Okay, now your interviewer zeroes in for the kill ... I mean, he or she wants to know more about your work experience, in what seems like excruciating detail—how, why, when, and where—to make sure you’re not fibbing, exaggerating, or omitting important information. Let’s hope there’s a good job at the end of this ordeal. Thank goodness you filled out all your work experience worksheets in Chapter 2 to jog your memory. You did, didn’t you? If not, there’s still time. But this is your last chance. You don’t want to go into battle—I mean, into an interview—unarmed.

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 did you like the least about your current/ previous job?

The interviewer wants to see a comfortable amount of contrast between what you dislike in a job and this job.

Good answer: Read over the things you disliked from your work experience worksheets in Chapter 2, and choose aspects that most likely will not be found in the job you are interviewing for. Try to show how this job shines in contrast to the job you want to leave (or left), but be brief.

Bad answer: A long litany of ghastly features about your current or previous job, which makes the interviewer think you are a malcontent who will soon compile a similar list if hired. Or features that (oops) bear a striking resemblance to the job you are interviewing for.

What did you like the most about your current/previous job?

He or she wants to see lots of similarity between what you like in a job and this job.

Good answer: Read over the things you liked from your work experience worksheets, then choose aspects that most likely will be found in the job you are interviewing for as well. Cite them with enthusiasm, not as if you’re reading the phone book. After all, you stayed at your job a while.

Bad answer: There is little or nothing you like about your current or previous job, which begs the question of why you lingered there so long.

Job Savvy

Take notes, if you wish. You may want to ask a question provoked by something the interviewer said, or may want to research something more to prepare for future interviews here.

Describe a project you were responsible for that was not successful or did not meet expectations. How were you involved, and, looking back, what would you do differently?

The interviewer knows experienced managers have been around the block and made some mistakes. But he or she wants to know your confidence is tempered with being self-aware and humble enough to admit to a mistake, and that you learned from it and so won’t repeat it.

Good answer: A candid example of a project that did not do well, but taught you a valuable lesson that you then applied to another project, which succeeded because you were able to identify a potential problem and nip it in the bud.

Bad answer: An arrogant denial that you were ever involved in a project that did not succeed, which is so unlikely the interviewer concludes you are either lying or can’t look at your mistakes objectively. Or a disaster in which even now you find it difficult to identify the root causes and the role you played.

What do you hope to accomplish here that you didn’t accomplish with your current/previous employer?

The interviewer wants to know you and he or she are on the same page as to what you can expect from the job, the employer, and yourself.

Good answer: An answer that shows you have this employer’s goals and mission at heart and are committed to meeting its needs.

Bad answer: A response that shows you have too much of a personal agenda in completing unfinished business with your current/previous employer, and are not on the same page (or possibly even in the same book) as the interviewer.

How creative are you?

He or she hopes you display the right amount of creativity for this job.

Good answer: Since some jobs require more creativity than others, decide how much creativity is required in the job at hand and answer accordingly. Give an example or two of creative solutions you devised to problems at work. If you are a publicist charged with coming up with story ideas and strategies to get your clients in the news media, a high degree of creativity is demanded. Not so for creativity in an accountant (which may cause problems, instead of solve them).

Bad answer: An answer that shows your creativity is not on par with the job’s demands, or that you are too creative for a job that does not demand it—so you will be frustrated and bored.

What are the three most important factors you evaluate when considering a new position?

He or she wants to be comfortable with your priorities in a job.

Good answer: Priorities most employers can agree with, such as opportunity for professional growth, more responsibilities, the chance to work for this particular employer, and salary.

Bad answer: Naming a priority that will set off an alarm bell with the interviewer since it shows you give top billing to your own personal needs and motives, like an easy commute, proximity to a golf course or to your child’s day-care center, or being paid overtime for an extra few hours in the employer’s work week.

What do your managers tend to criticize most about your work?

The interviewer hopes this is a fairly minor and correctable flaw that reflects what you regard as your biggest weakness.

Good answer: Assume they will check with your former and current managers, so your response should be consistent with theirs. You may feel a sense of déjà vu all over again (as Yogi Berra once said), since you’ve already been quizzed about your greatest weakness and a failure or two, so your answer should mesh with these, too.

Bad answer: What, me criticized about my work? Interviewers will assume you’re in denial or lying if you pretend your work has never been criticized. They also won’t like it if you cite a trait that will interfere with your job performance, like lack of focus, procrastination, or not being hardworking enough.

Job Jinx

The most common reason why people quit a job is because of a bad relationship with their boss or manager, a Gallup survey of over 1 million U.S. workers found.

Have you ever fired anyone? If so, why?

The interviewer wants to know your decision was made for purely professional reasons, and that the unfortunate worker was given a chance to improve after his or flaws were documented, but failed to do so.

Good answer: Show that you possess “the right stuff” to be a manager, which includes the distinctly unpleasant task of ridding your employer of workers who do not perform up to snuff, or whose entire division is being downsized, right-sized, or whatever-sized. If you didn’t have the authority to fire anyone, you can cite times when your opinion was sought on another employee’s performance.

Bad answer: An answer that dwells too much on the negative aspects of the employee’s behavior, which makes the firing sound personal. Or one that shows you are so tender-hearted that you won’t be apt to fire anyone again.

Have you ever hired anyone? If so, why?

The interviewer is trying to evaluate your management potential and people skills.

Good answer: Show that you hired people for valid reasons and with your employer’s particular needs and mission in mind. If you lacked the authority to hire anyone, cite times when you weighed in on hiring prospective employees.

Bad answer: Failure to articulate a good reason why you hired someone.

Have you ever worked for a difficult person?

He or she wants to see what you regard as a difficult person, and that you aren’t vindictive.

Good answer: Be careful not to bad-mouth an ex-boss, since saying yes means you’ve pegged yourself as A-okay and your ex-boss as an ogre. A safe response is to hedge a bit and say, “If by difficult you mean ...”—and then cite a generally agreed, abstract managerial fault, like setting deadlines and then moving them up or making them more onerous midstream, or failure to ever delegate—“yes, I have,” and cite an example and how you coped.

Bad answer: Yes, then citing a personal trait (your ex-boss was mean or abusive), or a litany of fault-finding about your ex-boss.

Sell me this pen (or any other object) ....

The interviewer wants to see if you understand the basic concepts of selling—finding the product benefits and how they stack up against the competition—plus how you communicate and how fast you are thinking on your feet.

Good answer: After you get over the initial shock, ask a few questions about the specific object at hand if its benefits are not clear to you. Then sell away, answering the interviewer’s questions and listening to, then seeking to overcome any objections. Nowadays, everything has to be sold, from ideas to causes to products.

Bad answer: Stunned, helpless silence, or protesting that you’re not applying for a salesperson’s job.

How did your current/previous job relate to the overall goals of your employer and department?

The interviewer wants to know the role you played as part of the team in the sales division or production department, and how this department fit in with other divisions of the employer.

Good answer: No matter how junior your job, be sure to explain how it fit into the overall scheme of things in its department and the employer.

Bad answer: An answer that makes the interviewer think you were just pushing paper or answering phones, a little island unconnected to, and with only the vaguest notion of, the employer’s mission.

Job Savvy

If you lack experience, play up your skills and good personality traits, like your enthusiasm. If you lack skills, play up your good traits and note your eagerness to learn the skills on the job, or take classes on the side.

Did you work on any major project in your current/previous job? If so, what?

He or she wants to know you used your skills to help on a project important to your employer.

Good answer: Read over your work experience worksheets from Chapter 2 to find anything pertinent, and your volunteer work and activity worksheets if you can’t. Perhaps you worked on a project that was presented to top management at your employer or a client, even as an assistant. Or helped launch the grand opening of a hotel, store, or restaurant; chaired (or worked on) the fund-raising committee of a charity or the annual conference committee of a professional association of which you are a member; or even supervised the building of your new home or planned a month-long solo vacation abroad.

Bad answer: No, or dead silence, which makes the interviewer wonder why you were never considered for a major project, or even handled one of your own volition.

Have you been responsible for budgeting, approving expenses, and meeting financial goals?

Being in charge of a budget and having the authority to approve expenses shows your employer (or an organization or nonprofit) had confidence in your abilities as a manager, the interviewer believes.

Good answer: If you did, note the size of the budget and expenses you were able to approve. If you didn’t, but had to set and meet goals for projects you worked on, cite this.

Bad answer: Don’t fall into the trap of claiming you supervised lots of people in answer to another question, and now admit to no financial responsibility. The interviewer won’t believe it.

Enough already; can’t they see the perfect person for the job? But the only way to prepare for detailed questions about past jobs is to analyze your experience so you can distill it into stories you can tell about how you mastered challenges, hired and fired for good reasons, dealt with criticism, and your favorite things about past jobs (which features are strikingly similar to the job you’re applying for). Now they know what you’ve done. In Chapter 6, they find out what you know.