When your interviewer asks about your previous job experience, it is not like the guys at the barbeque asking about what you do even though it may seem like it.
It’s actually a crucial question to answer correctly.
Here’s what you need to know:
Why Is Your Work Experience Important?
A lot of times the person who ends up interviewing you may not have had the time to study your resume, so that is one of the main reasons why they would ask you about it.
Also, it’s much easier for interviewees to talk about their work experience than about themselves or their lives, so it’s an easy warm-up question.
And as you may have guessed, it’s also to see if your work experience and skills are in line with the skills that the position you are being interviewed for.
Plus, asking you about your work experience in person rules out any fantasies you may have added on your resume.
Be Specific About Important Details
When an interviewer asks you this question they don’t want to have to wreck their brain to keep up with your scattered thoughts and unorganized explanation.
Make sure you are specific about these details that are important for everyone to stay on the same page;
- The company name and where they are based i.e. The Bordeaux Bakery In Venice, Italy.
- Your job title i.e. Head Baker/store manager
- What time period your employment stretched to and from i.e. the summer of 2012 to February 2014.
- Then you can go ahead and start talking about what your responsibilities there.
So your introduction to that job could look something like this; “I was the head baker and store manager at The Bordeaux Bakery in Venice, Italy from the summer of 2012 until the end of February 2014”
Have a Copy of Your Resume
I hope by now everyone knows to bring one or two copies of their resume, along with a few well designed business cards, to a job interview.
But bringing along your resume can actually help you too.
You simply need to print out a copy for yourself as well and keep that in your note binder and when you are asked about your work experience and or current role, you can use that section with the nifty little bullet points that you typed out as a guide in case you forget anything.
With that said, remember when talking about your work experience both on your resume and in the interview to list your roles in reverse chronological order so that your most recent experience is listed first.
Don’t Be Robotic
Although you can and should practice your answers to interview questions it’s important not to sound rehearsed no matter how nervous you may be.
The interviewer doesn’t want to feel like you swallowed your resume then there is no point whatsoever in meeting you in person.
Also when using your resume as a guide, be sure to phrase your words slightly differently.
You should talk about your work experience and not recite it from memory and that counts for the rest of your interview as well.
An interview is, after all, a conversation.
Use Your Words
Words are more powerful than most people realize.
They have the power to make something mundane seem extraordinary, to make something dull burst with color or to make you, my friend, seem much more impressive than you actually are.
Not that there’s anything wrong with being ordinary, but let’s face it no one is going to want to hire you because you’re just so ordinary.
The point is, you can use words to your advantage.
Incorporate power verbs throughout your resume and (casually) in your conversation because even though it may not seem like it, you will leave your interviewer impressed.
Include Numbers In Your Accomplishments
Let’s jump into an example here;
“The bakery’s revenue and the team’s productivity was increased tremendously after only the first year of my leadership”
Or
“The bakery’s revenue increased by $20 000 per annum and the team’s productivity increased by 28% after only the first year of my leadership”
Which one sounds more impressive to you?
That’s the point.
The human brain is designed to quantify accomplishments otherwise it’s just abstract to us and our brains cannot deal with that.
This is exactly why you should use figures when explaining past or current job roles.
Don’t Describe The Company
Unless the interviewer specifically asks about the company you are or have worked for, don’t focus on it.
Many times when you start describing your past job experience by launching into an explanation about what the company does, your interviewer loses interest before you can get to the more important stuff which is what you did and accomplished there.
Besides, what the company does isn’t really relevant except within reference to your responsibilities and that’s also the only circumstance when you can briefly mention it.
Stay Positive
Although you may have felt scorned by your previous employer(s), or however strong your negative feelings may be towards them, it’s of the utmost importance that you keep all of that to yourself.
Because when you cast your previous employers in a negative light, you are casting yourself in a negative light.
You will come across as petty or untrustworthy even if your feelings are justified.
Always talk about the good about a previous role and cast the bad stuff in a more positive light too.
Customize Your Description
This is by far one of the most important things you can do when talking about your work experience so pay attention.
To customize your work experience doesn’t mean that you make up stuff that you didn’t do, it means you highlight essential transferable skills that you think will be important to the job you are applying for.
It’s especially important when you are pursuing a career change.
But what exactly does that mean?
Say, for example, you were a clerk in a hardware store and you are applying for a entry level construction job, you can showcase the fact that the product training you received helped you to recommend the right products to the customers and or to help solve whatever problem they may have.
This will show your interviewer that you do have industry-specific knowledge after all and that you will be much better suited to the job than someone who only has theoretical knowledge of the tools and or materials.
Leave a Reply