Winning performance at job interviews - ebook€¦ · 1. Why an interview is an exercise in sense-making 5 2. Stop shopping at the Sabotage Supermarket 7 3. Master skills in managing

Mental Nutrition® www.mentalnutrition.comThinking flexibly. Speaking confidently._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dr Ann Villiers 02 6254 5023 [email protected]

Winningperformance at

job interviews

Dr Ann VilliersMental Nutritionist®



ANN VILLIERS, PhD, is Australia’s only Mental Nutritionist® specialising in the sense-making process, that is, how we decide what experiences mean. She created the conceptMental Nutrition® to take understanding between people to a higher level of skill,elegance and effectiveness.

Mental Nutrition® starts from the view that how we see ourselves and get on with othersis first and foremost a mind activity. In deciding what something means, we draw on our‘mental pantry’, stocked with beliefs, values, expectations and associations. To tap thisresource, we need skills in managing meaning, skills that are essential to our well-being,our confidence and how we relate to people.

Ann’s approach to interpersonal understanding stems from her combined academic,business, and senior management experience. She has interviewed hundreds of applicantsfor private and public sector jobs and student positions, and has been a member ofnumerous selection panels.

Dr Villiers is a well-being advocate, wanting all Australians to benefit from tapping moreof the power of their minds. She lives in Australia’s national capital, enjoying all themeaning-making that Canberra has to offer.

Other books by Dr Ann Villiers

How to Write and Talk to Selection Criteria, 4th edn. 2005Gorgeous Daring Dames, How to grow in confidence, clarity & commitment, 2002



Copyright notice

© Dr Ann Villiers 2004

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of thecopyright owner. All copyright inquiries should be addressed to the publisher.

Publisher

Mental Nutrition®PO Box 4293Hawker ACT 2614 Australia

Ph: 61 2 6254 5023Fax: 61 2 6254 5007

To the reader

The ideas provided in this ebook, based on material current at the time of writing, aredesigned to improve your interview skills when applying for public sector vacancies,particularly in the Australian Public Service. They are not prescriptive and must be usedwith judgment, based on the context of your application. While you can improve yourinterview performance, there is no guarantee that, by using the ideas in this book, youwill be offered a position. The examples offered are by way of models only, to guide yourpreparations. In any given context, they may be inappropriate, irrelevant or inaccurate.

You use the ideas in this ebook by choice. Neither Ann Villiers, Mental Nutrition®, norany associates imply, guarantee or take responsibility for the interpretations made, or theconsequences of any decisions or actions taken by readers.



Table of contents

1. Why an interview is an exercise in sense-making 5

2. Stop shopping at the Sabotage Supermarket 7

3. Master skills in managing meaning 12

4. What does an interview mean to you? 14

5. Debunking six myths about interviews 16

6. Grasp this distinction: content vs process 18

7. Seven strategies for reducing nervousness 20

8. Fifteen questions you can anticipate 25

9. Master the art of respectful self-promotion 30

10. Know yourself – five key areas you must discover 33

11. How to build rapport with the interview panel 41

12. Eight ways to manage impressions 43

13. How to develop an influential voice 45

14. How to memorably introduce yourself 47

15. Hear how questions are worded 51

16. How to respond to behaviour-based questions 53

17. How to respond to hypothetical questions 57

18. How to talk about your strengths without sounding cocky 59

19. How to talk comfortably about ‘weaknesses’ and mistakes 62

20. How to respond to four tricky questions 65

21. How to memorably end an interview 68

22. Three vital steps to take after the interview 71

23. A winning interview performance mindset 75

References 76



Why an interview is an exercisein sense-making

The framework underlying this ebook is call Mental Nutrition®. Each of us creates a mapof the world and how we think it works. For the purposes of this ebook the ‘world’ is theapplication process and more specifically, the interview.

Your mindset or map will affect your interview performance. How you define the processcan serve you well or undermine your confidence. How you think about interviews, aboutyour achievements, the results you obtain, all these have an impact on how well you willperform.

Our map of the interview comprises the beliefs we hold about this process. This map is:

Selective – it doesn’t include all beliefs and information available Inaccurate – some parts will be wrong More or less useful – some parts sabotage our ability to sell ourselves well.

If you want a winning performance at interview you need a winning map that helps yousell yourself. What does this mean?

Definition:

Selling yourself simply means showing someone elsehow you will help them to fill a need (a vacancy) andsolve a problem (the work to be done).

In order to sell yourself you need to believe in the value of your own product, namelyyou. This means firstly knowing what you have to offer. You’ll find out how to do this asyou read on.

Language practices are critical. Performing well at interview means building languagehabits that may be different from your accustomed way of speaking. This ebook givesyou language practices for a winning performance.

Performing well at interview is an exercise in sense-making. Each of us brings our map totwo important sense-making tasks:

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You must make sense of the interview process. The more knowledge you have themore comfortable you can feel about the process. This includes your assumptions,expectations and fears about an interview, and how these can get in your own wayand prevent you from producing your best effort.

At the interview, you must verbally make sense of your experience for the panelso that they understand how what you have to offer links to the job and theagency.

Mental Nutrition® comprises three ingredients of sense-making:

Being aware of what’s going on in our minds (our ‘mental pantry’) and makingchoices.

Becoming skilled at managing what things mean for ourselves and others. Feeding our minds regularly for more fruitful results.

At an interview you need to manage the meaning of what you offer not only for yourselfbut also for the people on the selection team. You have a history to express. You need tobe skilled in modifying this history to suit the job you are applying for.

Based on this Mental Nutrition® approach, this ebook offers ideas on how to approachjob interviews in Australia’s public sectors. Responsibility for recruitment and selectionof staff is a devolved responsibility resulting in greater flexibility of approach than in thepast. Applicants need to keep in mind that there is variation across agencies and acrossjurisdictions and should check the specific details for any given job.



Stop shopping at the Sabotage SupermarketThe main factor preventing you from delivering a winning performance is YOU! Howyou are reacting to this future event – THE INTERVIEW – is what will most likelysabotage you. So let’s see how this works.

When faced with a job interview you already have a pile of information about the job andthe agency. Because there is a time gap between when you applied and when you frontfor the interview you will likely have to revisit this information. You may startwondering about questions like:

Do I really want to work for this agency? Am I good enough to get a job there? Have I really got the experience to support this? What will people think if I change jobs again?

This mental activity then affects how you feel about the interview—enthusiastic, worried,depressed, excited, optimistic, fearful. The state you are in will then affect your approachto the interview. The enthusiastic, optimistic person will tackle the interview with gusto.The worried, pessimistic person will struggle to engage and find the process a taxingburden.

I call the resources we use to make sense of what is happening our ‘mental pantry’. It is ametaphor, building on the food metaphor of Mental Nutrition®. The mental pantry refersto a range of filters that we use to determine meaning.

We each stock our mental pantry with a range of goodies – some healthy, useful,productive, others are unhealthy, sabotaging, hobbling our progress. You may have beento the Sabotage Supermarket and stocked up on some of these goodies without evenknowing it. Consider some of these products:

Bonzer Belief Basket

You may have dipped into this basket of enticing goodies as it sat near the checkout.Beliefs are the ideas we hold about how the world works. We may mistake some of thesebeliefs for ‘facts’, that is, beliefs we ‘know’ are ‘true’ even though they may be based onpretty slim evidence. Examples include:

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There are so many better qualified people than me. Applying for jobs is just hopeless. The system is rigged. I don’t have the right skills.

Vials of Valuable Values

Values are deeply held views about what is important and worthwhile. The public sectorshave their own sets of values and codes of conduct. They may be in synch with yours.They may not be.

Rules Roughage

Our diet needs roughage to keep things moving. Rules can be useful in keeping thingsmoving smoothly. They can also hamper smooth movement because they are so rigid orjust plain wrong.

Rules are the ‘musts’, ‘shoulds’ and ‘cant’s’ that we subscribe to. I’ve found applicantshold a range of rules about interviews, some of which will not contribute to a winningperformance. For example, people have said to me: ‘You can’t take notes in aninterview.’ Who says? There is no such rule.

Dollops of Definitions

You may have placed some dollops of specific meanings around your mental pantrywhich are not very useful.

Definitions refer to how we describe what certain things mean. How you define what aninterview is will affect your performance. Some applicants think interviews are aninterrogation during which they must give the ‘right’ answer. This is neither a useful noran accurate definition. It is far more useful to think of an interview as a business meetingduring which the parties exchange information. (There is no denying though, that somepeople have experienced an interrogation.)

Mellow Memories

The assumptions and expectations you have about an interview will draw on yourmemories of previous interviews and related events, such as friends’ experiences. Onenasty interview can taint your view of future interviews. You can let that experiencedictate what you think will happen next time. Again, this may not be a useful response asthe mental activity will affect your preparations.



Meaningful Metaphors

Metaphors are comparative figures of speech that help us to understand one thing interms of another, perhaps more familiar, thing. Metaphors give us a tool forunderstanding what’s happening and can have an impact on how we behave. The mostpopular metaphor for an interview is nightmare. Nightmares are unpleasant experiences.While some interviews may well be unpleasant it doesn’t help your preparations to see allinterviews as nightmares. Such a metaphor may unnecessarily increase the negativeintensity of the experience. A less-intense metaphor, like performance or exchange, mayserve you better.

Eager Expectations

When confronted with something new we will have expectations about the outcome andwhat will happen next. Your expectations about your next interview are linked to pastmemories, metaphors and definitions. They may be hampering your preparations. Forexample, do you expect the worst to happen? Do you expect people to behave badly? Doyou expect to let yourself down?

Active Assumptions

On the basis of our interpretations we make assumptions about what things and peopleare like, how they work, and what will happen. We fill knowledge gaps with what seemslike sterling logic. The results we obtain often demonstrate how inaccurate ourassumptions are. If you assume that panel members will behave in a certain way, youmay well be surprised when they behave differently. This surprise can be enough tothrow you off course at the interview.

As part of your preparations for the interview you need to be mindful of what is going onin your mental pantry so you can deal with those beliefs that are undermining yourperformance.

I’m not suggesting being unrealistic or kidding yourself that things are better than theyare. I’m talking about self-management and confidence-building, taking responsibility foraction that moves you forward to a useful result.

Exercise:

What is in your mental pantry about attending a job interview? Make a list of allthe beliefs, expectations, assumptions, rules, fears that come to mind. Be honest. Whilesome of our beliefs can be downright strange when scrutinised, it is only when weacknowledge their existence that we can start to use some alternative thinking practicesthat clean out the sabotaging stock and replace it with goodies that support a winningperformance.



My ‘job interview’ stock take of my mental pantry

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Now read through your stock take list and take these four steps:

STEP 1: Which of these goodies are about fear and a concern about what may happen inthe future? Chances are, most of them are, based on expectations, anticipating somethingnasty may or will happen.

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STEP 2: Now ask yourself, which of these are within my control? If you worry that youare not prepared enough, you can do something about this. Decide what is necessary andthen carry it out.

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STEP 3: Which ones are outside your control? If you can’t do anything about it, is itserving you to keep worrying? For example, worrying about what other people arethinking is a waste of time. You don’t know what people think unless they tell you andyou can’t control what they think anyway. You can influence what people think by whatyou say and do, and this is where your attention needs to be.



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STEP 4: Next look at your list and see if any stem from low levels of confidence inyourself and what you have to offer. Feeling not good enough, hating talking aboutyourself and being the centre of attention reflect this. Learning new skills and thoroughpreparation can help shift this thinking.

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Master skills in managing meaningLet’s suppose three of us go to see a film. One of us hates it, thinking it’s the worst filmwe’ve ever seen. Another finds it boring. You just don’t get it! We’ve all been exposed tothe same event, yet arrive at different meanings based on what’s gone on in our mentalpantry.

We respond to external events by thinking and choosing meanings based on beliefs,values, and previous experiences. In this way, we decide what the event means for us. Wethen interpret the event to someone else based on that meaning.

When preparing for a winning job interview, we need to be skilled at managing meaning,that is, the meanings we arrive at about what is and will happen.

What do we do to manage meaning? When preparing for an interview we must managemeaning for ourselves and for the interview panel.

Each job application is an exercise in managing meaning. The task involves rewritinghistory—your own history. You are your own personal historian. Your work history isnot just a chronology of events. You must interpret these past experiences in the light ofthe current job opportunity. You must see your past in terms of the needs of the presentand the future. You then offer this interpretation to the potential employer, first inwriting, then verbally at the interview. This is a process of managing the meaning of whoyou are and what you have to offer.

In the process of managing the meaning of your history be aware that your mentalactivity, identified in the previous section, will influence how you interpret your past.Based on what’s in your mental pantry you may:

discount parts of your experience. undersell some of your skills. overplay details no longer relevant. express yourself in less useful ways.

Awareness of what’s going on in your mental pantry helps you manage meaning moreskilfully. From now on think of yourself as a meaning manager.

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What you also need to be aware of for the interview is that you are faced with two orthree people who are also engaged in the process of making sense. Their challenge is tomake sense of what you are offering and determine whether you are the most suitable tofill the vacancy. So their mental pantries will also be active. You, as an applicant, need totake this process into account.

Exercise:

What do you think might be going on in the mental pantries of the interview panel? Whatmight you need to do to take this into account?

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What does an interview mean to you?

This might seem like an odd question. Yet the beliefs you hold about the nature of aninterview could be a factor in inhibiting your winning performance.

Exercise:

What do you associate with the word ‘INTERVIEW’? What definitions do you use?Write down everything that comes to mind.

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Now divide these associations into those that are positive and those that are negative.What does this information tell you?

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An interview is an exchange of information. You want to find out about the job andprovide the panel with information that supports your case. The panel wants to find thebest person for the job. This can only be done well if both parties approach the task as acivilised exchange, a transaction involving give and take of information.

The extent of the exchange is, to some extent, limited. The structure of an interviewdictates that the applicant is likely to receive information only at the beginning and at the

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end, and the breadth and depth of the exchange will be constrained by the formalities ofan interview.

Applicants generally do not receive much of a response to their answers, other thansignals that their response was sufficient, insufficient, (in which case there may beprompting), or a polite ‘thank you’.

Panel members do not give indications as to the acceptability of the response, theevaluation they have made of it, its appropriateness or degree of relevance. In this sense,the exchange is imbalanced. However, that is not the same as being one-sided.

Think in terms of responses rather than answers. The word ‘answer’ too easily impliesthat the interview is about accurate knowledge. Response, on the other hand, suggestsconsidered thought. Apart from information or knowledge questions, most interviewquestions are not about what they seem and selection teams are often more interested inhow you handled past experience and how you think than what you know. At the sametime, interviews for jobs that require strong technical know-how may well includeknowledge-based questions or exercises to demonstrate knowledge.



Debunking six myths about interviewsI have found that people make all sorts of assumptions about the nature of interviews andinterviewers. Without stopping to check the basis of these assumptions, people allowthese ideas to influence their behaviour. The result can be detrimental to the quality oftheir performance.

Here are six myths, in the sense of false beliefs, that I’ve discovered people hold.

1. The panel is out to get me/make my life miserable.

2. All panels are skilled at interviewing.

3. The panel members feel comfortable with interviewing.

4. An interview is a memory test.

5. There are right answers (and I should know them).

6. I can’t make notes.

Which of these do you believe?

Let’s examine this thinking. Panel members may have varying levels of skill and interest.The extent of their preparation may vary. How much effort they put into building rapportwith applicants might also vary. These variables will affect the quality of the interviewexperience.

But here’s what you need to keep in mind. Panel members are likely to feel some anxietyabout the process. This anxiety stems from concerns like:

Not wanting to upset any of the applicants. Not feeling comfortable in the face of nervous applicants. Not feeling comfortable at having to interview people they know. Feeling less prepared than they would like to be. Other work that is piling up while interviewing. Whether the job will be filled. Whether the selection process is conducted in the way it should be.

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Whether my sick child is okay. (or any other personal concern.)

Note that these concerns either have nothing to do with you, the applicant, or they stemfrom wanting to do the right thing by applicants. One of the reasons why building rapportwith the panel is important is to help put them at ease that this is going to be acomfortable exchange of information.

So, some critical beliefs to hold are:

Selection teams, in general, want applicants to do well. At the end of theinterviews, they want to be able to pick a person to fill the vacancy. It is in theirinterests that each applicant performs to their best.

There are usually no right answers. Apart from questions that seek specificinformation, such as how to use a specific piece of equipment, most questions areabout how you handle situations and how you think. There are more or less usefulresponses, more or less appropriate ones, but these generally don’t lendthemselves to right/wrong responses.

The interview is not a memory test. Take with you your application, jobdocumentation, memory jogging notes, and blank paper to make notes if needed.You may never refer to any of these. Just having them there can help reducenervousness because you know you are not relying on memory.

Exercise:

Which of these myths do you believe? What would be more fruitful beliefs to hold thatwill support winning performance at interview?

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Grasp this distinction: content vs processWhen preparing for a job interview, understand the difference between content andprocess. Content is about what gets said, what gets exchanged between the applicant andthe panel. Process is more intangible and is about the relationship between the applicantand the panel. There is some overlap between the two.

Two points are important to appreciate about this distinction.

The first is that applicants tend to focus on the content, offering information aboutskills, knowledge and qualities. So much energy is devoted to finding the ‘right’answers, that aspects of the process, such as how you relate to the panel, areneglected.

The second point is about control. Some panel members may think they are incharge of both content and process. However, the applicant can also manage andinfluence both. Understanding this will shift your focus and enable you performbetter at the interview.

You can manage content by:

Anticipating questions. Preparing answers to generic criteria. Practicing. Listening to the questions asked.

You can manage process by:

Developing presence through a strong handshake, confident walk and bodylanguage.

Putting zest into your answers. Having a strong opening and closing. (Preparing these is also managing content.) Taking notice of subtle hints like a request to keep answers short.

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Exercise:

What do you need to do to achieve balance between content and process? Havingprepared a strong content foundation gives you energy space to focus on process. Processstarts from the first encounter with a panel member. It includes how you greet, meet,speak, stand, walk.

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Seven strategies for reducing nervousnessSome nervousness is fine and useful. It gives you an edge, ready for a winningperformance. Too much nervousness can be disastrous. You under-perform, under-sell,and under-achieve. What you need to learn is how to manage your nerves in ways thatwork for you. Here’s seven strategies to test out.

1. Ask yourself three questions

Having identified what is in your mental pantry that is undermining your preparation forthe interview, ask yourself:

What is the worst thing that could happen to me in this interview? Many peoplesay that going blank is one of their worst fears.

How likely is this to happen? You could find that you are worrying aboutsomething that has the likelihood of happening of winning first prize in thelottery. On the other hand, there may be some chance of this worst nightmarehappening. It is possible, that despite all your preparation, there is a moment whenyour mind goes blank. It might only be a 10 per cent chance, but it still exists. Sothan ask …

How would I handle it? This is the question most people fail to ask themselves.Instead of identifying what the options are, they continue to worry, thereby takingenergy away from their interview performance. What then are your options forhandling a blank mind? The options include:

Pausing. Consulting notes. Asking for the question to be repeated. Asking to return to the question later. Asking for clarification of the question.

Knowing what your options are for handling your worst nightmare can reduceyour level of concern and dissolve much of the nervousness it generates.

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Exercise:

Take one of the worst-case beliefs in your mental pantry. Work through the threequestions and see how you then feel.

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2. Challenge irrational thoughts

Identify those beliefs and fears that are not based on much evidence. Ask yourself:

Why do I believe this? What is it based on? Is that sufficient evidence to continue believing this? Is it useful to me to believe this?

For example, putting a lot of energy into worrying that you will be nervous, is a concernthat is not very useful. Most people experience some nervousness. It’s a matter of degreeas to how much it shows. Learning how to manage nervousness can reduce this concern.

Thinking that all interviews are rigged is not useful, nor based on much evidence.Worrying that other applicants will be better is not useful. The risk of any applicationprocess is that there may be someone better than you. Starting from a mindset that youhave much to offer and that it’s a privilege for the panel to meet you and consider yourofferings is a more useful approach to take.

Exercise:

Work through this process with one of your more irrational thoughts. Find as muchevidence as possible to dispute beliefs that have little basis in fact.



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3. Reframing

You may find it useful to reframe what some of your beliefs and fears mean. We tend toattach specific meanings to an experience. Just like a picture frame, we place a frame ofmeaning around what happens. Some events we frame as a ‘disaster’, others as a‘celebration’, still others as a ‘yawn’.

The meaning is whatever we choose to focus on. If we look at a situation from a differentpoint of view, we can change how we respond to it. Take for example, ‘I fear interviewsbecause these people are watching me closely.’ This belief could be reframed to meansomething else. ‘When I attend an interview and people give me their attention, it meansthey’re really listening to me and want to know about me.’ This is a more useful way ofthinking for an interview.

How are you defining the interview? As a nightmare, an interrogation? Try thinking of itas a journey, an adventure or another business meeting.

How are you seeing the relationship between you and the panel members? One of equalsor one of superior/subordinate? Seeing the interview as a business meeting of equals willbe a more helpful starting point.



Exercise:

Choose a belief about interviews that you know is not serving you well. What othermeanings could you give to this situation? Be as creative as you like.

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4. Practice your responses

When it comes to practice, any old practice will not do. For questions that you want to beable to give a ready answer to, without sounding over-prepared, work out a qualityanswer and practice that.

5. Mental rehearsal

Mental rehearsal or visualisation is the intentional skill of imagining what an event orexperience will be like.

Mental rehearsal is soundly based because the mind cannot tell the difference betweenreal and imagined experiences. Elite sports people use this technique to good advantage.One of the advantages is that mental rehearsal enables us to practice something withouterror.

We already engage in mental rehearsal for interviews. The problem is we imagine howawful it is going to be, we think of all that could go wrong, and picture an unpleasantresult! By focusing on the negative we increase the chances of turning it into reality. Toobtain a more fruitful result you need to change this process.

Effective mental rehearsal involves several steps. Begin with a relaxation exercise tocalm the mind and direct your attention inward. Sit in a straight backed, comfortable



chair and stay alert. Base your mental rehearsal on how you would like your jobinterview to be. Use all your senses. Feel, see, hear and mentally go through all aspects ofthe interview, actually doing them in your mind’s eye. See yourself greeting the panel,hear yourself answering questions, feel the confidence you have in handling thissituation. See the panel members smiling, writing responses, nodding in agreement.Vividly imagine all the details. Try short daily practice sessions for greatest benefit. Keepin mind though, that mental rehearsal without preparation is likely to be ineffective.

Exercise:

Take some time out to mentally rehearse your optimal, winning interview performance.What might you have to pay more attention to in your preparation to realise this picture?

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6. Take documentation and note paper

You can help reduce nervousness by reducing your reliance on memory. Take all yourapplication documentation with you plus some note paper to make notes. On the sheetwith the selection criteria make short notes about relevant examples to trigger yourmemory if you do go blank.

7. Develop your public speaking skills

If presenting to a small group is daunting for you, you may find it valuable to gain somebasic skills and experience by joining a public speaking organisation like ToastmastersInternational. Toastmasters provides an excellent program of development that not onlybuilds skills but also helps with conquering nervousness.



Fifteen questions you can anticipatePreparation is one of the major ways to reduce nervousness. The person who fronts up toan interview and just wings it, with no thought about what they might be asked, whatanswers they might offer, and how they might behave, deserves the result they get!Taking this approach means that they are entirely at the mercy of the panel. Not useful.

There are two types of questions you can anticipate:

Generic questions.

Criteria-specific questions.

By putting yourself in the place of the panel and asking yourself, What would I ask if Iwas on this panel? you can work out generic and criteria-specific questions you could beasked.

Exercise:

Here are fifteen questions for you to think about and work out how you would answerthem. You’ll find others in other sections.

What attracts you to this position?

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Where do you see yourself in three years time?

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Why do you think you’re the best person for this job?

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What do you know about this agency?

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How have you contributed to your own professional development during the last 12months?

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Think of a situation where you were faced with a hostile customer. How did you dealwith the situation to achieve a satisfactory outcome?

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What experience demonstrates your ability to communicate with a wide range of people?

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Give an example of something difficult that you needed to effectively communicate toothers. Why was it difficult to communicate? What did you do to communicateeffectively? What were the results

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Tell me about the most difficult subordinate you have ever had to deal with and how youhandled the situation. What have you learned from these experiences?

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Consider a situation where you were involved in negotiating with another party to reachan agreement. How did you handle the situation?

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What do you feel are your strongest attributes as a manager/supervisor?

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What was the toughest management decision you have had to make? Why was it tough?What was the outcome?

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Tell me about a situation of major change that you and your team have faced. What didyou do to manage that process of change to assist staff to deal with it? With the benefit ofhindsight how well do you think you handled that process?

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If you found you had an under-performing staff member, what steps would you take tobring their performance up to a satisfactory level?

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What strategies would you use to bring together into a team a variety of people who thinkand act in potentially conflicting ways?

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Master the art of respectful self-promotionWhether you call it selling yourself, marketing yourself or self-promotion, an interview isan exercise in letting people know you are the best person for the job and it’s a privilegethat the panel has the opportunity to meet you!

Many applicants cringe at the thought of having to sell themselves. They may equate thisdistasteful process with exaggerated comments, hyperbole, downright lies.

The skilful self-promoter needs to know themselves and understand the importance ofword choice. An idea can be expressed so as to sound mundane and it can be made tosound like pure arrogance. It’s all in the language. Selling yourself in an interviewdepends on a range of language skills and behaviour. These are learnable.

To show you what I mean, compare these statements.

‘I’m quite good at writing proposals.’

‘Having quickly grasped the intricacies of writing complex proposals I’m now recognisedas the resident expert in our team. No one can better my work in this area.’

The first statement is under-selling. Qualifying your skills with a word like ‘quite’ mightappeal to your modesty but does little to convince a panel of your skill. The second is atad over-the-top, and could sound arrogant.

You could also say:

‘Having written more than 10 detailed proposals, supported by coaching from mymanager and attendance at a 2-day training program, I now take the running on any newproposal.’

Self-promotion, as reflected in this statement, is about being positive about your owncapabilities and achievements and persuading others to share this view of yourself. Inother words, you are managing how you see yourself and managing how others see you.In an interview situation, both are designed to focus on what you have to offer.

Here are three language practices to help with your self-promotion.

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1. Become accustomed to speaking in the first person

Part of the art of selling yourself is to be able to speak in sentences that start with ‘I’. Forthose of you who are reluctant to promote yourself, this may be a challenge.

2. Remove self put-downs from your language

One way to undermine your interview performance is to use expressions that signal topeople that you lack confidence or you don’t believe in yourself. These expressionsinclude:

I’m just … I’m just a receptionist.I might … In that situation I might ring security.I’d try … In that situation I’d try to get in touch with the customer.I only … I only work part-time.I guess … I guess I’d ring security.

Instead, practice using strong language so that you convey your self-assurance to thepanel:

I’m a receptionist.I would ring security.I’d get in touch with the customer.I work part-time.I’d ring security.

3. Think benefits rather than features

Metaphors offer alternative ways of thinking about something. To help with this idea ofselling yourself, you could think of yourself as a packet of cereal (or any other product ofyour choice). You have two options. The No Name Brand or the Branded product.

The No Name Brand gives you the bare bones of information about what’s on offer. Thepackaging is not very colourful and there’s little attempt to point out the advantages ofbuying.

The Branded product comes in colourful packaging, has plenty of nutritional informationas well as a focus on the benefits to be gained from purchase.

Now if you are on a panel and are offered the choice of these two products, which wouldyou pick, metaphorically speaking?

In order to sell yourself to the panel you need to have identified the goodies you have tooffer and then couch then in a language that entices the panel to ‘buy’. In marketing



terms, this is the language of benefits. The No Name applicant is likely to focus onfeatures, such as what qualifications they have and what they’ve been responsible for.

The Branded product or applicant, like any well-marketed product, comes with a focus onhow the agency will benefit from what’s on offer, which is couched in positive language.

These are features:

I’m a punctual, reliable person that gets the job done. My work is error-free. I have an MBA plus certificates in a range of IT applications.

It is useful to know what you have to offer. This is about identifying skills, knowledgeand qualities. However, in order to sell yourself at interview, you need to go one stepfurther and identify what employer needs these features will satisfy.

Some benefits of the above-listed features include:

Freedom for you to get on with your work and focus on bigger priorities. Reduced stress or concern. Access to scarce expertise.

In order to be able to do this you need to have identified what you have to offer,researched the job and made the links between the two.

Exercise:

Make a list of all your features, that is, your skills, knowledge areas, personal qualities.Then ask yourself, what are the benefits of this set of ‘ingredients’? What’s the‘nutritional value’ for the work area and agency? What value are you offering?

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Know yourself – five key areas you mustdiscover

To be able to make sense of yourself to the selection team you need to know what youhave to offer so you can select what best fits the job you are applying for. If you haven’talready done this for your application, then you need to do it now in preparation for theinterview. Knowing what you have to offer will give your responses greater substanceand relevance. Here are five areas of self-knowledge that are essential to discover.

1. Conduct a stock take of your talent warehouse

Imagine a sizeable warehouse. Inside this warehouse are rows of shelving reaching up tothe ceiling. The shelves are divided into four areas—roles/functions, knowledge, skillsand personal qualities. On the shelves are large boxes, each labelled with informationabout the contents.

This warehouse represents all of your talents, divided into the four areas just mentioned.Your job is to conduct a stock take of what’s in your warehouse. You have a rough ideaof some of your strengths and abilities, but you do not have a comprehensive listing.

Exercise:

Let’s take this exercise in steps.

STEP 1: Look back over your life and make a list of all the roles and functions you havecarried out or performed. Look at all areas of life, not just paid employment. Forexample, your list might include: SES volunteer, supervisor, teacher, parent, student,cleaner, truck driver, sales person, mentor, cricket coach, fundraiser.

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STEP 2: Now list all the subject areas you have knowledge about. Include the ones youare expert in and reasonably knowledgeable about. It may be worth noting areas you havea passing knowledge about as these could be areas for growth and application. Some ofyour subject areas will come from the roles you have carried out. For example, if youhave been a mentor, you’ll know something about mentoring. If you’ve been a cricketcoach, you’ll know about that sport. Some roles generate a range of knowledge. If you’vemanaged procurement projects you’ll know about procurement, tendering, projectmanagement, and possibly the subject matter of the project.

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STEP 3: Now list all your skills and competencies. When considering your skills youmay find it helpful to divide them into three groups:

People skills, such as giving instructions, supervising, persuading people; Information or data skills which concern handling data or information, such as

analysing, researching, calculating; and Skills to do things, like equipment, tools and technology.

Again, there may be some overlap with the previous skills. However, they are not thesame. You may have management procurement projects and feel you know aboutprocurement, but your skill is in keeping such projects on time and managing the risksassociated with big budget items.



People Skills

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Skills to do with things/equipment

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After completing the stock take you need to make sure you continue to update it. Eachtime you learn a new skill, acquire new knowledge, perform a new role, add it to yourchart.

STEP 4: You also need to identify your personal qualities. These qualities are part of the‘package’ you bring to a job. They include punctuality, reliability, loyalty, honesty. Ifyou’re not sure about your qualities, ask friends and colleagues to confirm them.

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2. Know your strengths

What is a strength? A strength is an area of activity in which we can achieve consistentquality performance. Examine your talent warehouse and identify your strengths.

In an interview, or even in conversation, we need to be comfortable talking aboutourselves, our strengths and accomplishments without sounding cocky and obnoxious.This is part of selling ourselves. We also don’t want to go to the other extreme and be sowaffly that no one’s sure what’s on offer.

People can feel uncomfortable talking about their strengths. This discomfort may stemfrom beliefs in the mental pantry about not big-noting ourselves, not bragging, notboasting. Yet these are beliefs that sabotage our ability to perform well at interview.

A more useful belief to adopt is that we have a responsibility to know and build ourstrengths. Working from strengths gives us satisfaction, validates our sense ofcompetence and enables us to make a difference.



Exercise:

Revisit your talent warehouse and mark those items that you regard as a strength. That is,those that you know you deliver on well and consistently over time. This is not a time tobe modest. This information is vital for delivering a winning performance at interview.

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3. Know your achievements

Another area of self-knowledge is your achievements or accomplishments. This can beeven more uncomfortable due to the internal critic that says: ‘Achievements? Me? Don’tthink I have any of those.’

When asked questions like: ‘Tell us about an achievement you’re proud of from the lasttwelve months’, or ‘What are some of your achievements that you’re particularly pleasedwith’, applicants can fall into a number of mental traps. So to prepare for this question, itis wise to visit your mental pantry again.

Exercise:

What meanings do you put around achievements or accomplishments? A question aboutachievements is not so much about giving you an opportunity to big note yourself as anopportunity to identify ways in which you have made a difference, produced results,earned your keep. What is in your mental pantry on this subject?

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Do you, for example, see accomplishments as being about winning, competition, beingon top, succeeding at the expense of others? Do you associate achievement with being atall poppy, just waiting to be cut down? Do you see a results-oriented person as beingruthless, antagonistic, letting the end justify the means?

Or do you see accomplishment as responsibly using your talents for the best purposes?As sharing and giving in order to serve others? Is it possible to manage your successgracefully, modelling the wisdom that comes from fully exploring your potential?

If you become aware that you place some meanings around achievement that are stoppingyou from fully appreciating what you have done in your life and then passing this on toothers in a job interview, consider reframing the meaning, that is, choosing a more usefulmeaning, one that supports a winning performance.

Achievements have several features. They can be something:

bestowed by others, such as awards, qualifications, prizes. gained from our own efforts. gained from combining our efforts with others.

They are usually measurable and can involve a change or making a difference.

Exercise:

Thank back across your life. Identify all the experiences that you would describe as anachievement for you. List them and make notes about what makes them an achievement.

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4. Know your ‘weaknesses’

The person who can speak well on a question about weaknesses shows they haveconfidence in themselves and who they are. What undermines applicants is when theyworry so much about revealing weaknesses that they don’t stop to think about themindset needed to turn their responses around in a way that sells themselves.

Applicants can make the mistake of thinking that a question about weaknesses is arequest to reveal serious flaws. Questions about weaknesses or flaws are often moreabout finding out whether you learn from feedback and reflect on your behaviour thanasking you to list your imperfections. Remember:

People’s talent warehouse can’t cover everything. People are inclined to be skilled at some things and not others. It’s impractical to try to know everything. Many ‘weaknesses’ can be a strength in some situations. Impatience can be useful

in an emergency. Some caution is needed when facing a major decision.

Therefore, there will always be areas where we could know more or do things better. Itlargely depends on how serious it is and what impact lacking this knowledge or skill mayhave.

Exercise:

Take another look at your talent stock take. Where are the gaps? Do you have qualitiesthat some might regard as a ‘weakness’? What have other people told you are your‘weaknesses’?

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5. Know your mistakes

You also need to think about the mistakes you’ve made. A question about mistakes mayfocus on an error or on identifying something that could be improved. Again, thisquestion has more to do with finding out how you handle things going wrong, rather thanthe event itself.

Mistakes can take several forms. They can be about:

Literally getting things wrong, such as getting inaccurate information from acustomer that meant they were given wrong advice or an inappropriate service.

Mishearing what someone said and acting on that interpretation. Projects going off the rails. An identified process or system that is not working well and needs fixing or

improving. Making a poor choice where several possibilities present themselves. Errors of omission where we could have done something but didn’t.

Exercise:

Think back over recent years and identify experiences that have not worked out as youwould have liked. Make notes about what you did to fix things and make sure the mistakedidn’t recur. What lessons did you learn?

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How to build rapport withthe interview panel

Part of the interview process is to help make applicants feel comfortable and to give themthe opportunity to settle in. From the applicant’s perspective, this is a time to buildrapport with the panel and create a positive impression. This is vital as two of theunstated questions operating in the panel’s mind are, Will this person fit in? Can I workwith this person? Showing that you are like them helps to answer these questions.

Building rapport is something most of us do to one degree or another. Rapport refers to arelation of harmony, accord or affinity and is a most important process in any interaction.Rapport is affected by our level of trust in the competence of the other person to carry outthe task at hand. So start with the belief that the panel wishes you well.

Liking the other person is not a prerequisite for rapport. Having confidence in the panelto carry out the interview competently is. If you observe that a panel member’s skills areless than optimal, work on the basis that their intention is sound, otherwise you run therisk of being thrown by this behaviour.

We tend to like people who are like ourselves. People who have rapport tend to act likeeach other in a number of ways. This is referred to as matching. In the first few minutesyou need to show that you are professional, like they are. This is reflected in how yougreet people and how you shake hands.

You can build rapport through matching in areas like:

Physiology – body posture and movement

When you first sit down you may notice that all panel members are sitting backfrom the table. If you lean in over the table you may appear too eager. On theother hand if all panel members are leaning on the table you may also wish to betouching the table. If you sit back from the table you may appear to be distancingyourself.

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Voice – tone, volume, tempo

Matching a panel member’s voice tone, volume or tempo means making a subtleshift so that the change is not noticed. If a panel member speaks slowly and youare a quick speaker, you could try slowing down slightly. If someone is a veryquiet speaker, you could quieten your voice slightly to start off with.

When building rapport remember subtlety and respect are important. This process is notabout mimicry. It is about creating trust by being like others.

Rapport-building helps to put the panel at ease, manages the impression you make, andhelps the panel to perceive you as like them, all useful parts of the interview process.

Exercise:

Build your understanding of rapport by observing people in meetings or having aconversation. What do people do to be like others? Can you tell when rapport is brokenor never established? What affect does this have?

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Practice building rapport by matching other people’s speaking style. Do you have apreferred or habitual way of speaking that makes it difficult to match other people? Keeppractising. What do you notice?

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Eight ways to manage impressionsSubtle factors can influence the impression you create for the panel, particularly throughyour tone of voice, non-verbal behaviour and responses to panel members’ comments. Irecommend you consider these factors.

1. Your handshake

A limp, dead-fish handshake may not impress the panel. Neither will one whichcompresses every bone in the hand. A firm, but not bone-crunching, handshake isdesirable.

2. Punctuality

There are few valid excuses for being late for an interview. Being late raises seriousquestions about your commitment to the job, your timekeeping habits, and, if you don’twarn the panel or provide an explanation, assuming it to be a good one, about yourcourtesy and manners. Being late throws the interviewing schedule out and can create theembarrassing situation of having two applicants waiting together.

3. Avoid stretching the truth about your work

If you try to convince the panel that you had responsibility for achieving something thatwas essentially someone else’s achievement, you are bound to be found out, either by anastute panel member or through referees..

4. Avoid being glib with the panel

An interview is a serious exchange. Even if you are skeptical or have little time for thepanel, avoid letting this show. Panel members will pick up on these nuances. Giveconsidered responses in appropriate language.

5. Understand the status of the panel members

Avoid making assumptions about who’s who on the panel. When you’re invited to attendan interview endeavour to find out:

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the names of the panel members; their position in the agency; their status in the hierarchy; and their relationship to the position you’re applying for.

6. Take note of subtle hints

The panel may give interviewees subtle hints to influence their behaviour and responses.A common one is that time is running short and a brief answer would be appropriate.

7. Be zestful

A judgment will be made overtly or covertly about how well you’re likely to fit in withother people and the organisational culture. Give your responses some energy andenthusiasm. This doesn’t mean you have to transform yourself into a showperson. But adisplay of enthusiasm, liveliness, zest and humour could well put you well ahead of yourcompetition.

8. Understand the culture of the agency

Any agency will have its own culture and understanding what this is and its implicationsare critical. A service agency will be different from a policy-driven one. Both will bedifferent again from a research-based agency. The agency culture may have implicationsfor you in terms of skills, experience, personality and how well you will fit in.

Exercise:

Identify how you need to be better at managing impressions with the panel.

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How to develop an influential voiceYour voice and how you sound will make a big difference to a winning interviewperformance. When we are nervous, we can start to sound breathy and our voice can gosoft or squeaky. Some people develop quivering in their voice. Others swallow theirwords and become difficult to understand.

Here’s six steps you can take to develop an influential voice.

STEP 1: Before an interview avoid doing a lot of talking. You want to keep some vocalenergy for the big performance.

STEP 2: Avoid cold drinks. To lubricate your mouth and vocal chords, drink roomtemperature water.

STEP 3: Practice breathing from the abdomen rather than shallowly from the chest. Thiscalms you down, enables you to lower you voice and reduces breathiness.

STEP 4: Work on keeping your voice even and making statements, unless you are askinga question. In other words, avoid ending sentences on an upward inflection. By this Imean that your voice goes upwards at the end of a sentence or part of a sentence.

You can find out if you have a tendency to upwardly inflect by:

Asking a friend or colleague to give you feedback on your speaking habits.

Tape recording a conversation.

Sharing a list, such as a list of job duties, with another person and seeing if youtend to upwardly inflect after each point.

If you do this then practice making statements. Each time you make a point, keep yourvoice even. This will take practice. It’s a sure way to increase being heard inconversations and meetings if you can make statements rather than sounding unsure ofyourself.

STEP 5: Put zest in your responses. Lack of preparation and nervousness can take muchof our energy. If you’re worried about forgetting information, then your energy will be on

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that fear rather than on hearing the questions and relaxing into the responses. Energyindicates enthusiasm, interest and adds to the positive impression created.

STEP 6: Slow down. When we’re nervous we tend to speed up. This can make it difficultfor the panel to follow what you are saying. Take a deep breath and focus on keeping amodest pace.

Exercise:

Identify what actions you need to take to develop an influential voice.

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How to memorably introduce yourselfYou may be given the opportunity early in the interview to tell the panel about yourcurrent job or to respond to the question: ‘Tell us about yourself’. This is anotheropportunity to give a winning performance but you need to prepare. You may not realisethe impact a good introduction has, not just at interviews but also in a range ofnetworking situations, meetings and general conversation.

You may be tempted to give the ‘name, rank and serial number’ introduction. By this Imean, you give a job title, section title, branch title, department title all liberally sprinkledwith acronyms. Then you list a randomly selected range of duties. After about the thirdtitle the panel is glazing over and has no idea what you’re talking about. And theycertainly won’t see any connection between what you’ve said and the job you’re applyingfor.

What you need to do is work out a way to explain what you do that is interesting,memorable and provides information useful to the interview, that is, that links to the jobyou’re applying for.

You may find it useful to use this structure to work out an introduction. There are twoparts:

I’m a …. and what I do is …

For the first part avoid generic titles like nursing sister, team leader, policy researcher ifthere are other options. The limitations of generic titles are that they may undersell andconvey misleading ideas. Better to say, I’m a cardiac theatre sister, service delivery teamleader, well-being policy researcher.

When outlining what you do you will be tempted to list tasks and once you start listingtasks you’ll want to include everything so it sounds like an impressive list. This is notuseful. You want to convey more than a shopping list view of your work. You will alsobe seriously tempted to upwardly inflect after each task and you will sound uncertainabout your own job. Not a promising start!

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Exercise:

Here’s what you do to work out a more strategic description of your job.

STEP 1: Draw up a list of your key responsibilities.

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STEP 2: Step back and think about what difference does doing this work make to thework unit and organisation? By answering this question you are focusing on what valueyou add.

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Another way to tackle this is to ask what would happen if you didn’t do what you do? Ifthe answer is ‘Not much’, then maybe there’s a problem! If an organisation has deemedthat a person doing what you do is worthwhile, then you need to understand what thatvalue is and be able to tell others.

Let’s take the example of a senior manager’s executive assistant. You might start off bysaying:

‘What I do is:

Screen phone calls Organise appointments Prepare correspondence Arrange travel Minute meetings



Manage the office.’

What is the value of all this effort? Answers might be:

Enable the division to function smoothly. Free the senior manager to focus on strategic matters. I’m the operational side of the senior manager’s strategic coin. Keep the office river flowing smoothly.

The response then becomes:

‘I’m the Corporate Affairs Manager’s executive assistant and what I do is I enable thisoffice to function smoothly, freeing the manager to focus on strategic matters.’

You can then list some of the tasks if this seems appropriate. You can start this part bysaying:

‘And the way I achieve this is by …’

STEP 3: Write out your introduction using the structure: I’m a ….. and what I do is……………… And the way I achieve this is by ……..

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For example:

‘As a teacher’s assistant at Wisepeople School my role is to free the teacher to focus onthe student’s education. I achieve this by preparing equipment for classes, setting outstudent materials and providing back-up when students face difficulties.’

‘As the CEO’s executive assistant at the Department of All Things Good, my role is tofree her to focus on strategic issues. I achieve this by maintaining her appointments andtravel, screening visitors and calls, drafting correspondence and coordinating an efficientsupport office.’

Another approach is to quantify what you do to give some dimension to your value. Atheatre sister might say:

‘ … and what I do is assist at twenty emergency operations each week.’

You can choose to do what most people do which is the ‘name, rank and serial numberapproach’, that is, job title, employer and list of duties. Or you can create something moreinteresting that focuses on results and that works as a short commercial about who youare.

Exercise:

What aspects of your job are quantifiable? That is, lend themselves to numbers? Howcould you include this in your introduction?

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Hear how the questions are wordedWhen an applicant is nervous they may not be listening as well as they usually do, inwhich case they may mishear key words in a question, resulting in an off-target response.

Answering interview questions is similar to writing school essays. An essay asking us todescribe our summer holiday is different from the one that asks us to compare andcontrast Australia with New Zealand, or to argue a case for scrapping the school uniform.So it is with interview questions. Opening words can signal the nature of the question.

Key words to listen for include:

Describe: Describe a time when you had to handle a difficult customer.

Outline: Outline the main stages in managing a project.

Give an example of: Give us an example of a time when you negotiated anoutcome.

Explain: Explain how you go about motivating your team.

‘Describe’ is a much broader term than ‘outline’. If you’re asked to ‘outline’ somethingyou need to stick the bare bones and not go into too much detail. There is a differencebetween ‘Describe how you handle difficult customers’ and ‘Outline how you handledifficult customers’.

Questions can vary in their focus. They can focus on:

Facts: What type of written material have you prepared?

Understanding: What factors would you use to judge if a phone was answeredwell?

Self-analysis or reflection: How effective are you in the role of meetingchairperson?

Ideas on problem solving: How could we reduce the time customers wait in line atthe counter?

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Exercise:

Look at the selection criteria of a job you’re interested in. What questions could you beasked? Craft a range of questions using different wording and focus. How does this shiftthe nature of the response required?

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How to respond to behaviour-basedquestions

Behaviour-based question means asking questions about specific instances that provideevidence of having actually performed relevant work or skills. Rather than simplydescribing what happened, the emphasis is on outlining what your role was, what youdid, what result you achieved and what you learnt.

Such examples are based on the belief that past behaviour is a good indicator of futurebehaviour. These questions are also designed to find out if a person is actively learningand changing in their work, rather than simply repeating the same work year in and yearout.

Behaviour-based questions usually ask you to give an example of behaviour that relatesto a criterion.

Take the criterion: Ability to manage workloads and meet deadlines.

A behaviour-based question might be: ‘Give us an example of a time when you had tojuggle competing priorities to meet tight deadlines. Tell us how you handled it, whatoutcome you achieved and what you learnt from the experience.’

Ideally your response would sound something like this:

‘During the budget development process our team has a particularly high workload withcompeting demands from other agencies, interpersonal demands from other sections, plusclose scrutiny from the executive. In order to manage these competing priorities, what Idid was I made some personal adjustments so I could include two additional work hourseach day, I met twice a week with the team to review progress and adjust for changingcircumstances. I appointed two people to be solely responsible for keeping the executiveinformed.

We worked out a schedule for dealing with requests for other agencies and sections andintroduced before the process began a series of information sessions to reduce the numberof queries. These strategies gave us the flexibility to accommodate changes. It also meant

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the whole team was across what was happening, all stakeholders’ needs were met anddeadlines were met. These strategies were based on the previous year’s experience andwhat we learnt this time was anticipating the problems enabled us to reduce the impact onworkload.’

Behaviour-based questions invite applicants to outline examples of past and presentbehaviour, detailing specific achievements and challenges faced. Suppose the panel asks:

‘Give us an example of a situation in which you used your analytical skills in order tomake a sound decision.’

You can structure your response around describing:

The situation—what happened Actions—how you reacted to the situation Results—the end result of your action.

While the above structure refers to ‘describing’ three aspects of the situation, there needsto be more going on in your response than simply describing, that is, giving an account.

First of all you need to understand the capability in question. Then there needs to be someanalysis of both your own reactions and the impact you had. This will involve somereflection on your part about what you did, why you did it, how others behaved, whatchallenges you faced in the process, and what you achieved. In addition, you need topitch to the context and level of the job. No mean feat!

So a response to: ‘Give us an example of a situation in which you used your analyticalskills in order to make a sound decision’ might sound something like this.

‘A standard part of my work is to arrange travel for my boss. On one occasion she wasattending a conference in Tehran. What was initially a straight forward exercise, wascomplicated by security requirements plus the lack of easy flight connections. Not onlydid I have to research various airline timetables, but I had to evaluate information fromForeign Affairs and Customs, which at the time, was changing daily.

The outcome was that I found a set of connections that minimised stop-overs, kept coststo a minimum and met the security requirements, all within a fairly tight time frame. Theticket also included maximum flexibility so that should circumstances change, my bosswould have no problems with changing flights.

What I learnt from this project was that tasks that start out being standard can quicklybecome complex as circumstances change. I have to be ready to be flexible, deal withuncertainty, and ultimately make a choice based on an assessment of the availableinformation. As I understand this position, these would be skills that I could use inresponding to clients’ queries.'



Notice in this example it describes the situation in enough detail to make clear what theissue is and then focuses on action taken and the results achieved. It also adds in lessonslearnt and benefits to the job applied for.

When choosing examples to use in an interview consider these factors:

Recency: Recent behaviour is considered a better predictor of future behaviourthan behaviour in the distant past. So where possible, select examples from thelast couple of years.

Similarity: the greater the similarity between the examples you use and thevacancy, the better it will be regarded as a predictor of how you will perform onthe job. However, don’t be concerned if you don’t have a perfect match. You mayhave to make sense of the example you use for the panel, by explaining how itrelates to the job.

Relevance: Pitch to the context of the job. If the work is in a service delivery area,find out if it is a shop front where there is direct public contact, or an internalservice area like finance or human resources, where the clients are internal to theagency. Or is the Minister going to be your main client?

Exercise:

Examine the criteria of the job you are applying for. What behaviour-based questionscould you be asked? Write down these questions and use the framework mentioned aboveto prepare a response.

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How to respond to hypothetical questionsThe hypothetical question is somewhat similar to the behaviour-based question but tendsto be prefaced by ‘what would you do’ or ‘what if’ rather than ‘give us an example of …’

For example, ‘You are faced with an angry member of the public. What would you do?’

The limitation of the hypothetical question is that a person can prepare responses basedon observation, research or hearsay, but have never actually dealt with the issue. In such asituation it would not be clear that an applicant would in fact behave in the way theydescribe.

What you need to keep in mind about these sorts of questions is that they are notprimarily concerned with what you would do. They are mainly concerned with yourability to think through a situation and arrive at a reasonable assessment of what action totake. A response to the angry customer scenario is not so much about listing the steps youwould take. It is more about weighing up the situation and thinking through the options,since context will have a big impact on what option you select.

A variation is to describe a situation where there are multiple options and you are askedwhat action you would take. For example:

‘You are working back late. Everyone else has left. The fax machine ceases to work. TheMinister’s office rings with an urgent request. The Director, Finance rings seekingoverdue figures for a tender due the next day. A colleague’s partner calls and soundsconcerned that they haven’t arrived home. What would you do?’

Again, the point of the question is not to simply list the order in which you would tacklethe tasks. You are expected to think aloud to show the thinking processes and judgmentyou would exercise. Your response might sound something like this:

‘As the Minister is the key customer, I would take steps to meet the urgent request. As Ihave no immediate need of the fax machine and could likely find another in the building Iwould leave that for the following day. Little can be done outside business hours to fix it.The second priority would be the Finance figures. If I was able to locate the informationthen I would do something about it. If it was not within my power I would ring the personresponsible and let them handle it. The colleague’s partner would be given a simple and

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immediate answer as to whether they are in the immediate work area or not. So insummary I’d attend to the Minister’s needs first then the finance issue.’

Exercise:

Examine the criteria of the job you are applying for. What hypothetical questions couldyou be asked? Write down these questions and think through the options to prepare aresponse.

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How to talk about your strengths withoutsounding cocky

What you must do, after identifying your strengths, is know how to make sense of thesestrengths for the panel. By this I mean that each of the panel members will have someidea in their mental pantry as to what are the relevant strengths. They may not havediscussed this amongst themselves to reach agreement. So you are faced with thepossibility of two or three people listening to your list, checking off in their heads againsttheir list, yes, no, no, yes, no. What are they going to then do with this information? Onepossibility is that they might say: ‘Well, they only got two on my list’ and mark youdown.

What you want to do is sell your strengths so that the panel can see the relevance andeven if you mention a strength that is not on their list, they are given the opportunity tosee that their list is incomplete and accept that what you have to offer is indeed valid.

In order to be able to provide this link to the job you need to draw on the research you didwhen preparing your application. This will come from various sources including websites, talking to the contact officer, reading corporate documents. The other source is yourtalent warehouse. Go back to the entries identified as strengths and select those relevantto the job your are applying for.

Here is a framework for talking comfortably about your strengths. You are asked in theinterview: ‘Tell us about the strengths you bring to this position.’ Your answer can followthis script.

‘There are a number of strengths I bring to this position and I’d like to mentionthe three that I think are most critical/most relevant to this position.

Firstly ...This strength is relevant to this position because ...

Secondly ...This strength is relevant to this position because ...

Thirdly ...This strength is relevant to this position because ...’

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Notice that each of the three sections has two components:

A statement of what the strength is. A link to the position to show how it is relevant and of benefit to the agency.

Your response is based on identifying a small number of strengths relevant to the positionin question and outlining their relevance. Showing their relevance lets the panel knowthat you understand their needs and how you can add value.

The other point to notice is that in the opening line your refer to a ‘number of strengths’.This lets the panel know that you know your strengths, there are many, but you areselecting those that are most relevant. The opening is made for the panel to explore othersfurther. Just be prepared to offer others on the off chance they do ask!

Let’s take an example to see how this works. Supposing the job involves buildingprojects in regional areas. From your research and the selection criteria you know thatwhat’s critical to this job are project management, liaison and supervisory skills. Yourresponse about strengths might be:

‘I have a number of strengths that I bring to this position and I’d like to mentionthree that are of most relevance to this position.

Firstly, project management skills. This strength is relevant to this positionbecause it involves team-based construction projects where tight budgets anddeadlines are critical.

Secondly, liaison skills which I gained while a project manager liaising withenvironmental groups, Aboriginal communities, and academic researchers. Thisstrength is relevant to this position because in order to complete housing projectseffectively, the team needs to consult with academic and community groups tomake sure that their concerns and needs are taken into account.

And thirdly, I bring extensive supervisory experience. As I understand it, you willneed a strong leader to ensure that these housing projects are delivered effectivelyin regional areas drawing on local labour.’

When you say this out loud you will find it sounds comfortably confident withoutsounding arrogant. It does however take practice. Like any habit, a new language habittakes some getting used to. Once you’ve mastered the structure and carried out yourresearch, the answer will flow smoothly and comfortably. Do not wait until the day of theinterview to try to say something in a way you’ve never said it before. It just won’t work.If you’re going to play a game of tennis, you would be unlikely to wait until you are onthe court to start practicing. If you did, the results would reveal your lack of practice. Thesame goes for interviews.



Remember though, to keep your response short and where you can, pick strengths thatrelate to the selection criteria and/or duties of the job.

Exercise:

Go back to your talent warehouse and strengths list. Thinking of your current job,identify three relevant strengths. Write out a script, using these strengths, to respond tothe question, ‘What strengths do you bring to this position?’

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How to talk comfortably about ‘weaknesses’and mistakes

When preparing for a question about ‘weaknesses’ there are several points to keep inmind.

Do not pick a skill or quality that is included in the job specifications. It will notgo down well if you say you crack up under pressure if one of the criteriaconcerns ability to meet tight deadlines under pressure.

Pick something that has substance but is not vital to the job. It could be a personalquality, skill or subject area.

Identify what you are doing to improve or manage around your weakness. Decide whether you wish to call it a weakness. You may wish to reframe a

weakness as ‘an area where I’ve identified I need to improve or change ordevelop.’

So your answer might sound like this.

‘A few years ago I realised that if I wanted to move into a marketing role I needed to filla gap in my skills, namely networking. Up until then I had been shy when mixing withstrangers and found it difficult to attend meetings where I didn’t know anyone. Havingattending two workshops on the subject and applied them at various functions, I nowattend meetings with confidence and readily mix and mingle. This has proven immenselyvaluable. Not only have I been able to represent my agency well but I’ve also been ableto make others feel more comfortable at such meetings, thereby building positiverelationships across agencies.’

Notice that this answer does not stop at identifying the weakness and what was done. Itgoes on to identify the benefits that now accrue from this change with the implication thatthe new employer will also benefit. Note too that it could also be used as a response to aquestion on achievements.

An answer based on feedback might go like this:

‘Two years ago I received feedback from my team that I needed to give more individualrecognition. During the following six months I gave this particular attention. Whenevermembers of my team performed well I made a point of thanking them or commending

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them individually and in private. When appropriate I also acknowledged them publicly.At the next formal feedback session staff said they were pleased with the change.’

Exercise:

Go back to your list of ‘weaknesses’ or areas for development. Select an example anddraft a response to the question, ‘Tell us about one of your weaknesses and what you aredoing about it’, explaining (making sense of it) how you came to identify the weaknessand what you have done about it.

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In responding to a question about mistakes the task is to identify the mistake and thenexplain what you learned from it and how you fixed things so that you would reduce thechances of a repeat performance. If you were able to make an improvement to a situationthat helped other people as well, so much the better. What the panel wants to know is: Isthis person a problem solver? Will this person take responsibility for their actions?

So an answer to the question: ‘Tell us about a time when things went wrong and whatyou did about it’, might look like this:

‘When things don’t go according to plan it’s a good opportunity to identify ways toreduce them happening in the future. On one occasion I was responding to a customer’squery and misheard what he said. As a result I sent him off to see a person about aparticular type of pension, only to find later that he was not eligible. This meant the manhad to go through the whole interview process again, much to his annoyance.

After apologising to the man and making sure he was guided quickly and accurately tothe right service, I then gave some thought to how I had made such a mistake. Onreflection I realised that one of the questions on the application form was ambiguous, and



depending on the answer you got, you could easily misdirect the person. I took this upwith my supervisor who found that other staff had also noticed the problem but hadn’tidentified the source. As a result, the wording of the question was changed and thisproblem no longer occurs. The other benefit of this experience is that it’s made me veryconscious of question wording and whenever we are designing new forms, I activelycontribute to the consultations so that we produce a quality document.’

Again, the answer is more than just ‘giving the facts’. It draws out the lessons and thelonger-term benefit that the applicant now brings to this new position. They have ‘sold’themselves not only as a problem solver, but also as a person skilled in identifyingambiguous questions on forms.

Exercise:

Take an example of a mistake you have made, or something that didn’t go according toplan, and draft a response that explains (makes sense of) what happened and outlineswhat action you took. Identify results and lessons learned.

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How to respond to four tricky questionsAny question can be tricky if we don’t know the right answer or can’t quickly formulate aresponse. This chapter looks at four types of tricky questions and offers some suggestionson how to handle them so that you continue with a winning performance.

1. Questions about the future

A question about your goals for the future, whether it’s twelve months or three years, canbe tricky if you haven’t thought about it or are not a goal-setting person. Part of yourpreparation for a winning performance is to give some thought to this question.

One strategy is to avoid a response that could be threatening, such as, ‘I would like yourjob’, said to your potential supervisor or boss. You also want to achieve a balancebetween implying you won’t be around long and being career-oriented. Your main sourceof life satisfaction may not be your job, however you still want to convey an impressionthat you think about where life is heading and have some plan in mind.

To achieve this juggling act is an exercise in managing meaning. So you might saysomething like:

‘During the next few years I wish to expand my knowledge of finance, build my skills asa manager and consolidate my understanding of this agency. When I’ve done that I’llthen consider what the next step is.’

‘My immediate interest is in learning this new position and building on my strengths inproject management. This will open up opportunities to apply these skills to other areasand I’ll consider those opportunities as they arise. By taking a certificate course in projectmanagement, this too will enable me to make a more valuable contribution in this area.’

Exercise:

Work out a response to the question: Where do you see yourself in three years time?’

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2. Questions you can’t answer

This is the question that can be a person’s ‘worst nightmare’, the one that stumps themand leads them to fear that they are making a fool of themselves.

You have options:

You can simply admit you don’t know and move on. You can admit you don’t know and indicate where you would go to find out the

answer. You can draw on knowledge that transfers from another context, by saying, ‘Well

in a situation I experienced at …. I handled it this way. This sounds like a similarsituation, so I would start by ….’

You can ask for further guidance.

3. Questions you shouldn’t be asked

There are questions you shouldn’t be asked because of legislation, such as discriminationlaws. There are also questions that can sound a bit ‘iffy’ but are acceptable. For example,if a job involves a lot of travel, it is legitimate to draw an applicant’s attention to this andinvite a comment that they are aware of it. What would not be acceptable is to asksomething like, ‘How are you going to manage the travel with three young children?’

If you think a question is unacceptable ask for clarification about which selectioncriterion the question relates to and/or how the question relates to the requirements tocarry out the job.

4. Questions about public sector values

All public sector jurisdictions have a set of values and code of conduct, in many cases setout in legislation. This is the case for the Australian Public Service and you may be askeda question about your commitment to these values.

The Australian Public Service Commission provides information about the values andexploring this is useful preparation. (www.apsc.gov.au). You also need to think abouthow specific Values and parts of the Code of Conduct apply to your current work.Questions you could be considering in preparation for a response are:



How do you, or would you, model the APS Values in your behaviour? Have there been any times when a decision was made based on particular values? How do you let staff know that conduct consistent with the Values and Code of

Conduct is expected and that misconduct will not be tolerated? What do you do in relation to fraud control and risk assessment? How do you manage consultants or contractors? Do you handle public money? Does you work involve contact with the Minister’s Office? Do you handle confidential information? Do you handle client’s private information? Do you take the learning and development needs of staff seriously? Do you take steps to stop behaviours that constitute harassment, bullying or

discrimination?

Exercise:

Identify which Values and parts of the Code of Conduct are particularly important in yourjob. What steps have you taken to model and apply them?

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How to memorably end an interviewAt the end of the interview, the selection team frequently asks applicants if there are anyquestions they wish to ask or if they have any further comments. The main reason for thisrequest is so that applicants have the opportunity to ensure that they have had a fairhearing.

This is an opportunity that should not be dismissed lightly. It is a chance to show thepanel you have done your homework and thought about the implications of the position.It is also an opportunity to clarify anything that is still unclear about the duties oropportunities the position offers.

Before considering what questions to ask, check to see if your mental pantry is stockingany unhelpful beliefs about questions.

Exercise:

What beliefs, assumptions, associations, expectations do you hold about askingquestions? What comes to mind when you think about asking questions?

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Are you thinking:

If I ask questions I may look stupid. What if I ask a dumb question? I should know all the information I need.

It is preferable not to use this time to ask about general working conditions as thisinformation may be obtained from recruitment staff prior to the interview. If the position

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is temporary and/or contractual, it may be useful to clarify the nature of the appointment.Asking questions shows you have done some homework and are interested in the agency.

Think about the sorts of questions you could ask. Some may be generic questions thathave a bearing on your interest in the position. Such questions might include:

What is the budget of the unit? What is your (the supervisor’s) management style? What is the working atmosphere like? How much contact is there with other sections? What induction training is provided?

Other questions might be specific to the position or work area. They could arise fromyour research, for example clarifying the implications of a proposed policy change youread about in the paper, or the questions could be prompted by the interview itself.

A question may relate to your career interests and goals. If you regard yourself as skilledin dealing with people and it is a job element that gives you satisfaction, then a questionabout this, such as ‘Do I have any direct contact with the people who benefit from thisprogram?’ would be important in establishing whether the position is likely to meet yourneeds.

Exercise:

Identify some generic questions you could take to an interview.

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The interview may also end by asking you whether you have anything you wish to addabout your application. This is an opportunity for you to end on a positive note. You maythink everything has been covered. Even if this is so, it is worth making a succinctsummary statement about your claims to the position.

If the duty statement refers to matters which you think have not been covered by theselection criteria, this is a chance to mention relevant experience.



If you haven’t been asked about your key strengths, then this may be the time to offerthem.

The final summary is an opportunity to have the last word and to leave a favourableimpression about your claims to the position as well as the quality of yourcommunication skills. But keep it short.

Exercise:

Prepare some closing comments that you could use to end a winning interview on astrong note.

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Three vital steps to take after an interviewThere are three vital steps you must take after an interview so that you can improve yourfuture preparation and performance.

1. Make a record of interview

Create a record of what happened at the interview—the questions you were asked, partsyou handled well, parts you had some difficulty with, lessons learned. This informationwill assist you in improving your preparation for future interviews.

Exercise:

Make notes about the last interview you attended.

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2. Obtain feedback

Whether you are successful or not, learn from the experience in order to improve. Thefeedback comes in two forms.

Written: Either the panel or the scribe writes a report on the selection process.This report outlines how short-listed applicants are ranked and recommends who

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should be appointed. You can obtain the section of the report that relates to you.This will give you information about how you were judged.

Verbal: The selection panel chairperson has a responsibility to provide applicantswith feedback. Talk to this person about the quality of your application andinterview performance.

Applicants can be fearful about obtaining feedback. They don’t want to hear the badnews, to be told that they didn’t measure up in some way. This is not a helpful mindset asit denies you the opportunity to:

Learn that the outcome was beyond your control, not a flaw in you. Someone hadmore to offer on the day.

Learn what you can do to do better next time. You may find that by changingsomething relatively minor you could vastly improve your performance.

Your mental pantry will be active when receiving feedback. One way to overcome yourconcerns about feedback from an interview is to reframe the meaning you put aroundwhat you hear. Feedback can be information about another person’s perceptions. It can bedata about the results you achieved. More neutral meanings increase your chances ofhearing what is said without becoming defensive.

Understand that giving feedback is a challenging task for many people. The chairpersonmay feel uncomfortable about giving bad news to several people. Imagine you haveinterviewed eight applicants, all competent people who could do the job. But only one issuccessful. You have to be able to explain to each person why they didn’t get the job.

You need to obtain useful information about your performance. Useful information isspecific. One way to ensure you obtain useful information is to ask useful questions. Ifthe feedback comes in a vague form, such as, ‘The other applicants had more to offer’, or‘You weren’t strong enough on criterion 4’, ask for more specific information. Examplesof specific questions to have on hand are:

How was I rated against each criterion? What aspects of the interview do I need to improve on? What aspects of an interview do you think I need to work on? Did the examples I gave support my application? Which part of criterion 4 was I not strong on? In what way were other applicants stronger?

I’m not suggesting you ask all of these. Use your judgment and select those questions thatwill be most useful to you.

You may wish to ask questions based on your own evaluation of your performance toconfirm if your perceptions match those of the panel. For example, you may feel youhadn’t really answered one of the questions, or that you had been a bit vague in places.



You could then ask questions to confirm these. You may find that you didn’t create theimpression you thought you had.

Exercise:

Record the feedback you receive and identify what you can learn from this information.

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3. Dealing with rejection

When people tell us that we haven’t won the job it’s easy to interpret that to mean we’vebeen rejected and then take it personally. Unless you’ve been ranked as unsuitable, youhaven’t been rejected, you just haven’t been offered this job on this occasion. On the day,what you had to offer was not accepted. ‘No’ can mean:

You didn’t give me enough information to decide in your favour. Other candidates had more to offer. I’d like to have you but I’ve only got one vacancy. I can’t take you now but when another vacancy comes up we’ll be in touch. The panel made a poor choice.

Yes, it is disappointing to be told ‘No’. However, how you handle the result of theinterview is important for your wellbeing as well as how others perceive you. You canstill have a successful job interview even though you weren’t offered the job.

Remember your definition of success at interview? If the feedback suggests you did aswell as you could then there’s little more you could have done. What you now need to dois work on improving your interview performance and filling any gaps in experience thatyou have identified.



Exercise:

So ask yourself: How am I currently framing not being offered a job and how could Imake this more useful to me?

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A winning interview performance mindset

23

An interview is abusiness meeting

I know my strengths,skills, andaccomplishments

I know my options if myworst fear happens

I am comfortable talking aboutweaknesses and mistakes

I aim to deliver awinning performance. Ajob offer is a bonus

I understand contentand process and workon both

I’ve preparedmy responses

I’m comfortable withreceiving feedback

I manage mynerves



Michael Bear, Grab that Promotion, Wrightbooks, Vic. 1997

Richard Beatty, The Interview Kit, How to answer over 500 tough interview questions,John Wiley & Sons, Canada, 1995

Deborah Block, How to have a winning job interview, VGM Career Horizons,Lincolnwood, Ill, 1992

Ron Fry, 101 Great Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions, 2nd edn., Career Press,NJ, 1994

Philip Garside, The Secrets of Getting a Job, The script for your next job interview,Hyland House, South Melbourne, 1997

Dorothy Leeds, Secrets of Successful Interviews, Tactics and strategies for winning thejob you really want, Piatkus, London, 1993

Carole Pemberton, Strike a New Career Deal, Pitman Publishing, London, 1995

Paul Stevens, Win that Job, The Centre for Worklife Counselling. Sydney 1991

Kaaren Sutcliffe, Open the Door To Your Future, Getting Interviews and Jobs inAustralia, Brolga Press, Gundaroo, 1998

Ann Villiers, How to Write and Talk to Selection Criteria, 4th edn., Mental Nutrition®,Canberra, 2005

www.jobguide.detya.gov.auDepartment of Education, Training and Science, Job Guide web sitewww.cdaa.org.auCareer Development Association of Australiahttp://www.quintcareers.com/An American site with free tutorials on interview questions and advice on applications.www.jobsearch.gov.auAn Australian Government web site about jobs.www.job-interview.netAn American site that provides responses to interview questions.www.selectioncriteria.com.auAn Australian site specialising in public service jobs.

References

Documents

Winning performance at job interviews - ebook€¦ · 1. Why an interview is an exercise in sense-making 5 2. Stop shopping at the Sabotage Supermarket 7 3. Master skills in managing