Be Specific in Your Interview Responses

Be Specific in Your Interview Responses When coaching people through the interview process, I have continually found that people do not give themselves enough credit. Guess what? You have done a lot of great things in your career and you need to have the specifics to prove it. Whenever possible during the interview process, provide specific examples of what you have accomplished, how you have saved clients’ money, methods you have utilized to increase sales, or how your idea helped boost production by 25 percent. These concrete examples put a numerical value on your accomplishments and provide another way for the interviewer to remember you. For example, suppose an interviewer asked the following question: “Do you have experience managing people?” Many people would answer that question with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. However, think of the question differently: “How do you have experience managing people?” If you insert the word ‘how’ into most questions, you will begin providing the information that most employers seek during the interview process. Suppose someone answered ‘yes’ to the above question. They have managed people. Although it tells me WHAT they did, it does not tell me HOW they did it. Imagine this answer from a prospective employee: “I have managed a sales force of up to 25 people. This included bi-weekly meetings in person and conference calls once per week. In this position, I was also able to assist my salespeople in setting goals, objectives, and sales targets on a monthly basis.” This provides much more information than a simple ‘yes’ response would have provided. Be specific in your interview responses. Concrete examples, detailed information, and precise answers provide a memorable impression for the employer. As human beings, we remember specifics that make us think, educate, and allow us to recall someone. Use this to your advantage when answering questions during an interview.