Interview Mistakes: Poor Storytelling
By Jeff Altman, The Big Hunter
At this point you have to know that at some point in the interview, you will be asked behavioral interview questions that should be answered in story form. Then you figure out your answer in the interview. WRONG!
00:00 Intro
00:45 What you should do instead
01:58 The penalty for poor preparation
02:21 Summary
02:40 Outro
Interview Mistakes: Vomiting on People
Poor storytelling is one of the most common mistakes people make when you’re interviewing. I’m Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter. People hire me for no BS job search advice and coaching globally, because I make the process so much easier. Not just simply a job search but there are a lot of other things I do as well.
So when I talk about poor storytelling, you know there’s going to be a point in the interview, where they’re going to switch over to what’s called behavioral interview questions. Invariably, they start off by saying, “Tell me about a time when you …” and that’s the opportunity for storytelling.
Now in advance of the interview, given what you know about the job before the interview, create three stories highlighting your achievements that would help someone realize that you can do this job. Usually what happens is that people arrive at the interview, and they’re asked a question, and then they come up with the answer there, rather than, in advance, preparing your stories, so that you have the framework to understand how to answer the question.
Now again, what you do is look at a job description, or review what you’ve been told about the job by the person who introduced you to it, or the recruiter who scheduled the appointment (By the way, ask the recruiter for the job description they’re working from). And then from there, having three stories ready that deal with the situation that you stepped into, or the tasks that you were assigned, any obstacles that were part of your solution, what you did, and what the result was, in terms of money, save money earned, or percentage improvement over what previously existed.
If you don’t take the time to engage your interviewer through the story, you can become forgettable amongst your competition. And your job is to connect with them. And if you’re dull and boring in your answers, because you’re making it up on the fly, you’re going to wind up losing opportunities you really want to get.
So again, improve your storytelling. Make sure you’re interesting to the interviewer, and pre-interview prepare at least three stories that connect the dots between your experience and what they might be looking for based upon the job description, or what you were told.
I hope you found this helpful. I’m Jeff Altman. Visit my website TheBigGameHunter.us The blog has a ton to help you. Plus you can schedule time for a free discovery call, schedule time for coaching. ask me questions with Trusted Advisor Services. Find out about my video courses, books and guides. Again the website is TheBigGameHunter.us
Lastly, connect with me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter. Have a terrific day and be great.
Interview Mistakes: You Don’t Shut Up
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
People hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS Career Advice globally because he makes many things in peoples’ careers easier. Those
things can involve job search, hiring more effectively, managing and leading better, career transition, as well as advice about resolving workplace issues.
Schedule a discovery call at my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with over 2600 episodes.
Website: https://www.TheBigGameHunter.us (schedule a paid coaching session, a free discovery call or ask questions using my Trusted Adviser Services)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter
Courses: https://www.TheBigGameHunter.us/courses
Books and Guides: https://www.TheBigGameHunter.us/books
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