TIPS FOR A PERFECT JOB INTERVIEW
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TIPS FOR A PERFECT JOB INTERVIEW
Table of Contents
Introduction ………………………………………………………….. 3 Types of Interviews …………………………………………………... 4 Types of Interview Questions ………………………………………… 5 The STAR Principle ………………………………………………......... 6 Interview Preparation …………………………………..............................7 Interview Preparation Tips …………………………………………….. 8 Answering Tough Interview Questions …………………………………10 Tell Me About Yourself ………………………………………………... 11 Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years ………....................................... 17 Aren’t You Overqualified for This Job …………………………………. 21
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TIPS FOR A PERFECT JOB INTERVIEW
Introduction
An interview is typically a conversation between a job applicant and one or more representatives of the prospective employer to determine if the applicant is qualified for the job they have applied for. It is also an opportunity for both parties to decide whether or not the applicant will fit in with the company culture. The interview is without a doubt, the toughest stage of the hiring process. But, although interviews are generally nerve racking and can cause you some anxiety and stress, they actually present the perfect opportunity for you to back up all of the statements you’ve made in your resume or CV and show the potential employer that you’re a perfect fit. This short eBook will teach you how to prepare for your interview. Lack of preparation is the biggest reason why people perform poorly at interviews. You’ll also learn how to deliver perfect answers to three of the most challenging questions that are commonly asked at interviews.
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TIPS FOR A PERFECT JOB INTERVIEW
Types of Interviews
There are several types of job interviews. Interviews can be held in-person, conducted over the phone or via video or Skype. The specific interview process will depend on the company, the role they are looking to fill and the pool of job applicants. In some cases, selected candidates are offered the job after one interview. In other cases, the process may take longer and involve more interviews with HR, different managers and potential colleagues. Here are the most common types of job interviews: Telephone Interview: This is usually an initial pre-screening call to determine whether they want to invite you in for an in-person interview. Many employers use this as a quick and cost-effective way to whittle down candidates in the first round. This ensures that all of the candidates meet the minimum requirements of the position. One-on-one Job Interview: This is a face-to-face meeting with a representative of the company which is usually the manager of the position you are applying for. The interviewer will usually have a pre-defined set of traits that he or she is looking for. Panel Interview: A panel interview typically consists of two or more of the company’s representatives, generally people from HR and management. This type of interview is popular within the public sector .
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TIPS FOR A PERFECT JOB INTERVIEW
Types of Interview Questions
Traditional Questions: Traditional interview questions tend to be straightforward questions that focus on your personality, preferred ways of interacting with others and how you would handle hypothetical situations. Typical questions include “What are your greatest strengths” or “What do you know about our organization?” Behavioral Questions: Behavioral interview questions are based on discovering how you acted in specific employment-related situations. For example, you may be asked about a time when you used specific skills to solve a particular problem. Behavioral questions generally indicate how well you may handle similar situations in a new role. An example of a behavioral question is, "Describe the toughest challenge you faced at your last job. How did you handle it?" Essentially, the interviewer wants to see how you handle specific problems, and what you do to solve them in order to predict how you will act in a similar situation. You need to be well prepared, so make an effort to inquire what type of interview will be conducted so you can best prepare for it. Ask your HR contact for the names, titles and roles of everyone who will be interviewing you so you can research them. This is important, so don’t skip this step. You should also ask for an overview of the hiring process to get a sense of how many interviews the employer will conduct prior to making offers.
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TIPS FOR A PERFECT INTERVIEW
THE STAR PRINCIPLE
The STAR Principle is a popular interviewing methodology that is highly recommended by most interviewing experts. It allows you to follow a certain structure when answering interview questions. “STAR� is an acronym for Situation, Task, Achievement and Results. Situation: a description of the situation from a previous job, volunteer work or coursework. It is important to be as detailed as possible so that the interviewer gets the full picture. Task: a brief and concise description of the specific task that had to be accomplished. This is also the problem or challenge that you faced or were required to deal with. Achievement: a description of the actions you took. It is important to keep the focus on your specific contributions to the task rather than the collective efforts of the team.
Result: what was the outcome and what did you end up accomplishing? How did it benefit the company? The STAR principle is based on the notion that previous behavior is the best predictor of future behavior, which is why the best strategy is to answer each question by describing what you accomplished in a specific situation and explain how the results benefited the company. 6
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Interview Preparation
Good planning and preparation is key to a successful interview; it’s important to maximize the opportunity that has been presented to you. You need to give yourself the best chance of getting a job offer. Your resume or CV has helped you get your foot in the door; and you now need to show why you’re the perfect candidate for the job. Being fully prepared for an interview is paramount to your success. The phrase, “knowledge is power” has never been more appropriate when it comes to interviewing for a job. The more information you have about the company, the better. It is tremendously important to understand the job description and have a working knowledge about the company, including its services and products.
Start by reviewing the job requirements so that you can clearly demonstrate how you precisely meet those needs. Beyond knowing the company’s needs and goals, it is crucial to know how you plan to make a difference within that company. You need to know the problems and challenges being faced by the company and how your background, skills and experience can make a difference to the company. Additionally, it’s imperative to know how to “sell” yourself. Taking a self-inventory of personal skills, prior to the interview, is vital. Yet, the true key to selling yourself according to your skills is providing real-life instances where those skills were exemplified. Often times, individuals applying for a new job tend to amplify their skills. This is acceptable, as long as you truly possess those skills. However, discussing personal skills is not about misrepresentation. It is about knowing personal strengths that are relevant to the job at hand and being able to highlight how you can use those strengths to benefit 7 the company. www.dreamspath.co.uk
TIPS FOR A PERFECT JOB INTERVIEW
Interview Preparation Tips Here are the main areas you need to work on to be fully prepared for your interview. Train your voice. Learn to speak in a strong, outgoing and engaging tone. Monotone voices do not sound pleasant, and could cost you a job offer. Work on this. You need to avoid sounding quiet or boring when making a point. Check out videos on “how to train your voice” and work on improving the tone of your voice, especially for phone interviews. Dress appropriately. You want the first impression you make to be strong. This means you need a conservative suit, well-groomed hairstyle, trimmed nails, briefcase and no gum or cigarettes. Try to match your suit to the type of job you’re interviewing for. Engage the interviewer. It is important to show the interviewer that you are attentive, alert and a good listener. Maintaining eye contact with the interviewer is a good way to do this. However, while it is important to make eye contact, don’t stay so intensely focused on making eye contact that you creep the interviewer out. Check your attitude. One of the most common mistakes that interviewees make is complaining about their former boss or co-workers at interviews. If you make the mistake of criticising your former boss, you won’t get the job, no matter how justified your claim is. Be honest. One lie often tends to lead to another, and is a sign that you cannot be trusted as an employee. Never be dishonest about your education, skills, qualities or anything on your resume. Be ready to explain how your skills match the position. You’ll need to articulate how you intend to use your background, skills and experience to solve the company’s problems and perform the functions of the role. 8
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Interview Preparation Tips
Be friendly and respectful to everyone you meet. Be as respectful to the receptionist as you would be to the interviewer. They just might have a lot more influence than you might realize. Be confident. In today’s job market, lack of confidence will cost you a job offer. It is important to be calm and confident. Before you get to the interview, breathe deeply in and out for 5 minutes. Breathing exercises help calm the nerves and reduce stress.
Don’t be overconfident. Overconfidence can be off-putting to potential employers. To successfully master the art of interviewing, you need to strike a balance between confidence and overconfidence. Prepare intelligent questions to ask. It is important to prepare focused and open-ended questions to ask about the position, your manager and the company in general. Not asking good questions could easily cost you a job offer, no matter how well the interview has gone.
Know your resume or CV inside out. You should know the information on your resume like the back of your hand so that no question takes you by surprise. You need to be able to provide detailed explanations of everything that is on your resume. You should know all of the employment dates and company names, exactly what you did in each job, and how you contributed to the success of each company. You should be able to recite these facts confidently and without stumbling. Be punctual. Arriving late is the worst possible start for your job interview. There’s just no excuse. 9
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Interview Preparation Tips
Study the job description and person specification. Analyse the job description thoroughly so that you can match them to your skills. By analyzing them thoroughly, you can determine what the company is looking for and how qualified you are for the role. Adjust your style and tone to match the role. Beyond obvious things like mannerisms and clothing, use words and expressions that are common in the industry. If you’re interviewing for a community strategist role, don’t adopt the mannerisms of an accountant. It is also important to be conscious of the impression you make on the interviewer. Keep up-to-date with developments in your industry. It is important to keep up-todate with the latest news and developments in your industry. Interviewers commonly ask questions about current industry events, popular blogs and thought leaders to test your knowledge of the space and their industry.
Research the company. Research the company to study its values, mission statement, leadership principles, products, services, etc. Show your enthusiasm for the role. Potential employers like to see that you are motivated about the role. This is why it is not always the most qualified candidate that gets the job. Rather, it is that candidate that is able to show his enthusiasm for the role. Research the interviewer. Your aim should be to connect and build a rapport with the interviewer(s) by engaging in a two-way conversation rather than a question-answer session. Researching the interviewer beforehand would play a key role in making this an easier process. 10
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TIPS FOR A PERFECT INTERVIEW
Answering Tough Interview Questions
The main purpose of the job interview is to get some insight into your personality and abilities, and to assess your suitability for the role. Most of the type of questions you will be asked are typically behavioral questions that are strategically placed to try to predict your future behaviour with the company if they decide to hire you. Just about every interviewer asks the same or very similar questions. Keep in mind that there are only around 25 - 30 interview questions that you need to master. Yeah, there might be hundreds of ways that an interviewer may choose to ask these questions, and they may not actually match up to the exact way you are asked the questions in actual interviews, but the fact of the matter is that every interview question is really just a variation of these key themes. Practice articulating answers to interview questions. Don’t try to memorize the interview answers word for word. That would be a big mistake. A lot of people do this and end up sounding like a robot and then begin to panic at the interview when they forget specific wording. The best way to practice the answers is to first of all understand the intent of the interviewer in asking the question, understand the various ways in which the question could be phrased and craft a strong answer that totally makes sense to you. Capture the key points of the answer and study them. Once you understand the points you are making in your answer, practice until you feel comfortable talking about them off the cuff. It is recommended that you use something like a digital recorder to rehearse until you are comfortable talking about these questions with others. Get a friend or a member of your family to take part in a mock interview. Give them a short list of the most challenging questions and then record the interview. Review your performance, and work on areas that need to be worked on. 11
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TIPS FOR A PERFECT INTERVIEW
Building Rapport With the Interviewer
Building Rapport with the interviewer is a great way to stand out from the competition. Aim to connect with the interviewer(s) by engaging in a two-way conversation rather than the typical question-answer session. Although the interview is typically a question and answer session, aim to connect with the interviewer on a personal level. The best way to do this is to engage the interviewer in a conversation by seizing the opportunity to ask sensible, relevant questions once in a while, and not waiting until the end of the interview. Not every question will present an opportunity to ask questions, but a few of them will, and it is important to take the opportunity to ask a question at that point. For example, if the interviewer asks you to tell them about your strengths, after answering the question, ask him what he thinks about the value that your strengths can add to the role. In asking subtle questions like this, the interview will gradually turn into a conversation. Now, this does not mean you should do this with every question because that would only end up irritating the interviewer. But you can follow up every third or fourth question with a “clarifying” question. One Word of Warning: Do not get too personal with the interviewer. Find out enough information to impress him or her, but don’t cross the line by getting familiar. Doing this will only cost you the job. Furthermore, some interviewers are not interested in rapport, so you’ll have to be careful. Take your cues from the interviewer. If they are not responding to your overtures, keep it formal. Speak as you would speak with someone of authority. 12
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After the Interview
After the interview, effective follow-up is a must so that you don’t lose out to a more proactive competitor. Take a set of positive actions and steps that show your enthusiasm and desire for the position.
Here is a list of steps you could take: Send a Thank-You Email: It is important to send a thank-you email within 24 hours of the interview. And to really stand out, you may want to say more than simply thanking the interviewer for his time. You can really demonstrate your industry-knowledge and enthusiasm for the role by referencing an article that is related to a topic that was discussed during the interview.
For example, if you are interviewing for a search engine optimization position, one of the main topics that is highly likely to have come up is your link building strategies. You could reference a little-known but highly effective strategy. Even before the interview, you should have already pin-pointed the article you’ll be sending to the interviewer which means you should make sure to orchestrate the discussion about the article’s topic. You would make even more of an impact if you actually authored the article. In any case, after the interview, send an email to the interviewer with a link to the article. This will help you stand out strongly from your competitors.
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Tell Me About Yourself
This is one question that is virtually guaranteed to be asked at just about every job interview you attend. Although it may seem like a simple and somewhat innocuous question, this is actually one of the toughest interview questions that you’ll face because of its apparent simplicity. It is likely to be asked at the beginning of the interview, so it is crucial to nail down your response, because the way you answer the question will set the tone for your entire interview. Generally, job seekers hate this question because they get frustrated trying to figure out exactly what the interviewer is really looking for. Should you talk about your personal history, your work experience, all of your accomplishments, qualifications or something else? Where should you even start? Quite frankly, a lot of job candidates do a poor job of answering the question. Some people talk too much, going off on a tangent about hobbies, private information that should be kept private, and other irrelevant information. Some people make the mistake of asking the interviewer to clarify what he or she wants to know in the interests of keeping their response focused on relevant details. Big mistake. Asking an interviewer to clarify what they want to know might seem logical, but in reality, it is a bad move that will create a weak first impression. From the interviewer’s perspective, if you’ve done your homework like you should have, you’ll know exactly what they’re asking for – just like the very few candidates that do really well when answering the question.
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Tell Me About Yourself
There is no reason to dread this question being asked. Over 90% of interviews start off with it, so the question is almost guaranteed to be asked at your next interview. You need to perfect your answer because if you don’t impress them with your answer, the interview is going to be on the back foot, and it’s going to affect the way you answer every other question. Essentially, the interviewer’s first impression of you will be based on your answer to this question. The fact is, you can use this question to set the right tone and lead with your strongest points. It is also the perfect opportunity to share some information about your biggest accomplishments in a manner that will help you stand out from the pool of similarly qualified candidates. Before you start talking, you need to understand exactly what the interviewer is asking for. The interviewer is not interested in hearing about your fantastic accomplishments, qualifications or your 10-year work experience unless they are directly relevant to the job you are interviewing for. If there is no way to tailor your accomplishments to this job, talking about them will be a complete waste of time. You need to understand that the hiring manager is trying to solve a problem. You need to present yourself as the ideal solution to that problem by demonstrating that you have the specifics skills, attributes and experience that they are looking for in their ideal candidate. That is what you need to be focused on answering. You need to show that you understand what they are looking for and present yourself as the ideal candidate.
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Tell Me About Yourself
You can usually identify the qualities a company is looking for through your research of the company and by analysing the job description and person specification documents. If you find that the company values good customer-focused and problem-solving skills as key qualities they are looking for, you’ll need to tailor your entire answer to show that you possess those qualities.
Other ways in which an interviewer might phrase this question include:
Who are you? What skills and abilities do you have that are relevant to this job? Talk me through your resume (or CV). What qualities, skills or abilities do you consider to be relevant to this job? What personal characteristics do you have that can solve our problems? What makes you a good fit for this role? What attributes and strengths do you have that make you the right candidate for this job?
With this question, the interviewer is trying to assess whether you understand the skills, experience and competencies that are required for the job you are applying for. This is why, in answering this question, you need to tailor your background, skills, qualifications and experience to the job.
Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, although you may have had a lot of accomplishments in your career, the interviewer is only interested in those achievements that are directly relevant to the position you have applied for. Consequently, in your answer you need to emphasize only the qualities that the company is looking for in their ideal candidate. 16
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Tell Me About Yourself
Highlight your strongest selling points for the role: The strongest selling points that you should highlight in your answer will depend on what is specified in the job description and person specification. If the ideal candidate is required to have certain skills and you’ve gained those skills in your last role, this is highly relevant, and you’ll want to highlight this in your answer. Your main focus should be on the specifics in the job description and how you meet and exceed the requirements. How to Answer the Question Let’s say that you’ve applied for the role of customer service manager and, according to the job description and person specification, qualities that matter most in a candidate are “customer service-oriented” and “problem solver”.
Introduce who you are professionally in 3 or 4 words that show off some of your strengths: I’m a customer-focused team player who takes direction well and works well independently, or with others. What you have been doing that’s relevant: I have spent the last six years developing my skills as a customer service executive for PC World where I have won several performance recognition awards for delivery of outstanding customer service. Prior to that, I worked for Best Buys as a customer service assistant which is where I kicked off my career in customer service. Mention any relevant qualifications you’ve gained: During that time, I have trained for and gained the ICSA certification which is the only Professional Customer Service certification for frontline service providers. 17
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Tell Me About Yourself
Any relevant training you’ve received: I have also been trained in customer service and problem solving, and certified on various software platforms and content management systems. Why you are leaving your current job: I am ready to take on a role with more responsibility, but nothing’s available with PC World, so I am looking outside. What you love about your job that is relevant to the position: I really enjoy diffusing challenging situations and going the extra mile for customers. What you do in your current job that you can bring to this role: In my current role with PC World, I deal with over 150 calls on a daily basis out of which at least 80 calls are customer complaints. I get a lot of satisfaction from solving problems that other people are not able to solve. Although I love my current role, I feel I’m now ready for a more challenging assignment and this position really excites me. Think about a situation at work that you can use to demonstrate your skills and abilities in relation to this role. Let me give you an idea of my approach to customer service issues and challenges. Recently, I took a call from an irate customer whose laptop had been infected by a virus that had damaged some of his files. He had purchased the refurbished laptop less than 3 months ago, but had refused the option to purchase AV protection at the time he bought it. By the time he got transferred to me, the customer was very irate and frustrated because he had spoken to numerous reps who had simply passed him around without resolving his problem. In fact, the last rep he had spoken to had eventually hung up on him. He was also using very bad language, and the first thing I did was to reassure him that I was willing to help him, but that he would need to cut out the bad language.
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Tell Me About Yourself
I told him I was sorry to hear that he’d been hung up on, and explained that I was going to do my best to resolve his problem without him having to call back. I then explained to him that the issue he had was not covered under the warrantee because he had refused the AV protection. However, I explained that if he was willing to purchase the one-year AV license, we would get rid of the virus for him. He was so happy with my suggestion that he decided to purchase the 3-year option. So I enlisted the help of a help desk support rep who dialled in to the machine remotely, got rid of the virus and installed the AV protection for him. The issue was resolved, and the customer was happy with the way the call was handled. This real-life example focused on demonstrating expertise in the specific qualities that matter most to the company. Think about a real-life example that you can draw on and relate to the job you’re applying for. It will be easy for you to relate at the interview.
If you are a recent graduate and don’t have a real-life career success story that you can draw on, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re at a disadvantage. The hiring manager has seen your resume or CV and already knows you don’t have any experience, but has chosen to bring you in for an interview because they believe you have the skills to solve their problems and add value. This means your cover letter and resume has made a strong impression on them. Furthermore, you can still use examples from different areas of your life such as your course work, day-to-day life experiences, or any volunteer work you may have undertaken. 19
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Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?
This is a question that you may find difficult to answer if you are not well prepared. It is also one of the most popular questions that hiring managers ask, so expect it to be asked at your interview. And the reason the question is so popular is that your answer can make you reveal much more than you might imagine. The great thing about it though, is that the question also presents an opportunity for you to score some strong points by reiterating an on-going commitment to your career in this field. It is important to understand the interviewer’s mind set in asking this question. They want to be reassured that you see this job as a great career move, and that you will be motivated to do a great job. However, if you see yourself in a completely different industry or field in five years, this will show that you’re not really committed to this job and are just using it as a stepping stone until something better comes along. Hiring and training employees is a very expensive business, and hiring managers want to employ people they believe are not going to leave as soon as something better comes along because the decision to hire you in the first place will reflect badly on them. Even though you might be keeping your options open and exploring different career paths, this is not something you should reveal in your interview. Employers are attracted to ambitious and highly motivated candidates that know exactly what they want. You need to reassure the interviewer that you’re an ambitious individual with a solid career plan, and that this job represents a key part of your overall career plan. 20
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Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years
Related questions include:
What are your long-term career goals? What is your 5-year career plan? How would you describe the perfect job for you at this stage of your career? What is the most important thing for you in the ideal job? What’s most important to you at this point in your career?
Before answering this question, it is important to have researched the role, and your response should demonstrate that you understand and have fully researched the career path of the job before applying. This will show the hiring manager that you are truly committed to the industry, and that this job is exactly what you want. You’ll want to avoid giving vague or irrelevant answers, or those that show that you’re not really sure of what you want to do with your life.
Bad answers include: “That’s a very tough question. I’m not really sure, no one can tell the future.” “I just want to be doing something I really enjoy”. “I’m keeping my options open. Five years is a long time. I could see myself working my way up in IT, but I could also see myself in marketing.” “I see myself being married with two children” “I am very ambitious, and I plan to be a director at a major firm with a driver, a company car, and a salary of 250K” “I have a strong entrepreneurial streak, and have always wanted to own my own business. I see myself as 21 running my own business in five years”. www.dreamspath.co.uk
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Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years
The problem with these answers is that they are either irrelevant or do not demonstrate to the hiring manager that you plan to be with the company for the long term. In fact, what you’re inadvertently telling them is that you haven’t bothered to research the role and don’t know what it really entails, you’re not really interested in the company and may be gone within six months if a job opening that offers more money turns up. You might not be aware, but these are the signals you’re sending to the interviewer. This is the biggest concern when it comes to hiring candidates for specific positions. You want to reassure your interviewer that this is your chosen career, you want to develop your skills in this field, and this company provides the opportunity for you to do that. How to Answer: Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years The company is going to be investing a lot of time and resources in hiring and training the successful candidate for this job. Your answer must reassure the hiring manager that you intend to stay long enough in this job to be a solid investment for the company. It must also show that you have a solid grasp of the position and what it entails, you’re going to be dependable, and that you’re ready to settle in and grow with the firm. You also need to research the career path of the role so you can allude to this in your answer.
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Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years
Sample Answer: “Well, first of all, this job appears to be a natural fit for my skills, background and experience. I’m driven to be the best that I can be in my chosen career field, and I want to work somewhere I can successfully use my skills and expertise to the best of my ability, and work alongside accomplished individuals who are as passionate about ______ as I am. My goal right now is to work in a company where I’ll have opportunities to develop my skills in __________ and grow professionally. This is why I’m really excited about this role at _________. ________ [This Company] is recognized as a leader in ______, and I feel that as long as I am able to do this job to the best of my ability, I can accomplish all of my long-term career goals here. Within five years and beyond, I’d like to be recognized as an expert with deep knowledge and expertise in ____________ and __________. I know this is something that I’ll have a great opportunity to achieve here.
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Aren’t You Overqualified for This Job?
In a challenging economic climate with limited job openings, you may find yourself applying for roles for which you may be technically overqualified. Whatever the case may be, in asking this question, the interviewer has concluded that you are overqualified for the job at hand. Employers are generally reluctant to hire a person who is overqualified because they are genuinely concerned that such candidates will not be motivated to work at their highest level, may become frustrated with the role and leave within months of being hired. This poses a significant risk to the company. In answering this question, first of all ask the interviewer to clarify why he thinks you are overqualified for the role. If you are really interested in the role, you need to deliver a very convincing explanation that will reassure the interviewer that you’re looking to stay for the long term, and are not simply taking this job as a stand-by position until something better comes along. Let him know that you’re applying for the role because the day-to-day responsibilities are what you really love doing. For example, if you are applying for a role that requires direct interaction with the public, you could say that you love dealing directly with customers which is why you are applying for this role. Your current (or previous) role doesn’t have this direct interaction, which is why you’re not happy in the role.
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Aren’t You Overqualified for This Job?
How to Answer: Aren’t You Overqualified For This Position? I can appreciate why some people may consider this job a step down, but I would never apply for a post unless I am truly inspired by it. I enjoy working directly with clients on the front line, finding solutions to challenging problems and implementing those solutions. Dealing with people face to face is the reason I got into sales and marketing in the first place. However, as I got promoted, the increased responsibilities took me away from what I really enjoyed doing, which is regularly interacting with customers. Personally, I don’t see this job as a step down. It’s purely a question of seeking out a role that I love doing and which motivates me. This job opportunity will reconnect me with what I love doing, and your company will surely reap the benefit of my 15 years of relevant experience. I see this as a win/win situation for both of us, don’t you?
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