You Have Answers, We Have Questions!

Questions and answers are the currency we trade in job interviews. They help us evaluate the parameters of a potential working relationship, and to feel out whether the various pieces of the picture will “fit” together into a coherent whole.

In preparing for interviews, candidates often spend the bulk of their time anticipating questions and practicing how to answer them. Toward this end, I’m introducing some new features here on the site and as part of the BlogTalkRadio podcast, and tying them in to my practice’s Facebook page.

The first of these features is going to be a cooperative effort between me and John Mayo from Western New England College. We’re calling it “The Grill,” after a Twitter-hashtag fueled mock interview that John and his colleague Mike Hamilton from Landmark Leadership did for their friend and my former client Jenna Magnuski that they tagged as #grillJenna.

The Grill will have three parts:

• The introduction of one interview question each week on the blog, with tips on ways to approach answering the question.
• An invitation to share your responses and get feedback and tips in the comments for that week’s question.
• A call-in segment of the next podcast, devoted to letting people call in and answer the question, and get live feedback on how to refine their approach and their answer.

Another important aspect of the interview is the opportunity to ask questions of the interviewers. Tomorrow’s article will be about this important part of the process, and will give tips on how candidates can use questions to imply their motivation and readiness for a job, and to assess the possible fit between their interests and the position. That article will be a lead-in for Friday’s BlogTalkRadio show with special guest Meghan Harr of Old Dominion University. Meghan shared a great list of questions that she likes to ask during her interviews, that will be available through the website and on my company FaceBook page.