April 9, 2004, Newsletter Issue #12: More Typical Interview Questions
Tip of the Week
o WHAT MOTIVATES YOU? As I mentioned earlier (in my ebook, FIND YOUR PERFECT JOB), I found a significant number of people who had never given this question any thought. The answer to this question is a primary determining factor in whether you are happy in your job…..or not.
The interviewer is looking to see if you will be happy within their environment. There is no right or wrong answer here. Be honest. If you need to be motivated by sales contests and they don`t run many, then how effective will you be anyway compared to a company that does?
But if you haven`t given this question any thought, then you don`t know the answer. And you won`t know the answer to the question until after you`ve been working there....and then maybe it`s too late!
o TELL ME ABOUT SOME OF YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS: You`ll make an infinitely better impression if you can give a list without having to sit there and think about it for five minutes before coming up with the first lame thing that comes to mind.
o WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS? IN TEN YEARS? Have you thought ahead and charted out your career strategy? Are your goals realistic for you? Do they match the company`s track record? If you are aggressively looking to move up the ladder, and the next level of hierarchy has five managers, all of whom have been there for several years and aren`t close to retirement, you`ll be holding your current title for a long time.
This is another reason why interview preparation is so vitally important (I discuss how to prepare for an interview at length in my ebook).
An amazing amount of people NEVER PREPARE FOR AN INTERVIEW. They merely go in cold, assuming they knew their background and will be able to represent themselves well.
But the truth is, there`s about a million ways to state the same thing, and if you don`t give though to it before hand, you`ll be giving thought to it AFTER when you review your performance....and likely regretting what you said - IF you even realize there was a better way.
Sales is something we do every day - whether we`re selling our partner on going to a movie we`d like to see or selling ourselves on doing something we don`t feel like doing.
An interview is a sales process - and the product is YOU. Professional sales people ALWAYS prepare for presentations - don`t think you and job hunting is any different! You`re NOT in control of your career and you are only cheating yourself if you don`t prepare properly!
Blessings!
Judi Perkins
career guru for lifetips.com
recruiter@intergate.com
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