How to Be Concise in Job Interviews

How to Be Concise in Job Interviews TweetLong, rambling answers padded with repetition and irrelevant information dont win job interviews. If the interviewer is bored, they wont remember you afterwards. Or they might remember you as the last person I want to listen to in staff meetings! We all know its better to answer interview questions concisely. Easier said than done. How do you do it? Edit your interview answers. To avoid verbal wandering, plan a clear path! Put together a good, long list of questions youre likely to be asked, then write a simple, bare-bones talking points outline of your answer for each one. (Dont write full sentences, because youll end up reciting a script and sounding phony.) Then edit your outlines. Ask yourself, Which details will sell me as the right person for the job? Make sure you include those! Which details could be left out? Delete them. Now, practice saying your concise answers aloud until they flow easily. After going through this process multiple times over several days, you may find yourself speaking more succinctly even in answers you havent prepared! Know how to stop. Sometimes interviewees ramble for lack of an ending. Here are some ways to end an answer smoothly: Refer back to the question: So thats how Id describe my management style. If youre telling a story, end with the successful results you achieved. Relate what youve been saying to the job youre interviewing for: and I imagine youve had similar situations here. or Does that sound like a strategy that could work here? See my article Interviewing: 5 Good Ways to Wrap Up Your Answers for more help with this. Still wandering off into the verbal weeds? Its a habit. To break it, practice giving answers that are actually too brief, followed by a question, such as: Would you like me to go into more detail? If you catch yourself rambling, practice bottom lining your answer: stop yourself with a statement like To get straight to the bottom line or The most important part of this story is Then get straight to the point. Practice. Its one thing to read tips, but quite another to build skills youll use when the pressure is on. Practice, practice, practice with a mirror, a buddy or a job interview coach. Practicing turns tips into skills and winning interviews. How to Be Concise in Job Interviews TweetLong, rambling answers padded with repetition and irrelevant information dont win job interviews. If the interviewer is bored, they wont remember you afterwards. Or they might remember you as the last person I want to listen to in staff meetings! We all know its better to answer interview questions concisely. Easier said than done. How do you do it? Edit your interview answers. To avoid verbal wandering, plan a clear path! Put together a good, long list of questions youre likely to be asked, then write a simple, bare-bones talking points outline of your answer for each one. (Dont write full sentences, because youll end up reciting a script and sounding phony.) Then edit your outlines. Ask yourself, Which details will sell me as the right person for the job? Make sure you include those! Which details could be left out? Delete them. Now, practice saying your concise answers aloud until they flow easily. After going through this process multiple times over several days, you may find yourself speaking more succinctly even in answers you havent prepared! Know how to stop. Sometimes interviewees ramble for lack of an ending. Here are some ways to end an answer smoothly: Refer back to the question: So thats how Id describe my management style. If youre telling a story, end with the successful results you achieved. Relate what youve been saying to the job youre interviewing for: and I imagine youve had similar situations here. or Does that sound like a strategy that could work here? See my article Interviewing: 5 Good Ways to Wrap Up Your Answers for more help with this. Still wandering off into the verbal weeds? Its a habit. To break it, practice giving answers that are actually too brief, followed by a question, such as: Would you like me to go into more detail? If you catch yourself rambling, practice bottom lining your answer: stop yourself with a statement like To get straight to the bottom line or The most important part of this story is Then get straight to the point. Practice. Its one thing to read tips, but quite another to build skills youll use when the pressure is on. Practice, practice, practice with a mirror, a buddy or a job interview coach. Practicing turns tips into skills and winning interviews.