Preparing for a Job Interview Part I

I am interviewing for a job tomorrow, so the purpose of my of this article is to organize my thoughts and prepare for the interview.

It may sound good to go into the interview without prepared answers thinking, probably, that if you prepare your answers will be stiff and sound rehearsed, and if you just “wing it” your answers will sound natural, and present the real you, but I am afraid that may not be the way to look at it.

Maybe it is not so bad to sound a little rehearsed and overly prepared. Maybe that slight stiffness will send the message that the job mattered to you enough that you did prepare. Someone who cares about how they present themselves must be more valuable than someone who “wings it.” The “wing it” person may come off caviler, egocentric, narcissistic, conceited, and just a big ole full-of-‘m-self blowhard.

Now I have already interviewed once since moving to Oklahoma City. I had applied for a day before our horrible car accident, so when I went to the interview I was still a little rattled. I did not prepare. When they asked if I had any questions I said no. And, by the way, I was not selected for the job.

One of the advantages of interviewing for a job and not getting picked is that you sort of get an idea what to expect. In my case, I am interviewing tomorrow for the same job as the one I’d interviewed for earlier. It is in a different office, but it is the same job title, and job description. Since it is a job with the State of Oklahoma, and they probably have trainings and workshop/seminars on how to hire, so I think I can expect exactly the same questions I got the last time.

The trend lately seems to be that when you go to an interview you sit in “the hot seat” at the end of a conference table, and there are three or four people sitting around the table and they all take turns asking you questions.. No matter what job you are interviewing for, there are some general questions that show up often in these situations. It is a good idea to anticipate the questions because you can prepare to answer them ahead of time. It is hard to be surprised by stuff you expect.

Commonly asked questions:

• What are your major strengths?

It is hard to brag on one’s self, and not sound like a braggart, but that is the task here. Focus on your job accomplishments that apply towards the job you are seeking. Don’t lie. Be selective in the things you reveal. Don’t answer questions that were not asked.

o I care about doing things right, and doing things on time.
o I am supportive of co-workers, and easy to get along with.

What do you consider to be your major weaknesses?

It amazes me that people ask this question. It amazes me more that some people, including me, have told true weaknesses that make me, and make us un-hirable.

o What I want to say is: My weakness is that put the job first over me.
o The job is constantly on my mind, and I am always problems solving even when I’m suppose to be saying my prayers at church.

In stead of telling some stupid lie, I plan to tell a story about the time I got this kid out of a mental institution because I thought he had been improperly placed. I interviewed this foster kid who said he had threatened his foster mother and claimed to hear voices to get out of that placement. He said he had been asking his case worker for a year to move him, and was being ignored, so he just made that stuff up hoping that it would get him out.

I should have asked more questions. I should have talked to the case manager. I did talk to the foster mother, and she supported what the kid said. So I went to the wall, did battle in court advocating that this young man be released, and we won.

Then two weeks later the kid took a machete, walked to the hospital, was surrounded by police, guns drawn, yelling at him to drop the weapon, and he was screaming at them, “Shoot, shoot! Kill me.”

My weakness was in being too trusting, and not asking enough probing questions. This incident has helped me improve on my interview techniques, and to be more skeptical of the answers, but I need to remember that my natural tendency to want to believe people has to be tempered by a premeditated skepticism.

• How do you organize yourself?

I was asked this question a couple of different ways, at that last interview, and I felt I could have answered it better. Next time my answer will include the following:

o I make a daily To Do list, and prioritize at the start of my day.
o I regularly clear out the clutter. I feel less stress, and think clearer when I eliminate the clutter.
o Know when to combine tasks.
o Know when to eliminate task, no one can do everything. When you prioritize you may find that some tasks are so important that other tasks may have to be put off, or even completed late. It isn’t what you want, but it is part of responsible decision making.

• I notice there are gaps in your job history. Can you explain the gaps.

This is a minefield. There is no secret answer that will defuse the question. Remember what they said about politicians caught having affairs. It is better to just admit it, than to lie, and be discovered as a liar later. Just tell the interview team, or the employer, as objectively and candidly as possible, your view of what happened. If you lie, you will be fired once the lie is found out, so it is just better not to get the job than to be fired and then have another uncomfortable question to answer in your next job interview.

This sounds easier than it is. The difficulty comes from the fact that when you lose a job, most of the time, it is not over something simple, it is over something complicated. There are a multitude of reasons why people get fired. There may be a long set up needed to really understand what happened. One thing you can try is giving a brief answer [We had a conflict over a particular case, and my supervisor disagreed with me, and felt our value differences were so great that it was not in the interest of either one of us for me to continue there. If you would like a more detailed explanation I will be happy to share it, but it is somewhat complicated]. The only certain advice is, "don't lie about it!"

Include in your answer information that indicate your objectivity. Be objective, don’t bash the last boss, or spend a lot of time placing blame because it always sounds like you are avoiding blame [blame shifting.] Remember, and say that not every job is perfect for every employee, and while you had a conflict in that particular job, you have had a long work history, and it had never happened before, and has not happened since.

Remember that firings usually involve personality conflicts, performance issues, or sometimes a combination of both. Sometimes a person is fired because there was a big mess up on a case, or project, and someone has to be blamed and eliminated for management to look like they are being proactive and redressing the weaknesses that may have contributed to the failure. Anyone who has worked for any length of time knows of people who “got blamed” for some fiasco for which they were not the blame. It happens. It that is what happened to you, then tell the story in such a way that the unfairness is obvious without you having to say, “it wasn’t my fault.”

Avoid This

Avoid saying, "It was all their fault. I was a perfect employee every day, and I was an outstanding performer in every aspect of my job. They were totally wrong to fire me!" Even if it is true, you can be certain that they are not going to believe it, and who is going to hire someone when they are pretty dang sure you are telling lies in the interview? There is an old saying that there are two sides to everything. Maybe, in your one case, there was only one side, but everyone else on earth believes there are at least two sides, and so just avoid claiming that you are a totally innocent victim and the last employer was made up of big ole liars that blamed you for something you didn’t do.

What Did You Learn?

To minimize the potential damage of being fired, always, always, always include something about what you learned from that situation, how it changed you for the better, how it has made you a better employee, and what you have gained in the areas of self-knowledge, increased job skills, and in general, just how you got wiser from what happened.

Who can’t improve? Everyone has room for improvement. Getting fired isn't the sin, not learning anything from it might not be a sin, but it is also no reason for a new employer to consider hiring you. Employers want employees that can learn from their mistakes and the bumps of life.

• What did you like least about your last job?

If you pick something that is crucial to the new job, you just lost the interview. If you say you didn’t like some of the way they required you to account for your time, add that you filled out the time sheets, you were rarely ever late, and that you did what was required, but you just didn’t like the chore when it conflicted with the more critical parts of the job. You prefer to focus on the case, but that you understand that accountability is essential. It is important that you communicate that you can do the aggravating, or boring parts of the job, that everything is not going to be exciting, and you understand that a job includes the whole package, the interesting stuff, and the mundane stuff.

The point is to just prepare answers for the common questions. Expect to be asked and have some idea what you are going to say. Other common questions may include the following:

• What did you like most about your last job? Or why did you leave your last job?
• How would your coworkers describe you?
• How do you manage multiple tasks/projects? Please give an example.
• How do you deal with stress and/or deadlines? Please give an example.
• Do you prefer to work independently or within a team?
• Why should I hire you?