Expect questions about your job history. Walking backwards from your most recent position to your first assignment as a fry cook when you were in high school, be ready to state, briefly, your title, primary responsibilities and reasons for leaving. Think in Twitters. Save the lengthy explanations for later.
Expect questions about the job description. Take the job description apart and write down for yourself where you performed or learned or saw or read about each skill and responsibility listed.
Expect questions about who you are as a person. These are called behavioral interview questions and they are just that, questions about how you behave on the job. It was a behavioral question that stumped Bryant and it went something like this:
If you are faced with a stressful situation between two co-workers, or a difference of opinion on how a situation should be handled, how do you deal with that?
Although I stand by my belief that there are no trick questions in interviews, this one comes close. Part one of the question says the disagreement is between two other co-workers. The manager wants to know whether you stay focused and mind your own business or get into the fight at the bar with everyone else. The better choice here is to point out that this is between two other co-workers and you trust they will work it out on their own. Note, you aren't their manager or supervisor, which would change your answer.
Part two of the question asks how you handle conflict generally. Answering behavioral interview questions is best approached with a three part response: Describe a similar situation you actually have been in, describe how you handled it and then tell what you learned or how your behavior changed as a result. That's it.
Practice, practice, practice. Look online for lists of behavioral interview questions and create answers that make sense. When the same questions come up in an interview, you'll be ready.
Julie Desmond is IT Recruiting Manager with George Konik Associates. Send your career planning questions to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
