Page 171 - 101 Dynamite Answers to Interview Questions

164 Nail the Job Interview!

So consider your answers in terms of basic strategies. What do you
hope to convey as you respond to each question? Your goal is to convince
the interviewer that you should be offered the job. So, as you respond,
think in terms of the needs of the employer. How do your goals fit with
her business needs? Keep this basic tenet in mind as you formulate your
strategies in responding to questions you are asked. Try to male time
prior to the interview to actually talk through your answers to questions.
You may practice answering interview questions (which you have made
into a list) posed by a friend or family member or you can read each
question and then respond. Practice tallung your answers into a tape
recorder. Play back the tape and evaluate how you sound.

w Do you exude confidence?
w Do you sound dynamic?
Do you talk in a conversational style (rather than your
response sounding like a “canned” answer)?

w Do you speak without excessive fillers such as “ah, ” “and ah, ”
“like, ” and ‘~OU k~iow”?
w Do you seem authentic and believable?
w Do you appear likable?

The following questions have already been discussed in previous
chapters as noted in the referenced page numbers for each question. Some
of the questions may be phrased differently during an actual job inter-
view. Try to give your best response to each question using a tape re-
corder. Then listen to your recorded responses and critique them.
Each time you talk through an answer, your words will be somewhat
different since you have purposely not tried to memorize your response.
You have thought through the strategy of your response, the gist of the
message you want to convey, but you have not attempted to commit a
response to memory.

Personality and Motivation

1. Why should we hire you? (page 120)

2. Are you a self-starter? (page 119)

3. What is your greatest strength? (page 109)