FollowJob interview Preparation – how much is too much?
I coach many people on interview skills. People come to me if they freeze up, lack structure, do not project confidence or are uncertain of how to answer questions – and that’s just the start. The other day, however, I came across a different kind of problem – one of my clients was way too over-prepared.
We started with a mock interview. He knew his stuff. He’d practiced his stuff. It rolled off his tongue seamlessly. After the first question he answered I said – “have you practiced that answer?” He said “how did you know?”
If you are over-rehearsed, or have learned your lines, here’s how I know:
– you don’t watch to see if I understand you. You can tell if I understand you by looking into my eyes at my reaction. Often if you over-rehearse, you just keep talking, focusing on what you want to say, and missing my cues with my body language and expression.
– you use words you wouldn’t normally use in everyday conversation.
– you tend to paraphrase with text-book descriptions of actions you should take. For example, if you are talking about how you have resolved a conflict with other people, you may say: “I acknowledged their concerns.” If you were simply describing what you did, you would talk more about what you said to the other person to “acknowledge their concerns.”
– you kind of answer the question but your answer flows too quickly and doesn’t quite hit the mark. Many questions are nuanced. You may, for example, answer the question: “why do you want this job?” with a response that tells me how great you are. “Why do you want this job?” and “why should we hire you?” are not quite the same question.
– you do not sound anything like the person who walked in with me and made casual conversation as we sat down. Your speech is too quick, or too mannered. You are in interview mode.
– I just don’t get a sense that we are talking together. I feel like I am at a lecture, or that you are presenting to a large audience.
My client’s underlying issue could be around a lack of confidence. Perhaps he thinks his experience was not good enough, or he thought each answer needed to be perfect. However in this case more practice with what we were doing was not going to help.
He told me wanted to do whatever it took to stand out. For the moment I have stopped working with him as I suspected the more we worked on his answers the deeper the problem would become.
I am going to ask a few career experts for a few tips on how to work through this problem.
I’m looking forward to their answers.
Stay with me.
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
It will become apparent to the interviewing panel that he is not really focusing on them, but just spewing forth what he has stored in his short-term memory. To not put his answers in context with what is talked about in the interview begs the question, “Is he always this self-oriented?”
Perhaps taking a notepad with him to the interview would help. If he writes down a few notes on what they are saying, it could slow his mind down just a bit and be easier to blend what he already knows into an answer that will be more what the interviewers would be looking for.
Another thing is to remind him that pauses after a question aren’t necessarily bad. Though they may seem like an eternity from the candidate’s end, they convey to the interviewers an ability to be thoughtful and to weigh the choices, not just have a knee-jerk reaction.
Thank you Melissa, that’s a great answer. I think slowing him down will work in this case. One of the problems is that he is over analysing and thinking too far ahead.
Hi Karalyn
First of all, I will not pretend I know what ophthalmology is but I expect it’s not all-too-simple stuff. If I were the interviewer in this situation I would want to find ‘human’ candidates. I would expect they get lots of clever clogs and professor types which is great but they will want to pick someone that can work with a team and well with patients. Everyone that gets picked to the interview has the potential of doing this but it will come down to personal traits methinks.
So my advice for him would be to do a check of how he likes to help people, what he is passionate about, what he does in his spare time, family stuff etc and then project that in the interview. If he still doesn’t get the gig, forgetta bout it as I wouldn’t want it in that case!
Good luck,
J
Karalyn:
I’ve seen this happen before as well. I think there are several things you may want to suggest your client try.
First, I agree with Jorgen’s point about focusing on the interpersonal skills and highlighting his passion. That’s hard to practice with someone you know. Perhaps having him practice the relationship building skills of asking questions about the interviewer would be a good tactic. Also, I am sure you’ve coached him to use STAR/PAR/accomplishment stories when he answers question. When he tells these stories, you should see his “eyes twinkle” and he should be smiling from pride or self-worth. If that’s not happening, could it be he doesn’t love what he does?
Second, you want him to use spoken language, not resume-ese. Ask him to re-script his answers using the spoken language.
And third, if he has over practiced, then changing up his scripting might make him sound less stale. You might ask him to tell totally different stories, use a different introduction, and have different answers to the typical questions. I guess what I am suggesting is that you “break him down”.
I will be interested to hear how this works out! Best of luck to you both!
Hi Jorgen, Thank you for the advice. I’ll work it into my next session. You are right, the panel definitely want to connect with someone human. We’ll get back to what he’s passionate about. K.
Hi Hannah, Thanks for your response. The eyes twinkle is a dead give away to what someone really cares about. It’s the same thing as when someone’s face lights up and it’s the difference between a good answer and a great answer, I think. I’ll keep you posted. K
This comes courtesy of Steven Solodky a career coach in Melbourne and founder of http://www.careermuk.com
Some quick thoughts on the over-rehearsed candidate. I came across this a few months ago with an overseas student – culture can play a factor.
He could be projecting what he thinks the interviewer wants to hear. I work on challenging this assumption by discussing what is actually assessed. I want to know what you really think and feel, not what you think I want to hear.
It could also be a cover for nerves – I point out that nervousness is normal and that I become concerned if a candidate is not nervous, as it could point to a lack of self awareness or an underlying personality distortion such as inflated confidence, lack of empathy or aggression.
I then would work on how to express nervousness in an interview and how this is very normal and nothing that requires a great deal of attention – who wouldn’t be nervous and it only shows how much you care about the role. Nerves pass in their own time and they arise as a normal human function when one is exposed to a new situation.
I encourage the client to bring awareness to their thoughts and feelings. What are you thinking right now? What feelings are arising right now? I ask them to bring in a job they want to apply for and go through the same process – what do you think about this role? What do you feel about it? It’s subtle, but hopefully they start to relax by this point and can talk more openly by by-passing conceptual thought.
I will also challenge if needed – you say this, but what do you really think? That’s funny, the last candidate told me that, give me something new? That’s nice, tell me something that I don’t know etc (supportive of course). Who is talking now, you or your mind again?
Changing roles is good too – if you had to hire this person, what would you look for?
I love seeing what masks a client wears – they are endless. But be careful as the client may have an underlying psychological issue that could unravel if you encourage self awareness exploration. Some of this stuff can cross over into counseling if you don’t stick to the interview theory.
Check for rapport building skills as well. I go over competency assessment and step by step – what did you think, what did you do, what did you say, what did you feel, what was the reaction from the other person? What did you read from the other person’s tone of voice and body language? If they say what is true and what actually happened in an actual specific situation, then it should start to roll naturally.
Just my take on things. People have many layers and it requires a judgment call about how much you want to break the layers down. I love senior level clients as they usually have the maturity to handle self exploration more.
This suggestion comes from Deborah Barit, Director of http://www.impressiveinterviews.com.au
I would suggest your client takes a step back and considers the following:
• If s/he was on the interview panel what would s/he want the candidate to say for the panel to go YES and formulate the answers accordingly
• It is not a competition – s/he needs to focus on their qualifications, experience and personal attributes which makes s/he stand out in the crowd
• The most important part of preparing is to focus only on what s/he has to offer
• Essential not to memorise answers but focus on the key points for each answer and prepare examples from experience to demonstrate the point.
• Expect the unexpected – hence stop worrying about it.
This comes from Mary Goldsmith, Founder of http://www.careersheila.com.au
Is your candidate already using a formula such as CAR or STAR to present examples of his best achievements during the interview? Has he seen a recording of himself in action? If not, that may be a wake up call!
Hi Karalyn,
Just jotting down a few notes of what has helped clients who don’t sound like themselves – they come across overscripted, or sounding like a role rather than a person, too authoritarian or conversely sounding like a scared rabbit, to name a few.
– The person is usually scared. So start out what they’re afraid of and address that. The goal here is to get them to the point where they are willing to be authentic even if nervous.
– Point out that the purpose of rehearsal is to make sure that if they are nervous at the interview they will still remember some of their points, and not to sound like a TV newscaster (unless that’s the job they are interviewing for
– Focus prep on choosing their strongest points and illustrating their points with stories – more memorable than a string of facts.
– Record them answering questions and give feedback. They can hear the difference between an overscripted (or whatever the initial problem was) manner and being genuine. They have much more impact when they are being themselves and telling compelling stories.
– Give them the assignment that first priority in the interview is to connect with the interviewer.
This is a big topic, but I hope these points are useful.
Hi Karalyn – In the end, I think it is about learning to relax and be yourself. I think if you can do those two things, the fit (or non-fit) will become obvious. It allows you as the candidate to be more conscious in the conversation. And you’ll get more of Hannah’s “eye-twinkling” (great phrase) 🙂
As an interviewer, I always liked to watch someone think. To pause before an answer. Too quick and it feels rehearsed (like you mentioned). Too long and it seems selfish. My advice is to prepare as best you can then relax and let go. Give short/crisp answers and be ready with longer, more interesting ones as interest from the interviewer is apparent.
Focus on a more conversational interview. An exchange of ideas . . .
Thank you Tim, It’s funny. I look for a pause as well. I like to hear someone think! K.