4 Signs Your Interview Answers Aren’t Working (and How to Fix It)

Have you been on several interviews, but are still waiting for a job offer?  If so, it may be time to rethink your interview strategy.

Start by talking to your recruiter. They can help you pinpoint specific interview mistakes you may be committing and help you address them.  In addition, ask yourself whether any of these four signs are appearing in your interview process, and implement steps to fix them:

Your interviews are short.

If an interview seems too easy, be suspicious. An interview that only covers what’s on your resume indicates somewhere in the process you lost the interviewer’s attention.

A good way to keep their attention? Focus your answers on describing how you can benefit the organization or the team.  Hiring managers want to know how it benefits them to bring you on board.  When you prepare answers to common interview questions, make sure they address the question, “What’s the value to us of hiring this person?”

You find yourself repeating what’s on your resume (or in your cover letter).

If you’re repeating information to the hiring manager, that’s bad.  If you’re repeating information that’s right in front of them, that’s worse.

To prepare for an interview, don’t rehash what’s in your application.  Instead, focus on a few key accomplishments in your career, and work on telling short, powerful stories that highlight the skills you used, the setbacks you faced, and the lessons you learned.  Stories are a great way to maintain an interviewer’s attention, and they’ll tell the interviewer things you couldn’t fit in your resume.

You have to ask the interviewer to describe the benefits of the company or the job.

When an employer is excited about the prospect of adding you to the team, they’re likely to try to get you excited as well by talking about the benefits of working for the organization or of taking on this particular legal support position. If the interviewer never gets around to this point, chances are good the conversation has dampened their interest.  However, it’s also possible the interviewer simply didn’t think about the question themselves – so don’t hesitate to ask if you suspect this might be the reason why.

You get some career advice.

Friendly advice may sound kind, but it may also be the interviewer’s way of saying you’ve failed to impress.  If the interviewer is telling you what to do in order to be more qualified for the legal support positions you’re applying for, keep their advice in mind.  Talk it over with your recruiter to see how you can focus your experience more strongly or otherwise position yourself to land the job you want.

The recruiting team at Kent Legal connects legal support professionals with employers throughout the Toronto area. Contact us today to learn more about our legal career opportunities in Toronto and beyond.

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