Interviewing

How to Answer Interview Questions

If you limit yourself to the same strategies that everyone else does—that is, preparing to answer the most common interview questions—how does that set you apart? Also, why do you think employers ask these questions?

Let me answer the second question first. Employers ask these job interview questions because they are desperate to make sure they do not select the wrong person, and they hope their questions can help them figure out who will be the best choice. In reality, they have no established methodology to evaluate your answers to make concrete decisions. But because they don’t have a better system, they settle for asking typical interview questions, including a lot of behavioral interview questions.

So, if behavioral interview questions and answers are not really helping the interviewers, and by preparing for them, you are only putting yourself on par with other candidates, what is a better way? How can you gain the competitive edge in a job interview?

How to Prepare for an Interview

Brain studies prove that people buy emotionally, even if they later justify their decisions intellectually. The same phenomenon affects the interview process. Your interview success will not come exclusively through preparing for most common interview questions but rather through psychological influence on your interviewers. Remember, everyone who is invited to an interview has already been deemed qualified based on their resume. So how to prepare for an interview comes down to using emotional intelligence and influence to get into the interviewers’ hearts – you are already on their minds.

That’s where professional interview coaching can help.

An interview coach can help you understand what to expect during your next job interview. She can also teach you the best and most appropriate ways to handle the hard questions.

Most importantly, a good professional interview coach can …

teach you how to explain what you’ve accomplished in your career that will make you irresistible to hiring managers

show you how to get out of your head and into a professional relationship with the humans interviewing you

guide you on questions to ask interviewer that will get you out of the hot seat and into a seat on the team

Companies and managers want to hire people who can solve their problems right away.

During interview coaching, you’ll learn how to present your skills and experience so that the interviewer will see you as being able to solve the department’s problems.

You’ll also get to practice the new skills you’re learning in a low-stakes environment by practicing and role playing with your coach, including good questions to ask in an interview.

Everyone performs better when they’re relaxed and comfortable. The best ways to become relaxed and comfortable during job interviews are (1) to practice with an interview coach beforehand and (2) to put your focus during interviews on building a relationship with a person in need (the interviewer), not selling yourself.

At YES, we use a proprietary interview methodology we developed called Interview Aikido™. “Aikido” is a Japanese word meaning “the way of unifying energy.”

In the world of job interviews, Interview Aikido™ is a methodology where you flip the script and interview your interviewers while they’re interviewing you. The best approach to getting the job, the salary, and the relationship with your prospective boss that you want is to approach the interview as an equal partner with the interviewer.

Interview Aikido™ helps you do exactly that.

You might feel like you’re so good at your work that you don’t need coaching or help of any kind. In the 21^st century, this attitude could backfire. You might be one of the top performers in your field, but your experiences at work might not equate to skill at handling interviewers’ worries during job interviews.

Here’s what our professional interview coaching can provide you with the ability to do:

• Quickly develop rapport with your interviewers
• Make yourself and the interviewers more relaxed
• Gather specific information about what your interviewer is looking for in a potential hire
• Get them to solve any concerns they have about you
• And ultimately, get one or more job offers (Half of our clients get two!)

In other words, our goal is to enable and empower you to ace your next job interviews.

That will result in options, offers, and increased pay.

Katherine Akbar is the world’s only Interview Aikido^TM coach. Her extensive experience in interview coaching and knowledge of psychology can help you nail your next offer.

You will also learn and practice informational interview questions because Interview Aikido^TM is also an effective tool to build a network of advocates who can hire or refer you.

You can schedule yourself for a free, 30-minute Career Success Consultation—or contact us by phone between 8 and 6:30 weekdays to set it up.

Go to Resume and Job Services to review all our packages that include interview coaching.

If you are uncertain of which package is the best fit for your goal: