What is it about interviewing for a job that can make otherwise intelligent people get tongue-tied? After all, we are at a job interview to discuss how we might help the company achieve its goals and who knows our career story, with all of our successes, better than we do?
Preparation is the key to a successful interview. Here are 3 tips to help you successfully answer interview questions.
1.Write Your Answers Ahead of Time
You have a good idea of the questions the hiring manager will ask, right? “Why do you want to work here?” “Give me an example of a successful project you managed” “What is your biggest strength/weakness?” and the all-important, “Tell me about yourself”.
Rather than “wing it” during the interview, think about what you want to say and type out your answers ahead of time.
Go back and review your answers, making sure they are succinct and convey the best part of you and your career. Place yourself in the hiring manager’s position: Are your answers what you would want to hear from a candidate?
2. Answer the Hiring Manager’s Question: WIFM?
The hiring manager is looking for someone to solve her problems. She’s silently asking the question, “What’s In It For Me?”
To answer this question, you need to “show”, not “tell”.
It also means using examples to show why she should hire you, NOT using fluffy words or generic information that isn’t specific to the position for which you are applying.
For example: “Tell me about yourself”. Your answer: “I’m passionate about analytics and am a dedicated, hard worker. I really enjoy working in finance and would love to work here at XYZ Company.”
That’s awesome that you want to work for the company but the hiring manager doesn’t care about your needs/desires. I’m sure you are dedicated and hard-working, but how do you prove that in an interview? Besides, isn’t every candidate going to say that?
A better answer is, “I’m a financial analyst with more than ten years experience helping companies such as yours strategize and plan for the future. My career includes both corporate experience as well as consulting, for both domestic and global organizations. Recently my team completed a project that allowed our company to increase revenue by 8%. I believe my experience has prepared me to take the next step, and I’m ready to make a positive contribution to your organization.”
State who you are and show you can do for the hiring manager and the company.
3. Practice!
Just like being in a play, practice saying your answers out loud until they roll off your tongue naturally. Do not wait until the interview before you speak these words!
Trust me when I tell you that practice makes you sound perfectly unrehearsed.
Remember: Write. Show. Practice. These three tips will take you from tongue-tied to eloquent.
Like Tami, I was terminated once (By my best friend, BTW – he is now on the board of the agency I lead, so I got him back – ha!), but you don’t have to be unemployed to learn something from this book. 
