By the end of this unit you should:
Read to find the answer to these questions:
Interviewers ask questions to evaluate the candidate against criteria. For example, in the case of a job interview, the criteria will be related to discovering the suitability to carry out the job duties. If your aim is to convince the interviewer that you are a suitability candidate, the interviewer must understand your declared strength and most importantly believe you.
When an interviewee declares a strength, e.g. I'm hardworking. The interviewer can accept that claim or search for evidence that the claim is true by asking a follow up question, e.g. Can you give me an example that shows you are hardworking? this is the chance to relate a story that shows your strength by giving a concrete example.
This is the time that a description of an experience, relating a sequence of events or retelling an anecdotes is needed. All of these are types of stories. Stories may be based on real events or made up. In an interview, do not make up stories. Draw on your actual experience. You shouuld tell a concise story that is easy-to-follow and shows your strength.
Work alone or in pairs. Decide which story illustrates which strength(s).
StrengthsStories
In a class project, our team had to come up with a new idea. Creating completely new ideas is a challenge. A technique that I use is to take two different ideas from different disciplines and then combine them to create something original. In our project, by mixing ideas from management and software development, we created a work-flow that incorporates quality management concepts.
In my part-time job as a tutorial school teacher, I was asked to proofread some teaching materials. I completed the task easily. There were not many mistakes with spelling, grammar or punctuation, but I noticed a number of sentences that needed improvement. The sentences contained subjective opinions but could be better worded using objective measures. One simple example was changing the description of hot weather, which is subjective, to the temperature was over 35 degrees celcius, which is objective.
In a class project, our team had to come up with a new idea. Creating completely new ideas is a challenge. A technique that I use is to take two different ideas from different disciplines and then combine them to create something original. In our project, by mixing ideas from management and software development, we created a work-flow that incorporates quality management concepts.
Read the stories and decide what strength is being shown
In one class, we were assigned a group task. We divided the work fairly so that each team member had to produce one section of the program. The only time we could meet was on the evening before the deadline. One member did not turn up, did not submit any work and did not respond to our messages. We had a problem, because without his work, our program would not run. To meet the 9:00 am deadline the next day, there was only one option, which was to work all night. I know it is not ideal, but I did not want all the team to fail just because of one team member. With the help of Red Bull and coffee, I managed to get the program to work, and to my surprise the project received a grade A.
I created a list of objectives that I want to achieve for the year. I divided each objective into sub-objectives that I should complete in each season to keep me on track. I did the same thing with each month and each week. This means that when I complete the objectives I set myself for each week, I know i am on track to achieve my long-term goals.
I exercise five days a week.I either run or do free exercises. I usually complete my training session in the morning before attending my first class. In summer it is hot. In winter it is cold. But, regardless, I exercise. When I decide to do something. I follow through. To date, I haven't missed a planned training session.
Read.
One real-life story may provide evidence for more than one strength. Likewise, one strength may be show with more than one story. When working out which stories you can use to emphasize your strengths, consider all the strengths that the stories show. Try to select stories that not only provide cogent evidence for your top strengths, but also provide evidence for the additional core strengths.
Decide which stories you can use for your top three strengths and which to use for your six core strengths. Try to prepare two different stories for each top three strengths and one different story for each of the remaining six core strengths. This gives you 12 stories that you can draw on during your interview. These can be incorporated into answers for many questions - not just questions that ask directly about strengths.
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Practise saying your stories so that you can relate the stories smoothly. Record yourself using audio and/or video. Afterwards, assess the quality of your performance. If you want to, ask a friend for feedback on your performance. Remember the more you practise before your interview, the more likely that your interview will be a success.
Make sure you: