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This is going to sound crazy, but I actually love practicing for interviews. Don’t get me wrong: I don’t love the actual interview process, but I love practicing for potential interviews.
My organization offers self-improvement classes, and I love taking the ‘practice interview’, ‘create a new resume’, ‘find your purpose in life’ classes. Love them! Sometimes I think, even though I’ve heard lots of horror stories, I would love to work for Human Resources.
That said, most people don’t like the interview process, and I’m probably one of the few weirdos who likes to do mock interviews for fun. However, my reputation for loving to practice interview questions and taking classes from experienced HR professionals sometimes comes in handy, particularly for my coworker-friends.
The other day, I helped a coworker-friend prepare for an upcoming interview she has for a promotional opportunity in our organization. She, like most people, hates to interview and dreads the entire process.
We took an hour to go over commonly asked questions, variations of questions, and how she could tackle “sensitive” questions, like “when have you ever not completed an assignment for a supervisor, and what was the outcome?” (Hint: you need to handle that question really delicately!). As well as this, we did look into a site like https://www.berkeassessment.com/solutions, which brings us perfectly into the solution of acing this upcoming job interview. What interviewers are looking for is to access a person’s ability and skills for the job.
Today I want to tell you about a wonderful, knock-it-out of the park formula for having a great interview. I’ve used it a couple of times since discovering it, and it has gotten me amazing feedback (they were mock interviews by the way, so there was no job for me to ‘get’ out of it).
This a formula you can use for practically any question – “what are your strengths and weaknesses”, “tell me about a challenging scenario with a coworker, and how you resolved it”, “tell me about a time you had to work together to complete a project”, etc. The only ones it won’t work for are “Tell me about your background” and “Do you have any questions for me?” 😉
The SHOW Formula
The SHOW Formula is pretty simple, once you get the hang of it. In your interview, SHOW your interviewer (or interview panel) how you’re the perfect employee for that job.
Let’s say your question is “Tell me about a time you had to work together to complete a project.” Here’s how to use the SHOW Formula:
S – Describe the situation. First, think ahead about a scenario for this question. Then describe it for your interviewer. Maybe you had to get together with a team to finish a project that had a tight deadline. Describe the project you had to complete and its deadline.
H – Describe how this situation was important. Maybe in your scenario, you had a quick deadline and your boss really was depending on your team to get it completed accurately. Maybe a crucial employee was out sick, and you had to step in to complete the task. Don’t make it a negative ‘how’, but highlight why this wasn’t an average, everyday scenario.
O – Talk about the outcome of your situation. In the quick deadline example, talk about how you and your team were able to complete the project on schedule. Again, highlight why this was important and why your team needed to complete it on schedule.
W – Why this example shows you are perfect for the position. Following the example, highlight why this example demonstrated your teamwork skills, leadership skills, and/or efficiency. You’ll want to highlight a particular skill, and then knock it home with this ‘why’ statement.
By using the SHOW formula, you can create a coherent story highlighting particular skills that relate to the job you’re interviewing for. This story should take no longer than 1-2 minutes to say, so practice with a family member, trusted friend or coworker.
Going on an interview, or curious for more tips on interviewing? Check out my recent post on Young Finances on the intangibles of interviewing.
That’s awesome that you were able to help your friend practice for her interview and I’m sure it helped calm her nerves 🙂 I really like mock interviews too even though I used to hate them when I didn’t understand how interviews worked. When I was job hunting I had to learn pick up quick on how to present myself, ask the right questions and most important, answer questions the correct way. The SHOW formula you mentioned is perfect for this because it reaffirms the notion that employers aren’t just asking questions for the heck of it. They want to know how and why you did things and the outcome so they can see how you would be an asset to them. When I got this formula down, interviews became more enjoyable for me because I was more confident and able to relax.
Awesome! I’m so glad you were able to figure out the formula on the fly – I feel like it took me a little while to understand this method is what (most) employers are looking for. It also helps reduce the rambling answers that some people give during interviews because they are nervous.
Oh I love this! I get so nervous during interviews so it’ll help to keep the SHOW structure in mind.
You should really consider doing some interview coaching. Sounds like you really have a knack for it!
I’m so glad it’s useful for you too! I used to get really nervous too, so it helps to keep this structure in mind and then wrap up your story. It’s easy to start rambling during interviews – but not good!
Thank you so much, Christine! One of these days… I need a few more people to coach and get some success stories from them! Crossing my fingers my friend gets the job she’s going for 🙂
Being an actress, I’ve never really been through the traditional interview process, but this sounds like a great formula. Specific examples and storytelling are always good.
So true! I bet storytelling comes in handy as an actress during interviews too (maybe?) 🙂
I’ve often wondered if I missed my calling as an HR rep, myself 🙂
I’m pretty sure I didn’t get that job I wanted at the university because of one question in the interview. I stumbled a lot on it, and I think I ended up shooting myself in the foot in the process. I should have practiced!
But now I know to use the SHOW technique – which I have never heard of before. But man, it sure makes answering those questions easier! It’ll help cut down my rambling at the very least for those future interviews that I hope to be getting soon!
It’s so hard, because sometimes there are intangibles that companies want and you’ll never know. Also, there are so many people nowadays for so few jobs, so if you make one mistake… it’s not fair, but it happens 🙁 Maybe interviewing would be even easier for us if we were HR Reps? 😉
I’m really glad you liked this technique! I really hope it comes in handy – let me know! 🙂