• Book Name: Great Answers, Great Questions for Your Job Interview by Jay A. Block, Michael Betrus
• Author: Jay A. Block, Michael Betrus
• Pages: 225
• Size: 7 MB

Great Answers, Great Questions for Your Job Interview

SEVERAL YEARS AGO I was interviewing for a position as a regional director with a Fortune 50 telecommunications company. It was a big interview, representing the biggest job I’d had up to that time. The position had greater responsibility and higher compensation than any position I’d ever held. In short, this was a cherry opportunity and a terrific promotion.

Two days before the interview, preparation for the meeting was getting me very excited. I was traveling and was not able to prep as much as I normally would. On a plane from Baltimore to Tampa, I thought of the hiring I had done in the past. Then I put myself in the hiring vice president’s mindset and began thinking about what would be important to her.

Put Yourself in the Hiring Manager’s Mindset

What skills or accomplishments would be most important to this vice president? If I were in her shoes, what would be important to me in making a hiring decision? What would she ask me?

List It Out

Here is what I did. I anticipated several questions I thought she would ask and listed an answer to each one with a spin on what might be important to her. This is what the finished product looked like.

Strengths

Good writing and communication skills (I know this is vague, but it is always important, especially if you can back it, such as by being published or hosting seminars or training sessions.)

Great Answers, Great Questions for Your Job Interview

Ability to focus and see through the clutter (along with a concise example to validate this).

Motivating a team to achieve success (again accompanied by a concise example).

Effectively working across multiple disciplines in a large organization.

Sense of urgency with deadlines, with examples to back it up.

Weaknesses

Have a fairly direct personality (a good weakness because it may be interpreted as a strength by some).

Have a difficult time working with those less passionate than I am (again, a weakness that is forgivable).

Could sharpen Excel skills for better business analysis (something easily done).

Most Important Attributes to Me in a Job

Being accountable and having the ability to affect the direction of the organization.

Being able to win, to succeed.

Creating an environment where employees can grow and enjoy their work. Developing a new business out of nothing, from staffing, training, development, and execution of a new business plan.

Having passion and a sense of urgency to accomplish, a trait nearly impossible to teach.

Personnel Problem Solved

Sharing office space with a sister business unit that was not “friendly.” Morale issues arose, and I worked to bring harmony between the business units by: Including both units in off-site team-building meetings.

Offering extra money for sales referrals and for assisting in special projects.

Great answers, great questions for your job interview.