Interview Prep 101
Make sure you have the answers to these questions
Text: Charissa G
There are moments in life when it’s best to go with the flow. Job interviews, however, are not one of them. It’s nerve-wracking to think that acing your aptitude test, having a great experience and wonderful references are only the beginning. Know that having a level of anxiety and even experiencing imposter syndrome is perfectly normal — we like to think that this just means that the job is important to you, and there are ways of harnessing that energy into something positive: sit down and prepare!
The Soothe’s Co-Founder and Director of award-winning communications agency Vim & Vigour has interviewed candidates in the dozens. Here are her top four questions that are almost guaranteed to be asked in every interview, regardless of industry and seniority:
Tell me more about yourself.
Ah, the classic opener. By this point, it’s safe to assume that the interviewer has read through your CV and is impressed enough to want to get to know you better. Try not to speak too generally about yourself — explain your career trajectory so far and how you’ve gotten to where you have. Why did you leave each job? What is your leadership style? Don’t have lots of experience? That’s ok! Talk about why you took a certain major, and what were the learning outcomes from taking specific modules. The trick here is to help the interviewer understand why and how you’ve arrived at this very moment.
What is your biggest weakness?
Traditionally, the old school interview ‘hack’ would be to turn a weakness into a strength. But it’s 2021, and we’d like to think that the way forward for businesses is authenticity. Our advice is to identify a weakness that you’re actively working to overcome. This helps demonstrate your self-awareness and an understanding that humans, just like businesses, are a constant work-in-progress.
Why do you want to work here?
We can assume that the interviewer is an ambassador and advocate for the company, so he/she likely knows how great it is to be there — there’s no need to wax lyrical about the company. While you want to demonstrate that you’ve researched the role and company, this is where you can also show that you have the ability to think long-term and can see how this job can help propel you towards those eventual goals. Applying for a manager’s role and want to be the CEO someday? Explain it!
What do you like to do in your spare time?
This is what we like to call the bonus question. It’s seemingly irrelevant to the rest of the interview and usually asked at the end where candidates might tend to ‘switch off’ and ramble off an answer. But this is usually where managers determine truly if you’re a cultural fit for the company. We’re complex creatures, so while you may be tempted to list the dozens of things you enjoy, perhaps hone in on interests that could demonstrate relevance to the company as well as an interest in self-improvement.
Bossing an interview takes time and practice so go out there and give it a whirl. Good luck!
