Page 161 - You're Hired! Interview Answers

non-ComPetenCY-BaSed QueStionS knowLedge-BaSed QueStionS Vague or general questions

These can take many forms, but they are usually characterised by their sheer
‘size’ and the scope they give you for sounding vague. For example:

n ‘Tell me about your approach to financial planning.’
n ‘What do you think about change management?’
n ‘What is your view about our proposed merger plans?’
n ‘Describe your leadership style for me.’
n ‘What do you think you would bring to the role you are applying for?’

Once again, we can’t give you answers for all these questions, but there are
some principles you can apply to add some clarity to your answers. We will use
the last example – a too commonly asked question – to illustrate.

what do you think you would bring to the role you are
applying for?

The temptation here is to launch into a long list of your personal attributes, for
example:

“Well, I’m proactive, I think I’m pretty good with people, my experience seems
very relevant to your situation, I’m good at planning ... etc”

This scattergun approach is unlikely to differentiate you from other applicants;
a better approach is to stick to a few key themes based on your understanding
of the competencies they are looking for. At the same time, try to make sure
that you cover task, thought and people in your answer. Just because they
have asked a very unstructured question does not mean that you cannot give a
more focused answer. For example:

“Well, my understanding of the role is that setting up the new department

is the key objective and that you are very sensibly looking for competencies
related to making this happen quickly. I believe my planning skills will be
important – I’ve had a lot of experience in project management – I believe
my broad awareness of the market will help me to shape the department
and make it customer facing and I know the people management skills that

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