Interview prep and tips to land your dream job

Having been trained by a Fortune 10 company in interviewer skills, and conducted countless interviews, I am often asked for interview help. Here are some of my tips to help you earn the call back from your future employer.

1. What are they looking for? 
List out the top 10 traits the job requires. Do this from the employer's perspective: look for clues in the job description, learn from the company's website and online material. (Examples might be: great communication, team player, or fast learner.)

2. Your example stories
For each one of your traits, think of two work-related examples of you demonstrating those traits. Each story should focus on you, and have a positive outcome or learning. You should have 15-20 stories.

These stories will help you answer almost any behavior-based question you are asked. The trick is not to focus too much on the question you are asked (i.e. do not think, "Are they asking about communication here?"), but rather having the best examples top of mind to demonstrate your candidacy.

3. Prepare for the common questions
You can find hundreds of interview questions online, but odds are you will not be asked those because every company and interviewer is different. However, there are a few questions which I always prepare folks for:

• Tell me about yourself. The most common answer I get to this question is a regurgitation of the candidate's resume, which is boring (I already read it!). The best answers have been given by candidates who describe things about themselves not on their resume. A client applying for a coaching position spoke about his beliefs on how coaching positively impacts youth's lives. It was genuine and heart-felt, and made a big impact on the interviewers, especially because it was the first question they asked.
• What would you bring to the team/company? You know your strengths, now articulate them in ways which align to the key traits the company is looking for. 

I usually spend a few hours split across 2-3 days about a week before the interview with those whom I assist. The key is to refine the example stories (short, to the point, demonstrating the value), do some mock questions, and get comfortable speaking positively about oneself.