Page 68 - How To Answer Interview Questions (II)

If you are a new graduate or if you are switching careers, your experience may not clearly
show why you’d be a good fit for the job, so your job is to connect those dots for them and explain
how your skills are transferable to this position.Things you’ll typically want to point out are:

communication skills
organization
project management
time management
problem-solving
multitasking
professional contacts

Think about what it is that you have that would make you successful in this job.
In this case, you also want to show that you can learn new things quickly by giving them an
example of a time that you did: “My job was X, but Y situation came up and they asked me to handle
it. Here’s how I did it.” Walk them through your thought process to show them your strategic
thinking and ability to adapt, both of which are tremendously beneficial in a new role.

Key to a Great Interview

If they ask you about your experience, they are trying to see you in the role. The best way to help a
hiring manager see you in the role is to show them your 30-60-90-Day Plan.
Say, “My experience relates through X, Y, and Z. But to really show you how I could step into THIS
role and be successful, I’ve created a 90-day plan for how I would approach this job with my skills
and even fill in the gap that I have in X. Can we take a few minutes to walk through it?”
The interviewer will be curious to see your plan, and happy to see such a substantial answer to this
question. They’ll be able to see you in the role much more clearly, which puts them further along the
road to offering you the job.