We’ve all seen the articles and books on 50 tips for interviews or 100 difficult interview questions. There are many different questions, but they all boil down to these questions, or some version of these.
The best way to answer them is to have a couple of accomplishments you can talk about in detail that show what you can do for the company. Try to find out what their issues or problems are and give examples of how you solved those problems for other companies.
1. Why should we hire you?
This really means, What are your best skills that you bring to the company?. How can you solve their problems with your skills? Tell a story illustrating your best skill by solving a problem on a prior job and the results.
2. Why do you want to work for us? It is all about the company, not about you. They have a reputation, a mission, a goal that you would like to be part of. Again. Tell a story that shows how you contributed to the mission of a prior organization.
3. What is your biggest weakness? Or biggest mistake? Ask yourself, can you sidestep the question. If not, be brief and then get back to giving information about how you can help solve their challenges..
4. Why did you leave your last job? Or Why were you fired? Be prepared with a brief answer to these or any other difficult questions. Then move on to the important part – how you can help them. Illustrate with another story.
5. What is your greatest strength? My greatest strength is x. Why don’t I share a story with you of how I used that in a prior job. Then tell your story explaining the problem, what you did to solve it, and the results..
The interview is an opportunity for you to tell at least one story (or two or three) that illustrates your strengths and how you solved a problem in a former job. It is also the opportunity to ask the right questions of the interviewer(s) such as, what is their greatest challenge, how do you measure success, and who will you be working with.
This was a great note from our friend Amy Geffen!
GEFFEN C A R E E R S