YOUR BEST STORY COMES FROM THEM
You’ve studied the job posting. You’ve rehearsed your accomplishments. You know your value.
Then the interviewer asks, “Tell me about yourself,” and you deliver the story you’ve practiced.
It may be a great story. But is it the one they need to hear?
An interview is your opportunity to find out what this employer needs and show where you can deliver. If you spend the whole conversation running through your résumé, you may miss the very thing that would make them want to hire you!
Prepare your questions as carefully as your answers.
Research the role, the organization, and the people you’ll meet. Then, before you answer, ask questions that go beyond the job description:
“What would make someone especially valuable in this role during the first six months?”
“Where does the team need the most help right now?”
“What prompted you to hire for this position?”
“What separates someone who does this job well from someone who excels at it?”
Now listen.
Their answers tell you which parts of your experience deserve more airtime.
A posting may call for “strong communication skills.” The hiring manager may reveal that three departments keep missing deadlines because nobody gets them aligned. That’s your opening to talk about a time you brought competing priorities together and moved the work forward.
But, you'll miss the cue if you're just preparing what to say next!
Listen for what the interviewer returns to again and again. Where do they get specific? What sounds urgent?
You don’t need to squeeze every accomplishment into the conversation. Choose the examples that speak to what you’re hearing. Make the connection unmistakable.
That takes preparation. It also takes the right mindset.
One of my favorite sayings, often attributed to Henry Ford, is: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.”
Walk into an interview convinced you’re a long shot, and you may start editing yourself before the employer has even weighed in. You soften an accomplishment. You skip a question. You leave out the numbers that prove your impact. Give yourself a fair shot: know what you’ve done, what you're capable of doing, and be ready to say it.
This kind of confidence needs evidence behind it. FOR YOU.
That's why your preparation matters. YOU need to believe in yourself. You need to catalogue the skills and talents you bring to the table. Along with your responsibilities, you need to demonstrate results:
“I managed client accounts.”
Okay. What changed because you managed them? Did you save business that was at risk? Expand a contract? Find a need nobody had addressed?
Get more descriptive, tell your story!
“I took over several accounts that had stalled. I met with each client to learn what wasn’t working, changed our approach, and expanded two of the contracts.”
Now the interviewer has something to work with. They can see how you think, what you did, and what it produced.
You can make the connection even stronger by checking what matters to them: “You mentioned that retaining clients is a priority. Would it be helpful if I shared how I approached that in my last role?”
That’s a more engaging conversation. You’ve listened, identified a need, and offered proof that you can address it.
And the questions work both ways. How they receive your questions and how they answer them will tell you a lot. Do they get their back up when you ask questions? Do they brush them off? Do they answer concientiously, candidly? This will give you insight you need. Like, do you want to work there? Is it the right fit for you? Look closely at any red flag you see and be sure to explore it.
So prepare your accomplishments. Have quantifiable backup. Practice the parts that are hard to talk about. Then walk in ready to learn what this employer values.
Ask what matters. Make the connection. Show your impact.
I'm here to help!
Comments