Interviews reuse the same small set of questions. Once you can hear what each one is actually asking, you stop being surprised by them. There is no single correct script for any of these, and anyone selling you one is wrong. There is a difference between an answer that shows them something and an answer that shows them nothing.
"Tell me about a time when..." They want a real event, not a general claim. Use four steps: what the situation was, what you had to do, what you actually did, and how it turned out. Most people stop after the first two, which is why most of these answers go nowhere.
"What is your biggest weakness?" They are testing whether you can see yourself clearly. Name a real one and say what you do about it. "I am not confident on the phone, so I write down the first line before I dial" is an answer. "I work too hard" is a dodge and every interviewer knows it.
"Why should we hire you?" They are asking you to connect yourself to their problem. Pick the one thing about the job you are most obviously suited to and say it plainly. This is not the moment for modesty and it is not the moment for a speech.
"Where do you see yourself in five years?" They are checking whether you will stay long enough to be worth training. You do not need a grand plan. "Still here, doing this properly, and trained on the stock system if that is possible" is a better answer than anything ambitious and vague.
"Tell me about a time you dealt with a difficult customer." Which of these is closer to a real answer?
What happens: This is a claim, not an answer. There is no event in it, nothing they can picture, and nothing that could not have been said by somebody who has never met a customer.
What happens: Situation, task, action, outcome, in one breath and without naming the steps. You can picture it, which means they can too.
They asked about experience I do not have
Say so, and then say the nearest true thing. "I have not used that till system. I used a different one at the car wash and I picked it up in about two days." Never claim a system you have not touched, because the first shift will expose it in front of a queue.
What if they ask what salary I want?
Ask what the range for the role is, first, if you can. If they insist, give a range rather than a single number and base it low if you genuinely need the job. It is fair to say "I would rather hear the range, because I am more interested in getting started than in squeezing the number." Check the advert again first, because many list it.
My mind goes blank when they ask for an example
Prepare three stories before you go, not thirty. One where you fixed something, one where you dealt with a person, one where you got something wrong and sorted it out. Almost every 'tell me about a time' question can be answered from those three, and knowing you have them is most of the calm.
Before you move on
- Prepare three stories using the four steps
- Write one honest weakness and what you do about it
- Look up the salary range in the advert before you go
Check what you know
4 questions. Have a look at what this lesson asks.
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