Hey jobseekers – you can ace any interview if you can confidently speak to these 5 things:
1. Cost or profit– have at least one or two examples of how you’ve reduced cost or increased profit. If you’re in a support function, this is hard – monetize yourself via cost avoidance metrics, YOY and MoM savings or spend reductions and knowing your individual job ROI. Having these numbers can help you answer any questions related to impact and company results. TRUST me – spend a little time calculating these things and write them down with the context of what you did and how you did it.
2. Quality – Prepare 1-2 examples on the WAY you did something or something you created that increased the quality of product or results. Again – write it down and create the story and context into what you did, why and how.
3. Efficiency of work- how did you improve the speed and synergy of a process, policy or practice in your role.
4. Conflict and Problem Solving – always make sure you know a few unique examples of how you process through difficult situations and get results and/or learn or pivot from the challenge. Everyone has failures – it’s how you overcame these and how humbly you can speak to them, that the interviewer is evaluating.
5. Your Elevator pitch. I’ve said this before, but here’s the general formula: “My name is _____. I have XnumberX years of experience in the XfunctionalX space. I’ve worked in/across XindustriesX…with a special emphasis on Xbuckets of work/achievementsX. In my most recent role, I’m focus on Xjob responsibilitesX. I’ve been able to achieve XresultsX, but am now looking to Xgrow or expand or gain exposure inX which is why I’m really interested in this role with XX.
Pro tip – write these down, write down your examples CLEARLY (think STAR format)…ideally memorize them, but at least practice confidently speaking to them….ask chatgpt or google top 20+ interview questions for your type of role – and for every one of your examples – map some of the questions that you can answer with that example (trust me most of these examples can be used for various questions). This way you’ll feel really confident no matter how someone asks you a question, you’ll have the right example to respond.
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