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Employers are looking for three types of skills:
- Content Skills.
- Functional also known as Transferable Skills.
- Adaptive also known as Self-Management Skills.
Content Skills -- Knowledge that is work specific such as computer programming, accounting, welding and expressed as nouns.
Functional or Transferable Skills -- Used with people, information or things such as organizing, managing, developing, communicating and expressed as verbs.
Adaptive or Self-Management Skills -- Personal characteristics such as dependable, team player, self-directed, punctual and expressed as adjectives.
There are three types of questions typically found in interviews:
- Theoretical Questions -- Questions that place you in a hypothetical situation. These questions are more likely to test your skill at answering questions rather than doing a good job.
Example: How would you organize your friends to help you move into a new apartment?
- Leading Questions -- Questions that hint at the answer the interview is seeking by the way they are phrased.
Example: Working in your own doesn't bother you does it?
- Behavioral Questions -- Questions that seek demonstrated examples of behavior from your past experiences and concentrate on job-related functions. They may include:
- Open-ended questions - These require more than a yes or no response. They often begin with "Tell me..." "When..."
Example: Describe a time you had to be flexible in planning a workload.
- Closed-ended questions - Used mostly to verify or confirm information.
Example: You have a degree in psychology, is that correct?
- Why questions - Used to reveal rationale for decisions you have made or to determine your level of motivation.
Example: Why did you decide to major in this program at MCC rather than at another community college or larger university?
A. How would you resolve a customer service problem where the customer demanded an immediate refund?B. Tell me about a time when you had to juggle a number of work priorities. What did you do?
C. You can work weekends occasionally can't you?
Answers: A. Theoretical; B. Behavioral; C. Leading
Think of "PAR for the Course." A complete answer to a behavior-based question must:
- Explain the task or problem for which you are responsible.
- The specific action you took.
- The results of your actions.
Your answer must contain all of these components to be a PAR answer. Tell the interviewer a "story" (with a beginning, a middle, and an end) about how you used a practical skill.
Problem (P) - Advertising revenue was falling off for the Daily News and large numbers of long-term advertisers were not renewing contracts.
Action (A) - We designed a new promotional package to go with the rate sheet and compare the benefits of DN circulation with other ad media in the area. I also set up a special training session for the account executives with a College professor who discussed competitive selling strategies.
Result (R) - We designed contracts with 15 former advertisers for daily ads and five for special supplements. We increased our new advertisers by twenty percent (quantities are always good) over the same period last year.
Right before Thanksgiving weekend, most of the employees had gone home for the holiday weekend. Our company president and vice president had already left for home when we received a call that one of our employees who had been traveling had been involved in a car accident. I volunteered to go to the hospital to be with him and then called his family. I also made arrangements for them to stay at the Hospital Hospitality House when they arrived. They were extremely pleased I had taken time from my own weekend to help them. Our president complemented me for keeping a cool head and showing empathy and compassion while handling the situation. I've since decided to be more assertive in the office.
- Analyze the type of positions for which you are applying. Try to get an actual job description. What skills do employers require?
- Analyze your own background. What skills do you have (content, functional, and adaptive) that relate to your job objective?
- Identify examples from your past experience where you demonstrate those skills. How can you "tell a story" about your particular skills or knowledge? Concentrate on developing complete PAR answers (and remember that a good story has a beginning, middle and end).
- Whenever possible, quantify your results. Numbers illustrate your level of authority and responsibility.
- Be prepared to provide examples of when results did not turn out as you planned. What did you do then?
- Before starting the interview process, identify 5 to 6 of your top selling points and determine how you will convey these points (with demonstrated PAR stories) during the interview.
- Once employed, keep a personal achievement diary to help document demonstrated performance (PAR stories).
Materials adapted from materials developed by Larry Beck Ball State University
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