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The key to Interview Success

There are 20 universally admired key personality traits and they are your passports to success at any interview. Use them for reference as you customize your answers to the tough questions.

Personal Profile:

The interviewer searches for personal profile keys to determine what type of person you really are. The presence of these keys in your answers tells the company representative how you feel about yourself, your chosen career, and what you would be like to work with. But be aware, few of these keys will arise from direct questions asked by your future employer. The interviewer will instead search for these keys in your answers to specific job performance probes. The following words and phrases are those you will project as part of your successful, healthy personal file.

Drive: A desire to get things done. Goal oriented.

Motivation: Enthusiasm and willingness to ask questions. A company realizes that a motivated person accepts added challenges and does that little bit extra on every job.

Communication Skills: More than ever, the ability to talk and write effectively to people at all levels in a company is a key to success.

Chemistry: The company representative is looking for someone who does not get rattled, wears a smile, is confident without self-importance, and gets along with others, in short, a team player.

Energy: Someone who always gives that extra effort in the little things as well as important matters

Determination: Someone who does not back off when a problem or situation gets tough.

Confidence: No braggadocio. Poise, friendly, honest and open to employees high or low. Not intimidated by the big enchiladas, nor overly familiar.

Professional Profile:

All companies seek employees who respect their profession and employer. Projecting these professional traits will identify you as loyal, reliable and trustworthy.

Reliability: Following up on yourself, not relying on anyone else to ensure the job is well done, and keeping management informed every step of the way.

Honesty/Integrity: Taking responsibility for your actions, both good and bad. Always making decisions in the best interest of the company, never on a whim or personal preference.

Pride: Pride in a job well done. Always taking that extra step to make sure the job is done to the best of your ability. Paying attention to the details.

Dedication: Whatever it takes in time and effort to see a project through to completion, or deadline.

Analytical Skills: Weighing the pros and cons. Not jumping at the first solution to a problem that presents itself. The short and long term benefits of a solution against all its possible negatives.

Listening Skills: Listening and understanding, as opposed to waiting your turn to speak.

Achievement Profile:

Projecting your business profile is important on those occasions when you cannot demonstrate ways you have made money, saved money, or saved time for previous employers. These keys demonstrate you are always on the lookout for opportunities to contribute, and keep your boss informed when an opportunity arises.

Efficiency: Always keeping an eye open for wastage of time, effort, resources, and money.

Economy: Most problems have two solutions: an expensive one and one the company would prefer to implement.

Procedures: Procedures exist to keep the company profitable. Don’t work around them. That also means keeping your boss informed. You tell your boss about problems or good ideas, not his or her boss. Follow the chain of command. Do not implement your own “improved” procedures or organize others to do so.

Profit: The reason all the above traits are so universally admired in the business world is because they relate to profit.

As the requirements of the job are unfolded for you at the interview, meet them point by point with your qualifications. If your experience is limited, stress the appropriate key profile traits such as energy, determination and motivation, your relevant interest, and your desire to learn. If you are weak in just one particular area, keep your mouth shut, perhaps that dimension will not arise. If the area is probed, be prepared to handle and overcome the negative by stressing skills that compensate and/or demonstrate that you will experience a fast learning curve.

Do not show discouragement if the interview appears to be going poorly. You have nothing to gain by showing defeat, and it could merely be a stress interview tactic to test your self-confidence. If for any reason you get flustered or lost, keep a straight face and posture, gain time to marshal your thoughts by asking “Could you help me with that?” or “Would you run that by me again?” or “That’s a good question but I want to be sure I understand, could you please explain it again?”