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Common Interview Question: How Would You Describe Your Listening Skills?

Micah — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:00:21 +0000

If you are a bad listener, you are not going to get the job. No one that answers questions incorrectly and interrupts the interviewer is going to wow them with their amazing professionalism. If your listening skills suck, you’re probably not getting the position. Still, you may be asked to tell the interviewer how your listening skills are. Your answer should be brief.

How to Answer

Don’t make jokes. It’s too easy not to take this question seriously and think it is a prime opportunity for humor. It’s not. No jokes you will make are funny. They are tired and clichéd. Keep your answer brief, since there really isn’t much you can say on the topic anyway. Instead, try to hint at what you do to prove that you are listening. This is not a question that is going to win you your interviewer, but you can make the interview more awkward with your answer.

Bad Answer

“Great.” [[Followed by an awkward silence meant to be a joke about how you are ready to listen except all the interviewer knows is that all you said is one word and didn’t say anything else and no one laughs and then the interview gets weird.]]

Good Answer

“At all times I do my best to listen, absorb, and respond accordingly.”

Keep it brief, because a long discussion about how well you listen is going to be counterproductive. There is nothing interesting you can say, and a story about a time you used your listening skills is boring and unnecessary. A short, brief statement is good enough.

Take Away Interview Tips

Don’t be cute or funny.
Don’t share a story about a time you were a good listener.
Make a brief statement about your listening ability and that’s enough.

How to Reduce the Effects of Problems With Your Employment Part 2

Micah — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 02:00:59 +0000

In the last post, we discussed the reasons that you may not want to hide the parts of your history that may not reflect that highly on your candidacy. Here, we’ll look at one possible solution for reducing the effects of your “flaws.”

Bring the Flaw Up in the Beginning

Flaws are irrelevant if their impact is minimized. One possible solution for minimizing your weaknesses is to bring it up in the beginning of the interview, before the interview gets underway.

The interviewer has somewhere between 1 and 4 hours scheduled for your job interview. They expect to take all 1-4 hours to decide if you are right for the job. They are going to try their best to learn as much as they can about you during that period of time.

So if they hear you have a weakness up front, and you follow that weakness up with 4 hours of excellent interviewing, then the effect of that flaw is drastically minimized. The long interview makes the flaw seem much less relevant.

Consider the opposite. You have a long, great interview. The interviewer thinks they have the right person for the job. They think you are perfect. Then suddenly, at the end of the interview, they find out that you do not know how to do a very important part of the job. Boom. Their happiness falls. Suddenly you are not perfect, and they notice the huge drop in potential. Then the interview ends, and the last part of the interview leaves a foul taste in their mouth about the candidacy.

The first situation is much better than the second. In the first situation, you tell the person up front that something is wrong. They know that it’s wrong, it’s out in the open, and you spend the rest of the interview proving that you are still an excellent applicant. On the opposite side, you seemed like a great candidate, but then BOOM, a serious flaw.

Bringing it Up

If you are fairly certain your weakness is going to be discovered, bring it up in the beginning. Let’s say you lied on your resume, and you know you are going to be caught. Then rather than wait until they figured it out, say the following:

“Before we begin, I just wanted to let you know that there was an error on my resume. I never worked with NetSuite Small Business or Cougar Mountain software like I had originally listed on my resume. Those were lines I had kept in a first draft of an ideal resume I was crafting and sent over the wrong copy to your organization. I apologize for my error, but I will teach myself the software before I start if I am selected for the role.”

Then the rest of the interview you can do your best to prove that you are still a great candidate, and minimize the effect of the weakness on your candidacy.

When you know the weakness will come up in the job interview, and you know it will affect your interview chances, consider bringing it up in the beginning. The earlier you bring it up, the longer time you have to help the interviewer forget it.

Take Away Interview Tips

Minimize your flaws.

Interview With Lyla, a Young Social Worker and Recent Graduate Living in Salem

Micah — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 01:00:13 +0000

We at Everyday Interview Tips try our best to bring you real job interview experiences to help you learn how to succeed at your upcoming job interview. Today we sit down with Lyla, and lovely 25 year old social work graduate that completed her MSW last year and has since found employment with a social work company in Salem. Below is the transcript of the interview.

Before your last job interview, how did you prepare?

I looked through the job description of the position. I tried to think about questions I had about the position, jot them down. I thought about why I wanted the position and what I would learn from it. I also tried to prepare answers to questions the interviewer might ask me. I updated my resume and thought about my past job experiences and how those prepared me for the current position.

When you went to your job interview at the Salem Mental Health Services, how confident did you feel?

I felt confident about the position because I had previous social work experience and the education. I also met the bilingual requirement they were looking for.

How many interviews did they conduct before you were hired?

Two, but each was with multiple people. The first one I met with was an HR person, and one of the supervisors. Then, they had me write a response to a vignette. The second interview I first met with the head of HR and the department manager, then I met with the person who will be my supervisor, then I met with a case manager.

Tell me about the vignette. What was it and what exactly where you asked to do?

It was a case presentation about an elder. Included a little bit about the person’s life, support system, mental health issues, and then issues that the elder was dealing with. I think in this case, the elder was very independent and didn’t need support until she fell and broke her hip. She refused to accept services b/c she was always use to doing everything on her own. After I read the vignette, I was asked to respond to several questions. One of which was something like… what would you do to encourage the elder to seek help? I don’t remember the rest.

Did that task throw you off guard? How did you feel about being asked to complete such an unusual activity at a job interview?

I was nervous about it when I found out I was being tested on this. But it makes a lot of sense why they asked me to do it. I think it tested personal characteristics, like empathy, as well as how to deal with the reality of a situation that many elders face. I think they also wanted to see a little bit of my problem solving skills and creative thinking.

Very interesting. Can you recall any specific interview question examples that may help social work graduates prepare for their interviews?

Tell me about a challenging experience at a previous job. What did you learn? And what would you do the next time you experience something similar?

What do you like about this position?

What part of this job do you think you will excel in, and which part will you need more support and growth?

This position require someone who can multitask and think quickly on their feet during crisis situations, but is not afraid to ask for help or support. Does this describe you?

Give an example of a job experience where you had to multitask and or deal with a crisis situation. How did you deal?

Of the interview questions you remember, which did you find to be the most difficult to answer, how did you answer and do you feel you could have answered it any better?

I think the first question: Challenging experience, was more difficult for me to answer. I believe I talked about an experience with a depressed client, who I was trying to screen for suicidal ideation. I’ve been seeing this client for a long time, and it didn’t seem like she was improving at all. And it was very difficult to work with her because of a trauma history. I talked about her issues in supervision, and I think I made the mistake of telling her what my supervisors thought, which caused her to not trust me as much, even though she knew I was a student. In the beginning, I should have made this more clear to her, and maybe go over things that she may be okay with me sharing with supervisors, and things she would feel uncomfortable with. So that she didn’t think I betrayed her confidence. This question was difficult for me to answer because i don’t like displaying my past mistakes/weaknesses in an interview. I always worry how interviewer would judge me or what they would think. I could have answered it better by being more confident, and talk about my strengths, what I did well in that situation also, such as my desire to help, which was the reason I talked to my supervisor to gain some insight on the situation, instead of only the weakness.

What were your biggest weaknesses during the interview?

One of my biggest weaknesses is that I try too hard to get the job. I feel like sometimes I draw myself up to be the person that they are looking for, rather than completely being myself and answer questions more from the heart.

What were your greatest interview strengths during the job interview?

My greatest strength is my love for the social work field and working with people. I believe that my desire to help people is very transparent in my interviews and my answers. Another strength is that I have good insight and am good at giving examples of past relevant experiences.

How confident were you when you left the first interview that you would get the job?

70% confident, because I thought I did well on the vignette, and believe that I answered all the questions well. I also felt that the people i met with really liked me.

What was the salary negotiation experience like? Were you able to negotiate or was your salary tiered based on your work history?

I couldn’t negotiate, because it was already set by the union. It was based on my experience and being bilingual bumped me up a bit.

Great. Thanks. One last question. If you could give advice to recent graduates about to experience a social work job interview, what would it be?

Don’t be afraid to apply for or go for an interview for a job that is borderline on what you are looking for. At the job interview you will meet with the staff and can ask as many questions as you want about the job to make sure that it is what you want and at a place where you have the potential for learning and growth. Remember, they are interviewing you, but you are interviewing them as well. So, bring a lot of questions, it shows them you are interested in the job, and being proactive in finding out if the position is right for you.

Job Interview Comic #2 – Meeting Productivity Statistics in Pie Chart Form

Micah — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 01:00:33 +0000

Doughnut jokes! Hooray! In this second edition of an infinitely small part series, we look at delicious pie charts and their hilarity. Pie charts are pretty, and pie charts related to jobs – even prettier. Don’t forget to tell your friends how amazing we are. We put meeting productivity statistics in hilarious pie chart form! Someone should give us a parade!

Job Interview Comic – Awkward Mock Interview Moments

Job Interview Comic – Awkward Mock Interview Moments

Micah — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 01:00:32 +0000

It may not be obvious, but I can actually draw pretty well. It just takes me some 150 hours and would be less funny. Hooray for job interview comics! Maybe I’ll come back to doing these more in the future.

Book Review – Acing the Interview: How to Ask and Answer the Questions That Will Get You the Job

Micah — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:00:17 +0000

Ideally, a good job interview book will supply you with strategies for answering questions and impressing the interviewer in addition to giving you good answers to interview questions. “Acing the Inte rvi ew: How to Ask and Answer the Questions That Will Get You the Job” by Tony Beshara does its best to provide you with all aspects of the interview, including what employers are looking for in today’s economy, how to address what four major concerns employers are looking for, and much more.

Book Contents

The four types of job interview questions.
What’s new about the economy and how it affects interviews.
Questions to ask the interviewer.
How to answer interview questions.
When to ask and answer these interview questions.

Book Benefits

On the surface, “Acing the Interview: How to Ask and Answer the Questions That Will Get You the Job” is solid. The questions the book supplies are valuable, and the questions the book suggests you ask the interviewer are equally so. The “4 types of questions” section is also fairly accurate, and is a good starting point for your interview preparation.

Book Weaknesses

The book expects its interviewers to be surprisingly aggressive at job interviews. Aggressiveness is useful for some jobs, but for calmer jobs like IT positions, the benefits are much less useful. In addition, the quality of the book was marred by inadequate spell checks. The book is literally filled with errors. Look for newer version of the book to have fewer mistakes but do not be surprised to find a new copy that is littered with mistakes.

Overall Impressions

“Acing the Interview: How to Ask and Answer the Questions That Will Get You the Job” is not bad, but not great. Lots of the information within the book is useful, but it also appears hastily put together and is not going to benefit those that are applying to non-aggressive corporate positions. Consider it a useful resource for sales interviews, and possibly management interviews, but not a resource for everyone.

Current Shirt.Woot Derby – Job Interview Shirts

Micah — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 03:45:53 +0000

Hello job interview fans. Ever thought to yourself “Man, if only there was a shirt that was totally inappropriate for a job interview but completely related to a job interview that I could totally wear for funsies?” Well now there is! Or at least, soon there will be. Shirt.Woot.Com is running their current “derby” where people that have bought from woot.com can vote on the shirts they want to win. Then the number 1, 2 and 3 shirts in the derby (by most votes) will be put up for sale on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

If that interests you, you can vote here. If that doesn’t interest you, or you read this post a year from now, too bad.

10 Famous Quotes About Job Interviews

Micah — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 02:00:59 +0000

Job interviews are an experience that everyone has had to go through at least once in their lifetime. When so many people have experienced job interviews before, you are bound to get some great job interview quotes from famous men and women that have been forced to apply for a job at some point in their life. Below are ten great quotes about job interviews.

Job Interview Quotes

1. Dan Zevin

“Never wear a backward baseball cap to an interview unless applying for the job of umpire”

2. Katharine Hepburn

“Death will be a great relief. No more interviews.”

3. Jack Handy

“When you go in for a job interview, I think a good thing to ask is if they ever press charges.”

4. Mitch Hedberg

“I had a job interview at an insurance company once and the lady said ‘Where do you see yourself in five years?’ and i said ‘Celebrating the fifth year anniversary of you asking me this question’”

5. James Thurber

“My opposition [To Interviews] lies in the fact that offhand answers have little value or grace of expression, and that such oral give and take helps to perpetuate the decline of the English language.”

6. Dan Thompson

“During job interviews, when they ask: ‘What is your worst quality?’, I always say: ‘Flatulence’. That way I get my own office.”

7. Todd Bermont

“So many people out there have no idea what they want to do for a living, but they think that by going on job interviews they’ll magically figure it out. If you’re not sure, that message comes out loud and clear in the interview.”

8. Heath Ledger

“I apologize for my terrible interview skills.”

9. Harry Stack Sullivan

“I do not believe that I have had an interview with anybody in twenty-five years in which the person to whom I was talking was not annoyed during the early part of the interview by my asking stupid questions.”

10. Graham Kennedy

“I terminated the interview when I didn’t know what he was talking about and went upstairs to lunch.”

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