10 Steps to Ace Your Next Job Interview

Employers want to see if you can strike the right balance between confidence and humility...

Everyone spends multiple hours and ridiculous amounts of money on preparation of their CV, yet they barely focus on the upcoming interview. Dont get me wrong, your CV is the first impression when applying for a job vacancy and a high-quality CV enhances your opportunity for an interview. An interview is where you seal the deal and luckily you have us to assist you.

Do you have the right skills to ace your interview? Here are some helpful Tips & Tricks:

#1 First Contact

Arrive seven minutes earlier, full of confidence and dressed neatly. Visualize the interview of being a success. NB! Do not set expectations only visualize success to motivate yourself.

Tips:

• Eye Contact & smile with your eyes.
• Dress appropriately & neat with polished shoes (youd be surprised how many managers judge you by the way your shoes look).
• Eye to nose variation, not eye to forehead (your eye movement when talking & listening actively).

#2 Tell us more about yourself?

Focus on your core skills, Personality, the ability to answer unstructured questions.

Tips:

• Prepare for this question in advance and have a compelling story about your past experiences.
• Pull prominent skills from the job description.
• Be SHE (succinct, honest, and engaging).

DO NOT BORE THEM BY REPEATING YOUR NAME AND YOUR PLACE OF BIRTH etc.

#3 What is your greatest Strength?

Employers want to see if you can strike the right balance between confidence and humility. Hiring managers also want to get a sense for how self-aware and honest you are and align your strengths to the role at hand.

Tips:

• Be authentic dont make up strengths that you think the employer wants to hear.
• Relate each of your strengths to a story about a work experience or circumstance. This provides validation for the hiring managers.
• Be sure the strengths you share are aligned to the role you want.

#4 Long term goals?

Employers want to determine how serious you are about your career and whether your goals match the goals for this job. Employers dont expect you to offer up a specific title you want. Instead, they want to know what you hope to accomplish. Usually 5 years 10 Years.

Tips:

• Break the answer down in two-to-three-year chunks.
• Focus on what you can give, rather than what you can get.
• Dont bring up a specific job title that you want to move into one day.
• Make it specific to this company and position.

#5 Short term goals?

Keep it short and simple. This answer can bring them a smile.

Answer:

• To be the successful candidate for this job.

#6 How do you handle conflict and/or pressure?

Employers want to see how you handle competing priorities, understand the implications of missing deadlines, and can stay cool under pressure.

Some jobs are high-stress and interviewers will test you to see if you can handle the heat. Youll get partial credit for talking about your heroic efforts to get everything done, but youll get more points if youve enlisted allies.

Tips:

• Be clear about the project goal.
• Establish that youre a strong person who doesnt get flustered easily.
• Show your ingenious side, too, especially if your path to success involved redefining the task or enlisting colleagues.
• Talk about the most important priority and then share additional priorities and how they conflicted.
• Describe the steps you took to get the top priority done.
• Discuss the positive impact this had on the company or team.

Do a free Course in Conflict Management HERE!

#7 Why should we Hire you?

Employers are looking for factual and compelling answers.

Tips:

• Start with the three or four best reasons youve got (relating slowly back to the above mentioned. Active listening and observation wouldve shown you what they liked hearing. Use this info again in a different manner).
• Humbly cite results, credentials, and other peoples praise so you dont seem self-absorbed.
• Be concise and invite follow-up questions at the end.

#8 Salary expectations?

If this question arises early, odds are that the interviewer is really asking: Can we afford you? If it arises much later, the interviewer may be hoping that your salary requirements are aligned to what they have budgeted for this role.

Tips:

• Know the industry norms for similar jobs.
• Talk about ranges, rather than exact numbers.
• Make the case that you offer premium value.

#9 Why do you want to work here?

You must read about the company beforehand.

Interviewers want to understand what prompted you to apply for this job. They dont want candidates who are indifferent to where they work. Instead, they want someone who offers very specific reasons for why they want this job.

Tips:

• Make it about them first.
• Show youve done your research.
• Use this as a key opportunity to outshine the competition.
• Speak from the heart.

#10 Any Questions?

This question isnt just designed to make sure you leave with all your questions answered. Its intended to see if youre prepared and to assess how curious and thoughtful you are.

Tips:

• Come prepared with 2-3 thoughtful questions.
• Ask questions that show youre engaged, intelligent and interested.
• Avoid no-brainer questions or ones related to salary / benefits.

This is a thorough yet simple expectation of questions to be asked at interviews. Depending on the job level, questions may vary, and technical questions will arise. How do you answer and prepare for these questions? By reading up and making sure you know what you are applying for. Preparation is key!

May these questions be a successful guideline and all the best for that job interview!