Acing Interview Questions

How to Answer Interview Questions
In my Preparing for the Interview Workshops, as a rule I generally start the workshop the same way a typical interview starts. I say to the participants, you are at the interview and the interviewer asked the first open-ended question - “So tell me about yourself”. Most of the participants that I engage for a response either spends 40 seconds uttering, umm, umm, I awe, I awe, well awe or, in some cases they start rambling about things that will not help the interviewer immediately start to see them as a good fit for the position. For most of us, we have probably gone through a moment like that were we simply were unprepared. Answering interview questions effectively is a practiced skill.
Once you have outlined your competencies/skills - outline your accomplishments - composed your elevator speech - identified the position you would like to apply for and completed the research on the company, you are ready to prepare for your actual interview. It is important that you thoroughly understand what an interviews purpose is before you go to an interview. The interviews purpose is for the applicant to prove their resume, an assessment of your qualifications and finally for the interviewer to identify and hire the best possible candidate for the position.
Examples of how to answer interview questions
Applicants that practice skillfully answering interview questions by adding important information about his or her skills, how they use the skills, how the skills match the position’s qualifications and finally, the results he or she has achieved will surely stand out in the crown.
Example #1: “Why do you want to work with this company”?
Answers that are sure to make it a short interview are:
• I saw you had an ad in the paper.
• I think I can do this type of work.
• I need a job.
Due to all the information that you have gathered from your research and put into a powerful outline for reference, you will be able to work in names and facts about the company that will surely impress the interviewer. Your answer to that same question may be more like this:
Example of an impactful answer
As I looked into several companies that I thought I might be interested in, I was very much impressed with what your company has achieved and the direction you are going. John Smith, your CEO, made some very positive comments about next year’s growth. The company showed that you really care about the community by making a $XXX contribution to charities. I know that 70 percent of your managers were promoted from within. I believe my skills set will fit in very well with this company.
Now that is an answer the interviewer will be very impressed with and will not forget.
Example question #2: Why do you think you are the best candidate for this position?
The ideal way to answer this question would be to quote some of the qualifications directly from the post for the position and to link a skill or accomplishment from your résumé to each qualification. This will be easy because of the extensive research you did on the company and the position as well as your understanding of your skills and accomplishments from the detailed work you did creating your résumé and elevator speech. Your answer may go like this:
The position requires someone with five years of management experience; I had been a manager for the XYZ Company for nine years. You are looking for a manager that will be involved in staffing; I worked very closely with my human resource manager at the XYZ Company to make sure every position was filled with the right people. As a result, our turnover rate was 20 percent below the corporate rate for the last three years. Improving customer service is a key part of this position; I developed a customer service program that improved our customer service score from 82.4 to 91.3 for the year. Your position requires a leader that can control expenses. By focusing on and reviewing all controllable expenses, my team and I were able to reduce expenses by 12 percent last year, which added 8 percent right to our profit.
By answering questions in this manner, you are taking some control of the interview and gently guiding it in the direction you want it to go. Each part of your answer is predicated on what they are looking for and tells the interviewer that you meet the qualifications. Your answer also demonstrates a proven record of accomplishment.
Because you included figures and percentages in your answer, the interviewer is likely to ask his or her next questions based on what you have put on the table. For instance, you said you “reduced expenses by 12 percent.” A good interviewer will want to know how you accomplished that. Therefore, your skillful answering to the question will help keep the interview close to your comfort zone. Remember the true anatomy of an interview. The interviewer’s job is to find the candidate that has the best knowledge of what the position requires, the best skill set to handle the position, the best-proven record of accomplishments as well as who is the most enthusiastic about getting the position.
For more information on interviews, visit my website – http://arcofsuccess.com/