I love this question because most people fall into the obvious traps.
So people have the first part down. They can identify what it is about themselves that people are wrong about. For example, I’m not approachable. Because the next part of this is when they asked this question, they want to understand how self-aware you are to understand your part in this.
You see, people think of you in a particular way, not because you’re a mean ogre. For example, if you identify yourself as having a temper, or they think you have a temper, what’s your part in that? Skip the temper answer? There’s no good way of responding to that one!
But if you talk about, “they think of me as being unapproachable.” And you can say, “that’s part of that’s my job title. Now, people tend to be afraid of being in interactions with someone at my level. But the reality is, my part in this is I don’t reach out to people that much because I’m so engrossed in my work. I don’t have my staff think of me as being approachable.” See where I’m going with this?
It’s always about your part in this and, you know, you’ve been trying to be more conscious. “But lately, you know, the workload is just enormous. We’re understaffed right now. We’re trying to bring on people but the reality is right now that’s my biggest issue concerning how people misconstrue my behavior.”
So, it’s not just the direct answer. Always think of your part in this when you answer this question.
Ⓒ The Big Game Hunter, Inc., Asheville, NC 2020
ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTER
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves career coaching, all as well as executive job search coaching, job coaching, and interview coaching. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with more than 1800 episodes, and is a member of The Forbes Coaches Council.
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