Crafting Exceptional Interview Answers
Crafting exceptional interview answers is not a natural-born talent but rather a skill that is honed through awareness and practice. Here is a recap of some tips mentioned throughout this unit to help you prepare so that your interview responses work for you instead of against you.
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Research Thoroughly: Understand the company and the role you're applying for to tailor your responses effectively.
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Use the STAR Method: Structure your responses using the Situation, Task, Action, Result method for behavioral questions.
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Connect Past Experiences: Illustrate how your past experiences prepare you for success in the new role.
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Listen Actively: Pay close attention to the interviewer's questions and respond directly. Make sure you are responding to the question they asked. An excellent response to the wrong question is actually a bad response.
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Quantify Achievements: To build credibility, use numbers and metrics to quantify your accomplishments.
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Express Enthusiasm: Show genuine excitement for the job and how it aligns with your career goals.
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Be Concise and Clear: Keep your answers focused and articulate, and avoid unnecessary details. Remember that the goal of the interviewer is to gather data on your suitability for the role. If you ramble in your answers, it will be easy for them to miss the key data points that they are looking for.
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Practice Common Questions: Familiarize yourself with common interview questions and rehearse your answers. But remember, don't memorize your answers. Memorizing your responses word for word, can lead you to be very unnatural during the interview.
Here are some examples of strong and weak answers to a few common interview questions.
| Common Interview Question | Strong Response | Weak Response |
|---|---|---|
| Tell Me About Yourself. | Hello, my name is John from Lagos, Nigeria, and I am a first-year computer science student at Kibo School of Technology. I have a deep passion for technology and coding, which led me to pursue a degree in computer science. I am currently building a strong foundation in programming languages like Python and Java. In addition to my academic pursuits, I am an active member of our university's coding club, where I collaborate with fellow students on various projects. My goal is to continue learning and applying my knowledge to contribute meaningfully to the field of software development. | Hi, I'm John. I'm a computer science student from Lagos. I like computers and coding, and I want to get into tech. |
| Tell me about a time when you had to overcome a challenge. | During a group project in my Web Application Development course last semester, my team faced a significant challenge when one of our key members had to drop out of the project due to personal reasons. This left us in a difficult position, as we had to redistribute tasks and reorganize our project plan. To overcome this, I took the initiative to lead the team through the restructuring process. I facilitated effective communication, reassigned responsibilities, and ensured that everyone was on the same page. Despite the setback, we successfully delivered the project on time, and the experience taught me the importance of adaptability and leadership in a team setting. | We had this group project, and someone left. It was tough, but we managed to finish it somehow. |
| What is your greatest strength? | My greatest strength is my analytical mindset. I enjoy breaking down complex problems into smaller, more manageable components. This helps me approach problem-solving in a systematic and efficient manner. During coding assignments and projects, I find that this strength allows me to identify patterns, troubleshoot issues, and develop elegant solutions. I believe that a strong analytical approach is crucial in software engineering, and I am committed to continually honing this skill throughout my career. | I guess I'm pretty good at coding. |
| Why do you want to work as a Software Engineer? | I want to work as a software engineer because I am fascinated by the potential of technology to solve real-world problems and improve people's lives. When I look around my community, I see so many issues holding people back, from lack of quality education to unemployment and financial illiteracy. I want to be part of a movement that creates locally-born solutions to these issues. And I think software engineering will give me the skills, network, and opportunity to do so. I am also drawn to the dynamic and ever-evolving nature of the field. I feel like I will always get the chance to learn as new technologies are created and the field continues to advance. I love learning and developing myself. So, the idea of being in a field that will never become stagnant is a massive draw to me. Finally, being part of a community that collaborates to build software motivates me. I am eager to contribute my skills, learn from experienced professionals, and be at the forefront of technological advancements. | I like coding, and being a software engineer seems like a good job. I think I can make some cool programs. |
Discuss
❓ Review the common interview questions above and compare the strong and weak responses. Now identify one thing that you think the strong response did better when compared to the weak response. Post your thoughts in the padlet below.
Optimizing Delivery
It might not be obvious from the list at the top of the page, but exceptional answers are about both what you say and how you say it. Most of the provided tips are focused on getting the content of your responses to be exceptional. But it is also important that your delivery is exceptional as well (tips 6 and 7 are more geared towards delivery). To ensure this, remember the 7Cs of communication. And think about how they apply to speaking.
Clarity: Keep it simple
Conciseness: Get to the point
Concreteness: Be specific
Correctness: Be accurate and error-free
Coherence: Make it logical
Completeness: Include all necessary information
Courtesy: See things from the audience's point of view
Practice and Reflection
Number 8 on the above list is really critical: "Practice Common Questions: Familiarize yourself with common interview questions and rehearse your answers." Practicing your response to common interview questions will allow you to feel more confident in real interview situations. The assignments for this unit will allow you to get lots of practice using both automated mock interviews and peer mock interviews. Near the end of the course, you will also hold mock interviews with your mentor to practice what it feels like to be interviewed by an industry professional.
As you practice by yourself and with your peers, it is important that you mimic real interview contexts. Dress as if you are doing a real interview. Make sure you are in an appropriate location for an interview. Go through all the steps as if it was a real interview. This is the best way to prepare for the real deal.
After every mock interview experience, sit down and do a self-reflection on how it went. Remember to think about 1) What you did well, 2) What you didn't do well, and 3) What you could improve next time. Remember to think about both the content of what you said, as well as your delivery.
If you are doing an interview with someone else, ask them for feedback on your performance. Do this after you have done your own self-evaluation so that you can compare how you think you did to what they observed. This will help you improve your self-evaluation skills.