In Pursuit of Profession: Why we stink at job interviews
Picture it: You’re at a job interview with almost 100 people in a conference room. Suddenly, the HR director tells you that you have 30 seconds to answer the following question: “If you were an animal, which one would you want to be?”
So what’d you pick? The fierce lion? A bird with the ability to fly? A platypus, just to give an off-the-wall answer? Our local career counseling guru, Dr. Natosha K. Monroe, and I recently gave a presentation on honing job interview skills to a group of college juniors and seniors. Titled, “Why you suck at job interviews” it was designed to get down to the nitty gritty of why many of us aren’t good in the job interview department. To respect the identities of the students, I won’t mention names or even the school where the presentation was given. Let’s just say that it was a business class at a fairly large university in a local town that rhymes with “Schmarlington.”
The Q & A
We selected three students from the nearly 100 people in the class and had them answer some of the standard interview questions that are part of many job interviews. I acted as the HR manager giving the questions, each student had 30 seconds to give their answer and then Dr. Monroe would analyze the answers with the entire class. While the students had answers that were both hit and miss, Dr. Monroe had an interesting analysis of each one. Here now are a few of those questions and her take on the answers:
Tell me about yourself. “This question is deliberately vague for a couple of reasons. One being it’s customary and is a simple way to start the questioning. But it can also reveal more about the candidate’s priorities and character traits. It’s a common mistake - especially for the inexperienced job candidate - to forget the purpose of their time in front of the interviewer and lead with personal life remarks. While yes, a goal should be to achieve likability, attempting to do so by discussing personal life is not necessarily advantageous and in many cases can be counterproductive and even unprofessional. It’s much wiser to achieve likeability and to show personality through responses that are professionally centric.”
What can you do for us that other candidates can’t? “I love this question. Why? Because it’s an invitation to covertly brag and convey superiority over the competition! While a response to this question might seem narcissistic if spontaneous or if placed elsewhere, here it will be regarded as informational and appropriate. How? Remain matter-of-fact while explaining common weaknesses of the profession/position and how you actively transcend such weaknesses. While it’s best to avoid citing a mistake of a specific person such as a previous co-worker or boss (risks being seen as spiteful, personal, or complaining), it’s good to highlight a specific example of how your more defining expertise contributed to a successful outcome.”
What is your greatest strength and weakness? “You want the interviewer to have a favorable opinion of you, so have several strengths in mind and be sure to mention them throughout the interview. When asked specifically, you should choose to highlight your strength that is most directly in line with what the interviewer (or job description) is seeking. If you’ve already mentioned that strength during the interview, briefly reemphasize it, but be sure to discuss a different angle or application. While it won’t necessarily hurt your interview, it’s wise to avoid the cliché answer of “I’m a perfectionist” regarding weakness. Because it’s so expected, it’s a lost opportunity and may even come across as insincere. Instead, have an answer prepared that allows you to accentuate yet another strength first, and follow it with a true weakness that will not disqualify.”
Why do you want this job? “Consider what the company is hoping to find in a new hire. Share professional goals, anticipated welcomed challenges, etc. that will leave the impression that your desires are compatible with what they are seeking. Personal, less formal responses are best when kept brief and placed at the end of the answer or sandwiched in between more professionally-centric discussion points.”
What are your salary expectations? “Regarding salary negotiations, it’s best to discuss with the appropriate person - oftentimes someone other than the person conducting the interview. When speaking with someone other than the person who is truly deciding your financial fate, a good tactic is to give a general response that simultaneously conveys confident yet reasonable expectations. When negotiating salary with the decision maker, the best response depends greatly upon the specifics of the company and their hiring budget. For a contract job, for example, there may be a total amount designated to be split among four new employees. This amount may or may not be predetermined as set or flexible between new hires. On the other hand, some salaries are set and are transparently published online such as state-level high school teachers. It’s important to be aware of the most likely pay scale for the position prior to the first interview. Hiring personnel or a recruiter may know exact numbers, so it never hurts to ask. Otherwise, research online sites such as Glassdoor that may show similar positions to at least offer an idea. Don’t forget to discuss and weigh in the financial aspects of other benefits such as vacation time, health insurance, sign-on bonus, moving expense budget, or share in stock.”
Use your career center, dadgumit!
Besides wading through a lot of job interview do’s and don’ts, Dr, Monroe and I also discovered a very troubling issue with nearly all of the students in this class…more than 90 percent of them had yet to use their school’s career center. Ninty percent! I couldn’t believe that so many students were not taking full advantage of such a tremendous, and FREE, resource. College and university career centers typically have trained career counselors on staff to help students and alumni discover possible career paths, connect with employers and career opportunities, and develop job interview skills. In my humble opinion, it is essential that students begin to familiarize themselves with the career center as early as their freshman year in order to use it to its full potential. Because, after all the goal of college is to get a good job, right? No matter if you been a graduate for a day or two decades, your alma mater’s career center will help you do that. So use it, dadgumit!
Dr. Natosha K. Monroe is a psychologist and cognitive behavioral therapist with offices in Fort Worth and Southlake. Her expertise has been utilized by the FBI Training Academy and the American Counseling Association. She currently enjoys helping clients with career development and anxiety-related challenges. You can find out more about her under “Find a Therapist” at www.psychologytoday.com
This story was originally published June 23, 2017 at 3:27 PM with the headline "In Pursuit of Profession: Why we stink at job interviews."