THE ONLY THING YOU’LL EVER NEED TO ACE AN INTERVIEW

IINTERVIEWS ARE SCARY. In a recent survey, 93 percent reported feeling anxious before an interview. We’ve all been there when the interviewer asks one of those dreaded “tell me a time when…” questions. It’s so easy to clam up and panic. What if I told you it doesn’t have to be like this? Luckily, I’ve got the perfect system that you can use to nail these types of questions and help land you the job your talent deserves!

All you need to remember is STAR!

S - SITUATION

Here is where you briefly outline what happened and the state of affairs at the time. You can even start your answer by saying, “There was a situation X time ago where X” happened. Keep this section concise and to the point. No fluff, just facts.

Two tips here:

1. I’d always recommend using an example from the past year if possible.

2. Make sure to pick an appropriate example that won’t make the interviewer feel uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable? How can an interview answer make the interviewer uncomfortable? Well, I had a situation a few years ago (see what I did there!) where a candidate mentioned a difficult situation at work where they found out their wife had been cheating with a colleague. Well, the interviewer understandably didn’t know how to react. Needless to say, the interview went downhill from there, and he didn’t get the job! So start off strong by outlining the situation.

T - TASK

Once you’ve outlined the situation, you must tell the interviewer about the challenge.

“Because of the situation, I had to X.” Again, don’t feel the need to spend too much time on this. A few sentences are more than enough to set the scene for the challenge you have to solve.

The real meat and potatoes of your answer are up next!

A - ACTION

Go! Go! Go! Now is the time to blow the interviewer away with the spectacular actions you took to resolve the situation! Your actions should make up the bulk of your answer. Take the interviewer on a journey, and explain to them step by step how YOU, with YOUR knowledge and expertise, solved the problem.

A quick tip: I see far too many people focus on what others did in this section. Let your colleagues find their own jobs. You want to focus on what YOU did to make a success from the situation. Far too often in life, we are taught not to talk too much about ourselves.

Now is the time to forget that lesson.

It’s time to use phrases like “I man - aged”, “I improved”, and “I led” as much as you can. Be as specific as possible about what you did. The interviewer wants to know that you took a considered and logical approach to solving the problem. So show them exactly that! Actions speak volumes.

R - RESULT

So what happened next? How was the situation resolved? If you’ve done the first three sections well, the interviewer will be dying to know! So now is your chance to tell them how your big brain fixed the problem.

Want to really blow their minds? Do your best to use numbers and percentages to show how you turned the situation around. Want the job? Then you need to wow them with the result!

There you have it! Use the STAR method in your interview, and you’ll improve your chances of finding the job your talent deserves! Stay tuned for next month! THE-INTL

“You want to focus on what YOU did to make a success from the situation. Far too often in life, we are taught not to talk too much about ourselves.”

Luke Hannon Senior Talent Acquisition Partner

Luke is a Senior Talent Acquisition Partner at SYBO Games, the company behind the smash-hit game Subway Surfers. Based in Copenhagen (by way of London)!, he has been working to make SYBO grow. He spends his time finding the best talent that the games community has to offer!

He is always keen to build relationships by bringing passion and enthusiasm to the recruitment process. An advocate of Employer Branding, Luke works with the talented people at SYBO to let the world know how great a place it is to work.

When he's not hiring awesome talents for SYBO or cycling (he does live in Copenhagen, after all!), he's busy reading his favourite books and channelling his inner Hemingway as a writer!

@Luke Hannon @ Hannon Recruits @ hannonrecruits

YYOU MIGHT NEGOTIATE with your kids about bedtime and brushing your teeth every evening. Or you might negotiate with your partner what to buy for dinner in the supermarket.

During your workday, you also negotiate with many people - customers, managers, colleagues, suppliers, other counterparts, and whoever you work with during your workday.

A negotiation is not a question about a winner or a loser. Instead, it is a situation where you share your different points of view and hopefully reach an agreement.

As you might have learned, the Danes often are pretty impatient, so they want to get to the point quickly. The well-known saying "The shortest distance between two points is a straight line" can be challenged from time to time, as a serious professional negotiator might need to hear more well-substantiated arguments before a final decision is made. It might take time, but hopefully, the participants will reach the best result with all angles of a problem researched and to everybody's satisfaction and acceptance.

When it comes to international business negotiation, even highly-skilled professionals with years of experience may find their interpersonal skills lacking when doing business abroad.

In cross-cultural business negotiations, negotiators should consider nuances when operating in a global setting. These nuances cry out for awareness of the counterparts' nationalities and unique characteristics. This is not an easy job - however, at least try to learn the most basic tone in business negotiations. This is also a question of retaining your dignity and, most of all, your credibility.

Furthermore, it will also be an advantage to understand the participants' motivations. Political, religious, and cultural differences can be challenging in interna- tional sales negotiation. However, despite those differences, the negotiation process comprises four standard components.

Professional negotiators should be equipped with strategies to navigate the cross-cultural business field. One tool worth working with could be the four C's of negotiation: common interest, conflicting interest, compromise, and conditions. These four C-elements are common to all business deals regardless of cultural nuances.

COMMON INTEREST

"You have something I want, and I have something you want."

Without a common interest or goal, there is no need to negotiate. That is the first step in any negotiation.

CONFLICTING INTERESTS:

"I don't agree with what you offer." Problems arise when conflicts regarding payments, terms of the deal, key responsibilities, and the person saying no, surface. The proverbial "win-win" is always the most-desired outcome once the common interest is identified, but a win-win is not always achievable.

COMPROMISE:

"This is what I'm willing to concede if you are willing to make concessions, too."

If the win-win is not immediately attainable (due to conflicting interests), compromise is needed, and compromise means some desired goals must be forsaken to achieve the common goal. This involves identifying and resolving all areas of disagreement.

CRITERIA:

The final criteria should reflect all conditions under which all parties will agree. Any negotiation process is nuanced. Even when the criteria are finalised, things may change over time. A "fresh interpretation of the four Cs" may be needed when this happens.

Now back to the negotiations with your kids. This process might need a very high level of patience.

The common interest might be challenging to meet. For example, the child does not see the need for sufficient sleep and does not want to miss any of the family's social activities; however, the parents' experience says sufficient sleep is essential.

The conflict could be negotiating bedtime. You want some evening rest and avoid trouble with an exhausted and uncooperative kid the following day. The kid only wants to stay and be a part of the family evening activities, watching TV, playing games etc.

So what is the compromise here? Sure, the kid forgets any agreement and will do it the following day. Perhaps not a compromise, but the parents must be more persistent than they want to be to avoid the same situation every evening.

In this situation, it might be a great idea to come up with some common criteria, and hopefully, the parent will have the final word. THE-INTL

Jane Elg Rd Petersen Cultural Detective

Jane is a local and grew up in Denmark, apart from a few long-term stays abroad, whilst travelling extensively. For the last 10 years, her business has supported relocating internationals to Denmark and helping businesses onboard their employees. She loves a challenge and feels there are many different expectations of moving to Denmark, depending on who you are and where you come from.

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