How to avoid that bad interview

Don’t Say Too Much During an Interview!!

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Do you tend to give long answers when someone asks a question? Giving long answers is not desirable during the job interview, unless perhaps you are interviewing with a panel of government employees. In “100+ Winning Answers to the Toughest Interview Questions,” Casey Hawley notes: “Interviewers want exactly the information they ask for--and not a sentence more.”
   
   Dare to perform better in your next interview using these three ways to avoid providing lengthy answers:

2. The Power of the Pause
   
   This is an obvious tip that many people have heard before. What is the power of the pause? It is not just a chance for you to gather your thoughts before replying to a question. The pause is also a chance for the interviewer to watch you and anticipate what you are going to say. The pause shouldn’t be too short or too long, but it should always be there.

3. Leave Out Unimportant Details
   
   If you are giving an answer to your interviewer, you might be tempted to explain things too much. The explanation is the part where your answer becomes too long. If you focus on providing only the most important details and ideas in your answers, you can keep the length reasonable. Occasionally, there comes a question that does require a longer response. It is okay to respond more once or twice during the interview, but save that longer response for a really important question.

4. Don’t Rephrase the Question
   
   In school, you learned that rephrasing a question is a good way to start an essay. Remember the time factor that your interviewer faces. Every moment you waste is keeping the interviewer away from other duties. You need to get to the point right away after your powerful pause. Don’t waste time rephrasing the question. The only time you should is if you are really not sure what the interviewer is asking.
   
   Interviewing for a new job is challenging. Some people tend to give long answers because they are nervous or because they want to portray exactly why they are right for the job. Sometimes interviewing is not about showing why you are exactly right. It is about the combination of why you might be right and why you are a good person to have around the office.

Tips & Warnings

• Finding the right information to reveal about yourself is something to consider prior to each interview.

[huanton]

on 10/22/2008 Great advice! 5 stars!