The Job Interview - Anglais PRO Formation

The Job Interview
The STAR Method:
What is the STAR Method for answering tough interview Questions?
The STAR method is:
S – Situation, background set the scene
T – Task or Target, specifics of what's required, when, where, who
A – Action, what you did, skills used, behaviour, characteristics
R – Result – Outcome, what happened?
The STAR method technique will enable you to answer tough work related questions (not limited to job
interviews) in a subtly, compelling and powerful manner.
People like hearing stories, facts are easier to remember if wrapped in a story, stories tend not to get
interrupted.
Listeners will remember more of your answers, and the messages within them, yet your message will
be delivered in a friendly likable style. As far as job interviewing is concerned, your success ratio will
go off the scale.
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How to build a STAR Method Story?
A Star story should be about 2 minutes’ long, and delivered with energy and enthusiasm about a real
experience you have had (it does not have to be a work experience, as long as it describes a relevant
skill or behaviour).
Time for an example:
Question: Have you ever lead a team before?
This is another reason why the STAR method is so powerful. The above question is a terrible closed
question.
You could answer “yes” or “yes” on three separate occasions” and move quickly onto the next question.
But Leadership is an important skill, and you must not miss this chance to shine.
A lot of folks would give the easy answer here, you have a great chance to impress, and basically do all
the interviewers work for them.
Let’s build a STAR method story answer
(Situation) “Yes; a relevant example being at my last company, where I was initially a software
developer, in a team of 6 developing a new finance module for our core accounting product.”
(Task) “The project was critical as launch dates had been set with a lot of sales and marketing
investment riding on the product being ready. However the project was behind schedule, when our
team leader unfortunately became ill, and had to leave."
(Action) "I had been sports team captain at school, where I loved the challenge and responsibility of
leadership. So I volunteered to stand in, and by using my technical analysis skills, spotted a few small
mistakes made in the initial coding, that were causing the sporadic errors, and slowing us down. I then
negotiated with our product director a small bonus incentive for the team, and budget for two pizza
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evenings, so we could pull a couple of late night shifts to correct the coding and catch up with the critical
project landmarks."
(Result) "Though this took us 1.5% over budget the software was delivered on time with a better than
target fault tolerance. The project was seen as a great success as the additional project cost was minimal
compared to the costs of delaying the launch, and the negative effect on our product branding. The team
where delighted with the extra bonus and I have now been officially promoted to team leader as a
result."
You need to practice your answers out loud, to ensure their continuity and that you don't go over 2
minutes.
The example above not only answers the leadership question asked, but also conveys that you have
other skills and behaviour any interviewer would be interested in. Answering tough interview
questions like this will work wonders, but answering poorly worded questions will really set you apart.
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Here are some examples of possible interview questions:
Education:
Why did you choose the university you attended/you are attending?
If you had all of your education to do after high school, what changes would you make?
What were your extracurricular activities?
How much of your education did you pay for? How?
What kind of student were you? Give some example to illustrate your answer.
Personal questions:
How would you describe yourself?
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What else should I know about you?
Is there anything that you don’t want me to know about you?
What does « success » mean to you?
What does « failure » mean to you?
If you didn’t have to work, how would you spend your time?
What are your short-term/long-term goals?
What are your personal strengths/weaknesses?
What do people criticise about you?
What do you criticise about others?
What is your best friend like? Are you similar or different?
How do you spend your spare time?
What kind of books do you read?
What type of personality is the most difficult to get along with?
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Work Experience Questions:
How long have you been looking for a job?
Why are you interviewing at this time? Why are you looking for a job with us?
What do you know about this firm?
What other types of positions are you interviewing for? With which firms?
What do you know about this position?
What do you like about this company? What do you dislike?
What motivates you?
Can you motivate other people? What techniques do you use?
What are your professional strengths?
Don’t you think that you are overqualified for this job?
You are overqualified for this job. Why do you want it?
You don’t have the experience that this job requires. Why should we hire you?
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I am concerned about your lack of -------. What is your reaction?
Why wasn’t your previous salary higher?
Have you ever been fired? Why?
If you could start your career all over again, what would you change?
Did you take any risks in your previous jobs? If so, what were the results?
How do you work under pressure? Under tight deadlines? Under close supervision? Under no
supervision ?
Are you a good manager? Give an example.
Tell me about the best boss you ever had. The worst?
How much time will it take you to make a significant contribution in this firm?
After having been in the same company for so long, don’t you think it will be difficult to adjust here?
After having so many jobs in such a short time, why should we expect you to stay with us for any length
of time?
Do you think that your career has advanced as fast as it should have? Why? Why not?
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Where do you see yourself in 5/10 years?
Why should we hire you and not someone else on the short list?
CV Webography
A prerequisite to writing your CV in English is to use the IAE’s link to the
website “Going Global” 1: an online career service accessible via our “Portail
Service” platform. To access specific and confidential data on companies and
employment, the connection can only be made from computers within the
1
Pour GOINGLOBAL, il faut aller sur le portail services, se connecter avec ses identifiants qui sont prénom.nom et le mot de passe date de
naissance au format 00/00/0000. Ensuite, il faut aller dans l’espace « career management » et cliquer sur « nos services à l’international » puis
GOINGLOBAL. Il faut impérativement se connecter depuis le SIP car cela ne fonctionne pas la plupart du temps avec les ordinateurs personnels
à cause des systèmes de protection. Il faut donc arriver sur une page d’accès qui ne requiert aucun code particulier et cliquer sur « Job Postings
and Internship Listings » après quoi il faut impérativement rentrer des informations dans « job title » ou au minimum « key words » ainsi que
dans « location » ensuite suivre les liens et postuler directement en ligne aux offres.
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IAE’s authenticated network. 26 computers workstations are available in the SIP Computer Center on
the basement floor.
http://www.quintcareers.com/interview_question_database/
http://ec.europa.eu/eures/homes.jsp?lang=fr
www.gmat.org : The official site of the Graduate Management admissions Council
www.careerweb.com : Has job offers, resume postings and job matching.
www.career-guide.com : Features a wide selection of top international recruiter and business schools.
www.cadresonline.com : The largest French job recruitment site.
www.mbacentral.com : Offers free software to MBA students and targets business school alumni and
students.
www.cruelworld.com
www.CareerPath.com Links to the job pages of more than 100 newspapers around the United States.
www.Monsterboard.com : More than 25,000 jobs are posted at any one time.
www.europages.com : Business Directory of more than 500,000 European companies
www.careercity.com
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www.hbsp.harvard.edu
www.workunlimited.co.uk
Bibliography (available for loan
at the IAE’s library)
EC 57: Votre CV en Anglais, Maud Tixier,
Armand Colin, Longman pratique, 1986
EC 3: Votre CV en anglais et en français,
Editions d'Organisation, 1993
Elisabeth de Visme / Laurent Colombant,
B 55: Job Hunting La recherche d'emploi et l'entretien d'embauche en anglais, V. Melherell, Ellipses,
1996
EC 59: La correspondance commerciale anglaise, D. Daugeras, Repères Pratiques, 1996
14452: The 1997 What color is your parachute? Richard Nelson Bolles, Job Hunting Book, 1997
EC 67: ADAMS Resumé Almanac, 1997
B 112: Le Guide du CV en Langues Etrangères, Valérie Lachenaud, Jeunes Editions
B 108: Rédigez votre CV en Anglais, langues pour tous
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