What did you do and how effective were you? We give you a specific way to answer this. Prove your reliability. Get this one wrong and it's curtains for your chances. Are you prepared to answer this one strategically? Look, we know how demoralizing and difficult that preparing for a job interview can be. Especially now that you know the level of interview questions the hiring manager is going to level at you John Sculley, who ran Apple from to , was a marketing and sales Jobs's early mentor Mike Markkula wrote him a memo in that urged three principles.
Jeffrey Preston Bezos is an American internet entrepreneur, industrialist, media proprietor, and Shortly after the wedding, Mike adopted four-year-old Jorgensen, whose In late , Bezos decided to establish an online bookstore. To replay a loop of his interviews from Amazon's quarter century of existence is to listen to Be Polite and Professional, and keep your dignity intact.
That person may report your behavior to the interviewer. Walk in and walk out with dignity, and maintain it at every point in between. Be Professional at all times. Yes, we like to have fun with the interview process and often joke around to make things a little more exciting. Yes, we get people jobs.
Okay, so what is our secret? How have we been able to help so many people succeed in a place where so many others have failed? You may think it is about you. You need that job. You need the money. Your teenage kid just bought a car you co-signed the loan for and then lost his job at the fast food place and has empty pockets.
You think that might have been a termite you saw in the beams of your basement, supporting your gorgeous hardwood floors. Forget those things—wipe them off the slate of your mind as you interview. Okay, so having said all of that, how does one position themselves as the type of person that this company wants to hire? How does one ensure that they are demonstrating that they have the qualities that the company puts so much value in? For starters, point out ways you can be of value to the company: how you can help them achieve their goals, based upon your past training and experience.
But be more interested in them than you are in yourself. Be there for them. Okay, so at this point it should be pretty clear that the company you are about to interview with already knows the type of person they want to hire. You are going to see this term a lot throughout the entire Master Guide, and that is because our goal throughout this guide is to transform you into this person before you step foot into the interview room. What is a Perfect Candidate? This person will usually need to have one, two, or even more specific Qualities that the organization believes in or puts a lot of emphasis on.
When the organization is conducting interviews, they will normally select the person who best exemplifies the specific qualities they are looking for. This person is their Perfect Candidate.
Okay we know what you are thinking It will make more sense after we break down the components. Simply stated, the A in the equation refers to your answer to the question that the interviewer asks you. In a lot of cases, this will be a Success Story from your past, one that clearly demonstrates an example of you succeeding in your past jobs, or any other relevant scenarios.
Everybody experiences the moment when his or her mind draws a blank during an interview. For these instances, it helps to have a few Success Stories to fall back on. At the very least, you can spin any uncomfortable silence into a positive by telling a story that demonstrates a success you had in the past. Qualities are what make up the Perfect Candidate. These are generally different types of knowledge, skills or abilities that the company considers to be of the utmost importance.
These are the things that you must reference or exemplify in the interview if you are to set your self apart from your competition. As we said earlier, a hiring manager will have a set of Qualities in mind that their Perfect Candidate must have.
It is your job to find out what these Qualities are and demonstrate to the hiring manager that you possess them. Multipliers are tidbits of information that you can bring up in your interview that the interviewer is not expecting you to know.
Generally speaking this would include things like special programs, initiatives or events, to name a few. The m acts as an exponent because it really increases your chance of being the Perfect Candidate exponentially! To take it a step further, Multipliers have the ability to make you look like you are already an employee in the eyes of the hiring manager. Does that make sense? So now we have:. When a hiring manager asks you a question in the interview, they will be expecting you to respond.
You have a choice. You can either give them a straight, literal answer that is your best attempt at giving them the information they need. This is the key. You have to know exactly. As you can probably imagine, job interview preparation has evolved greatly along side the proliferation of technology, namely the Internet.
In the old days, the only way that one could really get information on the position they were applying for was in the job description and by asking the company questions. Similarly, doing company research was pretty much limited to newspapers, the library archives any corporate marketing materials ex.
Financial reports, brochures, etc. Lucky for us, times have changed. The exponential growth of the internet has not only paved the way for an exponential growth in the amount of information at our fingertips, but also in a revolution in the connectivity between organizations and their prospective employees. They also leave clues. What kind of clues? When we say that they are leaving clues on their website, we mean it.
One of the absolute best places to discover the types of qualities that their Perfect Candidate must possess is their website, and this is how you do it. Begin by navigating to the website of the company you are interviewing with. Company History b. Sales or service they are providing c. Location of offices, including Head Office d. Any recent news items e. Investor information and Financials.
The point is, you need to get a general feel for what the company does, where they do it, and any relevant current events or news stories that they may be mentioned in.
Having said that, take notice of any themes that jump out at you. We have found that occasionally, qualities and multipliers can be found amongst the general info, depending on how the company chooses to present themselves to the general public. Take note of anything that the company is going out of their way to share! Most companies have a link, usually located at the bottom of the home page, which will take you directly to everything job-related.
This should be the hub for your interview preparation, so give it a click! In almost all cases, the best place to find qualities and multipliers is on the Career Page or one of its sub-pages ex. Well, because it is here that organizations really begin the process of sharing their beliefs for what makes up their Perfect Candidate.
Why do they do this? The main reason is to attract the right kind of people. What does this mean for you, the interviewer? As we said earlier in this guide, you absolutely need to tailor your answers to the company you are interviewing with, and you do this by infusing your answers to their questions with Qualities and Multipliers.
Some of these very important elements can be easily found on the Career Page. Please see the example below. By carefully choosing to infuse one of your answers with this quality. For example, see the tailored answer to the response below based on the Quality identified above:. Now keep this in mind. A company can reveal their desired Perfect Candidate Qualities in many different ways. You can find Qualities in videos.
You can find them in articles or blog posts. You can find them on one of the different tabs on the Career Page. The point is, you really have to dig around to see what you can turn up. The Career Page is certainly the place to get started.
You bridge the gap between being a candidate and an employee by showing your level of comfort and understanding with the way the organization does things.
Using the same question as above, see the new answer with the multiplier highlighted in orange:. The Company Website is not the only place that a company will reveal its Qualities and Multipliers.
As you can imagine, the internet is a vast resource and savvy organizations today are using many different mediums to share information and connect with future employees.
Before we dive into the questions themselves, we wanted to talk a little bit about the two different types of questions that a hiring manager is going to throw at you. Questions usually fall into one of two categories: traditional interview questions and behavioral interview questions. Below we outline the main differences between the two types of questions. Most interview questions fall into one of two broad categories, with some slight overlap.
Traditional interview questions attempt to find out the kind of person you are while also exploring your professional attitudes, aptitudes, and qualifications. These kinds of questions are based on psychology, which says that the way you behaved in the past is going to predict the way you are going to behave in the future. Statistically, that is true. Once someone is shown to have broken the law, it is statistically likely that he or she will do it again at some point.
Behavioral questions can really catch you off guard if you are not used to them and have not prepared for them. They require a lot more thinking than traditional interview questions. They are more probing than standard interview questions; they may seem to be inviting you to open up and be more of a human personality to the interviewer. You really need to be prepared beforehand for behavioral-type questions.
Fielding them on the fly is simply not an option—you may find yourself falling face-first into the turf. You can easily be tripped up by the unexpected quality of behavior-type questions. You may not be able to think of anything and will look and feel like a fish out of water with its mouth gaping open if you are not prepared.
Look at politicians and other public figures like celebrities. Because so much depends on their image, almost everything they say is carefully scripted. They prepare and practice everything from the words they will use to the inflection they put in their voice, to the expression they will have on their faces, even down to the gestures they make with their hands.
You have to be prepared on all these fronts too without seeming unnatural about it or else you may blurt something out that makes you look bad or say one thing with your mouth and quite another with your facial expression or body language.
Now that I think about it, I was considering taking a course in supervision after I got my second warning at Techrow that some of my jokes bordered on harassment. We will give you some outlines of structures into which you can fit your specific information and come off like a song, no matter what kind of question is thrown at you. You should now be familiar with what Qualities are and their importance in the tailoring process.
Also be on the lookout for Multipliers. These are extra bits of info that supercharge your answer. Remember, these answers are just guidelines. Yes, this book is good…really good. Amazing, in fact. Super duper awesome amazing good.. You want to be hired for YOU… Okay, enough warning.. Did the ground under your seat just quiver a bit, as though something underneath you is…moving?
This question is the mother of all traditional interview questions. What is a hiring manager trying to get at when he or she asks such a question?
Do they really want to know all about you? Your deepest, darkest secrets? Your hidden ambitions? Need some inspiration? Meetings were the norm at the company but I really felt like they were hurting us so I came up with a solution I thought would help and then had our great team build it.
It was an "Intranet Chat" program that allowed us to communicate, share ideas and plan our next moves with ease. It was a big hit with everyone because not only did it help productivity but it led to great bonding throughout our division.
I bring this little story up because I think it highlights 2 things I pride myself on: working well with others and thinking outside the box. What makes you unique? Speak right up. Chances are he or she really does have plenty of applicants and is sincerely interested in finding a way out of his or her dilemma: how to find someone who will be able to do the work and fit in well with the company long term. Rather, try something more along these lines:.
I know from reading about Ridell that it means a lot to your firm, and it does to me too. There are so many law firms where the lawyers only do pro bono work for already established clients. The interviewee has shown in this example that he or she would fit well into the culture of the firm. Why would a hiring manager care whether you are an introvert or an extrovert? If the job itself does not tip you off as to which type—introvert or extrovert—would suit the position best, aim for the golden mean, the middle ground, just to show you are well balanced.
This has developed the independent side of my character. At the same time, I often have to set up and operate the electrical equipment for broadcasts, so I have a lot of conversations with others and I have to work cooperatively to make sure a production comes off well, which means being in touch with everyone on the job.
The last thing you want to do is to show up late and then be faced with this question. Most responsibilities in adult life call for good time management skills; the job you are applying for may be in particular need of someone who can make a schedule and stick to it.
If so, the hiring manager has to know that you can do that. One other aspect of this position that was time-related was the fact that time zones played such a big role in the process. I was able to factor these differences into my work and ultimately provide my clients with a high level of service.
You have to prove it with an example, preferably from your previous work experience that shows you have mastered the skill. Similar to the question about time management, this hiring manager wants to make sure you are not going to be slacking off on the job, sitting in a sea of confusion, and not taking control of your work destiny and schedule.
Someone who is so hyper organized that they lose the ability to function if their carefully structured world is slightly off angle is just as hard to deal with as the opposite end of the spectrum. As an interior designer, I know that the first principle of an eye-opening, impactful display is to group objects with like objects. This principle of organization serves me well all the way down to organizing my alphabetical files of photo subjects.
I will bring these organizational skills to the table here as a window dresser. It allows us to upload our files from the main server into one large database rather than parceling them off on our own individual computers.
This saves us time and money as we can quickly go through and pull photos that we might otherwise not realize we own and helps prevent us from having to purchase them from an online stock photography company. Always answer in the affirmative. Well, they just clicked off the safety on that trap door again.
You really need to be well prepared for this next one because it can send up red flags to any interviewer or hiring manager: Why did you leave your last job? This is important for the interviewer to know. He or she is concerned about any bad partings in your past that may indicate a future bad parting with this company because of habits or attitudes you may not have corrected for. I see that your firm has several women in senior management, and I admire your commitment to diversity and fairness.
She stays Positive. I have recently gained certification in project management from my local community college, and I think the whole process has been a great learning experience. This answer directly above shows that the interviewee is a responsible person. At least be neutral. Leaving a place of employment is often accompanied by negative feelings. The important thing is not to say bad things about your last job or any of the people in it.
No matter how big you think the world is, the reality is, people talk…a lot. Better to give them something positive to talk about than something negative that can bite you in the tail down the road.
Always be the bigger person. The reason hiring mangers ask this question is because they want to know how self-aware you are. We all have weaknesses…but when we acknowledge those weaknesses and turn them into positives that work for us, it shows adaptability as well as insight into our characters…two very desirable traits!
They also want to know if you have a flaw that fits a pattern in people who left the position in the past. I know I need that extra burst of energy and mental clarity that a break can give me in order to give the last paragraph punch. I pride myself on dealing with any problem that I face strategically.. Talk about things you have already overcome. I am honest and attentive and consider myself a good listener. When my best friend was in the hospital for lung cancer surgery last year, I spent every evening at the hospital during visiting hours because we had pledged to one another as kids that we would always stick together.
On weekends, I helped take care of his yard. People who set goals are the same people who achieve more and those are the people hiring managers want on their team. Someone who has no goals will never grow on their own. Think big! My parents emigrated here from Hong Kong, and I speak Mandarin. I see it not only as a way to reach out and increase our visibility within this vibrant community, but a way to expand our ability to communicate with potential customers and business contacts both here locally and eventually globally as well.
Pay down my debts some, I guess. During my sophomore year of college I learned about an exchange program that actually took me right to the heart of where my family ancestry was from. The program specialized in international law as well as business and I knew it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
By working afterschool as well as weekends, I was able to make enough money to go on the trip. Not only was it the trip of a lifetime, but it introduced me to an entirely new way of looking at business on a global scale.
When I came home, not only had my dreams to travel been fulfilled, but I knew that my next goal would be my degree in international business, a goal I quickly met when I graduated top of my class.
Each new experience has encouraged me to reach further with my goals and each goal met has opened a door and helped me set the next goal. In fact, getting a job here would be another major step in my goal process. I know that the company has been planning on expanding into the international market and I know that my experiences overseas as well as my degree can help to make that transition smoother.
Everest with a pack of Chihuahuas as my only support. Since every situation and position in life requires us to make decisions, the hiring manager wants to know your facility in this important skill so you can be trusted on the job, particularly if the job requires lots of responsibility. Furthermore, I always try to analyze the pros and cons of making a decision. For the most difficult decisions, though, I usually consult company values.
Profits were great, and business was growing. The CEO expressed to me that he was grateful that I kept them from compromising their mission statement and that they were growing at a manageable and profitable rate. Such an aware person, who is able to back up her decision-making prowess with an example, seems deserving of a good decision—to hire her!
One of my biggest passions however is community beautification. I actually created and lead a group in my district that makes it their mission to create THE most beautiful neighborhood in town. I love organizing, inspiring and working together with my neighbors to make our neighborhood a better place to live.
Employers respond well to a person who works on fitness and manages stress well fewer problems with healthcare and insurance. If a hobby like building model airplanes relates to honing your fine motor skills, which relate to the job, it is good to mention that and verbally tie it to the job you are applying for.
Spare time activities should mostly be relatable to the company, and family is at times considered a tricky issue, especially for women.
The interviewer is giving you a chance to make a good impression, while at the same time, searching for any disqualifying factors that may come up. Everyone makes mistakes in their past or does things on their own time, but unless your mistakes are going to affect the company, keep them to yourself.
Instead, find something about you that is interesting and can be used to relate another strength to your potential employer. I had just completed my CPR and First Aid courses, and a man on site suddenly went into cardiac arrest. I knew I had to keep calm and simply do what I was taught. I revived him while others called He later thanked me for saving his life.
I think that was excellent training for an air traffic controller position, in addition to my FAA certification, of course.
Of course, you cannot and should not make something up, but think of a time when you acted well under pressure, especially if the job calls for it which many jobs do. Forewarned is forearmed: be prepared to discuss this next one.
Try to relate those strengths to the job at hand when the interviewer asks: What is your greatest strength?
He or she is interested in knowing how your greatest perceived strength is such that it can benefit the company. I passed the Architect Registration Exam in the 90th percentile of scores meaning I bring my architectural expertise, but I also have the entrepreneurial strength and spirit. Since your construction company is a start-up, I think that would add a lot of value.
Are you here just for a paycheck or do you see yourself becoming an integral part of the company and growing along with it? As a lawyer, we often walk the fine line between winning a case and doing the right thing which is why I admire the way you have managed to balance ethics and winning so successfully.
Everyone likes recognition and praise. The hiring manager wants to see if your intellectual and entertainment interests reflect those of a responsible person. Also, be careful about what book you decide to go with…50 Shades of Gray may be popular, but is that the book you want your interviewer to identify you with?
It has six different narratives that are not obviously related. I like to look for the connections between seemingly unrelated things and solve puzzles, so the book really engaged me. She saw a connection between her chosen profession and her choice of literature, and she helped the interviewer see that connection too.
Remember, every minute in an interview is an opportunity to firmly impress upon the interviewer the message that you are uniquely qualified for this job. He or she likely wants to know if your choices are targeted, intelligent, and informative about the task at hand. I think that knowledge will serve me well working in the bookstore here at the New Metro Modern Art Museum, whether I am shelving books or assisting customers in finding what they are looking for.
Similarly, try not to reveal any personal or religious beliefs via the websites you frequent. This is generally a pretty straight-up question. Some tricky interviewers may be trying to get at how much you are willing to sacrifice for the job. Being willing to bet the farm on it may not necessarily get you the job with such, though. Treat this question as a face value inquiry…and be honest. My wife and I have arranged our lives so that the kids are always cared for.
We live in the midst of a network of close friends and family members. If the job calls for travel, a person like this appears to be a wonderful bet on the part of the hiring manager. I am certainly willing to travel within that radius. Can you give me an idea of how much travel outside of that area, if any, would be called for?
If they are asking the question, they probably have some travel in mind. I have no close family in the immediate vicinity and I rent a townhouse, which is in a desirable location and which I can easily sublet. I noticed that your company had branches in different states and even different countries, and I applied for the job knowing that relocation was a distinct possibility.
My husband and I have considered moving to Kevington, and we would do so if that were the opening I was offered. I would be happy to work at either of the branches. If you are not willing to relocate, say so up front, unless you are so desperate that you know you and yours would jump at the chance as long as you get a job.
All jobs have varying degrees of pressure that are put on their employees and asking you how you perform lets a potential employer know what to expect when the heat is on. I never had a single accident. This tremendous focus on the details can sometimes require more time than is originally allotted for a project, which in certain situations can be troublesome. This by the way, is where most advice you find in books or on the internet would stop!
Are you seeing the power of this!? Desired PC Quality: decisiveness Company requires that a person in this position must be able to make decisions quickly. Example Answer: While overall my experience at the West Coast Box Company was a positive and rewarding journey, over time I felt like my style of working did not align well with their style.
In my role as Shipping Coordinator, I was required to make decisions quickly and get my crew to act quickly in order to ensure that my clients received their goods on time, but my managers preferred the free flow of ideas with very loose time management standards and it made my job quite difficult. I think I really was able to showcase one of my biggest strengths, my ability to remain calm under pressure, when I organized and lead a mediation between the two groups that resulted in a handshake agreement.
You just need to use examples that highlight the desired Quality you want to show. Bonus Question 2 Why do you want to work for us?
As a lawyer, we often walk the fine line between winning a case and doing the right thing which is why I admire the way you have managed to balance ethics and winning so successfully. No job offer, back to the end if the line! This little shift in the way I prepared for interviews has single-handedly gotten me job offers for every job I have interviewed for since seriously.
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