Rather than simply telling the interviewer about your strengths, demonstrate them through a specific situation where you’ve applied them successfully. Photo: stockcake.com.
Leah Lambart passes on advice she and others gave at the recent Melbourne Career Expo on how to present at job interviews — and major mistakes to avoid.
I recently had the pleasure of presenting an interview preparation workshop at the Melbourne Career Expo alongside other career practitioners representing the Career Development Association of Australia.
After the presentation, several attendees told me the workshop had provided several “lightbulb moments” for them.
It reminded me the biggest barriers to interview success typically aren’t a lack of experience or qualifications; they are simply a lack of understanding about what the hiring panel is really looking for when assessing a candidate.
Here are the five biggest interview mistakes I see time and time again, and the ones I want you to avoid in your future interviews.
Talking about the ”what”, but not the ”how”: This was the biggest lightbulb moment among the workshop participants.
In interview responses, candidates will often say: “I managed a project”; “I led the team”; “I resolved a client’s complaint”. That’s a great start, but interviewers already know what your job involved.
What they really want to understand is how you actually did it.
How did you influence others? How did you build relationships? How did you prioritise competing deadlines? How did you resolve conflict? How did you deal with the challenges on the project?
The more you explain your actions, the easier it is for the interviewer to picture you doing the job and being successful.
Not providing evidence-based responses: Anyone can say they’re organised, resilient or a great communicator. The difference is being able to prove it.
Behavioural interview questions are designed to assess your capability by drawing out evidence-based examples.
Rather than simply telling the interviewer about your strengths, demonstrate them through a specific situation where you’ve applied them successfully.
Evidence-based responses are always more persuasive than speaking generically about what you do.
Using examples that aren’t recent or relevant: One of the biggest mistakes candidates make is preparing examples they like, rather than examples the interviewer needs to hear.
Before every interview, carefully review the job advertisement and identify the key capabilities being assessed. Then choose recent examples that demonstrate those exact skills and will be relevant to what you will be doing in the target role.
The more relevant your examples, the easier it is for the interviewer to imagine you succeeding in the role.
Talking too much … or not enough: Some candidates don’t provide enough detail for the interviewer to properly assess them. Hiring panels may probe for more information, but this shouldn’t be necessary.
Providing a sufficient level of detail will help convince the panel you will succeed in the role.
On the other hand, some candidates include every detail they can remember, often going off on complete tangents and losing the panel in the process.
The key is finding the right balance between under-talking and over-talking. Aim for responses that are structured, concise and focused.
Give enough information to demonstrate your capability, but don’t lose sight of actually answering the question.
A weak finish: One of the easiest opportunities to stand out is also one of the most overlooked.
Rather than ending the interview with a simple: “Thanks for your time”, finish with a brief closing statement that reinforces your enthusiasm and reminds the interviewer why you’re a great fit for the role.
It’s a small detail that can leave a lasting impression.
One of my favourite quotes when it comes to interview preparation is: “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.”
Confidence doesn’t come from just having a lucky day — it comes from thorough preparation.
The candidates who perform best in interviews aren’t always the most experienced or the most technically capable.
More often, they’re the ones who have prepared thoughtful examples, practised their responses and taken the time to really think about things from the recruiter’s perspective.
Leah Lambart is the founder of Relaunch Me, based in Victoria. She helps people find the work that they were meant to do. She can be contacted at [email protected]. This article first appeared on Leah’s blogsite.
