Questions for this addition of Ask The Career Coach.

1) How can I dodge an interview question?

2) What interview questions are job candidates consistently least prepared to answer?

3) What should you say to an interviewer if your are late?

When you make the answer to the question, Why do you want this job? about what you want and not about what you can do and how you would be a fit, you put yourself at a disadvantage to those that know how to properly answer this question. 

I am going to tell you a secret. You may think the interview is all about you. Actually, the interview is all about the employer.

Sometimes it is not only what you say but how you say it. Style often plays just as an important role as substance. Yet, job seekers often do a poor job of assessing how they come across to others.

Terrible questions are those that show ignorance, laziness or just do not put the job seeker in a good light. Often these are questions that either could have been answered with a quick internet search prior to the interview or those that indicate the individual is only asking from the lens of how does the job benefit me.

As a career coach, I look at a thank you note as one piece of your marketing package (including your resume, portfolio, etc.). You want to market yourself in a positive way to the hiring team. Your thank you note is often the last interaction people in the hiring team may have with you. I would encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity.

Hiring managers are looking for relevant experience, sure, but they are also looking at a candidate’s fit with the team, management, and the company culture. If any of those things feel “off” during the interview, the candidate will have a hard time convincing the hiring team that his/her skills can overcome their reservations.

Every candidate is selling what they can do to an audience that is looking to buy. Like cars in a dealer showroom, they all are transportation, but each has different features that are needs or wants for different audiences. Your job as a candidate is to figure out what you can do and what “features” you have that would be of interest to the buyer…