In This Chapter
Why should you interview yourself first?
Why should you write all this stuff down?
What are your skills?
What are the highlights of your work and nonwork lives?
Before we start with interview questions you should be prepared to answer, I want you to interview yourself, and write down your answers. Huh? I know what you’re thinking: What a waste of time; I remember my own life just fine, thank you, and have no problem talking about myself. Actually, many people find it hard to talk about themselves—at least in the detailed, focused way interviewers want. Many also find it hard to persuade the interviewer to hire them over dozens or hundreds of other job-hunters.
Once you interview yourself and write the answers, you’ll be surprised how much information comes pouring in. How you’ve forgotten some things and need to look them up, and how you really have to think about other things. You’ll start to notice patterns emerging, while some of your answers may even surprise you. Think of it as a detective novel starring yourself (if this motivates you), or as very short, free therapy (check the going rate; this is a bargain). “Know thyself,” the Oracle of Delphi once said. How true: If you don’t know yourself, how do you expect the interviewer, a perfect stranger whose time is sorely limited, to know you?
The end of this chapter is full of worksheets to write down what you did, where you did it, how and why you did it, how much you liked it, and what you’re good and not so good at in your work and volunteer experience, education, activities, and military service, plus any awards or honors you’ve won. It’s the building block of the rest of this book. When you finish, you’ll have a solid foundation to answer personal interview questions in Chapter 3, work-related questions in Chapter 4, specific work questions in Chapter 5, school questions in Chapter 6, people questions in Chapter 7, and so on. You may feel so interviewed out, you’ll welcome the chance for someone else to interview you so you can practice your skills. But that’s the point.
Write down these facts for every job you’ve ever had. Be very specific, and use as many numbers as possible: These details will be very valuable when you talk about them in interviews. Include part-time, temporary, and summer jobs as well. (If you’ve been in the workforce 20 years or more, feel free to skip summer and very early jobs.) Feel free to photocopy as many of the following worksheets as you want.
Include the following for each employer:
Name, address, and phone number
Name, title, and e-mail address of your supervisors
Your job titles
How long you were employed (years and months)
Your duties and responsibilities
Skills you used
Your accomplishments or awards
Your supervisory experience, including how many people you managed and their job titles
Your promotions (and dates received)
Your salary
How many hours worked (if part-time)
Jobs require all kinds of skills, and everyone is much better at some skills than others. One way to think about skills is to divide them into types: skills that deal with people, information, and things. For example, persuading, talking in front of groups, and listening are people skills. Researching, planning, and organizing are information skills. Repairing, building, and operating machinery are things skills.
It’s a plus to show in interviews, and on your resumé, that you have transferable skills. These are skills that you can apply, or transfer, to other jobs that are more or less similar. For example, if you know how to research one type of information, chances are high that you can research another type. Or if you’re good at persuading people to buy one type of product, most likely you can persuade people to purchase a different product (or service). Or if you do one type of writing well you can figure out another type. Or if you’ve managed people in the corporate world you can manage people in the nonprofit sector.
Job Jargon
Transferable skills are skills you have that you can apply, or transfer, to other similar jobs. You can take them with you from one job to another, since they stick to you, not to the job where you used them.
The good news: Transferable skills are portable, not limited to one job where you used them. This means you’re not fazed by a job that’s slightly different (or even quite a bit different) if some common, underlying skill is involved. So you can handle interview questions about how the heck can you do a job that’s not exactly the same as the one you’ve done all these years with aplomb.
Think about which of your jobs required which skills, skills you excel at, and skills that can stand some improvement, when you fill out the worksheets. Be honest; nobody’s interviewing you yet (except you). Sure, you can just think the answers, but writing them is better since it makes them clearer and easier to remember.
Please put a checkmark next to the following skills you think you possess. (A mental checkmark is fine, as long as you keep track.)
People Skills
Talking one-to-one
Talking to groups
Talking on radio or TV
Writing (articles, letters, reports, speeches)
Listening
Teaching
Persuading
Selling
Negotiating
Motivating
Managing
Helping
Obeying instructions
Performing
Making people laugh
Mentoring
Resolving conflict
Please put a checkmark next to the following skills you think you possess. (A mental checkmark is fine, as long as you keep track.)
Job Savvy
The higher level your transferable skills, the more you can set yourself apart from other job-hunters for the same job. Also, jobs that require higher-level transferable skills tend to demand more initiative and creative thinking, instead of following orders and a fixed routine, and tend to offer more of a future.
Information Skills
Please put a checkmark next to the following skills you think you possess. (A mental checkmark is fine, as long as you keep track.)
Things Skills
Operating (which machines, software, or vehicles)
Repairing
Assembling
Building
Carpentry
Renovating
Craft making
Painting
Sculpting
Cooking
Taking care of or training animals
Gardening
Farming
Playing a musical instrument
Think about the actual tasks you performed in your jobs. Use numbers to be as specific as possible. Perhaps you are a social worker responsible for a caseload of three dozen families, a publicist solely responsible for several clients who works as part of a team, a manager who supervises 10 people, a salesperson who handles dozens of accounts in one region, or a secretary to two executives.
Any time you had a goal, took steps to achieve it, overcame challenges or problems, and had a positive result—at work or outside of work—is an accomplishment. Employers dearly love accomplishments that made money, saved money or time, or increased efficiency, so be sure to use numbers to show how important your accomplishment was. Perhaps you brought in a new client, which increased your firm’s fees by $3,000 a month. Or you oversaw the design of a website, which raised your employer’s sales by 8 percent, or captained your debate team and led it to victory in the regional finals (to use a college example).
Job Jargon
An accomplishment is an action or event which succeeded, thanks to you. You took actions to achieve a goal, and overcame challenges or problems to reach a positive result. Back up your accomplishment with numbers, if you can, to strengthen it.
Maybe you even won an award or honor for your accomplishment—like Salesperson of the Year for your company or division, or Employee of the Month.
How much you liked the job and other information that doesn’t fit anywhere else goes here.
Work Experience Worksheet |
|---|
Employer Name __________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Address ________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Phone __________________________________________ |
Employment Dates _____________ to _________________ |
My Title(s) ______________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Salary __________________________________________ |
Hours Each Week _________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Supervisor’s Name and Title _________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Supervisor’s E-mail _______________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Duties __________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Skills Used ______________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Accomplishments or Awards ________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Why I Left (or Plan on Leaving) ______________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Other Information _________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Don’t forget your volunteer work—fill out this worksheet in much the same way as your work experience worksheet, and think in terms of skills used, accomplishments, awards, and specific numbers. Some people have landed jobs thanks to experience they gained in nonpaid positions. Perhaps you chaired the fund-raising committee of the local chapter of a charity, or worked on the recruitment committee or wrote the newsletter for a professional association of which you are a member.
Include for each organization ...
Name, address, and phone number.
Name, title, and e-mail address of your supervisors.
Your titles.
How long you were involved (years and months).
Your duties and responsibilities.
Skills you used.
Your accomplishments or awards.
Your supervisory experience, including how many people you managed and their titles.
How many hours each month.
Volunteer Experience Worksheet |
|---|
Organization Name ________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Address ________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Phone __________________________________________ |
Activity Dates ______________ to ___________________ |
Hours Each Month ________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Supervisor’s Name and Title _________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Supervisor’s E-mail _______________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Your Title _______________________________________ |
Duties __________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Supervisory Experience ____________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Accomplishments or Awards ________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Other Information _________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
The more recent your time in college or graduate school, the more reason to include information like major and minor, degree earned, scholarships, and honors like cum laude. If you are still a student, include how many credits you’ve earned to date. If you didn’t attend college, answer the questions about your high school.
College Worksheet |
|---|
College Name (and Campus) ________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Address ________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Phone __________________________________________ |
Years Attended ________________ to ________________ |
Degree _________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Major and Minor _________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
GPA/Class Rank __________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Scholarships or Honors _____________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Important Courses ________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Internships ______________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Graduate/Business/Law/Medical School Worksheet |
|---|
School Name ____________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Address ________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Phone __________________________________________ |
Years Attended ________________ to ________________ |
Degree _________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Major and Minor _________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
GPA/Class Rank _________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Scholarships or Honors _____________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Important Courses ________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Internships ______________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Be sure to include any activities you’re involved in, from the glee club or a sports team at school; community activities like a local theater group, chamber of commerce, or school board; or a solo activity like backpacking through Europe on vacation, starting a sideline business during college, or writing articles which were published. Include any committees you chaired, participated in, or helped spearhead; duties; accomplishments; and honors.
Activities Worksheet |
|---|
Activity #1 ______________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Office Held or Committee ___________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Participation _____________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Awards or Honors ________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Activity #2 ______________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Participation _____________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Awards or Honors ________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Include any awards or honors that don’t fit in elsewhere, whether they were from a community group or from the White House.
Other Awards/Honors Worksheet |
|---|
Name of Award #1 ________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Received From ___________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Date ___________________________________________ |
Reason _________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Other Information _________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Received From ___________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Date ___________________________________________ |
Reason _________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Other Information _________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Don’t ignore your military service, because lots of employers look favorably upon job-hunters who have spent time in our country’s armed forces, and regard it as valuable training. Include your duties, final rank, skills, accomplishments, and any honors (like the Purple Heart).
Military Service Worksheet |
|---|
Armed Forces Branch ______________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Rank at Discharge _________________________________ |
Dates __________________ to ______________________ |
Duties __________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Special Training |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Honors or Awards |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
Accomplishments |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
_______________________________________________ |
You’ve now assembled quite a considerable amount of information about yourself. Now, read over the things you’ve done well and enjoyed in your work, school, and personal life. Think about how to tell a short, punchy story about each of these accomplishments that shows how you did it and how you tackled any obstacles, and reveals one or more of your good points.
Look for common threads. You may notice that certain points—your eagerness to take initiative instead of following orders, your fascination for foreign countries and peoples, or your cool decision making under pressure—that keep popping up again and again. These are great things to mention in job interviews and on resumés, because they help set you apart from the pack of other job-hunters vying for the same job—many of whom may also have five years of experience, and went to the same college. Remember your accomplishments when planning your job-hunt, because you’ll obviously be more motivated and interested working at something you enjoy and have had success in than something that bores you to tears, right?
Think also about mistakes you’ve made in your work, school, and personal life, and what you’ve learned from them.
Success Story Questions
Ask yourself these questions to start those answers flowing, and write them down. You’ll find some of these questions shockingly similar to the ones many interviewers will ask you. So you’ll be prepared.
Bet you feel like you know yourself a lot better now, huh? Your answers about your work and volunteer experience, education, and activities are the building blocks of most job interview questions. Better you grill yourself about this stuff now before an interviewer grills you about it later. In the next chapter, you begin telling stories about your work and nonwork life to illustrate the facts you’ve supplied here.
If you don’t know yourself and what you offer, how can you expect a perfect stranger to?
Your transferable skills can be applied to other jobs that are more or less similar to the one you have.
Write down your work, volunteer, college, activity, and military experience to help jog your memory.
Think in terms of accomplishments, skills, honors, and awards in your work and nonwork life.
Learn to tell “success stories” about your experiences that illustrate a trait, accomplishment, or challenge overcome.