Prepare for the Job Interview Questions that Might Come Up, and the two that Always Do. →

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You are preparing for a job interview and doing everything you can to prepare. You have identified people who have worked at the company and talked with others in similar companies with the same job title and interviewed them.

Before you received the opportunity for an interview, you researched the company and studied its products. The specific job you are applying for, and learn more about the people that will likely be in the discussion from your LinkedIn research.

What about the questions they will ask you in the interview? Do you know what they will be? Are you ready? What about the inevitable questions that always appear in an interview: What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

Before you are asked these two questions, you should ask them to yourself, giving the most honest answer you can. Your potential employer will want to know if your strengths match the possible job and that your job skills will be strengths to doing the job well. Do they match? If they don’t, you should reconsider applying because you will do better and be far happier if they fit.

Just assume these two questions will come up and be ready for them. The HR department or the hiring manager inevitably uses these questions because they know it is better to develop people based on their strengths rather than their weaknesses. However, this question can still be risky and a trap.

Identifying your shortcomings requires some absolute personal honesty, but even that can be a trap. People sometimes are tempted to congratulate themselves for their honesty, revealing unneeded weaknesses, and move on. Truth is better served by considering the context in which these questions are presented.

If your weak areas are irrelevant to the job, they may not belong in the interview. If your weakness is a potential roadblock in meeting the needed job skill requirements, then focus and thought will be required before the discussion on how to answer that if asked.

You should only present weaknesses if you can include your successful steps in overcoming them. For example, if you miss appointments and don’t do well with short-term memory, then add how you solved the problem for yourself with your devotion to a daily planner.

Before changing employment, or applying for a job, match your natural strengths to those needed for the job and show that they compare what the company wants when you present them. Know yourself well enough to know what you are good at.

Networking is the key to finding a new job, but those in your network will have different experiences in their past contacts with you. Those you worked with in areas where your most vital skill strengths were used are the best contacts. Both former supervisors and coworkers know your strengths. Draw connections from past work experiences that you enjoyed and were good at first.

Suppose you like the type of work a job represents. In that case, that fact can be listed as one of your greatest strengths because people do well when they do things they enjoy and have a passion for. Still, you will have to understand the job you are applying for before the interview if you are going to be able to point out in a creditable way what you noticed about the potential job that you like; it might also be a question you will get. Those questions will demonstrate that you are targeting specific things and enable you to mention what caught your attention about the potential job.

When your search brings you to the interview, lay out your strengths so that they match those needed for the job.

This short essay appeared on LinkedIn.

How to answer the predictable questions that come in a job interview →

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How do you answer the question: “Why are you interested in this position?” in a job interview?

When the question 'Why are you interested in this position?' arises, it's an opportunity to showcase your unique value. While you may not know if it was planned or considered necessary by the interviewer, you still have the chance to present yourself in the best light. This question is more than just a query-it's a chance to sell yourself, but it does require some preparation.

I think the first step in being ready for this question is to know as much as possible about the job you are applying for before you are asked this. It can be beneficial if you have found out more about the job than just what the posting says or what you have learned in the interview. You will want to answer this question by mentioning what you have learned about the job you like.

Tell them something you noticed about their job that you liked, something that would have required you to have researched to learn the specifics, or that you can explain in such a way that it will be evident that you looked deeper into the job than the posting.

It also allows you to explain what caught your interest and shows that you are targeting specific things, making you a better option for displaying your sincere interest and understanding of the job. By pinpointing specific aspects of the job that align with your skills and interests, you demonstrate a strategic approach that can make you a more compelling candidate.

Another predictable question will be, “What is your greatest weakness.” Again, you won’t know if this question is just a time filler or if they will hang you with your answer. The best reply is not to find the worst thing about you and dump it out for all to see. Instead, find a weakness that you conquered. For example, you could say you get so involved in your work that you can miss appointments, but you have found that by using a calendar and always writing assignments down and checking it regularly each day at a specific time, you conquered that. Companies don’t want people who can’t keep appointments. The value of informational interviews is that you can learn more about their approach to interviewing.