Interview Intricacies: How to Answer Open-Ended Questions
UF Undergraduate CAP Mentors
Providing undergraduate business majors with career and professional development to acquire great internships and jobs.
Interview Intricacies: How to Answer Open-Ended Questions
Happy Monday?Business Gators!
?We’ve all heard about them, we’ve all prepared for them, and we’ve all seen them: the open-ended interview questions. With recruiting in full swing, having your?answers practiced and rehearsed for the inevitable?“Tell Me About Yourself”?will allow you to be more confined heading into an interview.?
?Most companies and?hiring managers?will ask open-ended questions to get insight into your personality, fit for the culture, and thought processes. Your response to these types of questions, although they may seem trivial or routine, holds significant weight to your candidacy. The interviewer is evaluating your ability to fulfill the job’s responsibilities, and questions like these are an opportunity to highlight why you are a good fit.?
Starting off, the question,?“Tell Me About Yourself”?is a natural way for interviewers to ease into a professional conversation. While most interviews start with small talk, this question is a way to transition into the actual interviewing process. Your response can be crafted in multiple ways, with a similar struct to an elevator pitch:
1.?Present:?What you’re currently doing, which may include your studies, internships, or involvement on campus or in the community.?
2.?Past:?Talk about any past internship or work experiences, as well as passions or interests you have that relate to the position.
3.?Future:?Transition into what you’re looking to do next, why you are interested, and what why you are a great fit.?
?Of course, this isn’t the only way to build your response. For example, you can add in compelling stories about your interest in the field or company or tweak the order of your response. What is important is you can confidently answer this question, tailored to the specific role and company you’re interviewing with, to communicate your preparedness.?A good way to end your answer to this question is to relate it back to why you are being interviewed by reiterating your interests and qualifications. This question is a great opportunity to make an impression on your interviewer and set a positive tone for the remainder of your time.?
领英推荐
?"This is the time to show your interviewer how you stand out against other candidates. Be authentic. Share with them your interests, values, and points of strength and weakness. They want to know what makes you unique!"
- Charlotte Bacharach, Finance CAP
Next, it is very common for interviewers to ask?“What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses”during an interview. This question allows hiring managers to see more of your personality and self-perception. Everybody has strengths and weaknesses, and this question is an opportunity to promote your positive qualities and?showcase a growth mindset. Interviewers are looking to understand how you use your strengths in a professional setting and how you work to improve your weaknesses that are relevant to the role.?Let’s take a deeper look:
Strengths
It is okay to be confident in your strengths, your job is to highlight why they make you such a great fit for the position. Be sure to know what key qualities or competencies the company is looking for in this specific role and discuss how your strengths will be beneficial. Some great strengths to consider include detail-oriented, collaborative, dedicated, creative, and flexible, to name a few.?
Weaknesses
We all have weaknesses and being honest in your response is imperative. Hiring managers look for a candidate’s capacity to recognize their own weaknesses and showcase work towards improvement. The key to answering this question is to combine your self-awareness with an action and a result. For example, explaining how you are aware of a particular weakness and the steps you’ve taken to improve. This is extremely attractive to employers, and here are a few weaknesses to consider: competitive, self-critical, limited experience, uncomfortable with public-speaking, and so on.?
Overall, these two questions,?“Tell Me About Yourself”?and?“What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses”,?are an opportunity for you to showcase your critical-thinking and decision-making skills. By preparing your answers now, your interview skills and responses will be well-rehearsed and portray your confidence. To gain more practice or feedback on these types of interview questions, schedule a mock-interview with a CAP mentor, or attend weekly walk-in office hours Monday through Thursday. Use the link below to schedule your next session with a CAP!
?