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General Interview Tips and Questions

The document provides general tips for interview preparation and performance, including having an elevator pitch, keeping answers concise, customizing answers to the employer's needs, and making the interviewer feel at ease. It recommends preparing examples from one's work history to draw from. Pre-work involves researching the company and position as well as common interview questions and responses. Proper dress, punctuality, body language and asking questions of the interviewer are also advised.

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Orne Benes
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
17 views

General Interview Tips and Questions

The document provides general tips for interview preparation and performance, including having an elevator pitch, keeping answers concise, customizing answers to the employer's needs, and making the interviewer feel at ease. It recommends preparing examples from one's work history to draw from. Pre-work involves researching the company and position as well as common interview questions and responses. Proper dress, punctuality, body language and asking questions of the interviewer are also advised.

Uploaded by

Orne Benes
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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General Tips:

1. Have an elevator pitch ~30 seconds of what you do…how you add value
2. Keep answers between 2-3 minutes (obviously answer the question)
a. It’s better to say less and let the interviewer ask more questions if interested than
babbling on for too long.
b. Obviously some answers will take a bit longer but in general be clear and concise
3. Use the Pyramid Principle
4. Use SARs (Situation, Action, Result) for behavioral based questions—FOCUS ON THE RESULT!
5. Ask question back to the interviewer after you give a response
a. i.e. What challenges have you seen?
6. Customize your answers to the needs of the business.
7. Answer in bullet points when possible.
8. For phone interviews…answer, “Hello, this is %Your Name%.” This makes it clear to the
interviewer they are talking to the right person and avoids the awkward confirmation it’s the
correct number.

General rule of thumb: the better you communicate, the easier you make it for the interviewer. The
easier you make it for the interviewer, the better they’ll feel. People will rarely remember what you tell
them but they will mostly remember how you made them feel. That’s what typically will land you a job
or a sale. Everything you do should be geared around giving the interviewer the best possible
experience and make it easy for them to understand why you’re a fit for the role.

Pre-Work:

 Experience Examples
o Based on your work history, identify 2-4 different experiences that fall under the below
buckets. The more recent the better, however in some cases it’s appropriate to use
older examples:
 Notable accomplishments
 Overcoming Challenges/Difficult, Complex Problems
 Difficulty with People (Customers, Colleagues, Managers)
 Leadership/Influence
 Agility/Flexibility
 Research
o Company history, vision and mission
o Recent press releases/announcements
o Financials (if public) & stock performance
o Follow the company on Linkedin and like some of their posts
o Look into the interviewer’s background to see if there is anything notable you can
connect with them on
o Look up the job and Glassdoor.com
 Salary Range based in the company
 Salary range in general for the position
 Lookup interview questions that may be listed
When in person, all of the above and…

1. Professional attire, business casual


a. NO JEANS!
2. Show up 10-15 minutes early to give you time to park, find the right office, etc…
3. Look for any personal signals (pictures, posters, professional team, etc…) and start the
conversation asking about it or driving a conversation
4. Watch your body language!

1. Tell me a little bit about yourself


a. Why they ask it? Ease into the interview/icebreaker but also get to know you
b. Response: keep it short and professional…almost like an elevator pitch
i. Present=current role, Past=how you got there, Future=what you want to do
next (aka…why you want the job)
c. https://www.themuse.com/advice/tell-me-about-yourself-interview-question-answer-
examples
d. Tips: Keep it professional, Customize answer to the role/company, keep it short, be
positive
2. Why do you want this position?/what drove you to apply for this position?
a. Why they ask it? Understand motivation…what’s driving to apply for the role
b. Response: give a main reason or up to three “bullets” to summarize the purpose of your
applying
3. What is your greatest strength?/What would others say is a strength of yours?
a. Why they ask it? Trying to see if you know yourself and if so…determine how you will be
an asset in the role
b. Response: give an honest answer. Avoid being cliche or generic. Google good responses
4. What is your greatest weakness?/What would colleagues/former bosses say is something you
could improve?
a. Why they ask it? Trying to see if you know yourself and if so…determine how you will be
an asset in the role. Want to know also if you’re self-aware of weaknesses and working
to improve them.
b. Response: Be honest but don’t mention anything that could hurt your chances to get
the role. Also…end the response by responding to what it is you are doing to improve or
address that weakness. This ends the answer on a positive note and is the last thing the
interviewer will remember about that question.
5. Why should we hire you?
a. Why they ask it? Employers want to understand the motivation for leaving current role
and going for the one you are applying for.
b. Response: give 2-3 clear reasons in “bullet point” format. Example…“You should hire
me because of my strength, my experience and my passion…” then you go into each one
and how they apply to the role.
6.
Videos to watch: This delivery is exceptional. Pay attention to how he communicates and the tone he
uses.

Cover letter: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdYU2YXd/

Interview answers/tone

 Why leave job? 


o https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdYD67v3/
 Why hire you?
o https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRa2Td2D/
o https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRajhcgC/
 Have any questions? 
o https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRaj2yum/

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