Interview Skill Mobilization

How to Kill an Interview?

An Overview

• A lot of times, applicants go to an interview

unprepared. While it is true that we don’t really
know what the interviewer is going to ask, we can
prepare on thought organization.
Cont’d…

• We must know that an interview usually lasts for

10-15 minutes. It is empirical to remember that
impact is more important than the length of the
answer.
Cont’d…

• The length of the answer will not matter if the

answer itself doesn’t have substance. You should
remember KISS when giving your answers --
Keep It Short and Simple or Substantial.
Cont’d…

• Also, the first 10 seconds of an interview is very

crucial.
• The proceeding slides are the things we must be
aware of before going to an interview.
First Impression :
• Dress appropriately;
• Be early and nice;
• Greet the interviewer enthusiastically;
• Clear Lighting;
• Clean Background; and
• Steady focus and angle of the camera.
Body Language :

• Posture;
• Eye contact;
• Tone of your voice;
• Pacing; and
• Smile (don’t be stiff/too serious).
FYI

• We also must be aware that there are different

types of questions asked during an interview. The
most common types would be questions about
your strengths/skills, behavioral, and situational
questions.
Cont’d…

• When asked about your strength/s, know that the

interviewer is asking about your skills. And there
are 2 types of them: soft skills (cannot be
measured; cannot be taught but can be developed)
and hard skills (can be measured; can be taught).
Soft Skills Examples

• team player; service;

• being able to multi-task; • interpersonal skills;
• punctuality; • etc.
• integrity;
• experience in customer
Hard Skills Examples

• web developing; • technical writing;

• image enhancing; • accounting
• graphic designing; • etc.
• programming;
• workforce; management
Now that we know these,

• I encourage you to get a sheet of paper, or a

computer notepad, and list down all soft skills and
hard skills that you think you have that are
applicable to the company. Don’t push yourself
too hard if you can’t relate to hard skills.
Behavioral skills are also equally important.
Cont’d…

• Once you have your list, choose 1 or 2 greatest

skills that you have (don’t go beyond - 2 skills are
the limit).
• You are only given at least 5 minutes to complete
the task.
To make more sense of it, let’s
have this.
• Let’s say an interviewer will ask, “Why should
we hire you?” This question is asking for you to
share your skillset. A more straightforward
question about your strength would be, "What are
your greatest strengths?" This is where SET
comes in. Let’s start with Showcasing Your Skills.
Showcasing your Skills

• Answer: “There are 2 skills that I have which I

can share to the company. These are punctuality
and being a team player .”
In a Nutshell

• By stating what your skills are, you are already

showcasing your skills. BE CONFIDENT! (smile
)
• Also, limit the sharing of your skills to 1 or 2.
Share only the greatest that you have.
Example/Experience

• Continued Answer: “In my previous company, I never

had any records or absences or tardiness. This greatly
affected the confidence of my team with me. Because of
that, I was able to work with my team harmoniously. I
was awarded as top performer for a number of times
because I was always present to complete my tasks and
the tasks assigned to my team.”
Things to keep in mind…

• The reason why I mentioned to limit the

showcasing of your greatest skill to 2 is because
we must explain them one by one. And if we
mention more than 2 skills, your explanation
might already be too long. The interviewer might
be bored listening.
Cont’d…

• By explaining each of your skills, you must go back to

the time when you were able to apply or execute those
skills. IF YOU CANNOT RECALL any time in the past
when you were able to exercise the skills that you have
listed, then it would only mean that those are not really
your skills. Because if they are, you must have a
memory of exercising them.
Tailor Fitting

• Continued Answer: “With this, I can say that

with my skill set, I can be a good addition to the
company and to the team that I will be part of in
the future.”
Cont’d…
• Tailor fitting is where you seal your answer by
connecting your skills to the company. You
should tell the interviewer that your skill is
relevant to the company.

• Now, let’s combine the answers. Let’s see if SET

would make sense.
Question: Why should I hire you?
• Answer: “There are 2 skills that I have which I can share to the
company. These are punctuality and being a team player
(showcasing your skills). In my previous company, I never had any
records of absences or tardiness. This greatly affected the confidence
of my team with me. Because of that, I was able to work with my
team harmoniously. I was awarded as top performer for several
times because I was always present to complete my tasks and the
tasks assigned to my team (example/experience). With this, I can
say that with my skillset, I can be a good addition to the company
and to the team that I will be part of in the future (tailor fitting).”
Cont’d…

• And that is how you can answer questions about

your strengths in a short but substantial way.
Also, always remember to be confident with your
answers. Believe in what you say! Your
interviewer won’t be confident with you if you
will not be confident also.
Now, SET stands for:

• S – howcasing your skill/s

• E – xample/experience
• T – ailor fitting
Cont’d…

• These can be applied for interview questions

about your strength.
• These can also be used on how you transition
your answers from one idea to another.
Now, let’s talk about STAR!

• If SET can be applied for questions about your

strength, STAR can be applied for behavioral and
situational questions like:
Cont’d…

A. Situational : How did you handle your most

difficult call?
B. Behavioral : Was there a time when you and a
co-worker disagree? Tell me what happened.
STAR stands for:

• S - ituation
• T - ask
• A - ction
• R - esult
Cont’d…

• Like SET, STAR is also about how we can

transition our ideas from 1 point to another, so we
can have a cohesive train of thought when we
answer interview questions.
• Let’s try answering this question and follow the
STAR format.
Question: Was there a time when you have to take
over a certain task? What happened?

• SITUATION
• This is where you must describe the situation of your
answer.
• ANSWER
• “Once at a former company, an employee left days before the
imminent deadline of his pending emails and backlogs. My
team leader assigned me to take over his tasks.”
Cont’d…
• TASK
• This is where you have to tell the interviewer the
specific goal for the situation.

• ANSWER:
• “The goal at that time was to answer all the pending emails
and backlogs before the scheduled deadline.”
Cont’d…
• ACTION
• Describe what you did to accomplish that goal.

• ANSWER:
• “What I did to make it possible was I collaborated with my
workmates to gather the data needed. We all worked together
to finish it.”
Cont’d…

• RESULT
• State the outcome of your action.
• ANSWER:
• “This made everyone in the team delighted and more
productive and finishing the tasks before the deadline
became a success.”
QUESTION: Was there a time when you have to take
over a certain task? What happened?

• Answer:
• “Once at a former company, an employee left days before the imminent
deadline of his pending emails and backlogs. My team leader assigned
me to take over his tasks (situation). The goal at that time was to
answer all the pending emails and backlogs before the scheduled
deadline (task). What I did to make it possible was I collaborated with
my workmates to gather the data needed. We all worked together to
finish it (action). This made everyone in the team delighted and more
productive and finishing the tasks before the deadline became a
success (result).”
Summary

• That’s how you apply STAR in answering

behavioral and situational questions.
• SET and STAR can be your guide in answering
interview questions for you to have a more
organized and concise answer – short and simple
or substantial.
Cont’d…

• A lot of times when we don't know where to start,

how to start our answers, what to say next, or
even how to end it. By following SET and STAR
as our guide, we can have a better way of
delivering our answers.
Cont’d…

• These concepts can sound intimidating and that's

very understandable. Take your time to absorb it.
Here are some sample questions that you can ask
yourself, then apply SET and STAR:
SET

1. What are your strengths? (pretty

straightforward)
2. What's makes you hire-able?
STAR

1. Tell me about a time when you had a conflict at

work.
2. Tell me about the time you handled an abusive
customer.
Activity (Optional)

• Just pick one question from each category and ask

yourself, "How am I going to answer this?" Then
start applying SET and STAR.
• I’ll give you another 5 minutes to reflect. Then,
we’ll have “Google Meet Call” after it.
Take note of some common interview questions.

Example: Can you please tell me something about yourself?

• It is important to remember to avoid giving your life history or making
your answer sound like the odds are against you when introducing
yourself. Example, a lot of applicants would say something like this
when they introduce themselves to get sympathy from the interviewer:
“Hello. My name is John Doe. I have a degree in Language teaching. I
supported myself when I was still studying because my family cannot
afford my tuition. I have 5 siblings and my parents barely have enough
income to support all of us.”
Cont’d…

• The initial part is good, but what was said after is not.
Now the question is, should the company know the other
details that are too personal to share? No, not
anymore! Always remember to keep your answer
related to your profession and the position you are
aiming for and add something fun about yourself when
introducing (ex. hobbies, fun fact, etc.)
~ The End!

Thank you for paying attention to this discussion.

May you have learnt something beneficial. Cheers!
