How do we know what questions are going to be asked in the job interview?

Have you ever sat in a job interview and been sweating uncontrollably as you stumble through the interview questions? Have you found yourself shaking hands with the hiring manager on the way out of the job interview and thinking to yourself how you just completely messed up the entire interview? Of course you have. Who hasn’t!

Why does this happen? Do you remember back in school or university before an exam you would study hard to make sure you were well prepared and ready to answer any question that could come your way. When you buy an expensive item such as a car or house you don’t just wake up one day and go to the dealership and purchase a car. You do your research. You study and become knowledgeable on the subject. Only once you have done your research and preparation do you get ready to make your purchase.

The same is true for your job interview. How many times have you walked into a job interview having done 5-10 minutes of preparation? Let me guess you scrolled through the company’s website and re-read the job description a couple of times.

Finding your dream job is no game. We spend on average 40 hours a week in the office. Over the course of a single year that is 2080 hours per year. (Minus vacation, holiday time and few more “personal days”) When an opportunity arises to seek new employment and you are invited to the job interview you have one opportunity to shine and stand out above the other job competitors who are all vying for that one vacant position. You need to ensure that you are 100% prepared for the interview and have answers ready for every question that may come your way. To quote William Wallace in Braveheart – you have “just one chance”

So how do we know what questions are going to be asked in the interview?

The answer is we don’t. There are thousands of different interview questions that may be asked. However, by planning for the interview we can be in a situation where we already have our answers ready for any type of question that a hiring manger may ask.

Here is my tip: The key to interviewing success is simply preparing a mental outline to follow when responding to each question. When you are sitting at home preparing for the interview, write a list of achievements, stories and examples that illustrate how you solved a particular problem or how you performed in an outstanding way. That way rather than going to the interview and thinking of your answers on the spot you will already have your mental list of answers ready to go.

Here is a very basic example to prove my point.

“In my previous job I was promoted to manager after 6 months because of my hard work and dedication on a particular project ….”

With this example in mind I am ready to answer any interview question that is related to my success and I have a story to emphasise my point.

Every person brings unique characteristics and value added skills to a job and as the interviewee; you need to be ready to demonstrate all the great qualities and achievements in order to succeed in your job interview.

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