Tag Archives: Interview Questions

By myFootpath

There’s nothing quite like a job interview.  From the minute you get the call, you’re excited about the chance to start a new opportunity, but you’re worried you’ll answer a question the wrong way, or you’ll forget to comb your hair that day.

There’s a good chance your hair will be just fine, but you might want to give some advance thought to an interview question many people don’t handle well.  While interview questions can change very quickly, “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” is one that just won’t go away.  Some employers try to disguise the question by asking “What is your best talent, and what do you need to work on?,” but both of these questions are heading in the same direction; they want to know how you see yourself, and how well you can communicate that self-knowledge to others.

For some reason, people think this is some kind of trick question, so they try to come up with an answer they think is unforgettable. They’re usually right—but the answer is unforgettable for all the wrong reasons.  Consider these:

“I’m awesome!” It might seem OK to start off your strengths with an strong statement, but since this is a pretty popular phrase, it’s easy for this answer to sound fake.  Some employers might worry that the rest of the interview is going to turn into more of a pep rally than a serious conversation; show good energy, but don’t get too strong too soon.

“I don’t think we have enough time for me to really answer that question.” This may seem like a good effort at humor, but it can come off as a little too self-centered, or more interesting than whatever you might say after this.  In most cases, save the humor for a little later in the interview.

“Wow.  Umm… Let me see.” This is an opposite answer that has the same effect in the interview—it’s a job killer.  Not being able to think quickly of one good thing to say about you is usually seen as a lack of self-confidence, something employers don’t like.  Other job hunters will use this answer to pretend they haven’t thought of an answer ahead of time, but most interviewers see right through that false modesty.

“I’m afraid of the dark.” This is the kind of answer you want to avoid when talking about your weaknesses.  Too many job hunters think this is the time to list personal faults, bad habits they want to break, or other private matters that don’t relate to the office.  As one counselor said, this is a job interview, not psychotherapy. Keep your answers related to work, and you’ll be fine.

“I care too much!” This is the all-time worse answer to give if the question is about your weaknesses.  Even if it’s true, it’s been used by too many people in the past, and it really doesn’t answer the question—so don’t be tempted to use this response.

If these are all bad answers, what makes a good answer? The truth. “As I understand the position, the strengths I would give to the job are my experience in sales, my ability to listen to people, and my ability to close the sale.  In terms of weaknesses, I find the paperwork in sales can be challenging to manage, but I took a workshop on how to use my new computer to help with that, and it’s really helping me stay organized in my current job.”

Thoughtful, professional, honest: that’s the job interview trifecta. – By Patrick O’Conner via myFootpath

As a counselor and college adviser for 25 years, Patrick O’Connor has helped unemployed workers, veterans, returning students, and new high school graduates learn new skills, earn degrees, prepare for graduate school and get better-paying jobs.  He’s a past president of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, and author of the widely acclaimed college guide, College is Yours in 600 Words or Less. Most important, he’d like to help you realize your goals for college and career success.

By Hank Stringer

A dad asked me to talk to his son, a recent engineering grad, to give him a few pointers on an upcoming interview. I took him through the typical questions and as we approached the end of the conversation, I asked if he was excited about the opportunity.
“Sure” he said, “but I’d really like to work for company XYZ, one of their competitors.”
“Okay,” I responded. “Have you contacted them?”
“Well my favorite professor introduced me to one of their managers and he asked me to give them a call,” he explained.
“Did you?” I asked.

He stammered for a few moments and confessed he had not.

I know those of you reading this would not allow this to happen, you would have been all over the invitation to call and you may be thinking this college grad must be an idiot. That’s a good question and as I thought about how I should react to his response, I simply asked, “Are you an idiot?”

We talked through the situation and I tasked the young man to call the manager, tell him he would be in the area in a few days to interview with another company and would appreciate the opportunity to meet. Guess what, the manager invited him in, he interviewed and is expecting an offer.

So while he’s young and he may have time to make some mistakes, there are some important takeaways we can all learn from no matter how many years of experience you hold:
1. Please, react when invited to respond. I know it sounds simple and makes sense but we are human and we find plenty of reasons to procrastinate – don’t, you will regret it.
2. The second you line up an interview, get on the phone with other companies you are interested in working for to set up your next interview. If you don’t have any contacts, start networking to find them. You just got an interview, you feel good about yourself, it actually comes across in your voice and I promise you will be amazed at how one interview leads to another. DO NOT rest on the laurels of one interview with the classic, “this is the job I’ve been waiting for,” only to be disappointed later when it didn’t come through or meet your expectations.

And last reason to set up another interview once you have one scheduled, it makes negotiating offers much easier when you know there either is or even could be something else out there.

By Dr. Chris Croner

Many of our clients have told us that they want their salespeople to be “self-starters,” operating with a lot of independence and initiative, sometimes even from a home office. When hiring such an individual, there are three elements to examine closely:

1. Does the candidate possess enough experience in both sales and your industry to operate independently? In this case, consider the amount of basic sales training and product training you will be able to provide, and then determine whether you need a candidate who is “plug and play” from day one, or whether you can afford to bring on an individual with less know-how.
2. Does the candidate show an adequate level of Drive? Of course, we have discussed how to assess the three elements of Drive with testing and a behavioral interview in previous columns.
3. Does the candidate’s personality, as revealed in the interview, show a proactive style and comfort operating without direct supervision? We can determine this with a few key behavioral interview questions . . .

Here are two of our favorite interview questions to assess independence:

• Tell me about a time when it was necessary for you to act without explicit permission. Did the candidate handle the situation proactively on his own? Was the candidate able to act decisively and effectively.
• Tell me about a situation at work when you felt you needed help. How difficult was this situation for the candidate? What did the candidate learn? Is the candidate capable of handling similar situations alone going forward?

Don’t be afraid to ask for more than one example for each question, and be sure to probe the candidate’s answers carefully to fully flesh out his operational style. Make sure you are comfortable with the candidate’s ability to operate independently to avoid potentially frustrating surprises down the road.

Dr. Christopher Croner is a Principal with SalesDrive, LLC, a firm that specializes in the selection and deployment of high performing salespeople.  Dr. Croner is co-author of the book, Never Hire a Bad Salesperson Again, detailing his research and practice in identifying the non-teachable personality traits common to top producers.  Dr. Croner developed the proprietary DriveTest™ diagnostics system, including the Drive Interview™ for salesperson selection.  Using this system, he has helped numerous companies to hire and develop top-performing salespeople.