The Everything Practice Interview Book

308 Pages·2012·6.57 MB·English

by  Dawn Rosenberg Mckay

Practice Interview Book

Dear Reader,

Interviews are difficult. I know—I’ve been on both sides of
the desk. I’ve interviewed job candidates and I’ve been inter-
viewed. Honestly I can think of many things that are more fun.
Of course, there’s a lot of pressure on the job candidate. You
can attest to that. You want to let the interviewer know you are
the best candidate for the job. But there’s also a lot of pressure
on the interviewer, who wants to make sure the person she
hires is a good fit for the job and for the company in general.
In the six years I’ve been managing the Career Planning site
on About.com (http://careerplanning.about.com), I’ve often heard
from people who are stressed out over the job interview. Most
people want to know what questions to expect and how to
answer them. I get a lot of e-mail from people who have faced
improper or illegal questions on an interview. I made a point of
including a lot of information on that topic.
I wrote this book with all that in mind. Over 300 interview
questions help prepare you for anything you might face. Read
the answers carefully and use them to guide you in putting
together your own responses.

Good Luck!

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Visit the entire Everything ® Series at www.everything.com

Editorial

Publishing Director
Gary M. Krebs

Managing Editor
Kate McBride

Copy Chief
Laura MacLaughlin

Acquisitions Editors
Bethany Brown / Kate Burgo

Development Editor
Christina MacDonald

Production Editors
Jamie Wielgus

Bridget Brace

Production

Production Director
Susan Beale

Production Manager
Michelle Roy Kelly

Series Designers
Daria Perreault
Colleen Cunningham

Cover Design
Paul Beatrice
Frank Rivera

Layout and Graphics
Colleen Cunningham
Rachael Eiben
Michelle Roy Kelly
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Daria Perreault
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Series Cover Artist
Barry Littmann

The
Series

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Adams Media
Avon, Massachusetts

PRACTICE
INTERVIEW
BOOK

Be prepared for any question

Dawn Rosenberg McKay

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To Dean and Rebecca for their patience.

Copyright ©2004, F+W Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced
in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions
are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

An Everything® Series Book.
Everything® and everything.com® are registered trademarks of F+W Publications, Inc.

Published by Adams Media, an F+W Publications Company
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com
ISBN 13: 978-1-59337-133-3 (paperback)
ISBN 13: 978-1-60550-466-7(EPUB)
ISBN 10: 1-59337-133-0
Printed in Canada.

J I H G F E D C B A

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McKay, Dawn Rosenberg.
The everything practice interview book / Dawn Rosenberg McKay.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-59337-133-0
ISBN 13: 978-1-60550-466-7(EPUB)
1. Employment interviewing. I. Title. II. Series: Everything series.
HF5549.5.I6M327 2004
650.14'4--dc22
2004005401
This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with
regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the pub-
lisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If
legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent pro-
fessional person should be sought.
—From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American
Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their prod-
ucts are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and
Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed
with initial capital letters.

This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, call 1-800-289-0963

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v

Contents

TOP TEN THINGS NOT TO SAY ON A JOB INTERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

CHAPTER 1: Preparing for the Interview . . . . . . . . 1
Understanding Job Interviews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Learning about Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Learning about Your Prospective Employer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Doing Your Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Take Time to Rehearse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Access Your Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Dealing with Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
What to Do about Low Confidence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
The Night Before and Morning of the Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

CHAPTER 2: First Impressions Count . . . . . . . . . . . 19
What to Wear to the Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
What to Bring to the Interview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Getting to the Interview on Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Arriving for Your Appointment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
The Interview Begins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Body Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Making Your Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Interviewing over a Meal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Interviewing in a Foreign Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

CHAPTER 3: Revealing Your Personality . . . . . . . . 37
Why the Personal Questions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

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T H E E V E R Y T H I N G P R A C T I C E I N T E R V I E W B O O K

v i

CHAPTER 4: Discussing Your Skills and Abilities 55
Hard Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Soft Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Skills You Haven’t Used Professionally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

CHAPTER 5: Highlighting YourAccomplishments 73
Listing Your Accomplishments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Discussing Your Accomplishments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

CHAPTER 6: Questions about Your Education . . . 91
How You Spent Your College Years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

CHAPTER 7: Discussing Your Work History . . . . 109
How to Present Your Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

CHAPTER 8: Your Interpersonal Skills . . . . . . . . . 127
An Employee Balancing Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
How Do You Resolve Conflicts? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130

CHAPTER 9: Did You Do Your Homework? . . . . . 147
Proving Your Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Highlight Skills That Fit the Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

CHAPTER 10: What Would You Do
If You Were Hired? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
What You Can Bring to a Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
What the Company Expects of You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

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C O N T E N T S

v i i

CHAPTER 11: Questions about
Special Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
I Hope They Don’t Ask Me That . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
How to Answer Difficult Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

CHAPTER 12: Dealing With Illegal Questions . . 201
Who Decides What Questions Are Illegal? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
The Rules Regarding Specific Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

CHAPTER 13: Behavioral Interviews . . . . . . . . . . 221
What Are Behavioral Interview Questions? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Why Employers Ask Behavioral Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
How to Answer Behavioral Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Questions and Answers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

CHAPTER 14: Do You Have Any Questions? . . . . 245
Why You Should Ask Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Preparing Your Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
Questions You Should Ask (And Not Ask) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

CHAPTER 15: What to Do after the Interview . . 257
Thank-You Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
What to Do If You Don’t Want the Job . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Waiting for a Decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
The Job Offer—Finally . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

APPENDIX A: RESOURCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
APPENDIX B: GLOSSARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

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v i i i

Top Ten Things
Not to Say on a Job Interview

1.
That suit looks expensive! How much money do you

make, anyway?

2.
What would my salary be? I have to make more than I

did at my last job.

3.
I’ve never heard of your company before. What type of

business is this?

4.
It wasn’t my fault. My coworkers had it in for me.

5.
My boss was a jerk. I didn’t have to think twice about

quitting after what he did.

6.
How much time do you give for maternity leave?

7.
How many vacation days will I have each year? I love to

travel. I was thinking of Australia next year.

8.
If someone files a harassment charge against me,

you would cover for me, right?

9.
I’d rather be working in my own field, but I can’t find

anyone who will hire me, so this will do for now.

10.
Can I have my own office? I really don’t like working

with other people.

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WOULDN’T IT BE NICE IF YOU COULD send out your resume
for a position you’re qualified for and simply be offered a job?
After all, everything about you is right there on your resume, isn’t
it? You should know—you put it there yourself.
But, no, everything about you is not on your resume. Think
of your resume as a pencil drawing of who you really are. There
is no dimension to it. It has no color and no expression.
Basically, it’s pretty flat. Not at all like you; you are multifaceted.
You’ve made choices throughout your career. You reached certain
goals and had many accomplishments. You should have a chance
to talk about all of that, because those details are what will make
an employer want to hire you.
The job interview is your chance to show your prospective
employer who you really are and what you can bring to the posi-
tion. By asking you questions, a prospective employer can learn
all about you and why you made the choices you made. He can
discover what motivates you and what makes you proud. The
interviewer can find out how you will fit in with his company. Will
you get along with other employees? Will you make important
contributions to his organization?
There is a lot to accomplish during the job interview. It is per-
haps the most important part of the entire job search process. It
is also the most difficult part of the entire job search process. It’s
not like the resume you spent months poring over. You can edit
your resume again and again until it lists the most important
things about your career, using the most effective wording to high-
light your skills. However, a job interview usually takes place in
under an hour. When you say something, there’s no delete key.
If you forget to say something, the moment may have already
passed by the time you realize it. You can’t just insert it.

i x

Introduction

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That is why it is so very important that you prepare well for
the job interview. You won’t have another chance to get it right,
at least not with the same employer. The more comfortable you
are with the entire process of interviewing, the more relaxed you
will be when it comes time for the interview, and the better the
interview will be.
This book will guide you through the entire job interview
process. The first two chapters cover everything you need to do
before the interview takes place. Discover what you need to do
to prepare for a job interview. Learn how to research a prospec-
tive employer so you can intelligently ask and answer questions
during your interview. Find out how to dress for an interview.
Learn about interviewing in another country.
Next up are twelve chapters that are packed full of sample
job interview questions. For each question there is a great
answer, an explanation of why you should give that answer, and
then an answer you should never give and the reason why. As
you go through the questions, think of how you would person-
alize each answer.
The final chapter deals with the aftermath of the job interview.
Find out what you need to do to follow up on a job interview. Is
a thank-you letter really necessary? Of course, the whole purpose
of this entire process is to get a job offer. Find out how to nego-
tiate, accept, or reject one. By the time you’re finished with this
book, you’ll be able to take on even the toughest interview.

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T H E E V E R Y T H I N G P R A C T I C E I N T E R V I E W B O O K

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1

C H A P T E R 1
Preparing for
the Interview

MANY PEOPLE FOLLOW A CERTAIN ROUTINE when they
are job hunting. They send copies of their resumes to prospective
employers and follow that with weeks of sitting around waiting to be
called back. You should let your competition follow that routine—you
can make much better use of your time! By preparing for a job inter-
view in advance, you will increase your chances of getting hired
when you finally do get that call.

Understanding Job Interviews

Before you begin interviewing, you must make sure you have a
good understanding of what interviews are all about. You should
know about the interview process, what the different types of inter-
views are, and what employers are trying to learn about you from
an interview. Becoming more knowledgeable about what to expect
will help you demystify the entire interview process. This in turn
will allow you to feel more confident when you are on a job inter-
view. Remember, the more confident you feel, the more confident
you will look to your potential boss.

The Purpose of the Interview
Have you ever wondered what the point of a job interview
even is? The employer has your resume—can’t she just look at it
to see whether you have the necessary skills and experience? All
she should need to do is make a phone call or two to verify that

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