Interview Dos and Don’ts!

Topic Progress:

Interview Dos and Don'ts

This lesson is courtesy of Progressive Insurance, one of our Partner Employers

This topic will take about 5 minutes

As you’re practicing for your interview, review our cheat-sheet below to make sure you’re  following best practices and avoiding common mistakes:

 

Do Don’t
Practice! “Wing it”
Use specific examples. Use words and phrases like “generally,” “usually,” “always” and “most of the time.”
Know your audience. Be prepared to provide context to help your examples make sense. Assume the interviewer is familiar with acronyms from your business area.
Use recent, work-related examples that are relevant to the position. Use personal or outdated examples.
Be succinct. Give enough detail to set the stage (Situation/Task), but plan to spend most of your time talking about your part in the story (Action) and the outcomes you achieved (Result). Give too much detail that distracts from your part in the story or irrelevant information that doesn’t advance your story. Give so few details that the interviewer doesn’t follow.
End your example on a strong note with a compelling outcome. Ramble on, or expect the interviewer to indicate when you’ve shared enough. ∙ Use vague language like “It seemed to work out well” or “Everyone seemed to like it.”
Use “I” language. Give credit to teammates where it’s due, but build your example around the part you played in achieving a successful outcome. Use “We” language that leaves the interviewer wondering what role you played or whether you personally had any influence on the outcome.
Share the thought process behind decisions you made: What alternatives did you consider? What aspects of your experience, skill and knowledge helped you make a good decision? Gloss over details that would give the manager insight into your thought process and decision making skills.
Share the context/importance of your actions. What was at stake? What was the risk of not succeeding? Allow your outcome to fall flat because you didn’t explain how your actions made a difference.
Use “action” words to describe your contribution. Ex. “I convinced my manager that immediate action was needed.” Minimize your actions. Ex. “I sent an email to my manager about the problem.”
Share mistakes when you can show that you learned important lessons that you were able to apply in subsequent situations. Share mistakes without telling what you learned from it. Ex. “I handled an angry customer. He was rude to me. He ended up dropping our insurance.”
Back up your assertions with real-life examples and proven results. For example, share specific examples of relationships you’ve cultivated or people you’ve coached to better performance. Use general statements and adjectives. For example, “I’m a people person.”