Interviewing 102 – Moving Forward

Interviewing 102 – Moving Forward

The power of story is tremendous! The power of your story is extra-ordinary! Give yourself permission to be creative (but don’t go too over-the-top). Empower yourself with the story of you! In the interviewing process, you have the opportunity to impress. However, know that – long before the interview ever happens – both parties did their homework. The interviewer was checking you out – on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

Are you online?

What does your online presence look like?

Can others tell the type of person – professional – you are by your social media content?

Good questions. They would make great conversation starters.

But this is about the interview. When you are face-to-face with someone, can you tell your story? Can you back-up your online presence? Are you real? And are you ready to communicate your value?

Let’s take a look at some valued interview questions and see how well you’re prepared for the interview.

How good are you at explaining your strengths through story?

When it comes to the job interview, can you communicate your strengths? Focus on the current –

Your current job

Your current project

Your current promotion

Your current ____? *you fill in the blank*

Do you pay close attention to detail? If so, give examples.

Do you empower others on your team? If so, how? Give details.

Do you complete projects in a timely manner? If so, talk about time management.

Do you give presentations? If so, give an example of your presentation and graphic design skills.

Do you create content for social media. If so, how did the content cause others to act/respond?

You get the idea. These are your impact moments. These are your stories. This is your professional life. You lived it. You experienced it.

Now it’s time to put it in story form –

Make sure you can answer these questions about the impact story –

Who did it impact?

What was the content/message/project?

Where did it happen? – give a sense of context

What happened? What did you do (exactly)?

Why were you successful?

Make your story memorable, even you kids will want to tell it!

People want to know your strengths. This is your value. This is what you offer the company, the team, your new boss, and coworkers. Don’t sell yourself short. This is not the time to be shy. It’s also not the time to lie. What are you proud of – and what sets you apart?

?What types of stories should you use in a job interview?

You know you want the job. It’s the right company. It’s the right position! It’s the right culture. It’s the right pivot for you in your career. Everything feels good about the company – good people, good culture, and good reputation. There’s just one more thing between you and the job offer – you making a good impression at the interview.

Are you ready to make that positive, once-in-a-lifetime impact on the people interviewing you?

Are you ready to tell your story?

Let’s do it.

What story should you tell? How should you tell it?

You need to connect with the person or people interviewing you.

You need to tell them something impactful, meaningful.

You need to be calm and confident.

We communicate value through story. You’ve been listening to stories your whole life. You’ve watched stories unfold on the television and the big screen. Stories are powerful and impactful. They communicate lessons learned, targets met, and goals attained. What’s not to love?

What’s not to love? Telling your story without impact, excitement, and detail. Get into the story. Cause the listener to be interested. Get him/her excited about what you have to say. And make it interesting!?

How will you make that happen?

Stories connect us – stories persuade our thinking – stories empower our actions.

They motivate us to think and to do.

Do this – practice, practice, practice. To be honest, telling a story does not come easy to most people. This does take practice. Especially if you need to communicate your real value in a job interview. The interview process can be stressful. Most often, it’s an unpleasant experience. And the more you want the position, the more anxiety you will cause yourself.

So slow down, breathe, and practice telling your story. ??

And the best way to do all of that is to include as many sensory elements as possible while eliciting a person’s memory. Talk about what the situation caused – struggle, stress, empowerment, joy, relief? It could be any of these; it could be all of these. Share this information. Make it real.

Your listeners need to feel like they are in the story. That the story is meaningful to them.

?Do you have a story for that?

Have you been in a job interview and not know what to say? Get tongue-tied? Get nervous and lose your train of thought. Maybe you have. Maybe you get nervous – interviews make people nervous.

This is your moment!

You’re in the spotlight!

You have to impress!

Can you do it?

Just like any speaking engagement (and interviewing counts as a speaking engagement), you have to prepare. You can’t go it thinking you can just “wing it”. You need to know the interviewer’s expectations. You should a thing or two about the company. And you better be crystal clear about the job or position you are interviewing for!

Since you will be speaking, you need to practice. Practice telling your story.

What is your story? Do you have a story for any of these questions?

Can you name some of your strengths?

Can you identify some of your weaknesses?

Why do you want this job?

Why should we hire you?

Were you prepared to answer any of these questions? This is not an all-inclusive list. However, these types of questions arise in the interview. How often do you think about these questions? Do you have a story to tell?

Do you have a story for that?

At this point, I hope you do!

Thanks for reading!

Have a great interview!

Credit for images: www.pixabay.com & https://unsplash.com/