Most interviewers are very curious about your previous work experience. They assume, rightly or wrongly, that your behavior in another job will repeat itself in this one. They also want to see that you have done similar work before, and well. So be ready to be interrogated ... I mean, asked ... in detail about your former jobs, bosses, employers, and accomplishments. Hiring a perfect stranger is a risk, and your interviewer is simply trying to minimize the risk in hiring you. Be positive about your past jobs, even if your boss was a sadist and you wish your ex-employer the worst of luck.

Job Savvy

Each bolded interview question is followed by a description of what the interviewer is trying to ascertain by asking the question. Then you will be given examples of good answers and bad answers to the question.

What were some major accomplishments in your last job (or career)?

The interviewer is hoping that you will repeat these accomplishments in the job at hand.

Good answer: Look over the worksheets you filled out in Chapter 2 to find accomplishments relevant to this job. Perhaps you exceeded your sales quota, obtained publicity in major media outlets for your client which significantly impacted its business, took classes you paid for to improve your skills in certain areas, or managed your department on an interim basis until your boss was replaced.

Bad answer: Dead silence, a fumbling response, or something trivial—like managing to wake up every morning and make it into work—which creates fear in the interviewer’s heart that you have had no accomplishments so far. The likelihood you will have accomplishments in this job falls considerably.

Job Savvy

Always try to tie in your past jobs, experience, and skills with the needs and requirements of the job you are interviewing for. If they were in different industries but basically the same type of job, emphasize the similarities—show your skills are “transferable” to another industry. If your previous jobs were very different, don’t spend much time on them.

What was your favorite job—and why?

The interviewer wants to be confident you will be a good fit for this job and do it with enthusiasm.

Good answer: You liked a certain job because it meshed well with your talents, interests, and skills—explain what they are—just like this job. Even if your favorite job differed in some ways with this job, show how this job is more suitable for you now.

Bad answer: A response that shows your favorite job bears no dim resemblance to the one you are interviewing for, but reveals the sort of job you really want. Thus the chance you will do this job with enthusiasm is slim to none. Perhaps you enjoyed a laid-back, casual atmosphere and this job is a pressure cooker. Or you adored working alone so much, but this job demands a strong team spirit with lots of interaction with co-workers.

Tell me about the worst boss you ever had ....

The interviewer wants reassurance that you are a mature professional who is able to get the job done despite difficult people.

Good answer: A mild answer that shows a classic example of what most people regard as a bad boss, but shows you understand the pressures bosses labor under as well. There’s even room to showcase your good qualities in your response. Perhaps your boss insisted on knowing about your projects only after they were finished, and seemed bothered by your weekly status reports on their progress, which shows how conscientious you are.

Bad answer: An answer that shows negativity, sounds like you don’t accept criticism well or blame your troubles on other people, or makes the interviewer question why your boss treated you this way. For example, hearing about a boss who often berated you about how you handled clients may make the interviewer wonder if such concern was justified. Complaining that a boss didn’t mentor you may sound like belly-aching, since mentors can be found among colleagues who are not your boss and outside your organization as well, in, for example, a professional association.

Job Jinx

Don’t be negative. Even if you liken your previous job to a stint in hell and your ex-boss to a screaming maniac, mum is the word. The interviewer will assume you have trouble getting along with other people and blame others instead of taking responsibility for your problems. Instead, focus on the abstract and what you learned—for example, the pressure-cooker environment taught you to multitask and order your priorities.

Tell me about the best boss you ever had ....

The interviewer wants to know you value the attributes of a good manager.

Good answer: Your favorite boss helped you learn by sharing his or her knowledge, gave you regular, honest feedback on your progress, and was generous with praise when you did well. He or she motivated and even inspired you, gave you credit for your contributions, and gave you enough freedom to make your own decisions.

Bad answer: You liked your boss for vague or minor reasons—because he or she was “nice,” used to drink with you after work, or shared your alma mater or interest in fishing or football.

Is there anything you could have done to improve the situation with your worst boss?

The interviewer wants to know you learn from your mistakes and now have insight into difficult situations.

Good answer: Yes—you have learned to take criticism better, seek more feedback on your progress, and how to anticipate your manager’s needs.

Bad answer: No—he or she was a monster who everybody hated. Or that you quit because of this boss.

What was the biggest failure in your career?

He or she wants reassurance that you admit your mistakes, are not blinded by arrogance, and learn from them.

Good answer: You used to try to do everything yourself and were often overwhelmed, but you learned to delegate and manage your time better. Or another not-so-bad weakness or failure, ideally one that can also be seen as a virtue, that you have learned to overcome so you don’t fail this way again.

Bad answer: Admitting a trait that will interfere with doing this job well, like having a hard time meeting deadlines if this job is very deadline-oriented, finding it hard to focus if the job is detail-oriented, requiring lots of concentration, or having trouble making fast decisions if the job needs someone who can think on their feet. Or arrogantly bragging that you never failed at anything.

Job Savvy

They have my resumé ... so why are they asking about my job history? Yes, it’s true your resumé lists your work experience. But that’s just bare-bones facts—the interviewer wants the story behind the story. What you actually did in your jobs, what you were like as an employee, any stellar accomplishments, your work and thinking style—and if you’ll drive them nuts. They don’t want to wait until you’re hired to find out; hiring and training can be costly.

How can you make sure a mistake like that doesn’t occur again?

The interviewer wants to know your mistake taught you to develop procedures so you don’t keep repeating the same mistake.

Good answer: Show that you’ve learned from your experience and carefully figured out an effective way to avoid repeating your mistake. Perhaps your phone calls now go to voice mail or are answered by an assistant for several hours so you can get caught up and avoid being overwhelmed. Or you now build in a cushion of time to complete a project and start it early, since you’ve learned it takes more time to obtain needed information than you thought.

Bad answer: An answer that shows you haven’t given enough thought to it, which means it’s very likely the mistake will happen again.

Job Jinx

Watch out for inconsistencies. Interviewers are alert to facts in your resumé that don’t match what you claim in interviews, and love to probe deeper to catch you in exaggerations, “white lies,” or omissions. So beware you don’t wax forth on a job unlisted on your resumé, and don’t say you were at a job for a few months, while your resumé misleadingly says 2003–2004.

Have you ever managed people?

Advancement in most careers usually means managing others and shows you have won the respect of your employer, so the interviewer hopes you have.

Good answer: Yes, and note how many and their job functions. If not in your job, you have managed people in your volunteer work, teaching, or in a club, and have learned to deal with different personalities and work styles. Ideally, you’ve managed roughly the same number of employees in a department similar to the one where the job you are interviewing for is located.

Bad answer: You have no management experience of any kind, and your employer wouldn’t dream of placing you in charge of your fellow human beings. Or you bad-mouth people you have supervised, or pooh-pooh the importance of being a boss, and yearn for the days when you were an underling with fewer responsibilities.

What kinds of people do you have trouble getting along with?

He or she fondly hopes it’s the same sort of people they can’t get along with, or that most hiring managers can’t, either.

Good answer: Co-workers who don’t pull their own weight, forcing others to do their work or causing delays or constant mistakes. Who can find fault with you if you have trouble getting along with people like this? You are merely troubled by the sort of people generally regarded as “problem” employees, and have your employer’s best interests at heart.

Bad answer: An answer like “none” pegs you as unrealistic, evasive, or lacking insight.

Who do you see as our major competition?

The interviewer wants proof you have done your homework and know about the employer, its products or services, its place in its industry, and its strong and weak points versus its competitors. You’ll look very good over equally qualified job-hunters if you handle this question well and they don’t.

Good answer: Naming the employer’s major competitors—which you know from the worksheet you filled out in Chapter 1—but showing you prefer to work for this employer because it has the edge over the competition in some way you specify (even if you are also interviewing with them; remember, no blurting).

Bad answer: Dead silence or a fumbling response, which show you haven’t given enough thought to this employer and your lack of research.

How do you make your major decisions?

He or she hopes you make decisions in a way suitable to the job’s requirements, which meshes with the employer culture.

Good answer: If you’re interviewing to be a research analyst, emphasize how your decisions are based solidly on quantitative data—not on your intuitive, creative streak. Or if you hanker for a creative job in publicity, feature writing, or ad copywriting, stress how you decide based on your hunches, informed by past experience with what works. Be prepared to give an example of a decision you made and how you made it.

Bad answer: You make decisions in a way that is not suitable—or even is risky—for the job you are interviewing for.

Are you organized?

The interviewer wants reassurance that you will get the job done effectively, instead of being so mired in chaos you miss the forest for the trees, and forget deadlines or lose crucial papers.

Job Savvy

Listen carefully. Interviewers often give clues on what the job entails, what sort of person they are looking for, and what the corporate culture is like in what they say. Adapt your answer based on clues you pick up.

Good answer: Show that you know how to manage your time, competing projects, priorities, and/or paperwork. You may be better at some than others, so emphasize these. (Personally, I have an organized mind, a good memory, and prioritize well—but don’t look at my desk.)

Bad answer: Stunned silence, a nervous laugh, or anything that puts you at either end of the spectrum—either chaotic or obsessive-compulsive. (The latter is preferable to the former.)

How do you work under pressure?

The interviewer wants reassurance that “when the going gets tough, the tough get going,” so you won’t crumple and let them down when they need you most.

Good answer: If you face several competing priorities, you figure out which is the most important to your employer and which deadline is the most fixed, and do this first, putting the others on a temporary back burner. If you are overwhelmed by your workload and need extra help, you delegate or alert your boss in enough time to find support. You put your nose to the grindstone and work longer hours when needed without complaint in crunch times. Be prepared to give an example or two.

Bad answer: Dead silence, a nervous laugh, or an example that shows the high-pressure situation was self-caused because you forgot a deadline, were disorganized, or procrastinated.

How do you deal with change?

The interviewer wants to feel confident that you can adapt to change, instead of ignoring or fighting it.

Good answer: You cope well with change—a good thing because if there’s one constant in today’s work world, it’s change: different technology, different goals, different types of customers, different products and services, so employers can stay competitive. Give an example of a time when you were thrown into something brand-new—and how you managed to be a quick study after doing research, rounding up enough expertise, and/or relying upon similar past experiences or your informed instincts.

Bad answer: Any answer that shows you are, if not quite a dinosaur, someone who has to be dragged kicking and screaming into a new situation, is locked in a rut shackled by beliefs like “this is how we always did things around here,” or stubbornly refuses to update outmoded skills.

Job Savvy

Try to show upward progress in your career. Hopefully, your more recent jobs show increased responsibility, a higher salary, and more complex skills. If not, your interviewer may wonder why, so cite something you learned in a recent job, such as a new skill or valuable contacts.

How do you manage your time?

The interviewer wants to be confident that you will meet deadlines, plan your time so you do priorities first over nonpriorities, and devote sufficient time to different tasks and projects.

Good answer: You have a daily to-do list—which you sometimes reorder or add to if a sudden priority takes precedence—and remain aware of longer deadlines looming. You make sure to meet your deadlines—or ask for an extension or more help in sufficient time if a delay seems unavoidable.

Bad answer: Anything that gives the sense that you will often be late—with projects or to meetings—or mired in chaos, jumping from one thing to another without being aware of priorities.

What would you do differently if you could start your career over?

The interviewer wants a sense that you are in the right career and fairly satisfied with its progress—to minimize the chance that you will bolt and leave them in the lurch for a totally different field or to find your soul in India.

Good answer: Either you regret nothing or regret something so minor or so early in your career—for example, starting in a different division before finding your niche, or generalizing instead of specializing from the start—that there is no cause for alarm.

Bad answer: You start grumbling about several things that disappoint you, or wish you could have done almost everything differently. The interviewer now strongly suspects you will be a malcontent stuck in a career not of your own choosing, or scrap your career and start anew in a different field.

Why have you changed jobs so often?

The interviewer wants the sense that you will stay long enough, if hired, to justify the costly and time-consuming hiring (and possibly training) process, even if you haven’t stayed long elsewhere.

Good answer: Persuade the interviewer that, while it took a while to settle on the right direction for your talents and skills, you are now on track and sure that this job is a good match. Or make a case that you wanted to learn, grow, and take on responsibilities far beyond what your previous employers could offer, and you are eager to stay and grow in this particular job. If your ex-employers went out of business due to industry turmoil and you were forced to find a new job, explain this. Obviously, defending job-hopping is easier to pull off earlier in your career than later.

Bad answer: A flip answer that you were bored and there was nothing left to learn, that you didn’t get along with your boss or co-workers, or anything else that will be a red-flag warning to interviewers.

Why have you stayed so long at your current employer in the same position?

He or she is curious if you are unambitious and lack goals and direction.

Good answer: Try to put a positive spin on why you stayed so long without being promoted. Perhaps it was a small firm with little room for advancement in your division or companywide, or perhaps you didn’t mind due to your family responsibilities at the time, but now crave the chance for growth.

Bad answer: Anything that conveys that you are a stick-in-the-mud who tends to “park” yourself at an employer, or that you did not merit a promotion.

This chapter contained more snoopy questions, but this time about your previous jobs and bosses. Because interviewers believe history will repeat itself if they hire someone, be ready to give examples about what you learned and accomplished in past jobs, which you’ll apply to this one. Show insight and objectivity about mistakes you’ve made on the job and “challenging” bosses you’ve had (of course you’re too mature to call them “mean”), if asked. It doesn’t matter so much that you made some mistakes, as long as you recognize them and have taken steps to minimize them occurring in the future.