IN THIS CHAPTER
- Taking notes to prepare for questions and answers
- Anticipating questions about your past performance and future goals
- Getting practice before you go on the actual interview
Interviewing is like so many other skills - the more you do k, the better you get. Part of the difficulty is that nobody likes to have to think about participating in numerous interviews. Reaching the bulls-eye on the first try is always the hope, even if that hope is unrealistic. Even landing one job offer usually takes more than one interview. Doing it right is important.
In this chapter, you learn how to get practice for your winning interview without going into the situation cold. With practice, you can prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for your important interview. With this preparation, you gain confidence in your ability to handle difficult questions and present your experience in a positive light.
Taking Inventory of Your Strengths and Weaknesses
In almost every job interview, you will be asked some variation on the questions "What are your strengths?" and "What are your weaknesses?" You should come to an interview prepared with your responses.
Naming the things you do best
Consider the question, "What are your strengths?" to be a gift, an opportunity to present yourself in the best light. You do not want to boast or be overly modest. Be prepared to mention at least four or five strong points with examples that support each point you make.
For example, if you think that one of your strong points is your ability to work with numbers, you might support that with an example by saying, "I have good skills with numbers and was able to assist my manager with preparing the department budget in less time than it had taken him the year before."
Think of your strong points and skills in several different categories. Those categories could include
- Intellect: The ability to think quickly; to think logically; to express ideas clearly in writing, verbally, or artistically; to see the "big picture," problem solving; and creative thinking
- Training/experience: Education and job training; awards, certificates, and accomplishments; and volunteer experience
- Personality/people skills: The ability to handle conflict, leadership, teamwork, and enthusiasm
Ask a friend, mentor, or trusted colleague to help you identify your strengths and weaknesses on the job. You can learn a great deal from listening to others discuss their impressions.
Take the time to work on the following worksheet. If a question doesn't apply to you, skip it. If you think of other skills and strengths that do apply to you, mention them here.
Intellectual Skills
- Quick thinking
- Detail oriented
- Big-picture thinking
- Best form of expression
- Problem-solving
- Other, name
Training/Experience
- Education
- Certification
- On-job training
- Most effective job skill(s)
- Recognition
- Volunteer experience
- Other, name
Personality/People Skills
- Strong personality traits
- Leadership skills
- Conflict-resolution skills
- Teamwork skills
- Management skills
- Other, name
You may not have the opportunity to mention all the strengths you have identified, but you will feel more confident knowing that you have a repertoire to draw from. Tailoring your responses based on your understanding of the position, company, and industry can help you as well.
You can use job descriptions and networking information to find out which strengths are important, but you can also pick up clues to which strengths an interviewer values by the way a question is phrased. For example, if an interviewer asks about your people skills or asks for an example of teamwork, you realize that this is important to the company. Your Inventory of Strengths can help you provide the example(s) you need to have a winning interview.
customers. That could be considered a weakness - if it implies that you do not give enough time to something else that is important. To turn that into lemonade, you can mention that while you give customers a lot of your time, they get better service as a result.
Think of three weaknesses you think you have. For each characteristic you identify, think of something practical you can do to overcome it. Then think of how you can turn this statement of weakness into something positive. Consider this example and then complete the following worksheet.
Weakness: I prefer to work independently rather than as part of a team.
Example/Proof: I will share a question I have about work and ask a colleague for a suggestion.
Lemonade statement: I am a self-starter and work quickly when I have a project to complete.
Weakness:
Example/Proof:
Lemonade Statement:
Weakness:
Example/Proof:
Lemonade Statement:
Weakness:
Example/Proof:
Lemonade Statement:
Share this list of weaknesses with a trusted colleague or friend. This person may have good suggestions for correcting the weaknesses you have identified. Another strategy for dealing with weaknesses is to eke a learning goal, such as getting more computer training, and then working to achieve that goal.