The job interview can be a nightmare, especially when you are not ready enough for it.
Job interviews are nerve-racking due to the pressure of self-presentation, fear of being evaluated, high-stake pressure and uncertainty of questions being asked. It is normal to feel stressed and nervous before interviews but you can stand out confidently as a strong candidate by doing a little preparation.
Going for an interview as an experienced worker can be more challenging. You have to come up with your achievements, experiences, and potential. Your interviewer may question your abilities, skills and professionalism to adapt their culture and mission.
Preparing yourself for the most commonly asked questions can help you to stay confident, set the tone for the conversation and build a positive lasting impression.
Below, have look at the three most frequently asked questions and several ways to answer them effectively enough:
Why should we hire you?
It’s a bit strange to see yourself as a kind of product, but at the end of the day, you are not just a work force.
Therefore, when this question arises, you must “sell” yourself in a special way. At that moment, do not talk about yourself, but about what you would do for the firm.
First of all, well, think about the position you applied for and point out in what way your skills and knowledge would contribute to the development of that sector.
For experienced persons this question is more challenging and can feel like a high-stakes balancing act, you not only prove your basic competence but shows your relevance,values fit for the specific post. You have to bring your years of experience as an asset. You have to compete with the fresh candidates, having more advanced knowledge and up-to-date on new skills. You need not to panic or oversell yourself, just connect your current experience and skills to the company’s current needs.
Researching a company before an interview isn’t just about skimming their ‘About Us’ page. Delve deeper! Read their annual reports to understand their financial performance and strategic direction. Analyze their recent press releases to identify their priorities and challenges. Follow their social media channels to get a sense of their company culture. Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator to identify key decision-makers and understand their backgrounds. By doing this in-depth research, you’ll be able to tailor your answers to demonstrate a genuine understanding of their needs and how you can contribute to their success. For example: If they are expanding their business internationally, just share your experience working with global teams and working across cultures.
Frame your answer in (STAR) Situation, Task, action and response. It will be a structured answer. Give your answer in measurable results.
Situation: “Our team’s two seniors left us in a critical project”.
Task: “I had to keep the project on track while training replacements”.
Action: “I mentored staff, reallocated the duties and called weekly progress meetings”.
Response: “We completed the project on time. The replacements were fully trained and productive within a short period of time”.
Employers may be a little worried about the older candidates being inflexible and rigid. Change this thought by emphasizing your adaptability, “In my 10 years career, I’ve seen multiple shifts in technology, I regularly upskilled and recently did a course and cloud situations to sharpen my skills”.
Connect your skills and experience to the firm’s needs.
“You need a person to lead a cross-functional team, “I’ve led 25 staff across finance and marketing, I’ve skillfully launched two new products under a tight deadline, I can bring the same coordination skills here”.
In this way it doesn’t feel like you are “selling yourself” instead proving yourself the solution to their problems.
Tell us something about yourself
A very ungrateful issue in which you can “break away from the subject” and continue in the opposite direction.
On this issue, the most important thing is to stay focused – concentrate on what you want to stay in the head of the employer after the interview.
Begin with your experiences and successes, then switch on skills, strength, and opportunities.
This question often seems vague to any candidate, you’ll feel nervous whether to talk about your personal life, story of your whole career or talk about your hobbies. The key is to remember that the interviewer is not interested in your personal life story–he just wants to be assured that your professional journey meets their expectations and needs.
Keep it professional and structured. Use this formula:
Present–Past–Achievement–Future fit
Present: “I’m a digital marketing manager, overseeing campaigns across social media”.
Past: “I started content creation to design campaigns that connect with the audience”.
Achievement: “Last year my company’s campaigns increased with a great lead on social media”.
Future fit: “I feel myself fit for this job because your company is expanding globally, so my experience of international marketing will be beneficial for this challenge”.
The goal is not to tell the interviewer the story of your lie but leave the interview with a clear conception that will paint you as an experienced, relevant and skilled person for this job.
What is your biggest weakness?
This may be the worst question at a job interview, because there simply isn’t a correct way to answer that.
The purpose of the job interview is to show yourself in a good light, and problems arise when you need to recognize your own bad habit.
This is such an anxiety-triggered question. Many experienced workers will think admitting their flaw will make them disqualified. The best approach is to show two things. One you are self-aware and second you are actively improving.
Here is how you can answer it effectively.
Don’t say something like “I miss my deadlines”, instead admit a flaw that is true but not critical to the job. For example:
“Previously I’ve been hesitant to delegate, preferring to do things myself to ensure quality”.
Employers are more concerned about your growth than flaws.
“I’ve worked over delegation for last year and introduced product management tools and trained my team for a greater responsibility”.
“As a result, our team successfully launched two products and I was able to focus more on strategy”.
It shows that you are proactive, self-aware and growing. The interviewer doesn’t want perfection, he wants to see honesty, resilience and growth in you.
According to experts, this issue actually has great potential to be in your favor. One of the things you can do is to acknowledge your own weakness, then explain how you have struggled to overcome them and out of that situation come out as a winner.
For example, if you are shy by nature, explain how you attended public speaking classes and then held a speech.
Final thoughts
By preparing thoughtful, specific and practical answers, experienced workers can stand out confidently in interviews by competing with the younger candidates. The key is the self-awareness and ability to adapt and overcome the challenges. Your experience is your strength, when your experience and skills are deeply connected with the interviewer’s requirements, your anxiety turns into opportunity.
Thanks for reading this post! – MyPlugin