Pre-Interview Prep

Pre-Interview Prep If youve been applying for jobs, now is the perfect time to do your pre-interview prep.  Its never too early to start  preparing answers to job interview questions.   There are standard questions you can expect to be asked during a job interview. These questions are designed to see if you have the skills and interest to be a good fit for the job. You can begin thinking about these answers and prepare your responses today. Cramming for a job interview isnt the best idea. You want to come across confidently qualified during the interview and that takes practice and time. As part of your pre-interview prep, review the questions below and start preparing your general answers. These job interview questions are grouped by what the interviewer wants to know. About your application What made you apply for this role? Why do you want to work for this organization? Why do you feel you’d be suited to this role? Questions about your career choices and decisions What made you enter this [industry/profession]? What’s the biggest highlight of your career to date? Why was it a highlight? What’s your biggest career mistake to date? What did you learn from this mistake? Where do you see your career going in 3 years (…or 5 years, 10 years time) Questions about each of your roles What made you take that particular role on? What were your reasons for leaving that particular role? What did you deliver in each of your roles? Can you quantify these achievements? Questions about you What  type of work  have you enjoyed the most? What was it about them that you enjoyed? What types of work have frustrated you the most? What was it about them that was frustrating? What are your strengths? Can you provide me with a specific example to back each of them up? What are your  weaknesses? What are you doing about them? How would you describe your personality and working style? What’s unique about you? How are you different to all the other people we’re meeting? Behavioral Job Interview Questions Then there are behavioral job interview questions Tell me about a time when you had a disagreement with your manager. Describe a stressful situation at work and how you handled it. Give me an example of a time when you were able to successfully persuade someone to see things your way at work. You can see a list of more behavioral interview questions here.  popular behavior based job interview questions There is a trick to answering these questions. You use the acronym STAR. STAR Stories Each of your answers should use a STAR story. And its really important to use quantifiable information in the results part of your story! Try really hard to quantify  the productivity, efficiency, performance or outcome of your actions. Situation what was going on (Briefly stated) Task what was it that had to happen Actions step by step, what did YOU do Results what happened because you did what you did It isnt enough to just think about your answers or write them down. YOU MUST practice these answers out loud.   Your answer sounds different when spoken than it does in your head or when youve written it out. Review The Job Posting- Again Youve already thoroughly reviewed the job posting when you created your resume. But dig out the job description again and review each requirement and develop a STAR story to provide proof you meet that requirement. Want more interviewing help? For more pre-interview prep help, plus tips to improve what you do during and after the job interview, get a copy of Do I Want This Job