How to Answer the 4 Kinds of Interview Questions
Meghan Hodgson, '19 BA Anthropology and Psychology, has been working at the Career Center as a Career Peer Educator for the last 2 years, helping support students career development and exploration. Before that she worked in the Office of the Student Ombuds, as the Ombuds Intern, and today she shares her tips on how to master the different types of interview questions!
Directive Questions
Directive questions are very clear about what skills and/or qualities they’re looking for. Don’t be tricked into giving a one word answer, or short response! Expand on your answer whenever possible.
EXAMPLE - “How has your education prepared you for this job?”
- Talk about transferable courses you’ve taken and if you learned any technical skills from those courses. Group work/presentations may have taught your public speaking skills or effective teamwork skills.
Non-Directive Questions
These questions are usually very vague. You might not know exactly what skills or knowledge they’re looking for. Use this as an opportunity to tell the interviewer how you think you would fit in the organization, and use the job posting as a guide to align yourself with them and their goals.
EXAMPLE - “Tell me about yourself"
- Don’t only talk about your hobbies. Talk about your skills and how you’ve gained them, and how they can transfer to the new position
Hypothetical Questions
This kind of question explains a situation, usually in future tense, and asks what you would do. The key to answering this kind of question is to be as clear and concise as possible. Give a step-by-step solution and summarize it at the end.
EXAMPLE - “What would you do if you were approached by a client who was very disappointed in the service provided?”
- The customer is always right! First listen to the customer to find out exactly why they were dissatisfied, and then ask if there is anything you could do to fix it. The solution you may see is not what they might see.
Behavior Descriptive Questions
Use the STARS Formula.
S - specific situation, with concise details
T - transferable skills you used to navigate that situation
A - actions taken, and the sequence they were taken in
R - results, demonstrate how your skills were effective
S - self-assessment, let the interviewer know is the situation was handled well or not, and what you would do differently next time.
EXAMPLE - “Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a co-worker”
- If you were working on a presentation, give specific details, such as what the presentation was for, and give details that will give context to the answer. At the end of talking about any negative situation, you should reflect about how you handled it and what you learned.
Have questions prepared to ask at the end for the interview
What are you curious about that goes beyond the job posting? Beyond the rate of pay? Beyond, when you might hear about the outcome of your interview?
E.g. What do you like most about working for this organization and your role?, What does success in this role look like to you? What are some of the past projects and/or outcomes previous interns in this role worked on/achieved? What does the day-to-day look like? What opportunities are there for training and further learning in this role?
FINAL NOTE: References
Provide a typed list of your references including their name, job title, organization, email and phone, and how they prefer to be contacted. Tip: Use the header you used on your resume and cover letter with your contact info, so there is no doubt they are your references.
Make sure your references have given permission for you to provide their contact information, and they know which position you will be interviewing for.
Do not ask your friends or family members to be a reference. Avoid asking fellow students to be references for you as well. Try for a professor, someone who has supervised your work or volunteer experience who can comment on your work and skill sets
