Top 4 Professional Tips to follow during the interview

Be Professional 

The majority of interviews will start with questions about your work experience. Interviewers use these questions to figure out if you have the basic skill set that is needed for the job. If you make sure you know how to answer these questions, the easier the interview will be; otherwise, it can end up being quite difficult when you aren’t prepared. These first questions help you set the tone for how the interview will go. They will also allow you to set yourself apart from the other candidates. Let’s go over how you should frame your answers for these questions. First off, the interviewer will probably be talking to dozens of other possible candidates. Many of them aren’t going to leave an impression. When you frame your answer properly, you can make a lasting impression so that they view you as a top choice. Start by letting the interviewer know something that you are passionate about, but make sure it relates to the job you are applying for. They are looking for people who enjoy what they do, so make sure you let them know what you enjoy. Here are some examples: 

• If you are applying for a job as a graphic designer, you could say something along the lines of “I love when I get to be creative.”
• If you are applying for a salesperson job, you could start out saying something like, “I like to build relationships with others.” 
• If you are applying for a job as a bookkeeper, you could say, “I love to organize. I enjoy organizing things into neat groups.” 

Now take a look at some job-specific details for the position you are applying for and try to figure out what passions relate closely to the responsibilities you would have. 

Next, make sure you summarize the experience you have. This needs to be brief and does not start going into a lot of detail. This will let your interviewer have some context for the remainder of the interview: 

• If you are applying to be a marketing manager, you could let them know, “I received my bachelor in marketing from NC State. Once Igraduated, I started working at Hush Ad Agency where I was in charge of creating digital media campaigns.” 
• If you are applying to be a cashier, you can tell them, “I have helped two different retail jobs during the last eight years. I was an assistant cashier at Michaels before being promoted to head cashier. From there I worked as a head cashier at Kmart.”
• If you are applying to be a police officer, you could say, “I have an associate’s degree in criminal justice. I worked as a security guard at an office building while in college.” 

Take a look at your resume and see where you have work experience that relates to the job you want. Then take some time summarizing the experience you have. 

Next, you will want to let the interviewer know what kind of experience you would like to learn. You need to make sure that your answer is directly related to the job you are applying for: 

• For an office manager, you could say, “I want a job that will let me use my organizational skills while also providing me chances to supervise others.” 
• For a financial advisor, you could say, “I want to reach a position where I can grow my knowledge in the realm of estate planning and retirement.” 
• For a teacher, you could say, “I would like a position where I can create lesson plans and teach English—since English is my subject of choice.” 

Now let’s take a look at question-specific answers. 

Walk Me through Your Resume 

This is very much like the first question in the first chapter. When it comes to this question, it is best to summarize every section of your resume. Provide the interviewer with highlights from your experience and education sections. It is best to share this information in chronological order. 

Fight off the temptation to read off of your resume. They do not want to hear you reciting things that they could simply read for themselves. They want to hear things in your own words. 

We will look at a good answer for a person applying for a job as a medical sales representative. The responsibilities for this job could include creating relationships with PCPs and selling medical supplies: 

“I have a passion for building healthy relationships. When you look at my resume, you will see that I have a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Northern University. While I was there, I was elected as the president of the debate club. I believe this shows that I can build strong peer relationships. I am also persuasive. After I graduated, I got a job at Mill Labs, where I worked as a lab assistant. That is where I learned my passion was in selling ideas, not lab work. The director of sales saw my passion and provided me with the chance to prove myself in the sales department. My performance in sales was in the top ten percent, and I was promoted from assistant sales rep to associate sales rep. I am now looking to move into a role that gives me more responsibility for a wider range of products. I want to be in a place where I can create lasting relationships with customers and help them to succeed using the products that I believe in.” 

This answer shows that the applicant has a lot of background knowledge for this role. They also make sure to explain why they are looking to switch careers. 

What major problems and challenges did you face at your last job?

Why was this question asked? There are many challenges in a job. The person doing the interview wants to know how you handled challenges and problems in past jobs since you will probably face some challenges in this job too. 

You have to show the ways you can overcome a challenge. Give them an example of a challenge or problem that has relevance to the interviewer and shows the ways you overcame the problem. When you structure your answer, give the challenge and follow with the actions and results: 

“Two years ago, my employer acquired a niche firm. This created natural friction between long-time employees and the ones who were hired during the acquisition. Every team had their way of doing things. In the beginning, having more employees slowed down the ability to get projects finished successfully because of conflict and miscommunication. After this, I asked my team members to meet me for lunch. We went to a relaxed atmosphere and started discussing the way we work and why we do it this way. It opened up a line of communication, and we started understanding one another better. This led to better teamwork.” 

Do you have any leadership experience? 

Why are they asking this question? Since the ability to lead is important, and it does not matter what your role is, the interviewer wants to know about your ability to lead by finding out what you have done in the past. 

Give them a memorable story or two that will show leadership qualities. It is best to give them a couple of stories than to give a list of all your experiences, with none of them being memorable for the interviewer: 

“Each quarter, my department provided a report on its accomplishments to the executives. I volunteered for the team leader in gathering the information from coworkers and making sure that it was as organized and accurate as possible. I called several team meetings to set objectives and deadlines for our work and met with individual members to answer any questions and to make sure we were on the same page. We produced a report that was praised by the executive team, and I have been the go-to person ever since.” 

What accomplishment gave you the biggest satisfaction?

 Why are they asking this question? This shows your ability to get things done. Showing what you have accomplished in the past shows how inclined you are to accomplish things in the future. 

Give the interviewer an accomplishment that is relevant to the job you are interviewing for. Paint them a picture of things you have accomplished, how you went about accomplishing them, and why they were important to you:

“I have always been great at multi-tasking, but I was not sure that I would be able to go to school full-time while working and raising a family. It wasn’t always easy, but I was able to do it successfully. I would study on the train, wake up early, go to sleep late, and learned how to manage everything that I do more effectively.”