Transcription
This is the one video you need to learn the top seven job interview questions and answers, and I have created proven answer formulas that have gotten literally thousands of people jobs. Just check out all the success stories popping off. This is a compilation of those tips to make this your one-stop shop for interview preparation.
Now, this is a ton of information, so I put together an eBook called Job Interview Secrets with the questions, answers, examples, and formulas. Use it for the rest of your career. So if you like these tips in written form, you can go over there and grab it. The proceeds go towards funding this YouTube channel and continuing to provide free videos to the professionals who need them.
If you're new here, this is Self-Made Millennial. I'm Madeline Mann. I'm a human resources leader and job search strategist. You may have seen me on ABC, New York Times, Bloomberg, and more. Subscribe to go from job seeking to job shopping.
All right, all aboard the interview railroad. Please keep your legs and arms inside of the vehicle and do resist the urge to bang your head against the nearest surface, as I do know that the job search is incredibly aggravating, but your fairy job mother has got your back. Stay to the end because you'll get the best sentence to use to respond to whenever you are asked about your salary. Let's go.
The reason why the interviewer is asking, "Tell me about yourself," is because their contact switching. They are hopping into your interview after reviewing your resume, possibly for 60 seconds at best, and they need you to help orient to who the heck you are, so they can get their head on straight. This means you cannot spend the entire interview answering, "Tell me about yourself." I have seen so many people unknowingly dig themselves into a hole because they spend 15 minutes telling the interviewer their entire life story. Don't do this. Your interviewer does not want to hear personal details about your life. Save those for the annual Christmas card. Instead, they are looking for a concise summary of who you are as a professional.
Here's the three-part formula on how to compose the best answer to "Tell me about yourself" in the job interview. You're going to want to take notes because this is a formula that you'll be using to prepare for every interview for the rest of your life. But don't worry, I got your back. I've already created a helpful free worksheet for you to go along with this video that, as you saw earlier, has helped thousands of people master this question. And so I have linked it in the comments and in the description, so go get that worksheet to help work through this formula with me, and you'll also get another sample answer on that worksheet. Let's get into it.
Part one: Tell them who you are. This is one sentence to introduce yourself professionally. Typically, you should let them know the title of your current role or an overarching statement of what kind of professional you are.
Part two: Captivate them with your highlight reel. You'll share two to four points that focus on making you stand out for the role you are interviewing for. You should try to use quantifiable achievements if you can; make it tangible. I also find that it helps to use reverse chronological order for these points.
Part three: Finish off your answer by telling the interviewer why the heck you're here. Say one to two sentences on why the company and the role you're interviewing for is the best next step for you. Companies aren't just looking for someone who is qualified. They're also looking for someone who is passionate. By connecting the dots as to why this is the best next step, you help them to start seeing you in the role, and you will appear not just as someone who wants a job, but someone who wants *this* job, which is a make-or-break distinction in the job search.
So, why do companies ask, "Why did you leave your last job?" They ask this question because they're focused on extending offers to the people who they believe will be the best fit. One of the methods they use to determine if you're a good fit is understanding which work situations you liked and you didn't like in the past. There are three essential rules of thumb to keep in mind when answering, "Why did you leave your last job?"
Number one: Make your answer short. I'm talking one to three sentences. A grave mistake people make is giving too much description, too much detail.
Number two: Keep it positive. I know this can be very challenging to do if your last role was, oh, so toxic. Know this: If you speak poorly about a company, your interviewer's first thought will be, "Oh, are they going to talk about us this way if we hire them?" The last thing you want is to have an employer dwell on your past rather than focus on your future and how you are going to be there with them.
Number three: The confidence. We often forget that we write our own narratives. You get to tell the story in the way you want to. The employer will only see it as a sob story or a difficult situation if you make it out to be that way. So answer quickly, confidently, and move on.
Why do interviewers ask you this question? To put it simply, they want to root for you. Many folks don't realize that this is the intention, and therefore they make three crucial mistakes.
The first mistake is answering by listing descriptors and only descriptors. Naming cliché adjectives that you think your interviewer wants to hear is not going to set you apart.
The second mistake is making it an elevator pitch. Don't refer to yourself and your strengths using that elevator pitch format, which is where you try to summarize all of your top accomplishments with a prewritten dialogue. This way of getting your point across feels rehearsed and ignores the root of the question. We want to actually answer the question they're asking.
The third mistake is being too dang humble. I know touting your greatest strength can feel awkward and braggy, but trust me, humblebee, you'll want to focus your answer on yourself.
Here is the two-part formula. Part one: Name a strength that matches a key competency for the role. Take a look at the job description and pay special attention to the soft skills that you see.
Part two: Tell a story that illustrates your strength. Yes, I will admit we did do a bit of self-describing in part one, but we will effectively convey your value and help them to picture you in the role by giving them an example of the time that you exemplified that strength. Tell the story, and this will dramatically increase the interviewer's ability to see you in this role and have great persuasive points to tell the rest of the hiring team about why you are a prime choice.
Why do employers ask, "What are your weaknesses?" The cynical reason is that employers want to cut to the chase and get some reasons why they shouldn't hire you. The more optimistic reason employers ask this is they want to understand how to best manage you, how to set you up for success, and put you in a role that plays your strengths and isn't reliant on your weaknesses.
Do not try to dodge the question or say the most common answer, which is that you are a perfectionist. Instead, tell a story using my three-part formula.
Part one: Name something that you're legitimately not great at, but don't choose just any weakness. Choose a weakness that you're already working on improving.
Part two: Explain how you're working on it. Describe the steps you are taking to improve on your weakness.
Part three: Articulate the results of the work you did to improve. While doing this, you need to make it perfectly clear that your weakness is not an issue for the position, and then, like a reincarnated Jane Austen, put all of this together in a story format. So, telling a story allows you to show that you are driven to improve yourself, and it steers your answer towards a positive conclusion. The best answers are the ones that showcase your ability to take feedback well or also demonstrate self-awareness, and they prove that you take initiative to level up yourself.
First things first, you need to rethink the way you've been viewing this question. "Why should we hire you?" What the interviewer is actually saying is, "Give me some solid reasons to hire you so that I can go back and tell the rest of the hiring panel why you are the one that we can give that final rose to." Guess what? They want to root for you. They don't want to interview a dozen more candidates. They want *you* to be the one.
Let's talk about how to not answer this question. Do not describe yourself without giving any examples or context. How many people have described themselves as detail-oriented or a self-starter? That is a Kroger brand answer, aka, it is generic.
Here is the three-step formula to answer, "Why should I hire you?"
Step one: Review the role. When asked this question, resist the urge to immediately talk about yourself. Rather than dive into who you are, take this time to reiterate what you know about the role and the challenges you'll be facing if hired. This tells them that you're business-focused and you did your homework.
Step two: Tell them about your relevant experience and skills. Don't be a generic Eric here. Tell them about specific skills you have that address the specific challenges in this role.
Step three: Ask your interviewer. After answering it following the first two steps, flip that question and ask the interviewer, "Is this how you see me in this role?" Seriously, this approach is so powerful. It keeps the interview flowing naturally like a conversation and it gives your interviewer the opportunity to either agree that you're the perfect fit and hear themselves say it out loud (okay, music to my ears!) or address where you're misaligned, so that you can address any concerns right there immediately.
Why do interviewers ask this ridiculous question? "Where do you see yourself in five years?" The interviewer is asking this question to understand your long-term goals and see if your goals actually align with the company or if you're just using this position as a placeholder. You don't need to convince them that you will be with this company for the rest of your life, but you do need to make it clear that this position is the next logical step for your long-term career goals.
What not to do. Okay, these mistakes will end your interview before it begins. First, do not talk about your personal goals. Sure, maybe your goal is to have a house, a horse, and a new head of hair in five years, and sure, this role will help you to achieve that personal goal, but your personal goals will rarely be important information for the company to know when determining if they should give you a job. Second, don't talk about working in a different industry. Again, that just tells them that you are a short-term hire and probably are not worth the time and effort to train. Third, don't say you want to own your own business or freelance full-time one day. This will make most interviewers assume that you're less invested in the job and you're more interested in your own projects, so you don't want them to think that you've got one foot out the door at all times. Lastly, do not tell your interviewer that you want their job or you want a higher position. This might feel like a super cool, confident move in the moment, but it actually comes off as a bit impatient, like maybe you are overqualified for this role and you're more concerned about titles rather than the work itself.
How to craft the perfect answer. Now, let's be real. The world moves fast, and most of us don't know where we'll be in five years from now, so there's no need to get hyper-specific in your answer. Instead, I suggest that you change the way you think about the question in your head. Next time you're asked, "Where do you see yourself in five years?" I want you to pretend they asked, "How will this role help grow my career in a direction I am proud of?" This mindset shift will help you avoid unnecessary information like personal goals or specific milestones and instead focus on how you would like to grow.
With this new question in mind, here are five things that you can mention in your answer. You don't need to mention them all, but mix and match depending on your situation:
1. Your interest in deeply learning the industry.
2. Your focus on making a name for yourself at the company as the go-to person with X skill.
3. A drive to learn or improve specific skills that are emphasized in the job description.
4. Your desire to mentor others.
5. You see yourself taking on bigger projects. This is a great way to say that you're focused on new challenges and improvement rather than telling them you want a promotion.
All of these five things illustrate how you see yourself reaching your own career goals while also growing within the company and adding value as you go.
When you're asked about salary expectations during the first interview, you'll want to avoid giving a number. Why? Because you don't want to say something too high. During your first interview, the interviewer doesn't fully understand your value yet, and of course, when a company views you as too expensive from the start, they may drop you for a more affordable candidate. On the other hand, if you say a number that is too low, you're undercutting your potential earnings.
How do you respond to the question, "What are your salary expectations?" Say, "I'm open. I'm looking for the best overall fit and package." And isn't this the truth? There's so much more to a job than the salary. A good offer is more than a base salary; it's a combination of everything tangible and intangible that matters to you.
Unfortunately, some of these interviewers are going to be like an elevator. They won't budge until you give them a number. They may say, "Got it. Sounds like you're flexible, but what range of compensation are you looking for?" At this point, you'll want to dust off the old badminton racket and hit in the birdie. "Do you have a range that you're targeting, so I can let you know if I'm comfortable with it?"
If you're lucky, they'll tell you right then and there. Easy peasy. What range they're looking at. Other times, they will insist that you give them a number. Okay, this is when doing your research ahead of time pays off, literally. Before you get to the interview, you need to pull out the old Macintosh and research how much the company pays for the job you're interviewing for. If there is not enough data there, research comparable companies. These are companies that are in the same industry, located in the same city, and are of similar sizes. You can find comparable companies and other salary data on Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and Salary.com, to name a few.
When determining what salary range you will ask for, I suggest you aim higher than the range you find, such as make the number somewhere between the 50th and 80th percentile. The bottom of your range and the top of your range should be aligned with the top of the range you found during your salary research. Employers usually give you the lowest number that you say in your range, so you need to make sure that your lowest number is one that you would be excited to accept.
Let's say you're asked, "What is your expected salary?" on a job application. You haven't even landed the dang interview, and they're already asking about salary. Yes, it can matter what you put here, and yes, it can disqualify you immediately. Sometimes you'll be asked to write in a number. Other times you'll select a range from a drop-down list. Ideally, you'll leave the question blank or write that you're flexible, but this isn't always an option. This is yet another situation where your salary research is so important. There is a risk, though, of going too high. Many hiring teams are instructed to eliminate candidates who are outside of the budget. Additionally, you do not want to go too low and undersell yourself. I feel like a beekeeper because this is just such a sticky situation. Hate to say it, but the best solution is to not apply online and not fill out an application whenever possible.
Which out of these questions is your least favorite to be asked? Let me know in the comments. I personally can't stand "Tell me about yourself." I once had four back-to-back interviews with a company, and every dang interviewer started with that question. Just share notes, folks. Or better yet, I wrote up a nice, nifty resume that will give you all the answers. And if you are looking for that Job Interview Secrets eBook for the top interview questions and answers, I've linked that below. Be sure to like this video and subscribe to this channel. You've got this. Wi-Fi high five.