Business Skills 360, the podcast that looks at the other side of English.
Hello and welcome back to the Skills 360 podcast. I'm your host, Tim Simmons, and today I want
to continue our look at tips for succeeding in a job interview in English.
In our last lesson, we talked about preparation for introducing yourself and questions about
strengths and weaknesses. That's all about you as a person, or your character. In this
lesson, I'd like to home in on what you've done, or your actions and behavior.
The first big question you'll get about what you have done pertains to achievements. As
in: "what achievements are you most proud of?" Or "tell us about a recent achievement?"
Now, when you think back on your accomplishments, what should you choose to discuss? Well, rather
than boasting about purely individual accomplishments, think of something that connects to the bigger
picture. Or state why your accomplishment helped the company.
So, don't just say "I oversaw an expansion of our department from four to nine people."
Link that to overall company goals, or say why that is an achievement. So you could add
something like: "That helped support the company in its overall growth goals.�
Another important point when talking about accomplishments: give credit where credit
is due, and demonstrate gratitude for others'
efforts. Yes, it's a question about you.
But most positions require teamwork, and so most companies are looking for team players.
That's why it's a good idea to throw in something like "of course, none of it would
have been possible without a stellar team of salespeople."
Besides questions about your achievements, you're likely to face questions about past
behavior. Especially common is the question "tell us about a time when you demonstrated
a particular quality?" For example, leadership, or problem-solving, or creativity. In this
case, the interviewers want some evidence, or proof, of your abilities.
It's a good idea to have some situations in mind before your interview. And you don't
have to think up different situations for every imaginable quality or characteristic.
Instead, think of a few situations that you could use for different qualities. I mean,
maybe there's a particular time when your leadership, problem-solving, and creativity
all came into play. You can bring that situation up in response to a variety of questions.
And when you discuss what you did, keep it to three simple parts: the situation, what
you did, and the result. Here's an example of this approach to a question about problem-solving:
"Well, just last month we had a big project with a demanding client, and three developers
got sick. There was no way we could finish on time without help. So I managed to flex
some other projects and transfer some staff. In the end, we had good outcomes and happy
clients."
That was a response to a question about problem-solving. But notice that I could easily modify the
answer to fit a question about leadership, or handling clients, or project management.
That's what I mean about keeping a few versatile situations in mind, especially if you're
not so confident in your interview English skills.
Okay, so there's one more issue I want to address: questions about conflict. As in "tell
us about a time you had to deal with conflict with a co-worker?" Or "tell me about a
time you had a major disagreement with your boss?"
With questions about conflict, interviewers want to see that you can communicate, that
you care about relationships, and - ultimately - that you're not a jerk. For that last
reason, the worst thing you can do is to throw someone under the bus or even just to sound
bitter. So follow the same formula of: situation, what you did, and the result. And spin the
conflict as a constructive experience.
For example, you might say something like: "well, a co-worker was talking about me
behind my back. After a few tough weeks, I took her for coffee, and I asked her point
blank what was going on. Turns out she felt threatened by my success. I managed to allay
her fears, and now we get along great." Does that make sense? Situation, action, and
result, with a positive and constructive focus.
All right, so today we've focused on English interview tips for answering questions about
your experience and behavior. That includes accomplishments, which should be connected
to the big picture and shown to include others. We've also talked about how to answer behavioral
questions using a situation, action, result response. And remember to think about some
positive and negative situations beforehand, so you're ready.
That's all for today.
So long. And see you again soon.
www.BusinessEnglishPod.com
Skills 360 - English Interview Tips 2