What To Say In An Interview

What Was The Corporate Culture Like At Your Previous Job

What to say in an interview

This is a tough interview question because you dont want to speak negatively about your former employer. Yet, if the corporate culture at your previous position was, well, virtually nonexistent, you can be honestso long as you keep it professional.

You can mention that your former job lacked company culture, and then mention all the reasons why you would like to work for this company.

A sample answer: My previous company didnt have much in the way of company culture and building employee bonds. Your focus on team retreats and rewarding employees is a big reason Im interested in your company.

How To Pass A Job Interview Successfully

An interview is one of the most important stages of selection for a job or internship. At the interview, both candidates and interviewer identify mutual interest and get answers to questions. During the interview, the employer assesses your qualifications, level of motivation, and whether you understand what you want to get from this position. Considering interviews in terms of benefits for the candidate, then they give you the opportunity to evaluate the company, its concordance with your expectations and goals. Moreover, an interview is always a great opportunity to improve the skill of self-presentation, which is extremely important in the modern world.

To pass the interview, you need to prepare for it well, so that there are as few unexpected questions from the recruiter as possible. Our tips will help you with that.

If there are no questions left to the recruiter by the end of the conversation, then you can say that during the meeting you have already received answers to all your questions, and thank him for the meeting. For candidate it is better not to initiate the question about wage. If the recruiter did not ask you about this, it means that he already has this information, or he intends to clarify this at the next stages of selection

STEP 9: The power of gestures

Crossed arms can appear defensive and off-putting. Try to be focused and confident, which will immediately have a positive impact on your interviewer.

What Goals Does Your Company Currently Have

Many companies have goals that represent their vision for the future. Asking about their current goals as a company shows that you have the desire to surpass your minimum requirements and be an asset to their team. Learning about company goals may also help you understand whether you want to be part of their vision.

Don’t Miss: How To Conduct A Job Interview

Other Notable Interview Mistakes

Mentioning how terrible your old boss and coworkers were. Just keep them out of the conversation!
Talking about what you hate or dislike about your career field. Keep it positive!
Asking about how soon you can get a raise. There will be a day for this!
Not knowing much about the company you are interviewing for. Do your research!
Not having any questions for the interviewer at the end of the conversation. You can even write these down if needed!

What You Should Not Say

Many job candidates make the mistake of answering this question with talk of something personal. Some even launch into their life story, starting with their hometown and continuing on through their college graduation.

Alternately, others share descriptions of the problems in their current job, explaining that they applied for this position because their boss is a micromanager or their employer wont allow them to work a flexible schedule.

And some job seekers simply summarize their resume, going point-by-point through their work experience and education history.

All three of these responses can quickly send your new-job dreams down the tubes. If you answer with either of the first two, hiring managers see a red flag an indication that youre not that serious about the position or simply trying to escape a bad situation at your current job.

And if you go with the third approach, youre throwing away an opportunity. You can assume the interviewers read your resume before inviting you for the interview, and they dont need you to walk them through it.

Recommended Reading: How To Watch Meghan Markle Oprah Interview

What Not To Say

Dont share too much or too little information. The interviewer doesn’t want to know everything about you, but disclosing too little can make him or her wonder why you aren’t more open.

Avoid potentially contentious subjects such as political or religious leanings, unless you are absolutely positive that your opinions would be well-received by your interviewer.

Dont talk about a hobby that might seem to be more important to you than your career. No employer wants to take a chance on hiring someone who will miss a lot of work or ask for extensive vacation time to pursue their passions outside of work.

Avoid sharing personal information about your family. There is no need to discuss spouses, partners, children, or any other strictly personal information.

How To Answer Tell Me About Yourself In A Job Interview

Tell me about yourself. Its one of the most common job interview questions. Even so, many job seekers dont take the question seriously, thinking its just an icebreaker meant to put them at ease.

But they should carefully consider their response, because tell me about yourself is more than a throwaway opener for most interviewers. When hiring managers pose this open-ended question, theyre hoping candidates will offer insight about their goals and priorities, which will give them a better sense of who each job candidate really is.

And thats not all: Interviewers also ask this question to evaluate how confident interviewees are, which in turn gives them a view of how new hires might present themselves to customers, clients and colleagues if they get the job.

As a job seeker, knowing how to answer, tell me about yourself, gives you a great opportunity to spotlight the skills and experience that make you the ideal candidate for the job. And because its a question that many hiring managers lead with, it’s also your way to start off on the right foot. Here are a few more job interview tips to help you nail your response:

Don’t Miss: What To Expect In 2nd Interview

I Dont Have A Babysitter

Sharing your family and logisticsproblems with the interviewer wont end well. Some interviewers may understandyour predicament, but what if you encounter someone who will label thesechallenges as conflicting priorities with the company? After all, you wont beable to concentrate at work if you dont have a reliable babysitter or whatever it is you need to focusat work.

Tips For Giving The Best Answer

10 Things to Never Say in an Interview | Interview Tips

Take it in stride. Some people get surprised by questions about things unrelated to the job. Dont let this question throw you off your game. If you need to, take a pause and think, and then answer as you would any other interview question.

Try to relate the hobby to the job or company. If possible, connect your hobby to the company or job. This will show your deep interest in the industry. For example, if you are applying for a job in gaming, you might mention your passion for certain video games.

You might also focus on answers that demonstrate a positive quality that might indirectly help you achieve success at work. For example, if your job requires that you do a lot of writing and editing, you might mention your passion for reading novels or writing your own stories.

Explain how you fit your hobby into your life. Dont just name an activity as your hobby and leave it at that. Go on to explain how you incorporate your hobby into your life. If your hobby is gardening, you might say that you own a plot in a community garden in your neighborhood and that you spend a few hours there every weekend. Demonstrate to your employer that you follow through with your interest.

You also want to avoid seeming as if you spend all your time on your hobbies. You want to show that you have interests, but that you also have the time to do the job well.

How To Answer Interview Questions

Speak clearly and vary your tone to show youre interested and enthusiastic.
Take time to think about each question before answering so you can give a good response.
Listen to questions carefully and let the interviewer lead the conversation. If you don’t understand a question, ask for it to be explained or repeated.
If youve had a job before dont criticise previous employers or co-workers.
Give examples from your experience that demonstrate your knowledge and skills.
Show confidence in your skills and be positive about what you have done. For example, instead of using phrases such as “I only have…” or “I don’t have” tell the employer what you do have to offer.

Questions about your experience

When you answer interview questions about something youve done its best to use the STAR method .

Situation describe what the situation was.
Task describe the task you had to do.
Action describe what you did to achieve the task.
Result describe the final result.

For example:

When I was an assistant manager at Sallys Sandals we hosted a VIP sales event for our loyalty card customers, and I was in charge of organising it. I needed to make sure that the store was decorated, we had food and drink for the customers, and we had enough staff members to work that evening. The event went very smoothly and we exceeded our sales targets for the evening by 50 percent.

I Have Been Uncomfortable Working With Ambiguity

Many jobs require candidates who are comfortable individually defining tasks and working towards goals. This means they should be experienced, thoughtful and responsible with ambiguity in the workplace. While it is certainly a beneficial skill to closely follow detailed instruction, it is also necessary to be able to determine what it takes to achieve the desired outcome.

If this is the weakness you are presenting in an interview, explain the success you have found following instructions but also your career potential when finding comfort with ambiguity. You should also explain the steps you are taking to define your workday when given ambiguous tasks or goals.

Example:In my last position as a marketing intern, I found that my supervisor gave very specific instructions regarding my responsibilities. Because I became familiar with having a strong direction, I tend to be unsure when approaching an ambiguous assignment or goal.

It is a goal of mine to become not only comfortable but successful working with ambiguity. To do so, I have created a personal framework for times when I feel overwhelmed or confused by an ambiguous task including conducting structured research and asking subject matter experts for advice. Doing so has helped me thrive when working on ambiguous tasks or when working towards less specific or defined goals.

Read Also: How To Interview An Accountant

Determine Your Suitability For Their Role

The most important reason for asking candidates about skills is to determine whether they are a good fit for the organizations role. Interviewers use skills-based questions to find out whether you and your skills align with the requirements of their role. If you read the job description carefully and researched the company before interview, it will be easy to answer these questions since most employers include the specific skills relevant to their roles in the job post.

To impress the interviewer, make sure your answers mention the core soft and hard skills relevant to the role. And back your responses with real-life examples of situations where your skills helped deliver results for your employer.

What To Say Instead: What Are The Next Steps

Essentially, what youre looking to hear when you ask, How did I do? is whether or not they see you as a viable candidate. Instead of positioning yourself as needy, the better thing to do is ask for next steps, so you can adjust your expectations accordingly. Leave it open-ended and assume you did well, urges Salemi. Its common to leave an interview wondering how you did, but always stay in the moment. Focus on the next step rather than something that you may have missed.

Oh, and its okay to ask for feedback after youve been rejected. Sometimes its not necessarily about your qualifications, but other circumstances . In that case, you can ask the interviewer to keep in touch and consider you for similar positions in the future.

Also Check: What To Do Before An Interview

Do You Want To Tell Us Anything Else About You

As you reach the end of the job interview, the employer may ask, do you want to tell us anything else?

When you hear this, you have two choices.

First, if you feel the interview went well and you dont have anything else to add, its completely fine to say:

No, I think we covered the important topics here. Im satisfied if you are. Im looking forward to hearing your feedback, though, and the role sounds exciting to me.

This is normal/acceptable and you shouldnt feel pressure to say more if youre satisfied that the interview went well. This is not a trick interview question.

However, if there is a topic you wish they had asked about but didnt, or something unique that sets you apart from other candidates that you didnt explain yet, then feel free to share it. Theyre giving you the opportunity because they genuinely want to know.

You can also give yourself the opportunity to share a final point even if they dont ask.

Just say, Is it alright if I share one more detail? Something came to mind and I think its relevant.

99% of interviewers will say, Yes, sure!

Things To Avoid When Following Up

At the same time, there are also a few things you should avoid:

Don’t Hound Your Interviewers: Initiatives such as a thank-you email and a follow-up a week or so later are more than enough. Beyond that, you won’t be promoting yourself you’ll be stressing them out. Remember that your goal is not only to show the hiring managers that youre qualified but also to convince them that they want to work with you.
Don’t Send Anything That Makes You Look Bad: This includes personal social media profiles that contain unprofessional pictures or behavior. Err on the side of caution when determining this. You might see nothing wrong with a photo of you enjoying a margarita on a tropical vacation, but the hiring manager might feel differently. Likewise, don’t send memes or be too casual in the tone of your email by using internet acronyms, etc.
Don’t Overwrite: Keep your message short and focused. The interviewer will not want to read a very long thank-you email. Focus on saying thank you and briefly reiterating your interest in the position.
Don’t Send Misspelled or Grammatically Incorrect Emails: Even professional editors make mistakes when they try to work on their own. Get another set of eyeballs to look over your work before you hit “send.”

Read Also: What To Write After An Interview

Describing Your Goals For The Future And Why You Want This Job

Heres your moment to tell the interviewer why you want the advertised position. Maybe you want to gain experience in your field, learn a particular skill, believe you are a great fit for the company or particularly respect them in their industry. These phrases can help:

Im looking to further my skills as a barista/in hospitality, as a childcare worker/in early childhood education
Im want to further my career in physiotherapy/as a physiotherapist, in administration/as an administrator, in retail/as a branch manager
I believe your company is an important player in its industry
I feel my skills set is a perfect fit for your team and I can contribute by

Its very important to emphasize the last point your interviewer will want to be convinced that you really want the role. Dont overdo it, of course, but do make sure you make this point clear.

I’d Like To Learn More About The Company

5 Things You Should Never Say In a Job Interview

Mentioning your interest in learning more about the company shows that you are genuinely interested in hearing the company’s story from the perspective of a current employee or the founder. Although you are the one being interviewed for the job, the desire to learn more about the company indicates that you need more information to decide if the company will be a good fit for you.

What Kind Of Salary Do You Expect

Here, they are asking you about how much money you would expect to earn from the job. Be reasonable. Make sure you do your research on the internet about what the average salary is. Do not say I dont know, it makes you sound unsure. Be confident and name your price without selling yourself too short or going too high. The truth of the matter is, they already have a salary in mind, but this is their way of checking if you know the industry and if youre aware of your own skills.

I Grew Our Blog Traffic A Lot

Why Not:

If you’re going to toot your own horn, make sure you have some data or evidence to back it up. Anyone can say they excelled in a previous role, but numbers or examples will make you stand out to your interviewer.

Instead, Say:

“Over the course of two years, I grew blog traffic by 150%.”

If you don’t have numbers to use, you might consider leaving out this tidbit — or using qualitative data to toot your own horn instead. “Customers said it was one of the best events with the company they had ever attended.”

You May Like: Where To Watch Harry And Meghan Interview

What Is Your Greatest Weakness

When they ask, whats your greatest weakness? you want to name a real weakness.

I recommend picking something skill-based, not personality-based.

You never want to say you struggle to work with others, or youre bad at resolving disagreements, or taking direction from a manager, etc. Those things will get you rejected in the interview.

So pick a specific skill, but pick something that wont severely impact your ability to do this job.

For example, if the job involves data entry with Excel spreadsheets all day, you do not want to say Excel is your weakness. Or that you struggle to pay attention to details.

Finally, end your answer by explaining what youre doing to overcome or improve your weakness.

Take a look at the dos and donts and the interview answer example below to get a sense of what the best answers will sound like.

Name a real weakness
Pick something skill-based, not personality-based. For example, say, Im not particularly strong in Microsoft Excel rather than, My weakness is working on a team and following directions.
Mention what youve done to overcome this weakness and improve recently

Dont:

Dont give a fake weakness like, I work too hard
Dont try to be funny with an answer like, Kryptonite. Hiring managers have heard it over and over
Dont tell them you have no weaknesses
Dont name a personality-based weakness
Dont name a weakness that will severely impact your ability to succeed in their job

Example interview answer:

Don't Miss