I’ve got three awesome interview hacks. Actually, I’ve got a lot more than three, but if you just use these three, they will set you apart from your competition and generate job offers. Why? Because almost no other candidates use them. First, best one ever…
1. Sit on the other side of the desk.
No, don’t sit in the interviewer’s seat physically, but sit there virtually. As the questions are asked, do your best to understand the question from the perspective of the interviewer. Look for the competency they are asking about, whether it is overt or covert. The competency is simply the applicable work skill. Think about that competency/skill, then give the answer that YOU would want to hear sitting on the other side of the desk. Tell a real life example about you using that skill and build it into a story. Don’t answer with the generic: “This is who I am…” perspective used by most candidates. Answer with the specific: “This is how I can meet your needs…” perspective that the interviewer is seeking. Which leads me to my second best interview hack…
2. Don’t give canned interview answers.
Instead, tell a personal story. Do you want to be like everyone else? Give a standard interview answer. Do you want to be different and memorable? Tell a personal story. Tell about the time you saved the day. Tell about the time that you solved a problem that eluded everyone else on your team. Tell about the time that you were awesome at work. That’s what the interviewer really wants to hear. And that’s what they will repeat to others when debriefing after the interview. Which leads me to my third best interview hack…
3. Answer Behaviorally
Whether you’ve been asked a behavioral question or not. Great interviewers are trained to ask behavioral interview questions. Yet all questions should be answered behaviorally, whether asked in that format or not. How? By giving an example. And telling it as a story (see prior hack).
Which leads me to…well, I’ve written LOTS of interview hacks based on my 10,000+ interviews (there were lots of good ones and also lots of bad ones). You can read more of them at CollegeGrad.com, just click on Interviews.
