How to Answer an Interview Question on Previous Job Experience

The interview for a new job can be intimidating for some but if a person is proactive and prepared, the interview can be a good experience. Interviews are universal in their general questions, and preparation for these questions makes the interview a positive experience.

Instructions

1. Highlight the positive experiences from a previous job and stay away from any negatives. If an applicant starts to degrade a previous job experience he appears negative and can make a potential employer much less likely to hire him or her.

2. Talk about how previous experience directly relates to the position for which the person is interviewing. Too many times a person will talk about their accomplishments from their perspective. The applicant needs to relate exactly how their experience will benefit the company and not just rattle off a list of what they have done. It is not about you as much as it is what you can do to benefit the company.

3. Cover any significant periods of unemployment with a plausible and well thought out explanation. Do not use a vague or incomplete answer if asked about any gaps in the employment history. A person should appear productive throughout their previous work history.

4. Cite specific examples of certain accomplishments at a previous job. Sometimes an interviewee will say something like "I managed a 200 million dollar budget." well that is incomplete. You need to go into detail of specific situations that arose during the management of that budget.

5. Use the names of previous bosses or fellow employees when relating previous job experiences. It personalizes and makes those experiences more tangible to the interviewer.

6. Keep the answers on point, informative and relatively brief. Remember the more a person says, the more opportunities for the interviewer to find fault in a potential new hire.