What do they really want to know?Preparing students to answer

job interview questionsBarbara ShwomAmy Eisenstein

Mackenzie Broderick

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Imagine you are a 21 year-old student at a job interview....

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Tell me about one of your greatest achievements.

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What is the most recent costume you work?

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Tell me your story.

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What do they really want to know?

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We extracted and coded data from the

interviews

~350 Interviews

Questions

Direct Indirect

Answers

Personal Attitude

Interview Behavior Experience

Skills

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We further coded the answer

categories into subcategories, for

example…

Skills

5a: Problem solving 5b: Technical skills

5c: Interpersonal 5d: General skills

5e: Teamwork 5f: Leadership

5g: Communication

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Three important key findingsanswering these two questions

What they are looking for?

How they ask for this information?

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What are they looking for?

Attitude; 36%

Personal; 26%

Behavior; 23%

Experience; 10%

Skills; 5%

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What are they looking for?

Problem solving Confidence Creativity0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

16 16

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Some qualities we expected to see, were mentioned infrequently

Cultural fit Self-awareness Passion Drive Values/Character0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

8073

70

61

48

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Other qualities were significantly more important

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The focus on cultural fit reflects a trend

Wall Street JournalOctober 12, 2016

Cultural Fit

“Tell me what you’re passionate about.”

Amy Errett, Co-Founder of Madison Reed

Cultural Fit

“People have to have certain content skills to effectively do their job. But what I’m really vetting for, culturally, is whether they have the same values.... So the conversation either goes off the rails there, or it gets really cool.”

Amy Errett, Co-Founder of Madison Reed

“So your resumé says you did X. How did you do that? Why did you do it the way you did it? Did you think about the other ways to achieve that objective?”

Ashok Subramanian, CEO of Liazon

Self-awareness was more surprising

Self-Awareness

Ashok Subramanian, CEO of Liazon

“Self-awareness and being reflective are hugely important characteristics.”

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How did they ask for this information?

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More than half the questions were indirectDirect questions solicit for a response to the question as it was posed.

Example: A job interviewer asks “What are you passionate about?” and is looking for what the candidate is passionate about.

Indirect questions solicit for a response secondary to the question posed.

Example: A job interviewer asks “What are you passionate about?” and is looking for cultural fit or clarity in communication.

Indi-rect;

50.5%Direct; 47.5%

Both; 2.0%

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"Have you ever started anything? From the time you were little, did you invent anything? An organization? Did you start a club? What was the hardest part of that? What about failure? Talk to me about failure."

Kyle Zimmer, CEO and Co-Founder of First Book

Question: Direct or Indirect?

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"So I’ll have people talk about that, and see if, in their narrative, they blame other people. Or do they have some degree of humility in what they maybe should have anticipated and didn’t? And what they would do differently?"Kyle Zimmer, CEO and Co-

Founder of First Book

Indirect: self-awareness

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Almost a quarter of the questions aimed to evaluate behavior

Attitude; 36%

Personal; 26%

Behavior; 23%

Experience; 10%

Skills; 5%

• Behavioral: how they behave during the interview

• Examples: Do they demonstrate character, niceness, clarity in communication, self-awareness, honesty?

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What behavior are they looking for?

Leadership

Intiuition

Enthusiasm

Character

Preparedness

Confidence

Sincerity/authenticity

Clarity in communication

Honesty

Self-awareness

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Behavioral

Linda BryantExecutive director of Inwood House in New York

“I also am very straight with them about some of the challenges here. I don’t do the rosy sell.”

Behavioral“I’m looking for someone who is comfortable in their skin. Is this an authentic person?”

Linda BryantExecutive director of Inwood House in New York

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Implications for faculty: How do we help students prepare to…

• Demonstrate cultural fit?• Be self-aware?• Recognize and answer indirect questions?• “Speak” through their behavior?

Acknowledgements

The study resulting in this presentation and travel to the convention was assisted by (1) The Undergraduate Research Assistant Program and Conference Travel Grant from Northwestern University Office of Undergraduate Research, (2) The Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Research Grant Program, and (3) a student travel grant from the Association for Business Communication.