When I speak before groups and work with clients on interviewing, I always tell them how important it is to practice before the interview. Unless you’re a seasoned interviewer or keep your entire work history in the forefront of your mind, you must practice interviewing.
Prior to your interview, I recommend you do one of the following:
- Find a professional coach or counselor who will conduct at least one mock interview with you. This gives you an opportunity to practice a real interview with a professional who can offer great feedback.
- Gather a list of questions that are relevant to your search (ask yourself, “If I was interviewing candidates for this position, what would I want to know?”) and either have a friend interview you with those questions, or practice by yourself in the mirror….out loud.
Of course, there are thousands of interview questions you can be asked, but to aid you in your practice, I thought I’d list some of my favorite questions you should be able to answer for any interview:
- Tell me about a circumstance in which you had to work with a difficult co-worker. How did you overcome the challenges?
- Describe an innovative solution you developed in order to solve a problem. How did it address the problem? What were the results?
- Describe a difficult (internal or external) client you’ve had. How did you overcome the challenges? What were the results?
- Based on what you now know about the position, how do you feel your background would help to enhance our efforts?
- Tell me about a time when you had to influence someone in order to achieve a result? What obstacles did you have to overcome? What was the result?
- Describe the best and worst team dynamics you’ve ever experienced in your career? What made them so?
- What do you consider to be your biggest work accomplishment and why? How did you achieve it?
- If I were to meet your current/last boss and ask him or her about an area you need to develop in more, what would (s)he say?
- Tell me about a work goal you set for yourself and how you went about achieving it. What were the results?
- Describe a time when you played a lead role in accomplishing a task or project in a work assignment. What was the result?
Of course I could go on for hours thinking of questions, but if you begin your interview practice by answering these questions, you’ll give yourself a good foundation for a successful interview.
Until next time….