Heart Racing, Palms Sweaty…Speaking? No – Interviewing!
Besides having to speak before a crowd, I sometimes think that interviewing for a position is the next scariest thing for many people. It isn’t that the skills, experience and capabilities are insufficient for the next role, it is more how to convey them in such a way that the interviewer or hiring manager or CEO gets the value you bring to the table.
Preparation is certainly key, what about practice? Practice can reduce anxiety and allow for greater ease whether it is a one on one or a panel interview. Crafting your stories to match the skill sets and requirements of the position helps your readiness. The thing is you can write out what you want to say yet I have learned that speaking what you want to say changes the context of what you have written. You may practice with a recorder and that will make it easier or…
What if you had some help and support, someone to hear what you say or help you craft your stories?
I help you refine your stories to reflect the contributions you will make to the new company, to convey and translate how your strengths and capabilities will add value, and solve some of their toughest problems. You will learn to articulate how you will meet their challenges and exceed their expectations.
Things to consider: Transferable skills, hard skills, soft skills, interview types
New roles may require using the same skills in a new way. These are called transferable. Transferable skills can include communication, interpersonal, problem solving, critical thinking, hiring, interviewing, organizational development, leadership, developing people, financial management, selling, persuasion, time management etc. skills you currently possess and may use now. It is easy to identify your hard transferrable skills because they are evident. What is harder to measure and define are the softer skills you use – how you use them now and how they will translate into your new role.
Career transitions and promotional readiness candidates especially need to articulate their transferrable skills with specific examples to stand above the other potential leaders. This is even more relevant when you are moving up within an organization and have several other people in line for the same position.
What is the difference between hard skills and soft skills?
Hard skills include specific knowledge, technical abilities, mechanical, and things that are quantifiable and easily measured. Some examples include computer programming, typing, accounting, math, physics, statistics, coding, chemistry and software expertise like Microsoft Office, CRM etc.
Soft skills are the intangibles like collaboration, listening, communication, decision-making, risk taking, teamwork, flexibility, social awareness, relationship building, empowerment, integrity, life-long learning. The interviewer will often use behavioral style or situational questions to determine your level of expertise.
What does a behavioral or situational question look like? The following sample is one of many ways you could answer the question. What is important is to create a series of answers for the most frequently asked questions for the role.
Behavioral Question : “When someone says tell me how you motivate your team? In your answer include how you lead.” What would you say?
“My leadership style is collaborative. When I first took over as Senior Leader I noticed bickering and low employee engagement. I decided to walk among them and see what projects they were working on and what conditions they were working with to accomplish the objectives. I did this over a two week period. I noticed that most people were working on their own without any participation from their assigned team. Rather than interfere with the work, I invited their managers to a troubleshooting meeting asking them to bring with them all the systems that were working well and what they thought could be improved, how their teams worked together and ideas of how to make things more interactive between them. By doing this I felt I empowered them to come up with a solution to some of the challenges they and their teams were facing. This allowed me to demonstrate how I would be working with them in the future. Soon the environment and work flow was more easeful; people were smiling more and helping each other in new ways. The results were increased morale, a better team spirit, empowered leaders and an overall increase in productivity.”
Next consider what are your most relevant experiences for the role you desire? What if they ask you to create a presentation for how you would solve a problem or develop a solution or advancement for a project? Would feedback on your presentation be helpful?
There are many great resources on the internet for ways to best prepare for an interview. It bears repeating from the first that the best way to help nail your interview is practice. Practice one on one with someone who has interviewed and hired for a wide range of positions. Practice with me!
Do you know how to talk about your specific accomplishments, the challenges you faced and overcame, the problems you solved in a way that reveals why you are the best? For some ideas on how to gather your stories, please ask for the one page “cheat sheet” on creating accomplishment statements.
And the most important piece of information I can give you as one who has recruited as well as hired – be yourself! Come from the most authentic part of you…come from your mind combined with your heart and you will come across as someone they will want on their team, to lead their organization, or fulfill the role for which you are being interviewed. You’ve got this!
Finding the right fit for you and then being able to showcase yourself with confidence is crucial to securing your next role. I would love to help you crush it! – Kathy Holdaway, Owner Mind of the Heart Coaching
Why hire me:
My recruiting, interviewing and hiring experiences include managerial candidates, sales managers and sales professionals for Fortune 500 companies, staff and leader positions in small and mid-sized businesses, clinical research associates, scientists and other drug development roles. I currently coach highly qualified Special Operators at The Honor Foundation as they transition from the military to a civilian career including positions ranging from the C-Suite to Program Management, Sales and Logistics. My work with them includes developing and creating their accomplishment statements in corporate speak and practicing answers for behavioral style questions for their next role.
Additional free resources include: One Page Cheat Sheet on Interview Follow-Up and a One Page Cheat Sheet “Basic Interview Prep.
Kathy@mindoftheheartcoaching.com