ISU Bengal

Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: Life

When was the last time you participated in an interview? Was it an enjoyable experience, or was it a time when you felt absurdly unprepared, almost as if you would have been better off to just skip the appointment all together?

For many people the interviewing process is a frightening venture that becomes a necessary obstacle in the quest to find a job. Interviewing doesn't have to be this way.

The Career Center provides a service called "Practice Interviewing." The purpose of a practice interview is to assist students with the opportunity to fine-tune their interviewing skills. The purpose of this article is to provide insight into that process, and to provide suggestions for how to make your next interview successful.

Interviewers present a plethora of questions that fall into the boundaries of traditional and behavioral type questions. Participating in a practice interview at the Career Center gives you the opportunity to better prepare for all types of questions.

The first type of questions you should be familiar with are Behavioral Questions. Behavioral questioning is a common format that requires you to draw on personal experiences. A typical behavioral question is, "Tell me about a time when you assumed a position of leadership." The challenge with behavioral and other types of interviewing questions is organizing your experiences into cohesive, clear and concise "stories." Answer these questions, whether phrased behaviorally or not, with specific examples that prove your assertion of a skill.

The second type of question swhich you should be familiar with is the "Traditional Interview Question." Traditional questions are: "Tell me about yourself?", "Why are you interested in this position?",and "Why should I hire you?". While it is impossible to prepare for every question, preparation is the key to successful and effective interviewing. You should answer traditional questions very similarly to how you answer a behavioral question. Use an example that provides proof to the employer that you have acted consistently with the skills and characteristics that you are trying to demonstrate.

For instance, a typical answer that can be used for either a behavioral or traditional question may look like the following:

Question: "Give me an example of a time when you had to meet an unexpected deadline."

Answer: "Recently I had to prepare an impromptu speech, within 15 minutes, for my Business and Professional Speaking class. After the initial shock and stress of the situation I buckled down and prepared the speech according to the Professor's requirements. At the completion of the speech my Professor commended me for my quick thinking and ability to prepare a thorough speech with so little time. After this experience my confidence in my ability to meet an unexpected deadline increased, and I realized that I enjoyed working

under pressure.

As you can see, this reply to the interviewer's question was concise, while also providing the necessary information that the interviewer was seeking. Within this reply the following was accomplished. The background for a specific situation was given, the action taken was explained, and the end result was provided to tie the answer back to the interviewer's initial question.

If this article has you concerned that you are completely unprepared for that next job interview, don't be alarmed. In addition to opportunities to practice interviewing at the Career Center, we also provide handouts that contain detailed information on each of the question styles presented here. Just swing by and we would be happy to assist you in preparing for a fantastic interview experience.

Also, look for Part II next week…Interviewing Do's and Don'ts.

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