Interview Prep
This guide is more inclusive than nearly any interview you will participate in; why? I want my candidates calm and prepared. Over-preparation leads to the “easy interview”. As the saying goes: prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Answer this question to win the job, blow the answer and it is over:
What is your skill set?
1. Reread the formal job description
2. Create a two to three-minute answer to What is your Skill Set?
3. Write out what you do and how it gets done as it relates to the formal job description
a. GOOD technical terminology: I gather W-2’s, Schedule C, K-1s, and paystubs
b. WEAK: I collect tax documents
c. The only way during an interview for a Hiring Manager to know if you can do the job is if you sound like you can do the job and that means to talk the talk!
Tell me about your career/yourself/walk me through your resume
Your Resume - Interview Elevator Pitch
This question is usually along the lines of: tell me about yourself, why are you looking for a new job, why are you interested in my company, etc.
Answer the question with a 1-2 minute career overview as follows – this should be well crafted, memorized, and practiced before the interview:
1. Starting in the past at a reasonable point in your career, walk the interviewer through your resume indicating briefly your roles and your reasons for leaving. Highlight skills that specifically relate to the job you are interviewing for.
2. Current role: go into more detail about what you do, relevant and applicable skills, and why you are seeking to leave (always positive)
3. Explain why you are interested in the job you are interviewing for and why you are a fit – this should tie together points 1 and 2
Resume Deep Dive
Know every word on your resume and be prepared to discuss your resume in detail.
TIP: Put yourself on the other side of the desk and ask yourself, if I was the Hiring Manager, what would I want to know from this candidate? Prepare specific stories, and examples of the required skills. Review the formal job description and mostly use common sense.
TIP: Reread the job description, this time, determine the “SKILL” of each bulleted daily activity.
Example: Leadership skills. Give a detailed example of a time you had a challenge with an employee. What happened (in 2022, this one employee), what did you do (I coached the person) and what was the positive outcome (as a result, this employee is now the top performer)
TIP: What if you are asked about a skill you do not have? First, NEVER LIE! Second, saying, “I am a quick learner” is a weak answer. PROVING you are a quick learner is better! Prepare one example of a time you DIDN’T know something but learned it. What was it? How did you learn the new skill? What was the result of learning it quickly?
You interview the Interviewer
Three “Buckets” of Interview Questions to Ask
You will be as much judged by the quality of the questions that you ask as by the answers that you provide. To best organize your thoughts, here is a suggested framework for your prep work:
Bucket One – The first 90 days
I am being very literal – what will you need to know, be responsible for, projects, deadlines, the technology used, training, fires to put out, goals by the end of the first 90 days, specific responsibilities, who will you interact with, what is the process, etc. You should be able to come up with thirty questions with no problem.
TIP: Put your questions in order of most important to least important. Make sure the first question is an OPEN-ENDED question: Can you tell me about a typical day as…Can you tell me about the job in greater detail, etc?
Nearly EVERY candidate that tells me that the job they left in under a year because it was a BAD FIT was because they assumed they understood the specifics and never asked for the details of what they were walking into.
Bucket Two – Your typical interview questions- Culture and Management style
What is the management style of the executives, what is your management style, who is successful at the bank, what is the culture of the bank, etc? Add one or more questions based on research of the bank financials, website, call report, etc.
TIP: Do you need help finding questions to ask about the job, the culture of the company, the management, or anything else, GOOGLE IT!
Google this: WHAT QUESTIONS SHOULD I ASK ON A JOB INTERVIEW?
850 million responses!!!
Bucket Three – The future
1. Are there specific goals I need to accomplish one year from now? How will my performance be judged?
2. What are the plans for the “bank” over the next 3 to 5 years?
3. What are the plans for this department over the next 3 to 5 years?
4. What can this success mean for me?
Ending the Interview
When you know the interview is over and it is time to end, first THANK THE INTERVIEWER FOR THEIR TIME! They are people, they have fears, and they want to hire you if you are the right fit.
Always end on a positive, for example, I truly loved our conversation and believe I can be a good fit. I would like to continue the process; what is the next step? As in everything above, make the statement sound like you!
Email out a thank you note that night or the next morning. TRIPLE-CHECK GRAMMAR AND SPELLING. I am ALWAYS happy to be a second set of eyes and ears.
Immediately after the Interview
Call me! I need to hear your experience before speaking to the interviewer. I act to smooth over any bumps and push to get you to the next step in the process!
A Word about Behavioral Questions
What will you be asked? Put yourself in the shoes of the hiring manager, what would YOU want to know?
STEP ONE:
Determine your skills and strengths and tie them into actual experiences which exemplify each one. Remember details that will convey the situation to the interviewer.
STEP TWO:
Make sure you understand the job description and are prepared to recall specific actions and behaviors that address the required skills. If there is a question, call me!
STEP THREE:
It is important to avoid vague proclamations of skills. Small, precise actions and behaviors are more important than unsubstantiated claims of job success.
STEP FOUR:
PAR: Problem – Action – Results! You should learn to structure your stories. It helps to use the PAR formula: Problem – Action – Results.
This formula will greatly assist you to become an effective “storyteller” while discussing your experience and successes.
It would be helpful for you to know the twenty most popular behavior-based questions.
Tell me about a time when you…
1. …worked effectively under pressure
2. …handled a difficult co-worker
3. …were creative in solving a problem
4. …missed an obvious solution to a problem
5. …did not meet a deadline on a project
6. …persuaded team members to do things your way
7. …made a bad decision
8. …were rewarded based on your performance
9. …set your sights too high or too low
10. …had to deal with an irate customer
11. …had to make an important decision with limited facts
12. …were forced to make an unpopular decision
13. …were put in a role of leadership
14. …were disappointed in your performance
15. …saved your employer time or money
16. …wrote a well-received report
17. …displayed your team playing abilities
18. …got bogged down by a project
19. …displayed your political savvy
20. …surmounted a major obstacle