Three Reasons Why You Are Hired: Making the Most of Job Interviews

by Robyn Winters, Career Strategist

July 15, 2019

The job interview process can be both intimidating and exhilarating.

However, you have the ability to minimize the first (what you find intimidating) and maximize the second (what you find exhilarating).  The key is to recognize and prepare answers to the three broad categories of job interview questions that potential employers ask. When you do that successfully, you are pointing the way for them to see you as the BEST candidate for the job.

Three Categories of Job Interview Questions

Here are the three categories of questions that hiring managers are most interested in having you answer during the course of a typical interview: (1) Can you do the job? (2) Will you do the job? (3) Will you fit into the work culture?

You will probably be asked these questions indirectly, and your responses will demonstrate whether you will be viewed as a good fit for the position. See the diagram, below.

Let’s look at each category of job interview questions individually. 

Questions That Demonstrate: Can You Do the Job?

• A hiring company wants to know whether you have the skills, experience, and background to handle the primary tasks and responsibilities that are required for the job. These are typically spelled out in the job description. You will be asked to provide examples of how you used your skills in specific ways, during specific circumstances.
• A potential employer also wants to be able to anticipate the results you will produce if you are hired. This information can be revealed by the examples you give regarding your achievements in previous positions. For example, how you:  saved money, increased revenue, reduced costs, and/or improved customer/employee retention. Here’s the rationale: past behavior is usually a predictor of future behavior.

Questions That Demonstrate: Will You Do the Job?

• These job interview questions relate to motivation. How eager will you be to get up in the morning, drive to the office, and put in a focused, enthusiastic day’s work? In other words, how motivated will you be to do the job for which you are interviewing – not just in the short-term, but in long-term as well?
• In addition, these questions are also about whether you will find the position sufficiently challenging. A hiring manager knows that a new job needs to include elements that are both stimulating and interesting enough for you to look forward to coming in each day and doing your best work.

Questions That Demonstrate: Will You Fit Into the Culture?

• Because people have different personalities, interests and, perhaps, cultural predisposition, it’s important for a hiring company to know how will you fit into a diverse work culture. For example, have you successfully worked at a multi-cultural and/or multi-generational organization in the past? How did you manage those relationships?
• Since people also have varying work styles (e.g., detail-oriented, abstract thinker, work independently, work better as part of a team), it’s important to illustrate your ability to be flexible, adaptable, and compatible with all your colleagues and team members to ensure ongoing workplace harmony.

The Bottom Line

When your responses to job interview questions in these 3 categories (1) Can do? (2) Will do? (3) Will fit? converge (see diagram, below), then you will have gone a long way to demonstrate to a hiring company or manager that you’re the best person for the job!

Robyn Winters | Career Strategist

Robyn works with job seekers one-one-one and facilitates workshops at TampaBay-Job-Links. The Job-Links Team of professional career strategists prepares people in career transition to interview, network, negotiate, and market themselves effectively, helping them find employment to sustain themselves and their families. Be the first to learn about upcoming TampaBay-Job-Links programs and services. Receive valuable information about relevant job-search skills by signing up for TampaBay-Job-Links e-newsletters HERE.