Top 3 Questions You Should Ask On Your Job Interview

Question MarkInterviewing is a 2-way street. Not only is the interviewer asking you questions to see if you’d be a good hire, you should be doing your own due diligence and asking questions to see if the position is good fit for you. There are a lot of good questions to ask (and you should), depending on the role you’re seeking and what you’ve already found out about the company, but there are three key questions that will help you excel in your job interview.

1. What’s most appealing to you about my background? This is a great question to ask early in the interview because it will enable you to frame your answers accordingly. If the interviewer is interested in your sales skills, you don’t want to be going on and on about your impressive operations expertise. You want to uncover the interviewer’s needs and goals and then tell them how you can help them achieve them.

2. Is there anything that would prevent us from moving forward? For some people, this is a scary question because it may actually prompt the interviewer to express why you’re not a good fit for the position. But, that’s exactly the kind of information the question is designed to illicit. If  you don’t ask this question, you’ll never have the opportunity to address the concern the interviewer has about hiring you. By asking this question, you have the opportunity to address any doubts and ideally, change the interviewer’s opinion.

3. What are the next steps? This question enables you to find out the interviewer’s plans and his or her time table for completing the interviewing and hiring process.

After the interview always write a followup thank you note. Not only is this is another opportunity to market yourself, the followup note gives you a chance to reiterate your interest in the position, to emphasize some key strengths that were important to the interviewer and to rehabilitate any area that you felt you handled poorly in the interview.

If it’s a close contest between you and another candidate (and many are in today’s competitive job market), asking the right questions and sending a well-crafted followup, thank you note can mean the difference between hearing the words “You’re Hired!” and crickets.

~Linda

 

Job Interview Tips With The Frontier Airlines Animals

You’re about to go on a job interview for that perfect position that will really make your career take off. That means you need to prepare. Like most things in life, if you want to be good at something it takes practice. A good way to polish your performance is by role playing with an expert career coach (like me) or learning by example. Take a look at the following Frontier Airlines Animal Auditions, there’s a lot that can be learned from these clever critters including the good, the bad and the ugly.

THE GOOD: Polly the Parrot on why she’s on the market, “My pirate died.” Great answer for needing a new job. The answer shows she’s looking due to circumstances beyond her control and therefore it does not reflect poorly on Polly or her job performance. Since the death of an employer is not usually why professionals are on the market, it’s  a good idea to develop a communication strategy and answer to the question of why you’re looking for a new position before going on the interview.

Polly, an expert at mimicry, also bonds well with her interviewers. She takes the mirroring technique to a whole new level. Now while you may want to subtly mirror your interviewer’s body language, the way they act and the way they sound to create an unconscious bond, the key word is to be subtle and mirror as opposed to mimic. While Griz loved Polly’s antics, she may have overstepped and been a little too flip with Flip.

THE BAD: Fred the Walrus has difficulty communicating and answering basic interview questions. When interviewing you need to be able to articulate the benefits you bring to your future employer. If being a talking animal is one of the skill sets then you’d better be able to communicate and connect with all of the individuals with whom you interview, not just Griz.

Duke the Arctic Dog goes through a litany of things he doesn’t do before he gets to the one skill set that impresses his interviewers. If you don’t have the skills a company needs, go on the offensive and quickly show off what you do bring to the table.

Enrique the Tree Frog starts asking for concessions and accommodations, “Is it possible for me to be on the nose of the plane instead of the tail?” before he even has an offer. You definitely want to wait until you’re at the negotiation phase of the interview process before you start asking for special treatment. Once you have the offer, you know the potential employer likes you and wants to bring you on board, then you have more wiggle room.

THE UGLY: Doug the Dung Beetle. In an interview, if you really want to land the job you have to keep some s@#! to yourself, ‘nuf said.

~Linda

Listen Up to Land Your Next Job

Inverview ListeningMany people prepare for interviews by practicing what they’re going to say and what message they want to get across about themselves. That’s helpful, but even more important to interviewing well is not just what you’re saying, but what the interviewer is telling you. If you listen, they’ll tell you exactly what they’re looking for. The following are some key tips to listening during your interview:

1. Don’t assume you know what’s most important to the interviewer.

You know what they say when you assume. Ask questions, find out what the hiring manager is really looking for and frame your answers accordingly. If you make assumptions, you may talk up a part of your background that has no significance whatsoever to the interviewer.

2. Don’t assume everyone you interview with has the same agenda.

These days my clients frequently end up talking to multiple individuals within an organization. Again, you don’t want to make the assumption that they’re all looking for the same thing in their hire. You need to ascertain what’s most important to each individual with whom you speak and shape your answers to meet their needs.

3. Don’t focus on what you’re going to say next.

Be present and focused, listen to your interviewer, they could be giving you key information, for instance telling you exactly what the most important skill is for the person they’re hiring. By not focusing on what they’re saying and instead plotting your next verbal move, you could miss an opportunity to sell yourself.

4. Do ask open-ended questions.

Asking open-ended questions beginning with what, when or where can be helpful in gathering information about the position for which you’re interviewing. Not only will this help you better frame your answers according to the interviewer’s needs, it enables you to perform your own due diligence to gather information and decide whether the company or position is a good fit for you.

5. Do actively listen.

This takes concentration and patience. It means not only paying attention to the verbal communication, but also paying attention to non-verbal cues found in body language. This helps you identify how strongly your interviewer feels about what they’re saying and can give you guidance in your own response. It also goes a long way towards building rapport.

Having a compelling message about your strengths and skills is important, but if you’re not in tune with your audience, you could end up selling something they’re not buying, tune in and listen and you’ll better be able to sell yourself.

~Linda