Page 67 - 101 Dynamite Answers to Interview Questions

60 Nail the Job Interview!

question deals with an area of illegal inquiry, are they sure they
want you to respond to it; indicate tactfully that although an illegal
area of inquiry, you welcome the chance to respond to it; ask how
the question relates to the job for which you are interviewing; or
you may choose to answer the question without comment on its
appropriateness. Choose an option with which you feel comfortable
in terms of both your response as well as the likely impact it may
have on a job offer.

12. Practice the form and content of your responses.

Most people find it is good preparation to practice various re-
sponses to anticipated questions. This does not mean that you try
to memorize answers - whether someone else’s or your own - but
rather, after thinking through the basic strategy to your response,
you try to actually verbalize an answer. Most people find it useful
to go through this process several times prior to an interview.

13. Practice questions with a friend or tape recorder.

Preparing for the interview in isolation of feedback information for
evaluating your potential performance is likely to produce less than
satisfactory results. Try to enlist a friend to help you prepare for the
interview. You may want to role play - your friend becomes the
interviewer and you the interviewee. Run through a practice
interview session where you must do everything from greet the
interviewer to answer specific questions and close the interview.
Tape record your answers to questions and analyze them to see if
you indeed stress your strengths and benefits to the interviewer. Do
you provide examples and supports? Are your answers always
positive in content? Are your responses employer-centered? Keep
practicing until you’re comfortable in answering/aslung questions.

14. Prepare for different interview types and settings.

As outlined in Chapter 2, you should be prepared for two types of
interviews: informational/networlung and employment. These may
occur over the telephone or in face-to-face meetings such as the