Tag: job interview question

Posted on

Can you use ChatGPT to help pass a job interview?

ChatGPT is an open AI source that communicates with users in a conversational way while answering questions and helping people with various tasks from essay writing to creating code, and of course, helping job hunters to gain job offers.

The question career professionals are asking is: Can ChatGPT help me land a job? and If so, what do I need to do?

I asked ChatGPT to help me to answer commonly asked job interview questions and here is the advice I gained:

Sure, here are some sample answers to the job interview questions you provided:

  1. “Tell me about yourself?”

I am an AI-powered language model trained to assist and answer various queries. My purpose is to provide useful and accurate information to help people in their daily lives. I am constantly learning and updating my knowledge to ensure that I can provide the best possible assistance to my users.

  1. “Why do you want to work here?”

As an AI language model, I don’t have personal motivations or desires, but I can explain some reasons why someone might want to work for a particular company, such as:

  • I am impressed by the company’s mission and values, and I believe that the work the company does is important and meaningful.
  • The company has a great reputation in the industry, and I would like to be part of a team that is recognized for its excellence.
  • The company offers great opportunities for growth and development, and I am excited to learn new skills and advance my career.
  1. “What are your weaknesses?”

As an AI language model, I don’t have weaknesses or strengths in the traditional sense. However, some general advice for answering this question is, to be honest about areas where you may need improvement and demonstrate how you are working to overcome those weaknesses.

  1. “What are your strengths?”

As an AI language model, some of my strengths include being able to provide accurate and helpful information quickly, learning from past interactions to improve future responses, and being available 24/7 to assist users with their queries.

  1. “Do you have an example of working in a team?”

As an AI language model, I work with a team of developers and data scientists who are responsible for training and improving my capabilities. Together, we work to ensure that I am providing the best possible assistance to users and addressing any issues or challenges that arise.

  1. “Do you have any questions for us?”

As an AI language model, I don’t have questions in the traditional sense, but some suggestions for questions you might ask the interviewer include:

  • What qualities do you look for in successful employees in this role?
  • What are the biggest challenges facing the company right now, and how do you plan to address them?
  • Can you tell me more about the company culture and what it’s like to work here?

With the first set of answers, I wasn’t overly impressed being told over again that ‘As an AI model….’ Was it something I was doing wrong?

The answers given by ChatGPT do state good ideas – questions that can be asked at the interview end, but in the main, a quick search on Google would help a prospective candidate find better interview answers and more in-depth interview advice.

Business Insider also tested ChatGPT for its ability to write a cover letter. The AI-written cover letter was sent to real recruiters who, overall, liked the cover letter saying that they would invite the applicant to a follow-up screening call – the goal of a cover letter, but they also stated that ‘letters lacked personality and research about the companies’.

Indeed also looked into the generic interview answer problem, saying, ‘You can ask ChatGPT, “What are some tips for preparing for a job interview?” It will respond by telling you to research the company, review the job description and prepare to answer common questions.‘

They found that asking more specific questions would create more specific (potential) answers. As an example, instead of asking ChatGPT ‘What are common interview questions?’ ask ‘What interview questions would a (job role) be asked?’

Career tuners requested a mock interview with ChatGPT, asking for very specific information: ‘

‘I have an interview with (company name) for (job title) and the name of my interviewer is (name). Can you give me the following:
1. Information on the company, the industry, and its competitors
2. The culture of the company
3. How I need to speak to the company’s culture in my interview answers
4. Questions I can ask (interviewer’s name) at the end of the interview
5. Any mistakes I can potentially be making that would specifically affect my candidacy for a (job title) position with (company name)‘

The answers weren’t as impressive as hoped for, with some information being irrelevant and outdated.

Career Flow also found that asking specific questions is key: ‘While asking questions to ChatGPT, think of it as a very smart but very stupid machine. Despite being smart enough to know everything, it won’t give you an accurate answer unless you tell it exactly what you need.’

Is ChatGPT better than an AI-powered mock interview?

A secondary barrier to ChatGPT in helping to prepare for a job interview is not being able to read non-verbal communications; facial expressions, gestures, and even the candidate’s appearance, all, research has shown, has an impact on the interview outcome.

Google and Linkedin are helping job seekers by offering a free interactive AI-delivered mock interview. The post-interview feedback includes a review of the candidate’s interview answer, a filler-word counter, and additional interview tips – all advice that is missing when using ChatGPT to help land a job.

The final barrier for anyone relying on AI to support with their job interview is that it is difficult ChatGPT to predict:

  • The type of job interview each company will use; formal, or informal, a values interview, behavioral and situational interview questions, a panel or single person interview
  • The interviewer’s personality; a cold or warm interviewer – this is important as humans interact differently with different temperaments
  • Accurately predicting interview questions; two employers offering the same position, in the same industry may ask different questions
Evolve the mind book on Amazon

The benefits of ChatGPT for job interview preparation

  • Can help predict common interview questions
  • Answers given can be specific when a distinct demand is asked
  • Information is taken from various sources
  • Answers can be used as a template that can be reworded
  • It’s a great tool when an applicant is struggling to come up with any interview answer
  • And, it’s currently a free tool

The negative of using ChatGPT for preparing for your next job interview

  • Information given can be outdated or incorrect
  • Answers can seem robotic, or dry
  • Remembering a set of written interview answers is harder than discussing a memory or experience
  • It is unlikely to give answers for ‘value job interviews’ and questions about company culture
  • There isn’t a tool for checking non-verbal communication or communication style
Posted on

Stop Making These Simple Interview Mistakes

Job hunters often fail job interviews due to the small mistakes they are making. These interview errors are often outside the job seekers’ conscious awareness – the applicant keeps failing job interviews without understanding how their years of industry experience and sector-related qualifications aren’t enough to land them a job offer.

Becoming aware of common job interview mistakes allows a career professional to reflect on their interview skills and make necessary changes.

Are you making these common interview errors?

Boxing yourself in.

Confidence, in a job interview, is key to success. And, confidence is portrayed by the communication of competencies.

To show confidence, the savvy interviewee will state specific facts ‘I know all about your company’ or ‘I am an expert in…’

Stating a specific fact can be a powerful affirmation statement. When confidently put, often the affirmation will be taken, without question, by the interviewer. It is a lack of skilled interviewers in the recruitment that allow confident statements to be taken as red. More and more, recruiters are being trained in the art of interviewing. One of the techniques taught to job interviewers is to ask for specific and measurable information, to challenge ambiguous statements, and to gather evidence to project job performance.

As an example, for the ‘I know all about your company..’ interview answer to the question ‘what made you apply for a role with our organisation?’ the trained interviewer may ask a specific follow question: ‘It’s great to hear that you have researched the organisation, what do you know X part of the company?’

This can make some interviewees lose credibility if they have to backtrack on their original assertation: ‘I know all about your company’

Job candidates, instead of making a sweeping statement can use specific information to embed into their interview answers: ‘After reading that your company was involved in X, I wanted to learn more about the organisation, and….’

A lack of flexible opinions

In the main, employees will have a level of flexibility in terms of job duties, ways of working, and their hierarchy of needs.

Employers like a flexible employee, especially as job roles evolve in line with ever-changing business needs. Being seen as inflexible or having a strong opinion that is the opposite of the interviewers can break rapport.

An example interview question is: ‘what type of manager do you best work under?’ can result in a strong opinion: ‘I strongly believe in a manager having X leadership style….’ If the stated leadership style differs from the culture of the company, the interview panel may feel that the applicant won’t fit in well with the current team.

The solution is to give a ‘options’ answer. An options answer gives multiple choices, embedded within the interview answer, which creates the illusion of an opinion where there wasn’t one. To answer the ‘best management style’ interview question, the job candidate could say: ‘different leadership styles suit different tasks and projects, as an example in X situation (sector-related situation) a good leadership style would be Y, but when (industry related example) a better management approach would be to…’

Other common interview questions that need a ‘options’ answer include:

  • Do you work best within a team or on your own initiative?
  • Are you a leader or a follower?
  • How would you deal with X situation?

2 mouth’s, 1 ear

Job hunters are famous for forgetting their GCSE biology. Humans have 2 ears and 1 mouth, not I ear and 2 mouths. In short, job hunters need to listen more than they speak.

During a job interview nerves and anxiety play a large part in the applicant’s job interview identity – how the employer perceives the candidate due to their verbal and non-verbal cues. Being nervous during the recruitment process creates a physical change in the brain resulting in a poor job interview performance.

  • Failure of the long-term memory
  • A lack of listening or understanding
  • Unable to process information
  • Increase in the use of filler words
  • Fidgets, sweating, and mumbling

Some interviewees, subconsciously wanting the interview to end, will start answering a question before the interviewer has finished asking it. Others misunderstand the meaning or reason for the interview questions, resulting in the delivery of an irrelevant example. And many will talk to quickly to be understood.

To answer an interview question well, the interviewee must:

  • Identify the job criteria the interview question references
  • Give a suitable example relevant to the specific interview question
  • Deliver a detailed answer, communicating the example confidently

An applicant unsure of the interview question, or those who simply don’t hear the question can:

  • Ask for the question to be repeated
  • Ask for specific information, as an example, for a ‘teamwork example’ you can ask ‘do you want an example of teamwork from my current role or from any time?’
  • Take a sip of water to give additional time (a few seconds) to digest the answer and help form the answer
  • It is also fine to say ‘that’s a good question, just give me a second to think of a suitable example’

The interview, from the interviewee’s perspective, should also be viewed as a conversation about the applicant’s skills and experiences, not a pressurised job interview. With this in mind, the interviewee should:

  • Ask more questions through the job interview
  • Clarify key points
  • Question the interview panel about their experience and opinions

Never lying

What? I thought you should never lie in a job interview!

Being too honest can be a barrier to employment. Imagine being asked ‘why are you leaving your current role?’ The truth might be that the company culture is toxic. But, stating this in a job interview can be seen as negative. The negative opinion is created because of interview stereotypes. Common interview stereotypes include:

  • Being late for an interview is a sign of being unprofessional (the reality is that a crash on a motorway could have caused a long delay)
  • Overweight applicants are lazy (see the research on obesity in recruitment)
  • Giving a negative opinion in a job interview means you are a negative person
Evolve the mind book on Amazon

Another question where the truth can result in a lack of job offers is with the job interview question: ‘tell me about the main duties in your current role?’

Interview answers, in a structured job interview, are scored on a point system. The points are awarded on the amount of criteria reference during the interview answer. If, for example, the main duties in the current role are significant for the new position, but secondary and third duties are more relevant, it is imperative to talk only about job duties that will score high on the interview scorecard.

‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years’ time?’ can be a tricky question if the answer is ‘in another company in a higher paid role, after gaining just the right amount of experience in this low salary position to apply for the new position!’

Instead, the savvy interviewee will tell a white lie, explaining how they will be loyal to the company.

To pass a job interview it is important to communicate how you meet the job criteria, while selling your unique selling points. Stand out from the crowd by delivering an outstanding interview performance without making these common interview mistakes.

Posted on

3 indicators that you are just about to fail your job interview

Jobs are notoriously difficult. Research shows, how on average, it takes at least 2-3 interviews to be given a job offer. And how just under half of employers won’t offer a position to an interviewee who lacks job interview confidence. The key then, to a successful job interview, is to identify during the recruitment process itself if you are juts about to fail the job interview and to quickly change tack.

Knowing the 3 indicators that highlight the possibility of a potential failed job interview can help job applicants reassess their interview identity to help increase job offers.

Signs of a bad job interview

Anticipation, nervousness, and being the center of attention affect a job candidates interview performance. A highly experiences, skill, and qualified career professional, one who is highly thought off in their current role, can been viewed negatively if their interview answers lack substance and are communicated without confidence.

The first sign that an employer isn’t impressed is by the lack of follow up interview questions.

Employers, in the main, utilise the structured job interview approach. In a structured job interview, the interview panel ask a number of behavioural and situational job interview questions.  

Each job applicant is asked the same questions, in the same order, and each interview answered is scored against a set criteria. Each member of the interview panel will have a list of interview questions, and example answers for each of the scoring criteria, which, on average, is a 1-4 scoring system.

Under each job interview question is a further list of follow up questions. Employers know that most people will be nervous during the job interview, and their initial response to the question may lack detail, be off point due to the question being misunderstood, or the employer will intuitive know that there is ‘more’ to be uncovered.

If a sought after applicant gives a weak interview answer, members of the interview panel will ask an additional follow question, or more clarity, or for a specific piece of information that relates to the scoring criteria.

As an example, if the interview question relates to time management and the interview answer is focused on using calendar reminders, to-do list, planning out work in advance, but the employer is more interested in how the potential employee decides on the priority of a task, the interviewer may asked a follow up question for this specific element of time management.

The asking of additional, and specific, questions can be the difference between an interviewee gaining a three or four scoring on the interview scorecard.

The first indicator that the interview isn’t going well is the lack of follow up interview questions.

This is especially true for job applicants who know they have given a weak answer, or if an interview example was short in duration (and lacking detail), or when the same ‘example’ has been used multiple times.

At a subconscious level, an employer who initially likes an applicant, due to the halo effect, will want that interviewee to do well. A naturally occurrence of willing someone to give high-scoring interview answers, is giving a helping-hand, by asking an additional question that allows the presumed suitable applicant to divulge more information.

On the other hand, an applicant who is viewed as not a good fit will have the opposite effect on the members of the interview panel. In short, the interviewers won’t want to waste their time on prolonging an interview that they believe isn’t going to have a positive outcome.

Subconsciously, wanting the interview to end quickly, stops the asking of additional information. If an applicant senses the lack of supportive questions, they need to start giving more detailed answers using a powerful interview formula that results in high-scoring interview answers.

The second sign of bad job interview is the interviewer not taking notes

As mentioned, during a structured job interview each member of the interview panel will possess an interview scorecard, which has a list of job interview questions and the scoring criteria. Under each question is a space for the interviewers to make notes – the recording of the candidates answers.

The idea is that at the interview end, the recruiters can cross reference their notes, what the applicant has discussed, against the job interview criteria, before allocating an interview score.

When an interviewee is giving a relevant and detailed answer, the employer will often make notes verbatim, attempting to catch as much information as possible, so they can accurately score the candidate at the interview end.

Often when a job candidate gives constant weak answers the employer will write far less information. Or in some cases they wont record any of the information at all. In some cases, if the interview answer is off point, a panel member may ask a follow up question, but again if the answer doesn’t result in the employer scribbling on their forms, its possible the answer hasn’t hit the mark.

It is hard to remember exactly what a person has said, which is why employers make notes. After a full day of interviewing, it is difficult to remember which applicant gave which example. This is why note taking, or the lack of recording interview answers, has a powerful impact on who the advertised job is offered to.  

A good sign the job interview is going well is when the employer states: “sorry, I will juts be a few more seconds writing down what you have just said”

The third indicator that you wont be offered the job role is the employer reluctance to discuss the job role

The goal of a job interview, from the employers perspective, is to predict the job performance of the job candidates. A secondary goal, is to promote the benefits of working at the organisation to successfully recruit first-choice applicants.

To ensure a job offer results in a job hire, employers throughout the job interview will highlight benefits of the organisation, including the company culture, available training, leadership styles, their vision and vales, all to create an overall positive package that would be hard to refused.

Employers do this in two ways. The first is at the interview start, when the employer will outline the job role and company, and why the position is currently available. In this section the interviewer will, often, discuss the long term objective of the organisation, where they sit in terms of competitors, and future goals. They create a carrot for the applicant to chase.

Secondly, the interview panel will ‘sell’ the company in an unplanned way. As an example, if a first-choice applicant  is talking about their passion for learning and development, and how they always look for roles that can help them grow. An employer, who is feeling positive about the interviewee will sell a benefit of the company: “In our team we have a learning and development budget that all employees can access to purchase relevant training, including recognised qualifications”

Selling is an effort, and what is often the case is that people only make an effort if they truly want something. In the interview scenario, if the employer doesn’t believe the job applicant will be a good fit, they wont make an effort to promote the benefits of working within their team or for their organisation without being promoted or asked by the interviewee.

The 3 signs of a failed job interview

The 3 indicators that the interview wont result in a job offer are, a lack up additional questions to gain more scoring related criteria, a absence of note taking, and little communication around what makes their company great to work for.

Evolve the mind book on Amazon

Five additional signs that the job interview isn’t going well

  1. The employers look at each other with a confused impression after an answer
  2. A lack of smiling and positive body language during the interview
  3. A much shorter than expected interview process
  4. The interview panel didn’t ‘sell’ the company to the applicant
  5. The interview seem rushed and the interviewers seemed distracted

Get interview ready by taking the interview prediction grid test

Posted on

How to answer the job interview question: ‘what is your professional development plan for the next 12 months?’

Many employers will ask a job interview question to help better understand the job applicants’ motivation to develop professional skills. A candidate that can clearly communicate how they are a lifelong leaner, and how they have attended regular professional development opportunities to improve industry-related skills and knowledge, is likely to score high on a ‘continuous professional development’ interview question.

This article will help a job interviewee prepare for the job interview question: ‘Can you give an example of working towards your (CPD) continuous professional development?’

Professional development plan

Career professionals have a clear career goal and a professional development plan. Continuous professional development, is the ongoing process of gaining the required skills to keep up to date with changes happening within the job sector. As technology, artificial intelligence, robotics, customer demand, and global politics, continue to change the job market, today’s employee needs to continue their development to be seen as highly employable.

Employers understand the importance of recruiting staff that have a passion for the sector and are motivated to attend training, to gain new skill sets, and become more knowledgeably about their industry.  For this reason, the interview question: ‘tell me about any recent continuous professional development opportunities you have attend?’ is a commonly asked job interview question.

The interviewee needs to answer the question by discussing relevant information. Talking about public speaking or art for a role where these skills aren’t required won’t meet the job criteria on the recruitment panel’s interview scorecard.  When hiring a new employee an organisation needs to ensure fairness, research has found that a structured job interview – asking each applicant the same interview questions and scoring each interview answer against the criteria on the interview scorecard, results in the most appropriate hire.

To gain a high-scoring job interview answer, the job candidate can use the job advert, role description, and their own industry knowledge to create a list of the job duties, required skills, qualities, and knowledge required to be successful in the advertised position. The insight of the job role allows an applicant to tailor their job interview answer to meet the essential skills and requirements the employer has associated to the job position.

In addition to meeting the essential job criteria, each job interview answers must be communicated confidently in a self-promoting way. Within a job interview downplaying a skill set or knowledge rarely pays off, as research has shown how self-promoting interviewees are much more likely to gain job offers.

Returning to the professional development plan, the plan should list the required skills needed for a certain job role and how they can be gained. In some cases, the plan will include industry qualifications, sector-related skills, and personal qualities. Each required skill should have an achievement deadline date, and a milestone. For ease, most career professionals will embed course links into the plan, and or add, application deadline dates.

For sector knowledge, the development plan may list useful industry magazines, blogs, or books. These articles may possess relevant information that can be used to showcase industry professionalism.

Answering the job interview question: ‘what is your professional development plan for the next 12 months?’

The interview will, in most cases, take under one hour to complete. A panel of three senior employees will be seated on the interview panel, with each panel member asking two to three interview questions. The interview question ‘what is your professional development plan?’ is generally asked in the later stages of the interview.

A lack of a development plan, especially in fast-paced job sectors, can be viewed as a red flag. Applicants who mumble something about ‘wanting’ to develop skills are seen as having an ‘insincere’ interview identity.

Whereas a charismatic interview identity will confidently deliver a detailed answer that highlights their interest in the job role, their enthusiasm for the sector, and their plan for developing relevant skills and knowledge.

How to answer professional development plan interview questions

Start with a confirmation statement that highlights a passion for professional development:

‘Yes I have a professional development plan that I have been working towards for the past 12 months with the aim of gaining X (sector knowledge/skill)…’

The second line of the interview answer needs to give more specific information by discussing the development plan, and detailing actions taken:

‘To achieve this development goal, I have started a course in (course name) where I have learned (industry-related knowledge) and to date, I have successfully passed (unit/qualification). X months a go I also attend a (short training course) to improve my knowledge in (sector-related knowledge) and I am currently working on (detail current development opportunity….’

Follow the past and current professional development opportunities with future actions:

‘My CPD actions for the next 12 months include (give course date, desired outcome, and duration)…’

Evolve the mind book on Amazon

End with a summary:

‘To summarise, I have passionate about professional development as I believe that having up-to-date industry-related knowledge will help me improve my performance in work.’

All job interview questions, especially the interview question around continuous professional development, must be answered in detail, by positively communicating (selling yourself) specific information.

Posted on

How Do You Handle Stress?

Unresponsive interviewee

The most widely asked job interview questions include ‘how do you handle a difficult situation?‘ and the ‘how do you handle stress?

Employers, as well as reviewing industry related knowledge and experience, also check applicants temperament and qualities during the interview process.

As well as being asked for high stressed job roles, the stress question is common across most job sectors. Therefore, it is important for all interviewees, no matter their job level, to prepare for the ‘stress’ question.

This article will to teach you how to answer the job interview question: ‘how do you handle stress?’

The ‘stress’ interview question come in different forms:

  • ‘Tell me about a time a project or task made you stressed ?’
  • ‘If X stressful situation happened, what would you do?’
  • ‘How do you plan your workload when you have several high important projects with similar deadlines?’

What is important, when answering an interview question on stress, is to cover three key aspects:

  1. Pre-planning
  2. Organisation
  3. Emotional Intelligence

The mistake, that many applicants make, is to discuss how stressed they become in certain situations:

  • ‘Managing multiple projects at the same time is very stressful’
  • ‘Deadlines make it hard for me to sleep at night’
  • ‘I often worry when I am behind on my targets’

The admission of situational stress can give an employer concerns. ‘Behavioral interview questions‘ which is the format the ‘stress’ question comes in, look at past actions to determine future situations.

If an applicant admits to becoming stressed in an environment that will be required in the new job role, it is unlikely that the recruiting manager will want to offer the job role to the interviewee.

A good way to reframe the stress question is to generalise the reason why career professionals can become stressed.

The interview answer should start with an ambiguous statement to creates the authenticity of a specific answer:

‘Stress comes from a lack of planning. An example of this is when a (job role) doesn’t plan for (situation)…’

This example highlight industry related stressful situations without stating how the applicant themselves have been previously stressed.

The second step to answering the stress question is for the candidate to showcase their proactiveness.

‘…When I know about (a new contract, upcoming deadlines, busy periods of the year, etc) I pro-actively plan to ensure that tasks are achieved without becoming stressed. As an example (discuss a planning or time management model or give a real-life example)..’

Next explain why an organised approach reduces stress. There are many approaches to this section of the answer. The key is to pick an explanation to will resonate with the employer.

Interviewees can embed any of the following suggestions into their reply.

  • Use of GANNT charts
  • Delegating tasks
  • Diary management
  • Collaboration with stakeholders
  • Taking the lead of a team/project

‘…this organised approach I take, reduces stress, not just for me but for the whole team. Even when a unknown or unplanned for event happens I am to calmly organise what is needed to overcome any problem, compared to stressfully charging in without any planning which often leads to an increase in stress and errors. The tools I use include (add tool/technique)…’

Evolve the mind book on Amazon

The final section of the answer is for the candidate to focus on the answer on their emotional intelligence and how they can recognize the signs of stress:

‘…The key to handling stress, apart from being well-organised is to be aware of the signs of stress. Most people ignore these and only react once they are fully stressed. A better solution is to be aware of stress indicators and then do something to relieve stress. for me, my indicators are (headaches, not sleeping, procrastination, etc) when I feel this I (solution – run, mindfulness, meditation).’

Posted on

How to Answer the Interview Question Tell Me About Yourself?

Interview Answer for the Interview Question“Tell Me About Yourself”

An interviewer almost always starts off by asking you to tell him about yourself, like an overview about what kind of a person you are.

The question is, most of us get this question wrong and it’s actually the question that sets up the tone for the rest of the interview.

Depending on what you answer, the rest of the interview will carry on from there. What you don’t know is that there are actually a lot of secret and hidden meanings hidden behind every word you say.

This question is designed in such a way as to provoke you into speaking up about yourself. No, the interviewer is not interested in asking about your personality or life story. What she actually wants to know about are your work ethics and how you behave professionally, not to mention what achievements you’ve made and how much experience and dedication you have.

The art to pass any interview is to appear confident and dedicated in your work. You need to show promise and sell yourself. Here are a few ways you can rehearse and answer this question in a well-mannered way.

Set Up Your Own Coaching Business

Need Help to Pass Your Next Job Interview?

career

You can book an ONLINE Interview Coaching Session and/or a Mock Interview with an interview coach by e-mailing employmentking@gmail.com all you need is a webcam.

  • Learn The 3 Step Process for Killer Interview Answers 
  • Double Your Interview Confidence with Specialised Techniques  
  • Mock Interview – Get Really Feedback on Your Interview Skills 

Focus on your strengths

First things first, what are your core strengths? What is your experience, the level of your skills, your best traits, and your winning points?

Mention skills you’re proud of and use strong words to make yourself sound different from the tens of candidates competing for the same position.

Conduct a suitable S.W.O.T analysis about yourself because you’re sure to be asked about each category in general; your strengths, weaknesses, the opportunities you’re hoping for, and the flaws which you know you have and need to work and improve upon.

The interviewer would be on high alert looking for any trait which poses a threat to the organization in your interview, so it’s better if you know about them beforehand and try not to let them show.

Follow a Script

Just in case you don’t forget the important points you came up with, design a script and write all the things you wish to discuss yourself and the pattern in which you should bring them up ideally.

Don’t swallow your script whole and recite like a robot in your interview. You don’t want to appear memorized in front of your potential employer.

The pattern you come up with should have a systematic pattern about your past experience and your accomplishments.

You can cover your weaknesses in a smart way by stating the measures you took to overcome them and how they made you a better person. After that, you can tell where you are currently and your responsibilities, your skills, and your qualities which can be beneficial to the organization.

End it by a well–versed speech about what you wish to do in the future and how you’re looking forward to the company to help you achieve your goals. Give importance and the impression to the fact that you’re willing to stay long-term with the company and you’ll also commit to them and stay loyal.

Interview questions and answers

FREE With Every Purchase of The 73 Rules for Influencing the Interview

Practice till you’re Confident

It is a well-known fact that a nervous candidate on average spends about forty-five minutes going over an interview. Think about it this way. The job you’re applying for may very well affect your whole life and decide where you go from there. So basically, you’re spending less than an hour practicing for a job which can decide your whole career.

Remember, you’ll only stay confident as long as you have had enough practice about what you wish to emphasize about yourself and how quick of a learner you are. You need to learn to manage how to cover your weaknesses by reiterating the ways which help you become a better professional and how best you manage the things under your responsibility. Stress about your previous successes like how you are extremely deadline-compliant and how you have benefited the areas you have worked on by giving your input to the field.

Think of yourself as a product that needs to be marketed and how you can make it sell. What do you do when you pitch a concept or idea? You highlight all the benefits of your strategy or product, cover up any gaps by talking smoothly about how they can be overcome, and then you make your clients value it by making them understand how much better their lives will be if they incorporate your idea and what they’re missing out on.

Even if your interview didn’t start off with this question, it’s still useful to practice and knows about your self-worth and what you have to offer to the company. It’s not just for this question, but it’ll also help you answer the other questions asked in your interview. The main focus in an interview is you.

About the Author:

Rebecca Katharine is pursuing her PhD degree from the well-known university of California. Rebecca is serving in the capacity of assistant professor in the same university and also provides dissertation writing service online for university-level students & private tuitions at the school level.

Interview Preparation Resources

Posted on

Interview Question “Do You Know Anyone Who Works Here?”

Interview Question “Do You Know Anyone Who Works Here?”

This interview question is becoming more common. Interviewers ask this question to check if there will be any potential conflict between colleagues

Interview Video Tutorial

Example Generic Interview Answer

“Yes, one of my friends, Rick works for you. He has told me all about the organisation, the team and the training and support you put in place for staff. The company sounds like a great place to work and I feel I would fit in perfectly” 

Posted on

If You Were What Type Of Person Would You Hire?

Interview Question If You Were Me What Type Of Person Would You Hire?

This article will teach you how to answer the interview question “If You Were What Type Of Person Would You Hire?”

This answer comes in two parts, first, you state the required skills (recorded on the job specification) and secondly, you mention your work ethic

The trick to passing job interviews is to predict the interview question and to prepare a killer interview answer.

Set Up Your Own Coaching Business

How to approach the interview question.

Mention the skills they are looking for, you will know them by now as this question is often asked in the middle of the job interview.

Follow this up with a sentence about your work ethic. This interview question explains two things, first you understand the job role and second, you possess the required job criteria

Example Interview Answer

“someone with the experience and more importantly the knowledge to ensure that all targets are met, they would have to have excellent communication skills as they will be working with a wide range of indiviuals from various backgrounds. You want someone, like me, who is hardworking and reliable.”

Interview Video Tutorial – If You Were What Type Of Person Would You Hire?

Posted on

Interview Question What Are Your Weaknesses?

How to Answer: What Are Your Weaknesses Interview Question?

This article will teach you how to answer the interview question “what are your weaknesses?”

What are your weaknesses interview questions are among the top 10 asked interview questions. Because this interview question is so common you can easily prepare for it. To answer this interview question you need to state key skills and qualities relevant to the job position and back this up with an example.

The trick to passing job interviews is to predict the interview question and to prepare a killer interview answer.

Set Up Your Own Coaching Business 

What Are Your Weakness Interview Question

This is one of the most common interview questions.

Don’t answer by stating your weaknesses instead reframe this answer by explaining how you can identify an area for improvement and that you take action to develop yourself. 

Example Answer

“In the past, I felt I needed to improve my typing skills because I aspire to be the best I can, I have recently enrolled onto a typing course and now I can touch type accurately at 65 words per minute.”

Interview Video Tutorial – weakness based interview questions

Posted on

Interview Question What Are Your Strengths?

What Are Your Strengths?

This article will teach you how to answer the interview question “what are your strengths?”

What are your strength and weaknesses interview questions are among the top 10 asked interview questions?

Because this interview question is so common you can easily prepare for it. To answer this interview question you need to state key skills and qualities relevant to the job position and back this up with an example.

job interview questions

How to approach the ‘strengths’ interview question

This  is one of the most common interview questions. Make your answer relevant to the job position – check the job criteria on the job spec.

The interviewer here is trying to uncover if your strengths and skills are relevant to the role you are applying for.

Example Answer

“I have often been told that I have an eye for detail and that I am very accurate and precise. This was very important in my previous role where I worked on large business accounts.”

Interview Video Tutorial – strength based interview questions