that if you can overcome all your prospect's objections, s/he will have no choice but to agree to your offer. And while in a job interview you are not doing the exact same thing for the same reasons, the logic holds that if you can overcome all the objections of the hiring manager, then you'll be more likely to move on to the next step in the process. Read more in our article, Closing the Sale and Overcoming Objections in the Job Interview.

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Mock interviews simulate real job interviews and are conducted with a prospective job interviewee and an interviewer, often a career professional who can provide valuable input on your interview performance. The career pro will not only point out your shortcomings, but will acknowledge the areas in which you excelled, thus boosting your confidence. "Just one mock interview will result in a marked improvement in your interviewing skills," says College Grad Job Hunter author Brian Krueger, who recommends going through two such interviews (and, of course, the more you do, the more skilled you will become). For the inexperienced interviewee, mock interviews provide an excellent picture of what to expect. Read more in our article, Best Bet for Interview Prep: Rehearsed, Mock, and Videotaped Interviews.

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The "Why should I hire you?" Question is one of the 10 Sticky Job Interview Situations and How to Handle Them that Drs. Randall and Katharine Hansen write about. The unspoken part of this question is: "Why should I hire you [above all the other candidates]?" This is your chance to shine, to really make a sales pitch for yourself. Use your Unique Selling Proposition to describe what sets you apart from other candidates. The employer will make a significant investment in hiring and training you, so tell the interviewer that this investment will be justified. For example, you could say: "I sincerely believe that I'm the best person for the job. Like other candidates, I have the ability to do this job. But beyond that ability, I offer an additional quality that makes me the very best person for the job -- my drive for excellence. Not just giving lip service to excellence, but putting every part of myself into achieving it. Throughout my career, I have consistently strived to become the very best I can become. The success I've attained in my management positions is the result of possessing the qualities you're looking for in an employee."

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In a stress interview, notes Dr. Randall Hansen in our article, Situational Interviews and Stress Interviews: What to Make of Them and How to Succeed in Them, the interviewer may try to stress you in one of several ways, such as asking four or five questions in a row, acting rude or sarcastic, disagreeing with you, or simply keeping you waiting for a long period. Don't take any of these actions personally. Simply stick to your agenda and showcase your skills and accomplishments calmly. Better, try taking back control of the interview by ignoring the stress. Some experts suggest even getting up and walking around the room so that you take control by being the only person standing. And if there is a board or flip chart in the room, another option is to get up and draw or diagram parts of your answers. Most job-seekers will not encounter such interviews, but it is important to know they exist, and know how to handle yourself if you are faced with such an interview style.

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The personal opinion of the interviewer is often the key to the outcome of an interview, writes Frank Traditi in our article, Demonstrate Your Problem-Solving Skills in the Interview. He or she will make a decision about whether to hire you based not only on your qualifications, but also on whether your personality will fit in at their company. Often the interviewer's instinct decides who will get the job offer. Traditi doesn't suggest you try to obtain a personality transplant to succeed in an interview. If you really won't fit in at a particular company, you don't want to work there. But what you can do is be personable and professional. Smile, look the interviewer in the eye, and engage in a two-way conversation. Listen carefully, respond thoughtfully, and don't digress into personal details.

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"Off-the-wall" Questions, also known as "Wild Card" or "No-Right-Answer" are among the 10 Sticky Job Interview Situations and How to Handle Them that Drs. Randall and Katharine Hansen write about. Occasionally you'll be asked an interview question that's just downright weird and certainly doesn't seem to have anything to do with the job -- for example, a question like this: "If you were an ice-cream cone, what flavor would you be?" Interviewers often ask these oddball questions to see how quickly you can think on your feet and whether you can avoid becoming flustered. Others, unfortunately, ask them because they enjoy seeing interviewees squirm. Still others are amused by the range of creative -- and not-so-creative -- responses they receive. Don't let an off-the-wall question rattle you. Take a moment to gather your thoughts and respond the best way you can. There is rarely a wrong answer to this type of question, but quick-thinking candidates can turn the response into an opportunity to impress the employer. A response given by one of my former students has always stuck in my head as being a standout answer. The question was: "If you were a superhero, what would be your super powers, and why?" His response: "I think I would prefer to be a superhero like Batman, who doesn't have superpowers per se, but who relies on his intelligence and use of the right tools to get the job done." Read more. And try our practice interview of off-the-wall questions.

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Overcoming objectives in a job interview can be done in a number of different ways, but the keys are to acknowledge the interviewer's objection, understand the true cause of the objection, and respond with enough information to defuse the objection. It's best to anticipate these potential objections before the job interview so that you'll be able to practice your responses. Read more in our article, Closing the Sale and Overcoming Objections in the Job Interview.

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The Career Doctor, Randall S. Hansen says that interviewing is perhaps the most critical point in job-hunting, where the job-seeker has to use persuasive communications skills to show that s/he is the perfect candidate for the position. Here are just a few of the most critical do's and don'ts of interviewing:

Do your research and know the type of job interview you will be encountering.

don't

Do dress the part for the job, the company, the industry. And do err on the side of conservatism.
Do plan to arrive about 10 minutes early. Late arrival for a job interview is never excusable. If you are running late, do phone the company.
Do greet the receptionist or assistant with courtesy and respect. This is where you make your first impression.
Do bring extra resumes to the interview. (Even better, if you have a career portfolio, do bring that with you to the interview.)
Don't rely on your application or resume to do the selling for you. No matter how qualified you are for the position, you will need to sell yourself to the interviewer.
Do greet the interviewer(s) by title (Ms., Mr., Dr.) and last name if you are sure of the pronunciation. (If you're not sure, do ask the receptionist about the pronunciation before going into the interview.
Doshake hands firmly. Don't have a limp or clammy handshake!
Do have a high confidence and energy level, but don't be overly aggressive.
Don't act as though you would take any job or are desperate for employment.
Don't say anything negative about former colleagues, supervisors, or employers.

Read more Interviewing Do's and Don'ts -- and find lots more tools and resources about job interviewing in this section of Quintessential Careers: Guide to Job Interviewing Resources.

And don't forget that we DO have a Job Interviewing Tutorial for Job-Seekers.

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Many career coaches and consultants offer mock-interview training, as do most college career-services offices. Students who've undergone such interviews have praised them for their similarity to real interviews, their ability to build confidence, and their emphasis on the importance of tailoring interview responses to the job, as well as the need for the interviewee to research the employer, develop examples that illustrate qualifications, and ask questions in the interview. Vault.com reports that some students schedule a mock interview just an hour or so before a real interview so the feedback is fresh in their minds. Read more in our article, Best Bet for Interview Prep: Rehearsed, Mock, and Videotaped Interviews.

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What do you do if an interviewer raises no objections in a job interview? It might not mean that there are none, so it's best to probe to uncover any -- again, because it's much better to get them out in the open and address them than to let them sit, clouding your future. As the interview winds down, if no objections have been raised, you should consider asking a question such as, "Do you see any concerns that stand in the way of my succeeding in this position?" Read more in our article, Closing the Sale and Overcoming Objections in the Job Interview.

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Companies hire you based on your ability to demonstrate what you can do for them and how you can solve their problems, writes Frank Traditi in our article, Using Career Success Stories in Interviews and Networking. While a hiring manager expects you to have all of the functional skills necessary for the job, they are much more interested in how you can use your special abilities to handle the challenges given to you if you were in the job. The big question is how do you demonstrate this ability in an interview when they haven't seen you at work yet? The most effective method is to tell a story.

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In situational interviewing, job-seekers are asked to respond to a specific situation they may face on the job, and some aspects of it are similar to behavioral interviews, notes Dr. Randall Hansen in our article, Situational Interviews and Stress Interviews: What to Make of Them and How to Succeed in Them. These types of questions are designed to draw out more of your analytical and problem-solving skills, as well as how you handle problems with short notice and minimal preparation.

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Interviewers need to be convinced that the candidate they are interviewing will be able to fix their problems and help their company achieve its goals, writes Frank Traditi in our article, Demonstrate Your Problem-Solving Skills in the Interview. One of the best ways to answer interview questions is to use your career success stories. Career success stories are tales of the defining moments in your career when you overcame significant challenges to succeed. These stories create a memorable impression and give the listener anecdotes about you that identify your ability to handle the tasks at hand, solve complex problems and provide a solution.

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Stephanie Milner, a former pharmaceutical sales rep, cites the value of mock interviews in preparing for the behavioral style of interview questions that most pharmaceutical firms ask. "These questions often vary and are rated," Milner reports. "When the interview is complete, they add up a score and determine if you are 'the right stuff.' Mock interviews forced me to think! I had to think about the perfect experience. Companies want to see how you resolve issues. The S(T)AR form of answers was wonderful, because you have to give the results. That is what companies want!" Read more in our article, Best Bet for Interview Prep: Rehearsed, Mock, and Videotaped Interviews.

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Illegal Questions are among the 10 Sticky Job Interview Situations and How to Handle Them that Drs. Randall and Katharine Hansen write about. It's illegal to ask about age, marital status, children, childcare arrangements, and the like, but employers still do -- or come up with subtle ways to ask, such as by inquiring about when you graduated from high school/college. It's best to address the concern behind the question rather than the question itself by saying something like: "There is nothing about my personal status that would get in the way of my doing a great job for your company." While it may also be tempting to point out the illegality of the question, doing so likely won't endear you to the interviewer.

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Often during interviews you'll get the opportunity to highlight your unique talents, writes Frank Traditi in our article, Using Career Success Stories in Interviews and Networking. A very effective way to do this is to introduce your career success stories about how you overcame significant challenges. You may have suggested a creative idea to handle an employee performance problem. Maybe you instituted a step-by-step process to reduce customer complaints. Perhaps your persistence paid off to close a multi-year contract with the largest customer the company has ever seen.

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A common objection that employers bring up in job interviews is: "I'm concerned you have too much experience for this position."

This comment is the most loaded of objections because it can mean one of several things -- and it is your job to discover which one it is. The good news is that if you are in the interview, there is something about your qualifications that make you an attractive candidate. Most often, this comment is concealing a concern about your age, attitude, or motivation. Obviously, the interviewer cannot ask your age, but someone with a lot of experience is often older, and the employer may have some concerns about fit, especially if the rest of the department is younger. Older workers also sometimes put out a vibe that because of their vast experience they know it all -- and are seen as having an attitude problem. Finally, if you have years in the same type of position, some interviewers will question your drive and motivation to move ahead (incorrectly assuming that everyone wants to do so). Read more in this article: Fighting the Overqualified Label: 10 Tactics for a Successful Job-Search and Closing the Sale and Overcoming Objections in the Job Interview.

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Situational interviews are similar to behavioral interviews, except while behavioral focus on a past experience, situational interviews focus on a hypothetical situation, notes Dr. Randall Hansen in our article, Situational Interviews and Stress Interviews: What to Make of Them and How to Succeed in Them. For example, in a behavioral interview, the interviewer might start a question with, "Tell me about a time you had to deal with..." In a situational interview, the interviewer asks, "How would you handle..."

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Personal anecdotes in a job interview demonstrate your unique ability to solve problems, writes Frank Traditi in our article, Demonstrate Your Problem-Solving Skills in the Interview. situation at work. Here's the idea -- at some point in your career, you were faced with what seemed to be an insurmountable problem. If the problem continued, there would have been severe consequences. Rather than sit back and watch things fall apart, you took initiative and implemented a plan to solve the problem and bring about a positive result.

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Procedures may vary as to whether you're required to wear interview attire for a mock interview, but it's always best to do so because you'll come closer to simulating a real interview. You'll find out how it feels to wear your "dress-for-success" duds in an interview situation and perhaps get a confidence boost from how spiffy you look. Read more in our article, Best Bet for Interview Prep: Rehearsed, Mock, and Videotaped Interviews.

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A common objection that employers bring up in job interviews is: "I'm just not sure you have the experience for this position."

This objection sometimes comes up with a job-seeker who shows potential -- and thus gets the interview -- but with whom the employer has some lingering doubts. Perhaps it is not quite enough years of experience, or perhaps the experience is in a different field. The job-seeker's goal is to show exactly how -- regardless of the time spent or where it was spent -- that you have the skills to get the job done. One great tool for this objection is a career portfolio, in which you not only can tell the story of how you are qualified -- but show it as well through examples in your portfolio. Read more tips in this article: Underqualified? Ten Tips to Inspire Employers to Take a Leap of Faith and Closing the Sale and Overcoming Objections in the Job Interview.

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Salary Questions are among the 10 Sticky Job Interview Situations and How to Handle Them that Drs. Randall and Katharine Hansen write about. As a screening device, interviewers often ask early in the interview what salary you are looking for. If you ask for more than the employer is willing to pay (or occasionally, on the flip side, undervalue yourself), the interviewer can eliminate you before spending a lot of time with you. That's why the best tactic for salary questions is to delay responding to them as long as possible -- ideally until after the employer makes an offer. Try to deflect salary questions with a response like this: "I applied for this position because I am very interested in the job and your company, and I know I can make an immediate impact once on the job, but I'd like to table salary discussions until we are both sure I'm right for the job." Read more in our Salary Negotiation and Job Offer Tutorial.

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To help you tell your story in a job interview in the most convincing way, you need a simple format to work from, writes Frank Traditi in our article, Using Career Success Stories in Interviews and Networking.

Here's an easy, three-step process to put the pieces together for your success stories when you get the opportunity to tell them.

1. Describe the problem or opportunity you faced.
Here you should describe the situation you were up against. It may have been a special project that you were assigned or a highly volatile customer issue. Perhaps it was an aggressive sales objective never attempted before. You're setting up the plot of your story here.

2. What did you do?
How did you deal with the challenge? Perhaps you devised plans, assigned tasks, coordinated meetings, created a system, or mobilized a team to tackle the problem. Describe the process, step-by-step, of how you attacked the problem through to resolution. Remember, you are explaining and marketing your ability to solve problems.

3. What was the positive result?
Describe, as specifically as you can, the positive outcome of your actions. How did you save or make money for the company or department? What changed for the better as a result of your initiative? Did a difficult communication problem disappear after you got involved? Did you repair a big customer problem? The more you can point to specific, bottom-line results, the more convinced a hiring manager is that you are person for the job.

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A common objection that employers bring up in job interviews is: "I'm not sure you would fit into the team."

So many jobs require workers to participate in one or more teams that it seems inconceivable that a job-seeker would not have experience working in teams, but if for some reason you do not have much experience in teamwork, you must demonstrate that you understand the importance of teams in the workplace and how you can be a team player. Demonstrating your knowledge of the organizational culture will also be a plus in this situation. Read more in our article, Closing the Sale and Overcoming Objections in the Job Interview.

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While it can be helpful to conduct a mock interview in a venue where you won't be interrupted, you may actually want your interviewer to create some interruptions to better simulate an actual interview. Take the mock interview seriously, and try to think of it as the real thing. Ask your interviewer to hit you with the trickiest and most difficult questions an employer might ask you. Read more in our article, Best Bet for Interview Prep: Rehearsed, Mock, and Videotaped Interviews.

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The key to preparation and success in situational interviews is simply to review your past work experiences and review the steps you took to resolve problems and make corrections, notes Dr. Randall Hansen in our article, Situational Interviews and Stress Interviews: What to Make of Them and How to Succeed in Them. You should also have short stories of some of these past experiences so you can also incorporate them into your answers to show that you have experience handling similar situations.

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Relate your responses to job-interview question to similar situations earlier in your career, writes Frank Traditi in our article, Demonstrate Your Problem-Solving Skills in the Interview. Talk briefly about how you handled the situation, and highlight the results. These stories demonstrate to the interviewer that you have specific experience in dealing with similar situations. For example, let's say you were asked in an interview, "How do you deal with high-pressure situations?" You could simply answer: "I'm very good when faced with high-pressure situations. I dealt with them all the time at my last job." However, this response doesn't do much to convince the interviewer of your abilities. Use a career success story instead: "I'll give you an example. I was leading a team of national account sales reps in the fourth quarter of the year. We were n the running to be the top sales team in the country in our organization. Prior to the fourth quarter, we hadn't even made the top 10. Our sales were good, but we wanted to finish the year as No. 1. I organized and led a sales-planning retreat to motivate my team to accomplish three things: First, we identified each of our prospects and determined exactly what we could close before the end of the quarter. Second, I had each rep -- with the assistance of his or her support team -- lay out a tactical plan for winning that business prior to the year's end. Third, I asked each rep to make a specific sales commitment with support from their team. The bottom line was that we not only surpassed our overall sales plan, we blew away the competition. Every sales rep hit his or her goal, some topping it by 75 to 100 percent. As a result, our sales-team production exceeded 250 percent of the target, and we were recognized as the top team in the nation. As our award, my team joined the company's top executives on a five-day trip to Paris."

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A common objection that employers bring up in job interviews is: "I'm concerned about the number of jobs you've held in such a short period of time."

If you have had an unusual number of jobs in the last few years, some interviewers will raise the job-hopper question, so you need to be able to explain the logic of your job history. It's important to note that even though employers are not as loyal to their employees as in the past, they still expect employees to be loyal to them. Read more in our article, Closing the Sale and Overcoming Objections in the Job Interview.

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Questions about Being Terminated from a Previous Job are among the 10 Sticky Job Interview Situations and How to Handle Them that Drs. Randall and Katharine Hansen write about. It's always uncomfortable to be asked your reasons for leaving a job from which you were terminated. Don't lie about it, but don't dwell on it either. You could explain that you and the company were not a good fit, hence your performance suffered. Or that you and your supervisor had differing viewpoints. Emphasize what you learned from the experience that will prevent you from repeating it and ensure that you will perform well in the future. Read more about handling termination.

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Writes Dr. Randall Hansen in our article, Situational Interviews and Stress Interviews: What to Make of Them and How to Succeed in Them: Here's one way in a situational interview that an interviewer might ask an applicant for a customer-service manager position: "How would you handle an angry customer who was promised delivery of the product on a certain date, but because of manufacturing delays, the company was not able to deliver on a timely basis? The customer is demanding some kind of compensation for the unexpected delay." Or, for a management position, a job-seeker might be asked: "How do you handle a disgruntled employee in your department who has made a habit of arriving late to work and causing minor disruptions during the day, as well as a declining morale among the rest of the staff?"

Find even more job interviewing tips in Critical Interviewing Tips: Key Job Interview Advice -- #7.

Check out all of our Quick and Quintessential Job-Search Interviewing Tips.

Review all our Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search and Work Life.

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Q-Tips: Critical Interviewing Tips Key Job Interview Advice -- #6

These job interviewing related tips -- preparing for job interviews, tips for handling tricky interview questions, and more -- have been gathered from numerous sources throughout Quintessential Careers and organized here for your convenience.

Check out all of our Quick and Quintessential Job-Search Interviewing Tips.

Review all our Quick and Quintessential Tips to Guide Your Job Search and Work Life.

Maximize your career and job-search knowledge and skills! Take advantage of The Quintessential Careers Content Index, which enables site visitors to locate articles, tutorials, quizzes, and worksheets in 35 career, college, job-search topic areas.

Q-Tips: Critical Interviewing Tips
Key Job Interview Advice -- #6