Welcome back!
I wanted to take a chance this week to talk about job interviews and how you can prep for them. My intentions are for you to have real life examples to common skills that many employers are looking for. You can take your knowledge and walk into the interview with confidence! First, we will go over the basics.
Number one tip is to research the company you are interviewing for. You should already have a general knowledge from when you applied for the role. Read the company’s mission statement and about page. How can you apply your skills to their mission statement. Ask a question about how the company achieved a certain goal or any major change in the industry. This will show that you are interested in the company and could set you above the other interviewers.
Eye contact is crucial when talking to anyone. It is no different in an interview. It will be easy to notice if you are not focused or too timid during the conversation. Be clear and vocal in your responses. You want them to be able to hear you. Also, be presentable and clean. The interview should be scheduled in advance so there is no excuse to walk in an interview with bad choice of attire and foul odor. If there is something that would cause you to show up that way such as your current job having you work outside, communicate that and they should work with you on a time that works for everyone.
Here is where we will go over how to identify real life examples for answers. We are trying to avoid the common mistake of just saying “I’m a people person” which provides nothing for the employer to go off of. Major traits that are commonly asked in interviews are learning, leading, conflict resolution, and goal setting. I will break each of these down to better explain what I mean.
Learning - The company you are trying to work for is going to want to know if you can adapt and learn their processes. Think of past jobs you have started and think of what you did to be able to do the task. Did you take notes? Are you a hands-on learner? Don’t think of just when you started at a job, but perhaps a time where a new process was implemented, and you had to change how you perform the task completely. This will show that you are flexible and accepting to change.
Leading - Do you have the ability to get others to follow your lead? If so, can you think of a time you rallied your team or perhaps a fellow coworker. Do you lead by example? Have you given feedback before? What were the results of the feedback given? We are trying to show that you can grow others and yourself.
Photo by Icons8 Team on Unsplash Conflict Resolution - Chances are everyone at some point has experienced a disgruntled customer or employee. Without conflict resolution skills you could end up being the next waffle house fight video. This skill is all about respectfulness. Showing that you understand the frustrations of an issue that someone faced. Think of a time you had to handle one of these situations and how was you able to respond. How did the person respond to your assistance?
Goal Setting - This skill isn’t just saying that you and your team will perform better next month. What employers are interested in is if you can see long term vs short term goals. Do you have aspirations for yourself to move up? If so, explain what you would like to accomplish and hope the company can achieve under your lead. This will help them see that you are not just there for a paycheck but for you to grow your career.
“An interview is only as good as both parties are willing to give to the interview and that includes the interviewer.” - Jay Duplass
Thank you for sharing actionable steps to prepare for an interview. I would also say you'd likely stand out if you know a current challenge the company faces is. If you ask how they are addressing that issue and have a few ideas on how they can address it, that productive and intelligent conversation likely will cause you to stand out among the other applicants.