Ultimate interview : 100s of great interview answers tailored to specific jobs

232 Pages·2012·0.82 MB·English

by  Lynn Williams

i
Ultimate
interview
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THIS PAGE IS INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK
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Ultimate
interview
third edition
100s of great interview answers
lynn williams
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Publisher’s note
Every possible effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this book is accurate
at the time of going to press, and the publishers and author cannot accept responsibility for any errors
or omissions, however caused. No responsibility for loss or damage occasioned to any person acting,
or refraining from action, as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by the editor,
the publisher or the author.
First published in Great Britain and the United States as The Ultimate Interview Book in 2005 by Kogan Page
Limited
Second edition published in 2008 as Ultimate Interview
Third edition 2012
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, this publication may only be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in
any form or by any means, with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic
reproduction in accordance with the terms and licences issued by the CLA. Enquiries concerning reproduction
outside these terms should be sent to the publishers at the undermentioned addresses:
120 Pentonville Road 1518 Walnut Street, Suite 1100 4737/23 Ansari Road
London N1 9JN Philadelphia PA 19102 Daryaganj
United Kingdom USA New Delhi 110002
www.koganpage.com India
© Carolyn Williamson, 2005, 2008, 2012
The right of Carolyn Williamson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
ISBN 978 0 7494 6406 6
E-ISBN 978 0 7494 6443 1
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Williams, Lynn, 1955 Jan. 15-
Ultimate interview : 100s of great interview answers tailored to specific jobs / Lynn Williams. – 3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-7494-6406-6 – ISBN 978-0-7494-6443-1 1. Employment interviewing. I. Title.
HF5549.5.I6W54 2012
650.14′4–dc23
2011045184
Typeset by Graphicraft Ltd, Hong Kong
Printed and bound in India by Replika Press Pvt Ltd
v
Contents
Know your enemy 3
Understanding interviewers 3
What do they want? 3
Contents What sort of things are they looking for? 4
What will happen at the interview? 4
What sort of questions will they ask? 5
How do they know what they’re looking for? 6
Prepare yourself 10
What you need to know before the interview 10
What should you prepare? 11
Exhibit 1: Evidence that you meet their needs 11
Exhibit 2: Reassuring answers and explanations 14
Exhibit 3: Industry knowledge 16
Exhibit 4: The reasons you want this job 20
Answering questions 21
What the interviewer will ask and what you need to tell them 21
Introduction 1 Make a good impression 21
Three cardinal rules 24
Starting the interview 26
What to expect from the interview and how to begin confidently 26
1 Know your enemy 3 QStuaensdtairodn qsu tehsetiyo nass kyo euv sehroyublodd pyre pare for3 2 32
Questions for practical jobs 41
Understanding interviewers Professional knowledge 50
Questions for creative jobs 52
Core question: ‘Will you deliver?’ 52
What do they want? 3 Professional knowledge 63
Questions for clerical and administrative jobs 65
What sort of things are they looking for? 4 Core question: ‘Are you efficient?’ 65
Professional knowledge 75
What will happen at the interview? 4 QCourees qtiuoenssti ofon:r ‘sCaalne sy oaun dse mll?a’ rketing jobs 77 77
Professional knowledge 89
What sort of questions will they ask? 5 Questions for technical jobs 91
Core question: ‘Can you do the job?’ 91
How do they know what they’re looking for? 6 Professional knowledge 104
Questions for management jobs 106
Core question: ‘Will you get results?’ 106
Professional knowledge 125
Questions for customer relations jobs 128
2 Prepare yourself 10 Core question: ‘Are you customer focused?’ 128
Professional knowledge 136
What you need to know before the interview Questions for school and college leavers 138
What to do if you don’t have experience 138
Professional knowledge 146
What should you prepare? 11 Tackling the difficult questions 148
Handling questions about perceived areas of weakness 148
Exhibit 1: Evidence that you meet their needs 11 Inappropriate and illegal questions 155
Dealing with tricky questions 158
What to say when there’s no clear answer 158
Exhibit 2: Reassuring answers and explanations 14 Dealing with critical or negative questions 158
Questions about salary 162
Exhibit 3: Industry knowledge 16 Answering closed questions 164
Answering off-the-wall questions 167
Exhibit 4: The reasons you want this job 20 What is the interviewer really asking? 167
Questions asking you to work something out 168
‘Psychological’ questions 169
Your questions for the interviewer 172
What to ask at the end of the interview 172
3 Answering questions 21 Variations on the theme 175
Different types of interview and how to deal with them confidently 175
What the interviewer will ask and what you need to tell them Screening interviews 175
Telephone interviews 176
Video interviews 177
Make a good impression 21 Panel interviews 178
Serial interviews 179
Three cardinal rules 24 AInsfsoermssaml ienntte crveinetwress 118801
Second interviews 181
Interview extras 183
Tasks and tests they might include and how to approach them 183
4 Starting the interview 26 Making a presentation 184
Showing your portfolio 185
What to expect from the interview and how to begin confidently Technical and attainment tests 185
Physical tests 185
Job-replica exercises 185
Group exercises 187
Psychometric tests 188
5 Questions they ask everybody 32 Future trends 194
Looking the part 196
Standard questions you should prepare for Making a good impression from the start 196
Appearance 196
Behaviour 198
Overcoming nerves 201
What happens next? 203
6 Questions for practical jobs 41 What to do after the interview 203
While you’re waiting for their decision 203
Core question, ‘Are you reliable?’ If they don’t make you an offer 204
If they do make you an offer 209
INDEX TO THE QUESTION 212
Professional knowledge 50
vi CONTENTS
7 Questions for creative jobs 52
Core question, ‘Will you deliver?’
Professional knowledge 63
8 Questions for clerical and administrative jobs 65
Core question, ‘Are you efficient?’
Professional knowledge 75
9 Questions for sales and marketing jobs 77
Core question, ‘Can you sell?’
Professional knowledge 89
10 Questions for technical jobs 91
Core question, ‘Can you do the job?’
Professional knowledge 104
11 Questions for management jobs 106
Core question, ‘Will you get results?’
Professional knowledge 125
12 Questions for customer relations jobs 128
Core question, ‘Are you customer focused?’
Professional knowledge 136
13 Questions for school and college leavers 138
What to do if you don’t have experience
Professional knowledge 146
14 Tackling the difficult questions 148
Handling questions about perceived areas of weakness
Inappropriate and illegal questions 155
15 Dealing with tricky questions 158
What to say when there’s no clear answer
Dealing with critical or negative questions 158
Questions about salary 162
Answering closed questions 164
CONTENTS vii
16 Answering off-the-wall questions 167
What is the interviewer really asking?
Questions asking you to work something out 168
‘Psychological’ questions 169
17 Your questions for the interviewer 172
What to ask at the end of the interview
18 Variations on the theme 175
Different types of interview and how to deal with them confidently
Screening interviews 175
Telephone interviews 176
Video interviews 177
Panel interviews 178
Serial interviews 179
Assessment centres 180
Informal interviews 181
Second interviews 181
19 Interview extras 183
Tasks and tests they might include and how to approach them
Making a presentation 184
Showing your portfolio 185
Technical and attainment tests 185
Physical tests 185
Job-replica exercises 185
Group exercises 187
Psychometric tests 188
Future trends 194
20 Looking the part 196
Making a good impression from the start
Appearance 196
Behaviour 198
Overcoming nerves 201
viii CONTENTS
21 What happens next? 203
What to do after the interview
While you’re waiting for their decision 203
If they don’t make you an offer 204
If they do make you an offer 209
Index to the questions 212
Index 219
1
introdUCtion
Congratulations! You’ve got an interview. This is meant to be good news, so why
do you feel as if you’ve just had advance notice of your execution?
Don’t worry, you should feel nervous. It’s natural. Interviews are very important;
they stand between you and the job of your dreams, or at least an honest job with a
reasonable salary. And it’s possible that, with jobs in rather short supply recently, this
interview is a long-anticipated event. Feel nervous for the right reasons, though.
Actors about to go on stage can feel tense because of two things. Either they don’t
know their lines, haven’t rehearsed, don’t know what to expect and are afraid of mak-
ing a fool of themselves; or they’re fully prepared and anxious to give their very best
performance. The first sort of nerves makes you feel sick and hinders your delivery;
the second sort gives you the extra pizzazz you need for a winning presentation.
Now, more than ever before, you need to do everything you can to get the winning
edge. So how do you turn the first sort of nerves into the second sort? Like the good
actor, you prepare thoroughly beforehand.
Preparing for an interview isn’t difficult, but it does take time and effort. The two big
things you need to know, and know thoroughly, are: what they want; and what you’ve
got. Sort those out, match them up, put them across convincingly and you can’t go
far wrong. The rest of this book tells you how to do just that, along with some other
important points to help you get ready.
Don’t wait until the morning of the interview to read this book and find out how to
prepare. Do it now and do it thoroughly. Not only will it take a lot of the pressure off
you, but it will give you the chance to prepare really good answers and rehearse them
exhaustively. When you know what to expect and how to handle it, you’ll feel com-
pletely confident when you go in front of your live audience – the interviewer.
Ah, the interviewer. Let’s scotch a few myths about interviewers:
They are not out to humiliate you.
They will not ask you trick questions for no reason.
They will not seek out your weak spots and exploit them.
If they didn’t think you could do the job, they wouldn’t have asked you to the
interview.
2 ULTIMATE INTERVIEW
There are no preferred candidates; everyone is on an equal footing.
They never ask people to interviews just to make up the numbers.
Interviewers try their very best to be impartial. However, every interviewer is an
individual with individual preferences and biases. Different people put a different
emphasis on different things. Some will be influenced by a confident delivery, some
by a striking first impression, and others prefer someone who takes time to think
things through.
What they have in common is that they all, believe it or not, want you to do your
best and will go to great lengths to see that you do – preparing the questions, arran-
ging the interview room, putting you at your ease. What all interviewers want is some-
one who can do the job. When you walk in the door, they hope it’s going to be you.
Your task is to convince them that they’re right.
At the end of each chapter, you’ll find quotes from the people who actually do the
interviewing. This is advice straight from the horse’s mouth – if they’ll excuse the
expression. This is what interviewers actually think and feel, and what they wish they
could tell their interviewees before the interview. Look at what these experts have to
say, take note of what they want, and there’s an excellent chance that you’ll soon find
yourself being offered the job of your dreams.