September 25, 2006
Welcome to Interview Answers: Sept 25th 2006
What’s New?
Why Do You Want To Leave? - make sure you know how to give a great answer to this questionPredicting Which Questions You'll Be Asked - how to second-guess and prepare in advance
Group Exercises - how to dazzle in group exercises, without being a bully
"Why Do You Want To Leave?"
How to make sure you give a great answer to this question and don't throw away your chances of a job offer.First things first: NEVER say anything negative about your current employer in response to this question, or the interviewer will assume you'll be saying similar things about them in 3 years' time!
So how do you answer this one?
This question often brings out the truth about your last job. So your hour of raving about how wonderful your work is and how talented you are can fall apart at this point, if you're not careful.
Very few of us are completely comfortable with our reason for job-hunting. It's as though we're scared the interviewer will judge us. So we come up with something twee like "I realised I needed more of a challenge than my current company could offer," when what we really mean is we hate our boss and couldn't take another day of their moaning.
What makes a good reply to this question?
If possible, don't answer it!
I don't mean ignore the interviewer. I mean be clever and turn the question around. Instead of talking about all the reasons you want to leave your old job, talk about what's attracting you to the new one.
Tell them about the specific aspects of the new role that you would most enjoy. Explain what attracts you to the company. Make sure they know you're there to stay, and not waiting for something better to come along. Talk about how the role fits with your long term career plans (with that company).
This is a really important question to practise before your interview, so you sound genuine with your response. Just in case you have a really tricky interviewer, make sure you've covered both sides of the answer in your preparation: why you want the new job and why you don't want the old one.
Predicting Which Questions You'll Be Asked
How to second-guess and prepare in advance.
Unfortunately every employer has different procedures and preferences, when it comes to recruitment, so it's impossible to generalise and produce definitive lists of job interview questions and answers.
But, with a little lateral thinking, you can come up with a great list of potential questions.
This helps you train yourself to think on your feet and leaves you well-prepared to answer any question they throw at you.
- Look at the job description / advert (if you haven't got one, get one!).
- Which skills and characteristics are they looking for? What are the day-to-day responsibilities of the job? (If you don't know, call them!). Write a list of all these.
- Then put yourself in the interviewer's shoes. How would you check for these in an interview? What kinds of questions would you ask, to find out whether the person sitting opposite you is the right candidate?
- Write them down. Then think about how you would answer them.
You can't possibly predict the exact questions you'll be asked, but this gives you a great head start. And it's helping you train your brain to think fast and come up with great answers to any question they throw at you.
For more on job interview questions, there's a list of the top 101 job interview questions in an exclusive section of our website, only available to buyers of 24 Hours To Go
Dealing With Group Exercises
How to dazzle in group exercises, without being a bully
These usually involve a group of candidates applying for the same job. You're normally asked to complete a task together, with too little time.
It's designed to test how you perform under stress. Do you support the group to achieve its objective? Or do you turn into a lone crusader?
How to do well in a group exercise:
- Read the brief carefully
- If you've got questions, ask the others what they think
- You don't have to be the leader, but you must play an active role. Don't assume you have to be the "alpha male or female"...
- Make sure you encourage quiet members to share their opinions
- Don't lose track of time - or the exercise's goal
Above all, remember the group exercise is only part of the assessment. It's usually designed to be difficult to finish within the time, as well. So no matter how it goes, put it behind you and get on with the rest of the interview.
Simply by reading this newsletter, you've already done more preparation than most of the other candidates!
Already got your new job?
Congratulations!
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Good luck with your job hunting!
Clare
On behalf of the Interview Stuff team.