During one of your interviews, it appears that a ton of questions flying all around - and most of the time they don't mean anything to you. However, your responses may be more important than you first guess. One of my most unforgettable jobs also had a very unforgettable recruitment interview.
A few years ago, I applied for a teacher's assistant post at our local junior school. After the preliminary greetings, I found myself sat across from the headmistress. She wanted me to answer the "What's your greatest weakness?" question. I don't know if it was the whole - sitting in front of the head teacher thing - but I just blurted out the truth. I told her that when I first meet a new person, I am usually painfully shy and quiet. The challenge is that people can think that I am a little aloof and remote. To my huge relief - she just laughed and confided in me that she had the same issues when she was at my stage of career.
Never be frightened of your weaknesses. Never lie and don't just re-use the ones that you have heard before. There are some really tired responses to this question, such as the "I just can't say no". If you use one of these "standard" answers - you may come across as being a liar and untrustworthy.
I would never have planned to land my sucker punch answer in the way that it turned out. The head mistress, paused and looked at me for what seemed like an eternity - she then asked me, with her steely cold stare - "If I wanted you to go into a room down the corridor for a few minutes and deal with the children that you didn't know in a room that you were unfamiliar in - what would you do?" I again went with the truth and laughed - I would just go mad with them and start playing hide and seek or something like that!
Funnily enough, I was chatting to her a little while later (after I had been in post for a bit) and she told me that it was that precise answer that secured me the post. She knew that I was honest and had the ability to rapidly establish rapport with the children. So - go with the truth...
As ever, it is always sensible to ask those close to you to help you to formulate your answers to these questions. They know you well and care about you. It will be embarassing as they will start to rib you about some of your responses - but just keep persevering as it is better to be made fun of by those who are on your side than find yourself underprepared by the interview panel!
A few years ago, I applied for a teacher's assistant post at our local junior school. After the preliminary greetings, I found myself sat across from the headmistress. She wanted me to answer the "What's your greatest weakness?" question. I don't know if it was the whole - sitting in front of the head teacher thing - but I just blurted out the truth. I told her that when I first meet a new person, I am usually painfully shy and quiet. The challenge is that people can think that I am a little aloof and remote. To my huge relief - she just laughed and confided in me that she had the same issues when she was at my stage of career.
Never be frightened of your weaknesses. Never lie and don't just re-use the ones that you have heard before. There are some really tired responses to this question, such as the "I just can't say no". If you use one of these "standard" answers - you may come across as being a liar and untrustworthy.
I would never have planned to land my sucker punch answer in the way that it turned out. The head mistress, paused and looked at me for what seemed like an eternity - she then asked me, with her steely cold stare - "If I wanted you to go into a room down the corridor for a few minutes and deal with the children that you didn't know in a room that you were unfamiliar in - what would you do?" I again went with the truth and laughed - I would just go mad with them and start playing hide and seek or something like that!
Funnily enough, I was chatting to her a little while later (after I had been in post for a bit) and she told me that it was that precise answer that secured me the post. She knew that I was honest and had the ability to rapidly establish rapport with the children. So - go with the truth...
As ever, it is always sensible to ask those close to you to help you to formulate your answers to these questions. They know you well and care about you. It will be embarassing as they will start to rib you about some of your responses - but just keep persevering as it is better to be made fun of by those who are on your side than find yourself underprepared by the interview panel!
About the Author:
When I was preparing for my interview, I found this really useful website with some great interview advice on it. It was especially useful for doctors and medical students - but really anyone could use it for their interviews - ST interviews
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