Situational Interview Questions - Answers that'll get you hired
Submitted by: Kimi
Situational Interviewing Complete Overview with example questions and answers.
You’re in an interview for a job. The interviewer puts you in a hypothetical ‘situation’ and then asks you, ‘how you would react to that?’ or ‘Tell me about a time when this has happened to you and what did you do about it?’ (“Aargh! I didn’t expect that”)
At this type of question, most people unless they are really cool customers who are very inventive, do mental somersaults, and realise that they’ve probably blown their chances on this occasion. Do not let this happen to you! There is a simple way of approaching these types of question and delivering your answers in such a manner, as to make a real impression on the person on the other side of the desk who’s got the job that you want!
Here’s the secret! It’s all down to preparation, before you even enter the room. Do this properly and you will already be streets ahead of your rivals. Firstly, get examples of the types of questions that an interviewer is likely to pose. A simple search on the internet will give you examples. Read it thoroughly, and analyse what it is that the interviewer is really asking you? Try this one:
“Give me an example from your previous job where you had to rely on information given to you verbally to complete a task.”
Okay, Analyse. What are you really being asked about? Is this actually about a particular instance where this has happened? No! It’s your listening skills in general, that are under the spotlight here. Prepare to show within your response how you listened attentively, queried any areas of ambiguity, and restated the task back to ensure clarity and what the positive outcome was. Explain how you did it a step at a time.
Now that sounds quite difficult, but if you break these questions of your own down to their component parts, the problem is also reduced down by a proportionate amount! In the case above there are four different components to concentrate on.
So, by your preparation, you are going to make this difficult question four times easier than it was before!
Find an appropriate occasion, suitable to the ‘Situation’ question that you have faced. Then concentrate one by one, on the components. What did you do on each one of the components? What actions did you take that shows you in a positive light?
There are only so many types of situations that can be put to you. So, by putting in extra effort before the interview you can identify the type of question for what it really is: i.e. what is really being asked about me here? Write them down and learn them. Practice your scenarios over in your head. Become accustomed to them, so that your positive, confident and fully (unknown to the interviewer) practiced answer is given with an easy and professional confidence. Plan ahead and win!
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