Page 136 - You're Hired! Interview Answers

n Names are used; ‘Brian’ is referred to by name and this sends out an PeoPLe-BaSed QueStionS examPLe inteRview anSweRS
important signal that you are dealing with people and not with ‘production
units’. Using names makes your answer sound much more personal and
suggests that you are interested in relationships.

n Good qualities of the team are referred to – ‘dedication’; seeing the good
in people is an important way of indicating that you are thoughtful about
things like team dynamics, personal motivations – in other words, that you
care about people issues.

When answering people questions you need to balance objectivity with
evidence that you are thoughtful about the ‘softer’ issues. The best way
of doing this is to make sure that your answers contain words relating to
motivation, feelings, attitudes, concerns and all the stuff that makes people
what they are.

If you are the kind of person who is naturally objective and tough minded, then
review your examples with a view to taking the perspective of other people in
the situation.

If you are the kind of person who naturally sees the human side of things, then
make sure you do not sound too ‘soft and fluffy’; the best way of doing this is to
relate the people issues back to business performance.

interviewer: Can you tell me how you go about managing
your team in your current role? give me an example of how
you run your meetings.

7 Poor answer:

“I’m really lucky in the current finance team; they are really motivated and

enthusiastic so I don’t have to do very much in terms of inspiring them. They
are all very different characters but they get on really well. We have weekly
meetings and I keep the agenda very open; anyone can raise anything they
like – I find this encourages new ideas and problem solving – and I make sure
that everyone has a chance to speak. I suppose you could summarise my
management style by saying that I try to be very supportive; I can’t remember
the last time I had to throw my weight around – they know what needs doing,

they gel, and the work gets done.”

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