How do we know what questions are going to be asked in the job interview?

Have you ever sat in a job interview and been sweating uncontrollably as you stumble through the interview questions? Have you found yourself shaking hands with the hiring manager on the way out of the job interview and thinking to yourself how you just completely messed up the entire interview? Of course you have. Who hasn’t!

Why does this happen? Do you remember back in school or university before an exam you would study hard to make sure you were well prepared and ready to answer any question that could come your way. When you buy an expensive item such as a car or house you don’t just wake up one day and go to the dealership and purchase a car. You do your research. You study and become knowledgeable on the subject. Only once you have done your research and preparation do you get ready to make your purchase.

The same is true for your job interview. How many times have you walked into a job interview having done 5-10 minutes of preparation? Let me guess you scrolled through the company’s website and re-read the job description a couple of times.

Finding your dream job is no game. We spend on average 40 hours a week in the office. Over the course of a single year that is 2080 hours per year. (Minus vacation, holiday time and few more “personal days”) When an opportunity arises to seek new employment and you are invited to the job interview you have one opportunity to shine and stand out above the other job competitors who are all vying for that one vacant position. You need to ensure that you are 100% prepared for the interview and have answers ready for every question that may come your way. To quote William Wallace in Braveheart – you have “just one chance”

So how do we know what questions are going to be asked in the interview?

The answer is we don’t. There are thousands of different interview questions that may be asked. However, by planning for the interview we can be in a situation where we already have our answers ready for any type of question that a hiring manger may ask.

Here is my tip: The key to interviewing success is simply preparing a mental outline to follow when responding to each question. When you are sitting at home preparing for the interview, write a list of achievements, stories and examples that illustrate how you solved a particular problem or how you performed in an outstanding way. That way rather than going to the interview and thinking of your answers on the spot you will already have your mental list of answers ready to go.

Here is a very basic example to prove my point.

“In my previous job I was promoted to manager after 6 months because of my hard work and dedication on a particular project ….”

With this example in mind I am ready to answer any interview question that is related to my success and I have a story to emphasise my point.

Every person brings unique characteristics and value added skills to a job and as the interviewee; you need to be ready to demonstrate all the great qualities and achievements in order to succeed in your job interview.

Good Luck!

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Comment by Gavin Redelman on May 5, 2011 at 11:26pm: There is nothing worse than going for an interview and having an unprofessional interviewer (typically one of the employees who has been told to perform the first stage interview by their boss who is either "too busy" or can't be bothered to do the interview themselves)

I heard a horror story from a candidate of mine who went to interview and the interviewer wrote down the candidates name on the piece of paper in big block letters and then spent the entire interview colouring in his name!

Comment by Valentino Martinez on May 7, 2011 at 3:14am: Gavin,

Good advice. Be prepared "for any type of question that a hiring manager may ask."

I would add to also be prepared for the unprepared interviewer. Be it a hiring manager or a recruiter representing a hiring manager--be prepared for the unprepared and the unanticipated. Assuming that all interviews are conducted by highly trained, competent and professional interviewers is a mistake. While you can hope for the best, anticipate the worst.

I recommend this because there is nothing, with the exception of a STRESS INTERVIEW, more unsettling than realizing you are all pumped-up to shine--and sitting in front of you is an untrained, confused, unprofessional--essentially unprepared interviewer. These individuals are recognizable by the questions they ask (some seem unrelated to the job and/or you); their desire to talk more than listen; and their usage of jargon, acronyms, subject matter that is Greek or confusing to the matter at hand.

So if you are ever caught in a stress Interview, where the idea is to knock out of your comfort zone; or confronted with an unprofessional interviewer--my advice here is to take the high road and be as professionally responsive as possible. Do not get rattled and do not get hostile. You may decide you would never work for such an employer represented by these two types of interviewers--but keeping your composure is good training for come what may in the interview process.

Comment by Valentino Martinez on May 7, 2011 at 3:15am: Gavin,

I re-posted my comment because I found a misspelling and corrected it...sorry that it places your comment ahead of mine.

And yes, horror stories abound in the interview process that can be: crude, illegal, insulting, stupid and incriminating.

Sometimes a new interviewer is brought in due to a schedule change that may have even taken out the hiring manager. So what happens? A totally untrained, unprepared "substitute" interviewer is brought in to "wing it"... and that's where a shiny brochure and polished media image of a company gets flushed. And that interviewee has a blow-for-blow remembrance to share as only a volunteer anti-ambassador can do to effectively spreading the story of how inept this interviewer was and the mention of the employer's name is mentioned every time that experience is shared...which will be often and will get more juicier at each telling.