Interview 101
So Career Week is in full swing 
; yesterday you read Dress Code 101, Monday we had Job Interview Preparation.
Anyone have any questions for me so far? I hope you’ve found the articles so far to be entertaining as well as informative, I’m always thankful for feedback, so please comment and let me know what you think.
Let’s get right to it;
When you go to your interview, you need to have some of your own questions. You’ll want to ask them what your responsibilities on the job would be and what their expectations are of you.
For instance:
What are the responsibilities of this position?
Why is the position empty?
Are there any office politics I should be aware of?
Is there anything unique to this workplace that I should be informed about?
Don’t sell yourself short and assume anything at all about the position. Ask whatever you want to know, just try to save the question about pay till later in the interview after you’ve smiled a lot and gotten a few of those returned.
When you look at ads for positions you apply for, you want details because the more details you get the more accurately you can figure out what kind of salary or hourly wage you’ll receive. Sometimes the ad will list salary information, and sometimes it won’t. You can’t just avoid the ones that don’t, you’d be doing yourself a disservice.
Don’t forget, how you dress tells the person interviewing you a lot about how seriously you may take the job. Be sure to read Dress Code 101 for tips, realize that your appearance says a lot about you. If you dress to the nines and wear tennis shoes, you’ve crashed and burned out of the gate.
Trick Questions:
Why are you leaving your current job?
This is often the hardest one to answer for most people. It shouldn’t be, this question calls for a somewhat generic answer.
Here are a few sample responses:
I’m seeking a position with opportunity for advancement and my current employer does not promote from within.
“My current commute is strenuous and I’m looking for a rewarding position that decreases my commute time.
I’m trying to find a more intriguing position, something that is not repetitive but is rewarding and stimulating.
Why should I hire you?
This is not where you wow them with your knowledge of the company; this is where you wow them with your abilities and what you will offer the company. Your moment to shine…
“Well, I get along with everyone from all walks of life. I’m a team player; I’m easily coached and motivated… I’m a self starter that has yet to be beaten when faced with a challenge and does not need to be micromanaged. I don’t accept less than 120% from myself because I want to be proud of the work I do every day. I bring maturity, dedication and commitment to each position I acquire.â€Â
That’ll knock their socks off. It impressed you didn’t it? Being prepared for interview questions really DOES mean the difference between whether or not you get the job.
But don’t say all that in like 10 seconds, take your time, mean it. Practice it.
Why do you want to work for this company?
Oooh, a toughy. But let’s think about this one, it’s not so bad. What do you think would be good about this company, you put thought into it didn’t you?
Google the company name before you go on an interview, check their Better Business Bureau report. Find out what you can about the company, larger organizations and corporations, especially medical organizations sometimes have an entire career section that details benefits and reasons you would want to work there.
“I believe that this company can provide a challenge and an enjoyable atmosphere to work in. I am team oriented and I believe that I can not only bring experience and a willingness to learn, but in return I will receive the fulfillment of helping people every day.”
That works in customer service, medical clinics, office jobs, law offices, insurance companies, you name it, if you say you want to feel fulfilled by helping people, big points!
If you’re going to McDonald’s for an interview, be serious, answer honestly, and keep a straight face.
Now I know I didn’t cover all the possible questions you’ll be asked, I never would be able to because each employer has a different set of answers they need. However, these are what I think are the harder questions, the ones that left me stammering a time or two. Now I’m a pro though, lol.
That should give you a pretty good idea of the kinds of things interviewers are looking for, if you’ve ever come across a question you’ve never had a good answer for, or there’s one particular question that always stumps you and you want help thinking of something clever, post it here and we’ll help you out.
Stay tuned!
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Mr. Disgruntled said:
Aug 08, 07 at 9:33 pmGood job with the career week thus far! Invaluable information.
Joe said:
Aug 08, 07 at 10:56 pmSabrina, I knew an interview was over when I got slammed with one question: “We have a high population of Native American students. What have you observed in your American Indian students, cultural traits or other things, and how would you reach them?”
It’s a horrible question for lots of reasons I won’t get into, and it stumped me because it was so bad. I stammered and cried (ok, just stammered) and the interview was over. Damn, I really wanted that job, too!
But I’ve never had an interview that was quite this bad:
Sabrina said:
Aug 08, 07 at 11:27 pmThank You, Mr. Disgruntled, I certainly don’t want anyone that reads this to end up on your site for anything but to be glad they aren’t writing to you!
Sabrina said:
Aug 08, 07 at 11:32 pmThat was hilarious! What a horrible question for someone to ask you, but here’s what I would’ve responded…”Hey, Do you know Chuck Norris?”
That’s about what they should expect with that kind of question, oy!
Maybe I should write, “How To Interview”…
Joe said:
Aug 09, 07 at 12:08 amAnd some more thoughts:
About those trick questions, which one of the cartoons calls “stupid questions.” Very often, they’re looking for other information, not necessarily the answer to the question. For instance, “What was the last book you read?” They don’t care if you read War and Peace or Dating for Dummies. They want to know how articulate you are and if you can explain something without saying, “umm….like, you know, it was like, soooo good!”
Also, some of those questions are sly invitations to get you to talk about things the employer/interviewer can’t legally ask you. For example, take the seemingly straightforward, “Why are you leaving your current job?” The honest answer is probably, “For more money.” (IMO, it’s best not to be completely honest here.) But if you’re nervous and not careful and prepared, your mouth will run away with things like, “Because my wife is about to have a baby and I want to be able to be home more.” You’ve just given them gold-because they can’t legally ask you about your family, and now they have a bit of information upon which they can’t legally base a decision. But they’re human, and laws be damned, they will. Know when to shut your yapper. There’s a list of things they can’t legally ask you, and you should know what they are. But let me shut my yapper. That’s subject for another post.
Sabrina's Money Matters said:
Aug 09, 07 at 12:25 amI agree completely! A friend of mine has been trying to fill a position at her company and she tells me all the times the type of things she disqualifies people for…like bad spelling and grammar on a resume…they go to the shredder…she has a rule about “Um”, if you say it, she assumes you must be stupid and she won’t hire you…and she’s not the only one out there with those kinds of personal opinions. It is those opinions that define their choices.
Once upon a time, when I was a young Sabrina and I was in my first ever office job in my life, a wise older woman took me aside one day and told me, “Sweetheart, around here – or anywhere, don’t tell all your business, loose lips sink ships!”
She was right. My company had a rule that you could not get paid sick time if it was not you yourself that was sick, if it was your children you had to use PTO, and because of my big yapper, my boss found out I stayed home with my son sick instead of it being me, and I went without two days pay because I didn’t have enough PTO in my payroll account to cover the time I was off. If I had not told any of my coworkers my son was sick, it never would’ve gotten back to management and I would’ve been paid for those two days. I was a broke young Sabrina, and I still think that’s a stupid rule!
The lesson has not been forgotten though.
Matthew Blancarte said:
Aug 09, 07 at 8:14 amI became incredibly skilled at interviews when I gained experience in sales. I wonder how skilled the interviewer would be at McDonalds… ^_^. These are all great tips, though!
Sabrina's Money Matters said:
Aug 09, 07 at 8:20 amSales is a skill that is much more valuable than I ever thought possible when I was younger. I always resisted working in the field, I’m beginning to think differently about it though.
Job Interview Horror Stories said:
Aug 09, 07 at 4:22 pm[...] had a preview of todays’ post yesterday with Joe’s comment about bad interviews
. So I’m glad that video from Monty Python isn’t one of the ones I was going to use [...]
gerri said:
Aug 11, 07 at 8:40 amI love this post. I’m on the hunt for a new job and there are some intervuew questions that can be a bit tricky to answer. Example when asked why i’m looking for a new job I cant really say becuase the people i’m currently working with are doing my head in and are just full of ….. and so on. you get what I mean?
anyway, enough of that, thanks for the info.
gerri
Sabrina's Money Matters said:
Aug 11, 07 at 7:34 pmThat’s great to know! I’m in the process of writing a few more articles along the same subject line, so be sure to visit again
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The Job Hunt | MouthyGirl.com said:
Dec 08, 08 at 6:33 am[...] thought it would be useful to highlight a post I wrote on SabrinasMoneyMatters.com over a year ago. Interview 101 because we could all use a little help [...]