Interview Tips

Some interviewers prefer to kick things off with a general question instead of something specific. Asking you to talk about yourself tells them two things:

1. How you handle being put on the spot and
2.  Information about your experience they can use as a baseline for the rest of your interview.

Since the question is so general, it can be hard to figure out where to start. But the open nature of the question also allows you to create a unique answer that shows off your personality and experience. Here are a few things to keep in mind.

This is an interview, not a first date!

The funny part about the “tell me about yourself” question is it typically pops up in two contexts: interviews, like here, and first dates.

But that doesn’t mean you should answer the question the same way! If you were on a date, you’d probably say something like “I work at XYZ company, I like long walks on the beach, and pork sandwiches.” Okay, that’s a horrible date answer, but the point is things would be pretty casual.

The key to answering this question in an interview is to keep everything professional. Your answer should be relevant to the job you’re applying for. How long you’ve been in the industry, your pertinent training and education, accomplishments on the job, etc. Keep things like children, politics, religion, and your astrological sign out of it.

This is a question that comes up A LOT. Interviewers use it not just to see where you fit into their company, but also to see how you react to the question. It’s not just your answer they’re considering; it’s how you answer.

So, you have to be confident and know what you’re saying. That means preparing beforehand. There’s quite a bit of advice out there you’ve probably heard before: Start with your weaknesses. Finish up with your strengths so the interviewer remembers them instead of the weaknesses.

This is all good advice. But it’s advice that practically everyone knows. It’s a baseline, that won’t help you rise above the competition.

Keep the following in mind:

Weaknesses

Don't say you’re a perfectionist. Or too hard of a worker. Or that you care too much.

These are technically weaknesses. But even if they’re true, they don’t come across as all that honest because so many people use them in their answer. They also don’t really say much about you as a person. They’re boring, safe answers.

Instead, just tell the truth.

This doesn’t mean saying that you like to be lazy or surf Netflix at work. Just be genuine. Maybe you’re social and want to get to know your co-workers, but that sometimes results in you being too chatty. Perhaps you aren’t an emotional person and don’t handle personal crises that well. It’s even possible you deal badly with change. Everyone has weaknesses. That doesn’t mean they’re bad, they’re just a part of who you are.

Do show that you’re trying to improve.

Again, we all have weaknesses. But it’s our ability to work on those weaknesses that makes us great employees. Maybe you’ve learned to regulate your overly chatty nature with a bit of self-control. You know you’re not particularly empathetic, so you tell people that up front. You don’t like change, but you’ve learned to make pro/con lists of the advantages and disadvantages of specific changes to better adjust to those situations.

Strengths

Don't be vain. This means avoiding talking about yourself like you’re Superman. Just talk about the stuff you’re good at and how you added value to a company. Use numbers that quantify your achievements. But don’t be boastful. If you’re awesome, that’s great! But don’t drone on and on about yourself. That’s boring.

Do connect your strengths to work achievements.

Bring up strengths that have to do with the job you’re applying for. Your interviewer doesn’t need to know you can bench 90kg. or regularly win eating contests. Focus on connecting your strengths to success you’ve had at previous companies.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t be fun! If the company culture is fun, feel free to let one of your three strengths come out of left field. Maybe you’re a champion pole-vaulter, a choir singer, or write your own short stories. Those are still unique strengths that prove your character and are relevant to any job.

And this goes for both strengths and weaknesses: Don't feel like you have to come up with the exact number of responses they ask for. Why should you? Interviewers usually pick an arbitrary number. It doesn’t mean you should fill it. If you only have one major weakness you think is relevant, just mention that one.

This one is right up there with “tell me your top five strengths and weaknesses.” In an ideal world, prospective employers would only ask about your workplace
experiences (teamwork, job responsibilities, how you handled projects, etc.) and draw their own conclusions about you as an employee from there.

But that doesn’t always happen. Some companies have set questions they ask potential employees to weed out undesirable candidates from the rest of the applicants. Asking where you see yourself in five years is one of those questions.

Your answer can tell them something about your drive, your desire to keep working at their company, and where you think this position fits into your career and overall life.

Focus on Upward Movement

Most employers want an employee that plans on improving over time. They don’t want you to be content with the same responsibilities year after year. The expectation is that you’ll come to master some of your responsibilities, and be able to handle more work (whether that means just more duties or an outright promotion).

So, when they ask where you see yourself in five years, don’t say the same position. Aim for a management position, just not the position your possible manager has
(you don’t want to seem like you’re gunning for their job).

Find a specific position if you can (___supervisor, ___ manager, etc.), not just “a management position.” Note that you hope to use all of the experience and responsibilities you will pick up in this position in your future career.

Show Your Passion for Learning

Employers love employees who love to learn. If you’re constantly improving yourself, you’re continually making yourself a more talented and desirable employee.

In five years, you want to still be learning, still honing your skills. Whether that means obtaining a certain metric (___number of customer services calls an hour, ____ increase in page views on a website, ___% increase in product production time, etc.), taking continual online training courses, obtaining a certification, or earning a degree, tell your interviewer about it. Make sure to associate all of that learning with the position you’re interviewing for, and how it will help the company as a whole.

Illustrate Your Desire to Stay At the Company

General turnover is higher now than in previous years. The current economy is a job seeker’s market. That means employers are looking for people who are in it for the long haul. When they ask you about where you want to be in five years, tell them you plan to be at their company. Mention a project you’ve read about online that’s coming up in the future you’d like to be a part of, or a future product you want to help create.

Research the company’s upcoming plans (news releases are great for this). Is there anything that looks like it will be launching within the next five years or so? Mention you want to be involved in that, and you’ll show that you really know the company. And that’s how to answer the question!

Show you’re a stellar employee with real goals who truly wants the position. That’s what they’re asking for, anyway. “Do you really want this job? Will you work hard at this job? Are you in this for the long haul?” Okay, then prove it.

This question is like the shark in Jaws. You never know when it’s going to attack. It could be at the beginning of the interview or maybe in the middle. It’s even possible it catches you off guard at the end when you think you’re safe.

What’s so scary? It’s only five words. “Why should I hire you?” You might also get “Why do you want to work at this company,” or something else along similar lines.
The scary thing is that answering these questions requires plenty of preparation beforehand. This is probably not an answer you can come up with right away (especially if you first consider saying “because I need money, duh.”) “Because from what I know about this organisation through my research, I believe I match the company culture.”

Do your research. Make sure the job meets your needs and your skills meet the job requirements. Your interviewer wants to know that you 1) know the company and 2) are a “good fit.”

Who is a “good fit?” A person who fits in with the culture of the department and company in general. If you’re loud and talk too much, you might not be right for an accounting department that needs absolute quiet. If you’re shy and don’t like talking to people, you probably shouldn’t go into sales. Some companies embrace a “family” culture, where everyone knows everybody else. Others are full of people who never interact. Find out what the company culture is like at the business you’re interviewing at, and explain how that matches your own preferences and values in a few short sentences. “I have a history of demonstrable success in positions like this.”

Your interviewer wants to know what you can bring to the table. What makes you better than the last girl or guy he interviewed an hour ago?

Focus on your accomplishments and use metrics. How you increased ROI by 5%, raised page views by a certain number, increased your personal assembly time by a
specific amount in a year, or freed up however many hours of your executive’s schedule. By showing that you’ve succeeded at previous positions and matching those
accomplishments to the job description you’re applying for, you show your interviewer you’re valuable.

“I have the soft skills necessary to thrive in this position.”

Indeed defines soft skills as “personality traits and behaviors. Unlike technical or hard skills, soft skills are not about the knowledge you possess but rather behaviors
you display in different situations.” So, this means qualities like being flexible, a great leader a stellar conversationalist, etc.

When you mention these skills, come up with specific examples. Instead of saying, “I’m a people person” and leaving it there, say something like, “I love to meet people and learn new things. In my last position, I frequently attended networking events with other people in my industry. I met Karen, introduced her to my company, and we gained a new client!”

This interview is going quite well. You’re pretty sure you’ve aced every question, and you can really see yourself working at this company. But then your interviewer turns to you, smiles, and asks the dreaded question: “One last question before you go: Why are you leaving your position at XYZ company?”

Your heart starts beating a mile a minute. Why are they asking this? Should you tell them your manager is terrible?
Should you mention the toxic work culture? Maybe that’s not even the problem, and all you want is a change of pace—is that answer too boring?

If this situation sounds familiar, you’re not alone. In a recent Job Journey survey, 13% of respondents wanted help with this question. And it’s easy to see why—there are too many ways to answer it.

That makes it all the more important to come prepared with your answer well before you arrive for your interview. There is no one-answer-fits-all solution, but we’ve provided a few of our favorites below. Feel free to mix and match to find something that works for you.

“There weren’t many opportunities for advancement at XYZ company, and I’m ready to move on to the next phase of my career.”

You might be tempted to say something like “they wouldn’t ever give me a promotion so I quit,” but that doesn’t reflect very well on you as an employee. Keep things simple, and avoid complaining about your current position. Note your love of XYZ company, and explain why you think you have a future at ABC company.

“There was a bit of a cultural mismatch between myself and the company. I just realised I wasn’t a good fit.”

This is a polite, kind way of saying that you didn’t get along with your boss or weren’t a fan of the direction the company was headed. If you’re prompted to explain further, focus on how the company you’re interviewing with is a great cultural fit for you, rather than whatever went wrong at your old job. This is also a great answer to build off of if your old company was just a toxic place to work (nepotism, corruption, etc.).

“I wasn’t doing the type of work I want to do, and I’m incredibly excited for the possibilities with this job at XYZ company.”

This answer is for those of you contemplating a career shift, or folks who liked a certain aspect of their old job, but couldn’t expressly pursue that aspect fulltime. Focus on how your skills make you a brilliant candidate for this type of work, and how your old company didn’t let you meet your potential.

It’s important to note these are just a few of the many ways you can explain why you left your current job. Think of them as launchpads to build on when crafting your own unique answer.

Don’t be afraid of being honest; just make sure to focus on the positive possibilities of your career with the new company, not the trials you suffered at your old position.

This question differs from “tell me about yourself” in that the interviewer expects a specific, targeted response related to one specific project.
Interviewers ask this question for two reasons: they want a better picture of your abilities, and they want to learn about you personally by seeing what you think is your biggest accomplishment.

But it can be difficult to choose just one accomplishment, especially if you haven’t prepared a response ahead of time. Write (Or Type) Your Accomplishments Out On Paper

Regardless of where you are in your career, you’ve accomplished things. Write those things down. If you just graduated high school and don’t yet have on-thejob
experience, include things like participating in sports teams or school clubs. If you went to college, include final term papers, group projects, and internships. And if
you’ve been in the workplace for a long time, take your top one or two projects from each job you’ve worked at and put them down on paper. Make sure to only include accomplishments you can relate to work—things like having a child, getting married, or winning tickets to a baseball game are awesome, but not relevant to the interview.

Now you should have a pretty big list, right? Time for the tough part. Take that list and knock it down to your top three accomplishments. That way you’ll have three targeted answers to the question that you can change up depending on the interview. You’ll also be able to use those three accomplishments in answering other interview questions.

Structure Your Answer With Specifics

You don’t want to answer this question with a vague response like “I increased sales,” or “I helped my boss be better at scheduling” or even “I sold a lot of products really fast.”

The key is to start with specific metrics. Something like “I increased sales by 30% in 2019 over the previous year,” or “by learning new software and consolidating various activities, I cleared an additional two hours of time a day on my boss’s schedule.”

After listing your specific achievement, go into detail about how you accomplished it. It’s important to show that you can work as a member of a team, but don’t forget that this is your interview. Your response should show that you took the lead on a project, not necessarily that you helped somebody else achieve something.

Tie Your Accomplishment To The Position You’re Applying For

By this point you’ve already researched the company and the position you’re interviewing for. If you can, take your top accomplishment and tie it into what you want to accomplish in this new position.

This shows your interviewer that you’re

1) interested in the company and
2) the perfect fit for this position with immediately transferrable skills.

It can be as simple as wrapping up with “and I’d like to bring those skills/techniques/program knowledge to this position as well.”

This question surprised you. You haven’t thought about it before, so you stumble. You’ve been thinking from your own perspective this whole time, so switching gears to someone else’s point of view is tough.

Avoiding this awkward interview situation is simple: just prepare beforehand. Not sure how? We’ve got you covered.

Ask Your Co-Workers What They Think of You

This is the simplest place to start. One of the reasons interviewers ask this question is because they want to know how you could fit into their team.

And the easiest way to figure out what people think of you is to go straight to the source! Find a few co-workers or friends you’re close with (and your boss if you’re comfortable with that) and ask them what they think of you as a teammate. You don’t have to use these responses verbatim, but they should inspire your answer.

Make a List of Your Own Strengths

Employers also ask this question to get an idea of what you think your strengths are. Another way of asking the question would be “what do you think other people think your strengths are?” They may be trying to get a more honest answer than with “tell me your top strengths and weaknesses.”

So, once you have a list of the words your co-workers used to describe you, make a list of your own. Then compare both lists and come up with a new one that incorporates both.

Back Up Each Word with Specifics

Now that you have a list of words, come up with small story snippets for each one. You need evidence to back up your adjectives. For instance, if “innovative” was one of your words, mention a unique idea you had that furthered the company’s objectives. Just make sure to keep things short, simple, and to the point.

Once you get that final list of words, weed out anything generic or baseline. Words like “hardworking,” “responsible,” or “organisational” don’t make you stand out and are expected of any new hire. Instead, opt for words that describe you, specifically, like “innovative,” “detail-driven,” etc.

When companies are hiring, they aren’t just looking for the most skilled applicants. While skill is important, interviewers are also looking for culture fit. Folks that mesh with the rest of the employees and stay with the company long-term.

That’s the main reason interviewers ask applicants why they want to work at the company. Your answer should combine a discussion of your skills with your personality and how you fit in with the company in general.

Research the Company

Answering any interview question starts with research, and this question is actually testing your knowledge. Figure out what it is that attracts you to the company (beside the pay cheque). Check out the company’s website, recent news coverage (a Google search will help with that), and review sites like Glassdoor.com. Don’t forget to look to your own network as well! If you know anybody who works at the company, ask them what they love about it.

Remember This Isn’t About You

Although you might be tempted to answer with something along the lines of “the benefits are great,” “I would be a talented team member,” or “I’m just really qualified for the job,” those aren’t the answers your interviewer neccesarily wants to hear.

Basically, the question is asking why you want to work there, but you’re being tested on your knowledge of the company. Focus on why the company is a great place to work. Now that you’ve done your research, highlight the product or service offered by the company and why you love and believe in it, or the good deeds the company is doing for the community and its customers, etc.

Tie the Company to Your Own Skills and Values

Now you’ve established what you know about the company and its history, tie that into your abilities. For example, you noticed that the company does a good amount of community outreach, and that’s something near and dear to your heart. Or the company has an incredible reputation as a market leader, and you have experience in that industry and want to bring what you can to the table. Check out the company’s social media as well. If folks are passionate about their product, mention that you noticed the positive comments, are a product user as well, and want to channel your enthusiasm for the brand into your career.