How to Structure Your Answer in a Job Interview?
There are a
variety of formats that are used to conduct job interviews. Sometimes you will be before a
panel of people who will take turns asking you questions. Sometimes only one person
will be meeting with you to ask questions. Some employers may also conduct phone
interviews prior to inviting you for an “in person” meeting.
Despite the format, one of the key components to a successful interview is to keep the
employer focussed. Focussed on what you may be wondering? Focussed on you! On what you are
saying and the message you are trying to get across. When attending an interview, you are
up against many distractions that may have you fighting to keep the attention of those
asking the questions. Bear in mind that people are people and employers, just like you and
I, can get easily bored, can have other things on their minds, and might be suffering from
interview fatigue. In some cases, you may be the fourteenth person they are interviewing
and they may be tired.
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of interviewing, from an employer’s point of view,
is having to sit through long-winded and rambling answers or having to search for the
point in what the applicant is saying. Combine this with the fact that the
interviewers may be approaching fatigue, and you are looking at a no win situation.
So…how do you fight the odds and maximize your chances of success? One of the most
effective ways is to structure your answers. Structuring your answers will ensure that you
are concise and to the point with your responses. It will have a positive effect on
the interview panel, particularly if they just sat through a previous interview with a
candidate who was long winded and was rambling. There are many ways that an interview
panel decides if you will be hired. Sometimes it is be a formal scoring system in which
they are looking for certain content in the responses, or sometimes it is an informal
evaluation. It can also be any variation or combination of the two.
Structuring your answers works in spite of the format being used. Let’s look at an
example:
A Non-Structured Approach:
Interview Panel: Tell us about your experience in project management and
how your experience can make a difference to our company.
Job Applicant: Well, I am managing a project called Trans-go which I have
done for the last fourteen months. I also managed a construction project in the late
eighties but just before my current job, I was a project manager for IBIX Software
Inc. I delivered on each project and I was on budget except for the IBIX job which had its
budget cut. Presently, at T.R.Z.I., I am ahead of schedule and the steering committee is
pleased.
* The problem with this answer is that it is unstructured and incoherent. If the
answer is hard to follow, you can be sure that you will lose points in its evaluation.
Employers do not want to search for the answer; they want you to present it clearly.
Let’s look at the same question, this time with a structured answer.
Interview Panel: Tell us about your experience in project management and
how your experience can make a difference to our company.
Job Applicant:
I would like to begin by providing a brief description of the last three positions I have
had as a project manager. I will then describe the skills I have acquired as a result of
my experience. Lastly, I will demonstrate how these skills will allow your company to move
forward on its goals and objectives.
(At this point, the panel knows that you have understood the question. They know, in
advance, how you will be presenting your answer. They are thus “tuned in” and
ready to listen. Equally as important, you have given yourself a structure to follow
to keep on track.)
The following are some excerpts of the answer:
My present position is with Sunnex Inc where I am the Project Manager for
Trans-go ; a project that will result in the complete automation of freight car
shipping. Prior to that I was Project Manager for…..
In all of these positions, I encountered obstacles and challenges that threatened the
project’s success. I learned to overcome these challenges by employing creative approaches
and group problem solving. I was thus able to keep each project on time, within budget and
within the desirable quality of result. I did this by……..
I am aware that your company is in the process of downsizing and that resources are
fewer today than they were last year. I am also aware that, in spite of this, your
customers demand greater quality of service. My experience in devising creative solutions
to complex problems is one of the many ways that I can make a difference…….
You will notice that the answer follows the structure. Structuring your answer
works especially well when the questions are multi-layered and long or otherwise complex.
It forces you, and the interviewers, to break the question and the answer down. It also
provides them with a clear presentation of the answer which incites better scoring.
The best way to structure an answer is to announce how you will answer the question,
before you begin answering it. This announcement helps the interviewers to understand your
answer and keeps you “on track”.
In this JobTip, we have used a fairly complex example from the world of project
management. Bear in mind however, that you can structure an answer to almost any
question. Questions like: Why do you want this position? Why are you the best
candidate for the job? What are your strengths and weaknesses? can also be answered
more effectively by structuring the answer.
The point of this JobTip is, structure your answers! It will keep your answer
“on track” and will maximize your scoring potential. Structuring your
answer is like reading the outside of a paperback novel. The brief description of what is
to come gets the reader’s attention. The story inside keeps the readers attention.
