How to Kill It at Your Next Interview!
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The workshop by Colleen Star Koch focuses on effective interview preparation by emphasizing that candidates should prepare for the job rather than just the interview. It highlights three key approaches: focusing on how to answer questions succinctly with specific stories, and preparing relevant, strategic questions that demonstrate understanding of the role and company. The emphasis is on delivering tangible, experience-based responses to create memorable impressions during interviews.
How to Kill It at Your Next Interview!
- 1. HOW TO kill it AT YOUR NEXT INTERVIEW WORKSHOP PRESENTED BY COLLEEN STAR KOCH FOUNDER, PERSONAL BRAND + LIFE COACH AT ROWAN COACHING
- 2. 3 APPROACHES TO MEMORABLE INTERVIEWS ✓ PREPARE FOR THE JOB, NOT THE INTERVIEW
- 3. PROTIP PREPARE FOR YOUR DAY ONE ORIENTATION MEETING WITH YOUR SUPERVISOR, RATHER THAN FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH A HIRING MANAGER. • WHAT QUESTIONS WOULD YOU ASK? • WHAT WOULD YOU NEED TO KNOW TO SUCCEED IN THIS ROLE? • WHAT ARE YOUR RESOURCES & RESPONSIBILITIES? • WHAT DO YOU NEED CLARIFIED BEFORE YOU PROCEED?
- 4. 3 APPROACHES TO MEMORABLE INTERVIEWS ✓ PREPARE FOR THE JOB, NOT THE INTERVIEW ✓ UNDERSTAND THAT HOW YOU ANSWER IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT YOU SAY
- 5. PROTIP NO ONE WANTS TO BE IN MEETINGS WITH 10-MINUTE WANDERING MONOLOGUE GUY. GET TO THE POINT. DON’T BE THAT GUY.
- 6. 3 APPROACHES TO MEMORABLE INTERVIEWS ✓ PREPARE FOR THE JOB, NOT THE INTERVIEW ✓ UNDERSTAND THAT HOW YOU ANSWER IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT YOU SAY ✓ LEARN TO RESPOND WITH TANGIBLE, SPECIFIC STORIES RATHER THAN GENERIC ANSWERS
- 7. PROTIP UNTIL PRETTY RECENTLY, HUMANS LEARNED + SHARED ALL INFORMATION IN THE FORM OF STORIES. WE ARE WIRED TO REMEMBER INFORMATION DELIVERED IN STORY FORMAT!
- 8. Approach No.1 PREPARE FOR THE JOB, NOT THE INTERVIEW
- 9. HOW TO PREPARE FOR AN INTERVIEW ✓ DRESS LIKE YOU’RE PREPARED TO WIN AN OSCAR ✓ PRACTICE LONG-WINDED ANSWERS DESIGNED TO IMPRESS ✓ PREPARE QUESTIONS OF PERSONAL IMPORTANCE, SUCH AS THE NATURE OF YOUR HEALTH BENEFITS ✓ FOCUS MORE ON WHY YOU’RE SUPER AWESOME THAN HOW YOU CAN HELP THE COMPANY
- 10. EXAMPLES “So what are the health benefits here? And are they accrued, or do I get access right away?” “At my last job, I was voted most likely to marry a hot secretary. Hahahaha! No, but really - I’m at work ALL THE TIME. Like I never leave.” “If I’m being honest, my worst quality is that I’m a perfectionist.”
- 11. HOW TO PREPARE FOR THE JOB ✓ DRESS LIKE YOU’RE READY TO GET DOWN TO BUSINESS ✓ PRACTICE SUCCINCT ANSWERS DESIGNED TO DEMONSTRATE HOW YOUR RELEVANT KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCE, + RESULTS WILL SUIT THE ROLE AND BENEFIT THE COMPANY ✓ PREPARE STRATEGIC QUESTIONS THAT DEMONSTRATE YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE INDUSTRY, ROLE, AND POTENTIAL CHALLENGES ✓ FOCUS NOT ON WHAT THE COMPANY CAN DO FOR YOU, BUT WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR THE COMPANY
- 12. EXAMPLES “How is success measured, and what opportunities for professional development exist within the company?” “Last year, my direct mail strategy resulted in a YoY increase of 206% more fundraising dollars earned. I learned a lot during the process that I believe applies directly to your target market for these reasons…” “As a developing leader, I have room to grow when it comes to delegation. That’s why I work so hard to create strong teams. When we trust each other, great work gets done.”
- 13. QUESTIONS?
- 14. Approach No.2 HOW YOU ANSWER IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS WHAT YOU SAY
- 15. HOW TO POWERFULLY ANSWER QUESTIONS ✓ BE PREPARED and THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK ✓ BE SUCCINCT ✓ BE SPECIFIC ✓ BE GENEROUS ✓ SPEAK CALMLY + WITH CONFIDENCE
- 16. BE PREPARED + THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK ✓ KNOW YOUR STORIES, SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO SEARCH FOR ANSWERS ✓ FOCUS ON RELEVANT EXAMPLES THAT DEMONSTRATE YOUR RESULTS ✓ DON’T BE AFRAID OF SILENCE - IT’S BETTER TO ANSWER WELL THAN QUICKLY
- 17. DO “Great question! Let me think of the best example I can give you…” **PAUSE** “Ok, about 4 years ago, when I was working with Tocqueville, we faced a unique challenge…” “Well the first thing that comes to mind was this one time that my supervisor and I were given this totally impossible project by our boss - but we got it done! Don’t worry! So as I was saying, it was totally impossible, so we decided that the first thing we needed to…” DON’T
- 18. BE SUCCINCT ✓ NO RESPONSE SHOULD TAKE MORE THAN A MINUTE OR 2 ✓ INTRIGUE THEM WITH A CLEAR, FOCUSED ANSWER THAT INVITES FURTHER QUESTIONS ✓ START A CONVERSATION, DON’T LAUNCH A MONOLOGUE ✓ WHILE STAYING FOCUSED, MAKE SURE YOU COMPLETELY ANSWER THE QUESTION
- 19. DO “I have two great examples in mind. Would you like me to focus more on the team-building or leadership aspect of your question?” “Well you can’t have a great team without great leadership, right? But does it really start with the team or with the leader? I don’t know - it’s kind of a chicken and egg question. Personally, I think it starts with the leader - but there’s always someone who has a different point of view…” DON’T
- 20. BE SPECIFIC ✓ PREPARE YOUR RESPONSES IN BULLET FORM ✓ UNLESS YOU ARE ASKED TO SOLVE A THEORETICAL CHALLENGE, RESPOND WITH A REAL-LIFE EXAMPLE FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE
- 21. DO “As the Director of Marketing at Virgin Mobile, I was directly responsible for a minimum 28% increase in sales every quarter for the duration of my tenure. I attribute my success primarily to 1)__________, 2) ____________, and 3)______________.” “I was responsible for social media, which - as you know - is sort of a hard area to quantify. I can definitely say that there was more engagement, and more attention across all our social properties, which in all likelihood resulted in increased conversion. The accounting guy wasn’t…” DON’T
- 22. BE GENEROUS ✓ SPEAK IN A WAY THAT YOUR SPECIFIC INTERVIEWER CAN HEAR YOU (I.E. DON’T USE JARGON THEY WOULDN’T KNOW…) ✓ PAY ATTENTION TO HOW YOUR INTERVIEWER RESPONDS SO YOU CAN ADJUST COURSE OR ALLOW SPACE FOR THEIR NEXT QUESTION AS NEEDED ✓ TREAT THIS LIKE A REAL CONVERSATION WITH A REAL HUMAN ✓ MAKE THEIR JOB EASY
- 23. DO “We ran holiday promotions earlier than usual this year to increase their effectiveness.” PROTIP: USING SIMPLER LANGUAGE MAKES PEOPLE TRUST YOU MORE, NOT LESS. “In the fourth quarter we paced our promotional activities to avoid the holiday season promotion clutters in the market.” PROTIP: YOU MAY USE JARGON WITHIN REASONABLE LIMITS IF EVERYONE AT THE TABLE UNDERSTANDS IT. DON’T
- 24. SPEAK CALMLY + WITH CONFIDENCE ✓ LEAN BACK (INVITES THE LISTENER TO LEAN FORWARD, PUTTING YOU IN A POSITION OF POWER) ✓ BREATHE! ✓ SPEAK SLOWLY (WAY MORE SLOWLY THAN YOU THINK) ✓ SMILE + INTERACT (IT PUTS THEM AT EASE TOO) ✓ USE EXPANSIVE PHYSICAL LANGUAGE (BOOSTS YOUR CONFIDENCE + LEADERSHIP HORMONES, READS POWERFULLY)
- 25. DODON’T HUNCHED INWARDS, SHOULDERS DROPPED, TENSE FACE, NERVOUS HANDS, LEANING FORWARD OPEN POSTURE, SHOULDERS BACK, FACE RELAXED, HANDS NATURAL/CALM, LEANING BACK
- 26. QUESTIONS?
- 27. Approach No.3 RESPOND WITH TANGIBLE STORIES, NOT GENERIC ANSWERS
- 28. HOW TO RESPOND WITH TANGIBLE STORIES ✓ KNOW YOUR NARRATIVE ✓ COVER ALL YOUR BASES (THE CARRLI APPROACH): THE CHALLENGE, APPROACHES, YOUR RESPONSE, THE RESULTS, WHAT YOU LEARNED, IMPLICATIONS FOR CURRENT ROLE ✓ SEQUENCE MATTERS ✓ USE SENSORY DETAILS FROM THE SCENE ✓ USE METAPHORS & HUMOR
- 29. TWO RESPONSES: GIVE AN EXAMPLE OF HOW YOU’VE DEMONSTRATED LEADERSHIP ON YOUR TEAM EXAMPLE 1: I stood up for our receptionist once. This was a few years ago, when I was working as a manager in the print team of an advertising agency. We had a new receptionist with major behavioral problems. I discussed the best approach with my supervisors, and we decided I should take her out to lunch and demonstrate that I was on her side. My team didn’t believe she was worth the effort, but I wanted to help her. One day I stood up for her. I was tired of watching her bad attitude make my team uncomfortable. Now it’s better, even though she’s still not quite as competent as I’d like. My supervisors know what they’re talking about, and the team works better together as a whole. I guess that’s a good example of my leadership. EXAMPLE 2: A few years ago, when I was working as a manager in the print team of an advertising agency, we had a new receptionist with a seriously bad attitude. We couldn’t figure it out - everyone on the team was generally kind and supportive, but she continuously disrespected her supervisors and responded to assistance with an attitude and face that better suited a honey badger than a receptionist. It began to really impact the team as a whole, since we worked in a really fun, open-plan office and we all had to share space with her. We became impatient, and after a while, you could cut the tension in the room with a knife. One day, while observing this behavior, I suddenly got the image of an fearful dog in my mind. What does a dog who is afraid do? They snap and bite at you! How do you approach a dog who is afraid? Gently, lovingly, and with tons of positive reinforcement. From that day forward, I made an effort to deliver any constructive feedback quietly and privately, so she wouldn’t get defensive. I asked her more about her life and learned about her as a person, making sure to pay attention to the details. Her attitude problem began to turn around, much to the astonishment of my team, who thought it was a fool’s errand. They’d already written her off as, well, a honey badger. One day she made a blatant mistake in front of the whole team and our boss. Instead of letting her take the blame, I stood up as her supervisor and took it for her. Now she knows I’m on her side, and she’s neither snapped at me nor made the same mistake since.
- 30. QUESTIONS?