How to attend Interview

In this article you’ll learn how to answer job interview questions in English.

Have you even had job interview in English? English is not your first language answering job interview question can be stressful to the experience. However there simple effective tips you can use to give better to job interview questions in clear nature English. You will learn about these tricks and tips in this article. You’ll see eight job interview questions and four different techniques you can use. You will see how to answer this common job interview questions using the techniques am going show you.   

Let’s start with our eight common interview questions.

-         Tell me a little about yourself.

-         Where do you see yourself five years from now?

-         What are your strengths/weaknesses?

-         What is you leadership style/

-         Can you tell me about a time when you demonstrated---?

For example, can you tell me about a time when you demonstrated strong leadership?  Or

Can you tell a time when you demonstrated excellent customer service?

-         Tell me about a time you dealt with a challenging situation at work.

-         Why do you want this job?

-         Why should we hire you?

PART ONE

Make Your Answer More Concise.

What does concise mean? It means that you don’t worst words. If you speak concise you get right to the point and don’t add anything unnecessary to your answer.

Let look at two question in this section

-         Tell me a little about yourself.

-         Where do you see yourself five year from now?

These a very common job interview questions and also very open questions. Open question can be dangerous, do you know why? It because by might Rambo. Rambo mean to tall a lot without saying much. This won’t give interviewer a good impression.

Let’s start by look at sample answer to the question.

-         Tell me a little about yourself.

“Well, I was born in a small town in Eastern Tanzania, where I also went to school. I studied IT at University of Dodoma at university and then… So, after I graduated… I mean, I did a master’s degree first, but then I worked for a small firm in my hometown for a few years, which was great fun. After that…”

Do you is a good answer? Why or why not? It’s not very good answer why not. There three the candidate does which you should try to avoid, one the candidates includes a lot of unnecessary details. Two, he does speak in full sentences. Three he does have any clear direction. If you do this things your answer to this question will be wrong and unfocused. What the solution. You need to be more concise but how?

First avoid unnecessary details, do give your entire work history. Interview can get that from your curriculum Vitae (CV) if they wanted. Second speak in a full sentence with the clear beginning and end. This means you need to be thinking ahead while you speak. Thirdly about what you want to highlight in your answer but put it at the beginning this will give you answer clear direction. Let’s some example on this.

-         “I’ve always loved designing and building things, so I suppose it’s natural that I became an Software engineer. I’ve worked in a variety of roles and companies, which I’ve learned a lot from, but now I’m ready for a new challenge”  

What do think better? It much better. Let’s look at the start. Immediately the candidates identify the key feature “ he loved designing and building things” and links it to his engineering carrier.  The Candidate answer is also very concise.  There are no unnecessary details and it also has a clear end. What about the second question?

-         Where do you see yourself five years from now?

 Here is one possible answer,

-         There are many things I could be doing. I’d like to have, you know, some sort of progress… What I mean is that I don’t just want to be doing the same things I’m doing now. I like to be moving forward in my career, for example… Err… I definitely see myself in a better position than I am now.

  Good answer or bad answer? Okay it’s not terrible but it could be much better. The candidate is rambling, he doesn’t make the point clear, and he doesn’t speak in a clear sentence and waste words on unclear and unnecessary details.

Here is the better answer.

-         I don’t know exactly, but the most important thing is that I continue to learn and grow in my career. I’m the kind of person who needs new challenges to stay focused. I might even start my own business, because that’s something I’ve always wanted to do at some point in my life.

 This is much more concise, the candidate answer has clear beginning and end and he doesn’t waster words. So what can you do to make you answer more concise? The best way to practice is to record yourself speaking. You could record yourself answering these two questions. Then listen to yourself. Try to find sentences which you don’t finish or words which don’t add anything to your meaning. Then try again keep practicing till your answer is clean and focus.

PART TWO

Use Signposting Language.

Next let’s look at another point which will make your answer clear and more structured. Signposting language. Signposting language means words and phrase which show your listener where you’re going. For example the word “For example” are signposting language. When I say for example, you know am about to give you an example, simple right?

Yes but also very important without signposting longer answers can loss focus can be hard to follow. You will see answer for two questions in this section.

-         What are your strengths and weaknesses?

-         What is your leadership style?

Let’s look at the sample answer to the first question.

-         I’m very good at working with other people. In my last job, I always tried to encourage my colleagues and create a good atmosphere. I suppose I can be a little bit careless sometimes. I’m not the kind of person who focuses on details. I’m very calm, and I can keep a cool head in very stressful situations.

What do you think? Is not bad but it could be hard to follow. A candidate jumps around a lot. Adding signposting can make big differences, let see how.

-         Firstly, I’m very good at working with other people. For example, in my last job, I always tried to encourage my colleagues and create a good atmosphere. On the other hand, I suppose I can be a little bit careless sometimes, because I’m not the kind of person who focuses on details. Coming back to strengths, I’m very calm, and I can keep a cold head even in very stressful situations.

Notice the content is exactly the same. I didn’t change the candidate basic ideal at all. However the answer is now much clear and easier to follow. Using signposting like this can make big difference.

Let’s look our second question for this section.

-         What is your leadership style?

Look at the sample answer which doesn’t use signposting language.

-         I’m quite a hands-off manager. If one of my team has a project, I’ll keep an eye on thins, but I don’t need to be involved in every detail. I’m very approachable. I make sure my team problems or questions at any tim3e. I like to lead from front. If everyone’s working late to meet a deadline, I make sure I’m there with them.

Now look at signposting language you can use in those answers.

-         Finally

-         That means that

-         Also

-         First of all

-         In that

-         For instance

Now you have a job to do. I want you to take pen and paper and put those signposting language into the answer you just read.

-         I’m quite a hands-off manager. If one of my team has a project, I’ll keep an eye on thins, but I don’t need to be involved in every detail. I’m very approachable. I make sure my team problems or questions at any tim3e. I like to lead from front. If everyone’s working late to meet a deadline, I make sure I’m there with them.

Ready? Let’s look at the answer.

-         First of all, I’m quite a hands-off manager. For instance, if one of my team has a project, I’ll keep an eye on things, but I don’t need to be involved in every detail. I’m also very approachable, in that I make sure my team know they can come to me with problems or questions at any time. Finally, I like to lead from the front. That means that if everyone’s working late to meet a deadline, I make sure I’m there with them.

How did you do, will be able to use signposting language? Remember signposting language might seem very simple but don’t forget about it, using signposting language well makes you answer much clear and easier to follow.

PART THREE

How To Add Structure To Your Answers.

Let look another way to make you answer more structured clear and more focus. You will see answers for this two questions to this section.

-         Can you tell about time when you demonstrated ………………..?

-         Tell me about time you dealt with challenging situation at work.

This questions are like to need long answers. But long answers are really important and answer must a clear structure. Otherwise you meaning might get lost. There is a method you can use here called STAR method.

STAR Method.

S=Situation

T=Task

A=Action

R=Result

So you start you answer by giving the context. What was the situation and what did have to do? Then you talk about what you actually did. And what the end result was. Let’s do an example together.

-         Can you tell me about a time when you demonstrated excellent customer service?

Let’s use the STAR method.

-         There was one time when a customer’s order hadn’t arrived, and we didn’t know what had happened to it. The customer was very unhappy, and I had to try to solve the problem for him. I arranged for a replacement to be sent, thinking we could find out what happened to the previous order later. In the end, the customer was happy that I could solve his problem quickly and simply.

You following this method let you build clear structured answers?  Situation,

-         There was one time when a customer’s order hadn’t arrived, and we didn’t know what had happened to it.

Task,

-         The customer was very unhappy, and I had to try to solve the problem for him

Action,

-         I arranged for a replacement to be sent, thinking we could find out what happened to the previous order later.

Result,

-         In the end, the customer was happy that I could solve his problem quickly and simply.

Let’s do another example. Think our second question.

-         Tell me about a time you dealt with a challenging situation at work.

Let’s look one way you could answer this question.

-         Once, we realized three days before a project deadline that two of our teams were using incompatible software tools. As the project manager, I had to find a way to deal with this without causing any delays. I talked to both team leaders and we made a plan for one team to convert their work into different format, with help from some staff from other departments. It was very close but we managed to get everything done on time.

Again you can see star method in action.

Situation.

-         Once, we realized three days before a project deadline that two of our teams were using incompatible software tools.

Task.

-         As the project manager, I had to find a way to deal with this without causing any delays.

 Action.

-         I talked to both team leaders and we made a plan for one team to convert their work into different format, with help from some staff from other departments.

Result.

-         It was very close but we managed to get everything done on time.

If you combine STAR method with signposting language you learnt in part two, you will be able to express yourself clearly in English even in more long and complex answers.

Finally, let’s look at another tip you can use to impress interviewer and increase that chance of getting that job offered.

PART FOUR.

Mirror Key Words.

You’re going to learn about mirroring and how can help you. What does mirroring mean? It mean using some of the same words and expressions as person you talking too. For example if the interviewer ask you.

-         How do you think your values fit with our company culture?

You could start your answer by saying.

-         I think my values are a good fit for your company culture for two reasons. One…

Mirroring has several benefits. First it keeps you answers focus by using the same words and phrases your answer will be relevant. More importantly it shows interviewer that you’re listening and that you care about the questions and the company. Mirroring is powerful. We unconsciously mirror people when we like or respect them. Using mirroring consciously will you to make better impression.

You should start by researching the company you applying to. How do they describe themselves? What adjectives did they use on their website? Or in their advertising. Also look at the job advertising careful. Pay attention to the words their use to describe the candidates their looking for. Use these words in your answers. Now think about this question.

-         Why do you want this job?

Imagine you applying to the company which describe themselves as

-         Innovative and

-         Forward-looking.

In their job advertisement, their say they want someone who is creative and flexible.

Here is the good sample answer.

-         Creativity is very important to me, and I’ve always wanted to work in an environment where I can innovate and find my own solutions to challenges. I also feel that your company will continue to evolve in the future, and I like the idea of contribution to that development.

The candidates does use all four words but she does reference all four idea. For example instead of forward-looking, she took about the company evolve in the future. In this way she shows that she is into the company value.

Let’s do one more example, imagine your applying to the company which describe themselves as

-         Commanding respect.

And which talk with pride about its long history. In their job advertisement their say they want someone who is great in communication skills and passion for helping others. During the interview they ask “why should we hire you?”

Here is some good answer using mirroring.

-         I believe that great customer service starts with good communication, which is a strength of mine. I also think that in customer service, you need to care about what you’re doing. I care about helping others and as such believe you would find me to be a respectful and effective team member who can fit with the established traditions of your company.

Again, the candidates doesn’t necessary use the words directly. But does reference all four of the ideas. Be careful if you use mirroring you want to sound like robot. This is why sometime you need to change words and phrases slightly instead of repeating them again and again.

Now you seen four effective techniques can use to give better answers to job interview questions in English. Remember be concise, use signposting language, use star method to structure long answers and mirror key words and phrases.

I hope it’s useful. Good luck if have job interview coming up soon.

Thanks for reading.

Contact:

Email: njoholes@gmail.com

Phone: (+255) 787 510 898