"Preparing for a successful interview" (page 4/8)
Step 4: Prepare your answers (and questions!)
Some questions are almost certain to be asked of you, so take some time to prepare your answers to these questions and make sure you know these answers inside out.
Questions which are almost certain to be asked are:
- Why do you want to work in this industry?
- Why do you want to work for this company?
- Why do you want to leave your current company/industry?
- What do you think distinguishes you from other candidates?
Of course, there may also be other questions which you can expect to be asked depending upon the job you are applying for. For example, if you are applying for a job in which strong team work is essential, you will be asked questions that will allow you to demonstrate this.
Furthermore, you may also be asked about anything on your CV which may appear ‘abnormal’. For instance, if there is an unexplained break in your career then be prepared to explain why it happened and what you did with your time during that break.
When planning your answers to these questions, follow these guidelines:
- Be honest – interviewers are keen to find out everything they can about interesting candidates, so if you make your experience sounds more interesting, they will dig and dig and dig. They’re only human after all!! And if you started off by telling an untruth, they will find out sooner or later
- Be clear and structured – try to make it as easy as you can for your interviewer and they will thank you for it. So make sure that you have a logical flow of points you want to make in answer to the questions you know will be coming up
- Paint a positive picture – it sounds obvious, but there are some candidates who seem to take the ‘be honest’ advice to mean that they should expose all of their weaknesses in their gory detail. Try not to show your weaknesses unless specifically asked for them, and always try to pain them in a positive light. You can find out more about answering the “what are your weaknesses?” interview question here
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