Here's What We Are Going To Cover

 Traditional Job Interview Questions and Answers vs. Behavioral Interview

Questions and Answers
 Your Mindset: It’s Not About You, It’s About Them
 The Tailoring Method
 Common job interview questions

 3 Example Interview Answers

o The Traps to Avoid For Each Interview Question
o The Do’s and Don’t s for Each Interview Question

“It’s Not About You, It’s About Them”

Before I break down our step-by-step method, there is something you need to understand.
Actually, I’ll take it a step further. This idea is something that from here on out…

You need to live by.

As the title of this section says, “It’s not about you, it’s about them.“

Take that in for a second.

Say it out loud a few times. Let it rumble around in your head for a bit.

So what exactly does it mean?

Well to this point, you’ve probably approached your job interview something like this…

“I worked at Company X for six years…”

“I am highly proficient in the following skills….”
“I love working with children because…”

This is the point where my hand slams down on a big buzzer like in the Family Feud.

Why?

Because the company doesn’t care about you.

Okay, that is a little harsh. It’s not that they don’t care for you and your well-being (although I
would argue that a lot of the major corporations simply don’t… but this is a discussion for
another day), it’s that there is something that they are a LOT more interested in…

Themselves.
Now, I don’t mean to make the company sound like a selfish, controlling and manipulative ex-
boyfriend, but the reality is, the reason they are conducting a job interview in the first place is
because they have a specific goal in mind.

They are trying to fulfill their needs.

They have a specific individual in mind for this position, and it’s the person who is best able to
satisfy these needs.

The company knows exactly who they are going to hire, long before this person even enters the
interview room.

Now, they obviously don’t know the actual name of the exact individual they are going to hire
(that wouldn’t be fair), but they do know the type of person that they want and more importantly,
they know the knowledge, skills and abilities that this person MUST possess.

Just ask Miriam Salpeter from Keppie Careers, who says:

“While the focus of ‘Why should we hire you?’ (and other similar interview questions) is on
‘you,’ the interviewee, it’s important to remember the answer isn’t all about you..."

Okay, so taking that all into consideration, how do you position yourself as the type of person
that this company wants to hire?

How do you ensure that you are demonstrating the knowledge, skills and abilities that your
company clearly puts a lot of value in?

In general terms, you want to show the hiring manager the different ways you bring value to the
company: how you can help them satisfy their needs and achieve their goals, based on your
past training and experience.

You’ll get your reward if they hire you. But be more interested in them than you are in yourself.
Be there for them.

Again from Miriam Salpeter…

“Framing replies that demonstrate you understand their problems, or ‘pain points,’ makes a big
difference when competing with many other qualified candidates.”

(Source: Keppie Careers Blog)

But how does one do this?

By using our Tailoring Method of course!

 The Tailoring Method
So what is tailoring?

Think of it like “customizing“.

We now know that your company has a specific type of person in mind for the role that they are
interviewing for.

They have a specific set of knowledge, skills and abilities that this person MUST HAVE in
order to get the job.

So what do you need to do? You need to customize, or “tailor” your entire interview to the needs
of the company.

Success Stories

Every interview question should have a base. A stable foundation to build on. Over here at
Interview Guys Headquarters, we like to refer to these foundational elements as “success
stories“.

A success story is an example from your past work experience that clearly demonstrates
you succeeding in some way.

For example, a time that you solved a problem, excelled in a difficult situation or used a certain
skill to get the job done.
Every time you go into a job interview, you should have several of these memorized so that you
can use them to help formulate your answers to the interview questions.

For example, a success story might be:

 How you analyzed the annual budget and decided to make cutbacks in certain areas
that led to more profit in the company the following year
 How you helped solve a dispute between two co-workers that allowed your team to
work more efficiently and led to increased productivity
 How you volunteered for the “culture committee” and were appointed lead, where
you led the team to make changes to the office setup which improved workflow and
overall efficiency

Now here’s the key, and something I hope that you noticed…

You want to be careful not to slip into your old habits and start saying “Me me me me” again.
The key is to select success stories that highlight the knowledge, skills and abilities that the
company desires.…

“Mike, does this mean I need to have a Success Story ready for every single interview
question? What if I get asked 30 questions in my interview? Do I need 30 Success
Stories!???”

Here’s the deal: Not all interview questions and answers will require you to go into the kind
of depth where using a Success Story is completely mandatory.

As you prepare for your job interview and study the different commonly asked interview
questions, you will see that certain questions will warrant an answer with a little more depth or
back story.

But there will be other interview questions that are simpler and will only require a more literal,
straightforward response. For example, “What is your five-year plan?” This question is forward
looking and doesn’t necessarily require the support of a tale of success from your past.

So use your discretion.

Qualities

Okay, so I’ve mentioned a few times that every company has a list of knowledge, skills and
abilities that their ideal candidate must have. We like to group these together into one category
and call them Qualities. Common qualities include the following:

 leadership
 collaboration
 vision
 persistence
  innovation
 influence

What am I saying?

Just having Qualities isn’t enough. You need to have the Qualities that your company puts a lot
of value in.

How does one find these Qualities?

Well, as our friend Miriam Salpeter says, “Use their in-depth job descriptions, view videos the
employers post about their organization and visit their Facebook page and Twitter feeds.”

You should be “mining” the company’s various web properties to look for these Qualities, and
then infusing them (along with a supporting success story) into your interview answers.

Putting It All Together

So have you figured out what you’re supposed to do? This is how it works.

Once you’ve figured out the Qualities that your company puts a lot of value in, you need to be
able to show them that “YES!”, you do have these Qualities.
The best way to do this is to choose success stories from your past that help highlight those
Qualities.

This is the big key.

The shift from the traditional way of interviewing. The part that most people get wrong.

It’s in the selection of these success stories that you will separate yourself from the pack.

Here’s an example. Let’s say that you discover through your research that your company puts
huge value on the candidate being detail-oriented. Well, you need to go into your interview
armed with a success story that demonstrates you being detailed-oriented. Pretty simple right?

Now, when it comes time to actually answering the question there is a little more to it than
that, but don’t worry, we’re going to use three examples of questions that will clearly show
you how to use a success story and Quality to answer the question perfectly.

MIKE'S TIP
Despite the winning formula we've just provided, you want to be careful not to overdo it. As I
said earlier with Success Stories, some questions will simply require a literal, general answer,
and should be treated appropriately. Don't try to get too cute by weaving an elegant success story
laced with several Qualities when the hiring manager simply wants to know how long you
worked at a past job, what your core responsibilities were, or something similarly simplified.  

Common Job Interview Questions

 Why should we hire you?
 What are your strengths?
 What are your weaknesses?
 Where do you see yourself in five years?
 How would your coworkers describe you?
 How do you deal with pressure?

 How do you manage your time?

 What are your goals?
 How do you handle difficult customers?

3 Examples of Typical Interview Questions With Sample

Answers
In the following three examples, we’ll show you how to answer three common interview
questions using the formula that we demonstrated above.

Beside each question is the Quality that the company values the most (which we discovered
through our research done while preparing for the interview). In the answer to the question,
you’ll see that the Quality that we are trying to highlight in the answer is in ORANGE, and the
success story that we are trying to use to help support the Quality is in BLUE. Make sense?

You’ll also see that I’ve added a “tarp” that people fall into in each question. Remember as I said
before, many interview questions have little traps, sometimes traps that are not so obvious, and
you need to be able to identify and avoid them.

I’ll also wrap the question up with a few “Do’s and Don’ts” to remember when you go into the
interview room.

EXAMPLE ANSWER:

1) What is your biggest strength? (Desired Quality:

Versatility)
“As an architect at the small firm Big Building Inc., I had to learn all phases of running a
business, from taking care of the IT work to visiting construction sites to doing accounts payable
and receivable. I also passed the Architect Registration Exam in the 90th percentile of scores
meaning I bring my architectural expertise, but I also have the entrepreneurial strength and spirit.
Since your construction company is a start-up, I think that would add a lot of value. My
experience shows that I excel when wearing a few different hats, even if one of them is a
construction helmet.”

TRAP: Many people hear this question and take the opportunity to gloat about their
accomplishments, losing sight of the fact that the ONLY important thing you need to do his
highlight a strength that aligns with the company’s needs. Never has the importance of the
Tailoring Method been so clear.

DO’s

1. Highlight one of your strengths that you know the company puts a lot of value in
2. Use a story from your past to support the strength you are trying to demonstrate
3. Quantify your level achievement (“90th percentile of scores”)

DON’TS

1. Don’t brag about your accomplishments

2. Don’t bring up strengths that aren’t relevant to the company you are interviewing with
3. Don’t make any claims you can’t support with hard facts.
EXAMPLE ANSWER:

2) How are you with time management? (Desired Quality:

Efficiency)
“Working as a travel agent, I had to be excellent at time management, as I was expected to sell
and coordinate packages of flights, lodging, car rentals, admission passes, and tickets. All of
these items needed to be coordinated and documented efficiently in order to ensure that my
clients’ vacation expectations were exceeded. One other aspect of this position that was time-
related was the fact that time zones played such a big role in the process. I was able to factor
these differences into my work and ultimately provide my clients with a high level of service. I'd
say that this experience accurately demonstrates my proficiency with time management and I
believe that I'm well prepared to manage similar tasks at you company."

TRAP: Literally EVERYBODY who answers this question is going to say they are organized,
and the hiring manager knows this. They expect you to provide cold hard data and examples
when it comes to your claims, so don’t even think about claiming your organizational aptitude if
you can’t back it up with facts.

DO’s

1. Always support your statement with hard facts

2. The Quality desired is almost always “efficiency”, “organization”, or “time
management”, so there should be no surprises
3. This is one interview question that you can be 100% prepared for because you know it is
coming and what you can say to answer it perfectly

DON’TS

1. Don’t make up any BS stories about being organized if you can’t back it up. Remember,
all it takes is one quick call to your old boss about your habits and your House of Cards
can come tumbling down pretty quickly
2. This is a straight forward question. Don’t get cute and try to weave in any extraneous
Qualities that aren’t relevant to your level of efficiency
3. There is NO excuse to not have this answer prepared perfectly prior to your interview.
You know it’s coming so make sure you have your success story ready.

EXAMPLE ANSWER:

3) Is there anything else I should know about you? (Desired

Quality: Deals well with pressure)
“I didn’t mention an interesting anecdote when I was the safety manager at SkyScraper
Construction Co. I had just completed my CPR and First Aid courses, and a man on site
suddenly went into cardiac arrest. My supervisor looked at me and said, ‘You’re in charge of
safety!’ I had practiced on a dummy but never on a live person. I knew I had to keep calm and
simply do what I was taught. I revived him while others called 911. He later thanked me for
saving his life. Although I don’t anticipate such a thing happening often, the incident taught me
that, no matter what happens, keeping calm and putting one’s training into motion will often
resolve a threatening situation. I think that was excellent training for an air traffic controller
position, in addition to my FAA certification, of course.”

TRAP: You wouldn’t believe how many people hear this question come out of the hiring
manager’s mouth and take it as an invitation to list off their hobbies and interests. Look. They’ve
seen your resume and are well aware that you “enjoy hiking.” This is another opportunity for you
to take control of the interview by zoning in on their desired quality and really hammering it
home with a well-positioned success story.

DO’s

1. Turn the interview from an “interrogation” to a “conversation” by taking this opportunity

to highlight one of the Qualities you’ve discovered in your research.
2. Keep a few success stories in your back pocket just for open-ended questions like these.
They will really impress the hiring manager.

DON’TS

1. Don’t EVER simply say, “No, I don’t think so.” Use the opportunity you’ve been given.
2. Don’t ramble on and on.  It’s not an invitation to tell your life story.
3. Don’t simply list off your hobbies and interests.

The Home Stretch

Okay, so by now, you should have a pretty good idea of how to apply our Tailoring Method to
answering a typical job interview questions with ease.

Success stories (when needed)?

Check.

Discovered Qualities through detailed research?

Check.

Formula for answering any interview question perfectly?

You bet!
The main thing to remember is that “it’s not about you, it’s about them“, so you should be
answering every interview question with that in mind.

Find the Qualities that your company is looking for in their perfect candidate and infuse them
into your answers. And if the question warrants it, reference the Success Stories you have in
your back pocket to help demonstrate you have that Quality.

Now, of course, this assumes that you know what questions you are going to be asked.

And that’s the next step…

A Quick Word of Warning

Don’t make the same mistake that everyone makes.

Don’t go to Google and punch in “best answers to interview questions” and on the first site
that pops up, print off all the questions and answers and memorize them.

The internet, while making great strides, is still the Wild West at heart. There is a lot of bad
information out there that can really have a negative effect on your interview preparation.

So stick with the experts. Hmm… let me think if I know any I can recommend…

Joking aside, you obviously need to go to a reputable place to get the information you need to
ensure your interview success. At the end of the day…your career depends on it.

Good Luck!