I wasn’t sure why but over the last few months Career Counseling Connecticut has had a substantial uptick in clients seeking out interview preparation. Now I think I know.
Interviews have always been a vital part of the job search. Indeed, job interviews are the most make or break part of the job search process. Over the last few years, there has been an increase in what I’ll call “business school” interviewing techniques. This has led to the increase in our Connecticut career counseling clients seeking out interview help.
There are two distinct types of interview questions that are different than the standard interview questions. The first group are “behavioral”. The interviewer will ask questions about different past scenarios that were challenging: “how did you deal with…” or “tell me a time when…”. Sometimes, the questions will be future based: “how would you deal with…”. We go through these type of questions with our clients, many of whom are woefully unprepared for these sorts of questions as they were hopeful they could just talk about their qualifications for the job.
“Case interview questions” are also becoming all the rage. These used to be exclusively for management consultants or business analysts but now employers throughout Connecticut are employing this interview type for a myriad of jobs. A case study will present a situation – usually business oriented – designed to evaluate how the applicant thinks. “Business X has the following challenges: A, B, and C. How would you advise?
If these type of questions feel far more stressful and more performance like than the standard interview questions – you may not think “tell me about your strengths” is such a tough question anymore! – then you are right. Applicants often call us after a disastrous interview performance. My advice: call us before!