MASTERING THE INTERVIEW - THE EXECUTIVE GUIDE

Preface 02

Introduction 03

1. Structure of the Interview 04

2. The Art of Storytelling 05

3. The First Minute – No Second Chance to Make a First Impression 05

4. The Introduction – Have the Best Elevator Pitch in the World 08

5. Answering Questions: Part I – the Power of Knowing Them in Advance 10

6. Asking Questions – Another Chance to Stand Out 12

7. The Follow-Up – Send a Thank-You Note 14

8. Answering Questions: Part II – the Top Questions and How to Answer Them 14

9. Conclusion 16

PREFACE
Great that you’ve got a copy of Mastering the Interview
- The Executive Guide! This guide is the product of
years of studying and analyzing the application and
recruiting process of senior-level professionals.
When we started our journey at JobLeads 15 years
ago, we set out on a mission to help senior-level
professionals find more rewarding careers. For a while,
we believed it was mostly about transparency. We
therefore focused on making the job market for senior-
level professionals more transparent. By building a Job
Tracking Software that searches millions of websites
from companies, headhunters, and job boards daily, we
provide senior-level professionals with worldwide
access to every senior-level job in one place. The
technology is great as it helps candidates like you see
2.5 times more relevant jobs than you otherwise would
without it. Over time, however, we learned that this is
only one piece of the puzzle. Finding a new job is so
much more than just transparency.
While our technology helps thousands to find more
rewarding careers, there are thousands who still
struggle. Sometimes it takes even highly skilled
candidates years to find a new position, and often the
job they take is yet another compromise. Nobody
wants to settle for less. With our mission unchanged,
we needed to understand the struggle people were
facing. We needed to understand it completely in order
to fulfill our mission of helping them find more
rewarding careers.
We started to study the subject intensively. We asked
thousands of job seekers about their experiences,
talked to recruiters, and read hundreds of books,
articles, blogs, and studies on the matter. We literally
fought our way through the fog. There was just so
much material out there. To our surprise we found
thousands of blogs and texts with unsubstantiated
advice, such as “Top 10 Interview Tips” or “The 10
Secrets to Finding New Jobs.” Most of these articles
only have one goal in mind: to be indexed by Google’s
search engine to bring people to the site rather than
offering real, substantiated advice. It was no wonder
why people were struggling with their job search.
02
Who could blame them? If it took our entire team that
much time, how should an individual job seeker be able
to do it?
We approached the topic like a scientific research
project. After having gathered, aggregated, and
analyzed all the information, the fog slowly lifted. At
first, we were skeptical; how could it be that the results
were so clear and straightforward? If it was so obvious,
why was there not one single resource available to
teach people what needed to be done to end their
struggle and pursue the career they wanted? Our
conclusion was that nobody ever approached the topic
in the way we did. So let's look at what we found out.
We discovered that the struggles people face in their
job search all follow a simple pattern. To put it simply,
we found 20 reasons why people are unsuccessful in
landing their next job. They kept popping up repeatedly
throughout our research. We called them “career
blockers” because they block you from pursuing a
fulfilling and rewarding career.
Each of these “career blockers” falls into one of the
following stages of the job hunt: Finding Jobs, Getting
Interview Invitations (the application process), and the
Interview Process.
As the title suggests, in Mastering the Interview - The
Executive Guide we will be focusing on the “Interview
Process” and everything it entails. In this guide you will
gain an understanding of why you have struggled in
past interviews and will get the tools and strategy you
need to overcome the interview “career blockers”.
We hope you are just as excited about this guide as we
are. It was built by real people to help real people like
you.
All the Best,
Christian von Ahlen
Co-Founder jobleads.com

INTRODUCTION
Before jumping into all the details of mastering
the interview, we would like to explain one simple
concept. If you made it to the interview stage,
you almost certainly possess the right skill set
for the job. While this is good news, you have one
more hurdle to conquer: to stand out from the
similarly qualified competition. To be very clear,
whether you stand out or not is not dependent on
how good your competitors are, on who the
interviewers are, or as some people tend to
believe, on luck. It simply depends on one thing -
how well you prepare. What you need is an
“Interview Preparation Strategy.” Our research
has shown that there is a strong positive
correlation between the time people spend on
interview preparation and the success rate of the
interview. Get this: the success rate of people
spending eight to ten hours on preparation is
40% higher than that of people spending less
than three hours on preparation. Spending more
than 30 hours gets that rate up to even 60%.
That is time well-invested.
Even though preparing for an interview seems
obvious, the research we conducted with
03
job seekers has taught us the opposite. Over 95%
of all job seekers spend less than three hours
preparing for an interview. We figured out why -
the most common reason is the false assumption
that they are already fully prepared. Why do so
many people fall into this trap? Simply because
there is no structured guidance available to teach
and show people how to best prepare. Most
information on the topic is insufficient and
unsubstantiated. It suggests if you know to be on
time, dress properly, can explain everything on
your resume, and are able to answer a few
common questions such as “What are your
strengths and weaknesses?”, you will be well
prepared for the interview. But that is simply not
true. It is a complete myth that leads to a false
sense of security. Candidates who are
unsuccessful in their interviews often follow this
routine. So, the question is, what are successful
candidates doing differently?

We created this guide to give you an executive
summary of all our research findings. It is a
bulletproof guide that provides you with step-by-
step instructions on how to stand out from the
competition and master every interview. While it
is one of a kind, it is no secret sauce. Your
success is up to you, but now you have the
perfect guide by your side. By far the most
important thing that we will teach you is the
following: an interview is usually a bilateral
conversation between you and the interviewer. If
you want to convince the interviewer that you are
the right candidate, you must first understand
their perspective. It doesn’t matter if the person
interviewing you is the hiring manager, a person
from HR, or someone else, all three have the
same goal. From the first second the interviewer
lays eyes on you, they will try to answer these
three questions:
Do you have the skills to do the job well?
Do you have the right mindset to do the job
well?
Will you fit into the organization?
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1. STRUCTURE OF THE
INTERVIEW
We laid the groundwork in the introduction. You now
have the strategy for mastering interviews. It is
based on preparation and conveying the message
that you have THE SKILLS TO DO THE JOB, THE
WILL TO DO THE JOB, and WILL FIT INTO THE
COMPANY CULTURE.
The most common mistake we see in the interview
preparation process is always the same. All the
advice out there treats the interview as one single
entity, but it is so much more than that. There are
several key components that are vital to the
interview. It is like any project in a company. If it is
not broken down into its most important parts, it is
set up for failure. Breaking things down into smaller
components brings structure and thus focus to any
planning and preparation process. And in the case
of interviews, it makes things a lot easier. So, let’s
look at the different phases of the interview:

While this is not rocket science, condensing the

entire interview into three questions plays a huge
1. The First Minute
part for your interview preparation. Everything
you prepare should revolve around these three 2. The Introduction
questions. What you say in the interview should 3. Answering Questions
demonstrate that you: 4. Asking Questions
5. The Follow-Up
have the SKILLS TO SUCCEED in the job,
have the WILL TO SUCCEED in the job, and
will FIT into the COMPANY CULTURE.

This entire guide is based on the most powerful

tool you will ever need to master any interview:
preparation. We will teach you how to best
demonstrate your SKILL, WILL, and FIT. Maybe
you have heard this before, but we say this to all
the people we coach: “the better you prepare,
the luckier you get”. So, let’s kick things off and
get started!
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2. THE ART OF 3. THE FIRST MINUTE – NO

STORYTELLING SECOND CHANCE TO MAKE
A FIRST IMPRESSION
Before jumping into the preparation of the five
“The first impression is very important in an
phases, however, we would like to introduce you
interview” is one of the most common statements
to one tool which will help you immensely in the
we get from the candidates we talk to. Typically we
preparation process. It’s called “storytelling.”
ask why they believe it is so important to make a
Maybe you already know that storytelling is a very
good first impression and how they go about getting
powerful tactic used in marketing. Why is that? It
it right. The answers we receive mostly do not go
has the potential to build trust and empathy and it
into more detail than “I dress appropriately” or “I am
can transmit positive, impactful messages. Let us
always on time.” However, when asked to elaborate,
show you the science behind it, explain why
they usually are unable to do so. This shows that
everyone including the interviewer loves stories so
they are not aware of the significance the first
much, and demonstrate how you should apply
impresssion has. Psychologists all over the world
storytelling in your interviews.
have studied this topic intensively resulting in eye-
opening findings. Ignoring this would be grossly
Humans are addicted to stories. When we hear a
negligent – instead, spend some time to figure out
story that resonates with us, our levels of oxytocin
how you can leverage your first impression to your
increase. This is the hormone that boosts such
advantage.
feelings as trust, compassion, and empathy.
That’s why stories have a unique ability to build
connections. Scientists at Harvard University
found that when listening to a well-told story, the
listener’s brain mirrors the brain of the storyteller.
In other words, when the interviewer hears a well-
thought-out story, their brain reacts as if they were
experiencing it themselves. This cultivates
emotion and a sense of togetherness – a
connection. Leveraging this knowledge for your
interview can give you a huge competitive
advantage. Presenting your messages as short
stories has two benefits. One, a connection will be
built between you and the interviewer. Two, the
interviewer is more likely to remember what you Don’t just do what everyone else is doing – make
say. This allows you to influence what sticks with yourself stand out in the candidate pool to outshine
the interviewer and what doesn't. the rest. Before we dive deeper into this subject,
however, let us first mention that the first
The key takeaway of this section is this: take the impression is not about winning the interview; it is
time to learn the art of storytelling in interviews. about not losing it. A bad first impression can make
You can find a bucketload of information you lose the interview within the first few seconds.
regarding this topic on the internet. This is a hard truth, we know. Rest assured, a first
good impression will lay the groundwork for
everything else. Now, let’s go into the details.
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Let's start out with two facts discovered by
psychologists at Princeton and Harvard
University. Firstly, interviewers make their initial
judgment in the first seven seconds of the
interview. Secondly, it is almost impossible to
reverse that first impression. You only get one
shot . Despite what people say, humans will
always subconsciously judge a book by its cover.
As such, it is not something you can easily
quantify. We have therefore studied
psychological research papers on human
interaction and translated those into six
recommendations for making a great first
impression. We call them the “Six Bs.”
BE CONFIDENT

According to research, up to 40% of messages in

Don’t just do what everyone else is
doing – make yourself stand out
BE PRESENTABLE
The most common, unspecific advice is to dress
appropriately. So, what does this mean exactly?
Well, essentially, you should base your decision
of what to wear on (i) what you think the
interviewer would expect you to wear, (ii) how an
outfit makes you feel, and (iii) what message you
want to convey. If you believe you look good, you
will come across as confident and relaxed.
Dress how you would if you actually had the job
– preferably even better. Make sure to do a quick
check from head to toe in the mirror right before
the interview starts – the final “check” as you
would say. If you are insecure about which colors
to wear, opt for such colors as blue, gray, or
white. According to psychological studies, those
are the ideal colors for job interview outfits. Blue
is assuring, while white and gray suggest you’re
the organized and/or logical type.
meetings is transmitted through body language.
Confidence is therefore key when going into an
interview. If you are well prepared and feel to be
dressed appropriately your body language will
signify confidence. Even if it is the job of your
dreams and you are very excited about the
opportunity, it is recommended not to show it. Do
not undersell yourself by expressing that you’re not
confident to be the perfect candidate for the
position. You want to convey exactly the opposite:
that YOU ARE indeed the right candidate. Make
clear eye contact with your interviewer, stand tall
and upright, and have a firm handshake. Just a
quick note on handshakes: a weak handshake
creates a terrible impression and is something you
clearly want to avoid. Just don’t break the
interviewer’s hand!
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BE ATTENTIVE

The amount of attention given by someone in

any human interaction has a very strong effect
on how likeable that person is. If you pay
someone undivided attention, it makes them feel
valued, and the chances that they like you
increase significantly. Increasing your likability
will skyrocket your chances of FITTING in the
COMPANY CULTURE. And it’s not that hard to
accomplish - just follow these steps:

1. Turn off your phone before entering the

building or turning on your computer video.
2. Always listen closely to what the interviewer is
Don’t make assumptions – for example, the person
saying. If you do not understand a question or
showing you to the interview room isn’t always the
statement and/or miss something, kindly ask
assistant; often they are the boss. Interacting with
them to repeat it.
people is important; many people will take notice of
3. If the interviewer divulges something about
how genuine your “Thank you” is to someone serving
themselves or their career, show interest and
you coffee. Secondly, if you are already sitting in the
ask a related question. By listening
interview room, stand up when the interviewer enters
constructively, you demonstrate to the
the room. Thirdly, people love to hear their own
interviewer that you value what they are
name – so definitely use it when saying goodbye
saying.
(i.e., “Thank you, Mr. Smith. It was great meeting
4. Never interrupt the interviewer.
you”). Finally, never speak poorly about others (i.e.,
5. Maintain eye contact.
former colleagues, employees, and employers)
unless you want to put a big red flag in the
interviewer’s head. That is always a no go.
BE POLITE

While this seems obvious, there are a few things BE KNOWLEDGEABLE

you should be paying attention to. First of all, not
only do you want to be nice and courteous to the
interviewer but also to everyone you encounter at
the entrance and of course within the building,
regardless of their position. You never know who
talks to whom and which person has which job.
We have heard too many stories of people being
arrogant or rude to someone who later turned out
to be the interviewer or boss.
Prior to any interview, you should research the
company and interviewers. This not only shows your
interest, but it will also give you a competitive edge
over other candidates. Study the company website
and be mindful of what the media is saying about the
company. Make sure you know about the company’s
products and services, its markets, and competitors
as well as its mission.
 08

It is also recommended to learn a little bit about its

history. Try to find everything there is to know
about your interviewers via Google and LinkedIn,
particularly their career history and achievements.
Maybe you have common acquaintances or
interests that can help you connect with the
interviewers. In addition, get their full names and
learn how to pronounce them long before the
interview commences.

Make sure you know about the

company’s products and services as
well as its mission.

BE ON TIME Because you won’t have the luxury of being able to

While this goes without saying, research suggests
that 16% of people still get it wrong. How can this
be? Because the worst-case scenario is not taken
into account. To be absolutely clear: THERE IS NO
EXCUSE FOR BEING LATE. No matter how good or
valid the excuse is, the individual who shows up
late will not be taken as seriously as similarly
qualified candidates who showed up on time. Of
course, life happens, and if you know for sure that
you will be delayed, always call ahead and offer to
reschedule.
One last thing before we move on. Video
interviews have become the new normal. While all
the above also applies to video interviews, there
are a few things you need to keep in mind to avoid
pitfalls. First, the quality of your camera impacts
how you come across. Investing in a decent
camera is just as valuable as having the right
outfit. Same goes with the microphone. Having a
decent pair of earphones or a good headset
completes the package. Minimize the risk of
having technical issues by testing your video tool
the day before your interview. On the actual
interview day, ensure you are set up in a quiet and
comfortable place and ready to go at least 15
minutes before your scheduled time.
offer a firm handshake or make eye contact with
your interviewer, it is imperative to smile confidently
and appear interested and engaged to compensate.
4. THE INTRODUCTION –
HAVE THE BEST ELEVATOR
PITCH IN THE WORLD
The typical introduction in an interview starts off
with a question such as “Tell me something about
yourself.” According to our research, over 90% of all
candidates simply answer this question by running
the interviewer through their resume. While we
understand that this is natural, it really is the worst
response to have. The interviewer has already seen
and read your resume. Not only will it bore them but
repeating it to them also wastes precious airtime.
This very open question can be your best weapon in
the entire interview! So use it to make a statement
and deliver your message. Just remember the three
things the interviewer wants to know and the three
things you want to prove (SKILL, WILL, and FIT).
Therefore, the correct answer to this question is a
well-prepared short pitch about why you are the
perfect candidate for this role – in other words, the
“elevator pitch”.
 09

This is a short speech no longer than two minutes,

and its sole purpose is to convince someone of
something. An elevator pitch is your own personal
commercial of yourself tailored to the job and the
company you are interviewing for. It answers the
question of who you are and why you are the best
candidate for the position.

OK, so now that you know what an elevator pitch is

and why you need it, how do you prepare one? We
have created a short step-by-step exercise for you:

Come up with three to five of the

01 most convincing things about
yourself regarding SKILL, WILL, and
FIT. Write them down and pack them
into a short story.

Read the story out loud to yourself,

02 fine-tuning it during the process. Read
it again and polish it once more.
Repeat this process until you are
100% convinced it is a great,
convincing story that flows well
without any awkward pauses or rough
spots.
An elevator pitch is your own
personal commercial of Practice it with your partner or close
03 friends and get their feedback in case
yourself tailored to the job it needs anymore tweaks.
and the company you are
interviewing for.
Once perfected, rehearse it
04 repeatedly in front of the mirror until it
becomes second nature.
 10

WHAT NOT TO DO IN AN ELEVATOR PITCH:

FORGET TO TAILOR YOUR BEING A ROBOT

MESSAGE Don’t recite your pitch as if you were a robot;
simply repeating what you have memorized word
Although you have already made a template, your
for word will not do your pitch justice. It needs to
elevator pitch should always be adapted to each
sound natural and genuine! Once again,
job for which you are interviewing. Always
rehearsing will do the trick. As we mentioned
remember which message you want to deliver.
earlier, preparation is key.

LANGUAGE NOBODY
UNDERSTANDS
You want your pitch to be clear and precise. It is
important for it to be easily understood. Avoid
highly technical terms and too sophisticated
language.

SPEAKING TOO QUICKLY

Make sure that the pitch can be delivered in two
minutes max at normal speed. Rehearse it, and if
it is too long or you need to speak too fast,
shorten it. A rushed pitch because of too much
information will do you no favors.

5. ANSWERING QUESTIONS: PART I – THE POWER OF

KNOWING THEM IN ADVANCE
Having an answer to a question straight away is
a great feeling. Humans feel great if they know
the answers to questions. They feel even better if
they know something that others don’t. You
might be wondering what any of this has to do
with job interviews? Let us explain.
There is a very common set of +/- 20 interview
questions that have a strong chance of showing up
in any interview you will have. This is great news
because it gives you the ability to prepare as well as
practice the answers to these questions in advance.
This is imperative for three reasons:

1. It allows you to deliver perfectly tailored
answers to the position you are interviewing
for. To master this approach, we recommend
that you provide a practical example for every
answer you have prepared, regardless of how
theoretical the question is.
2. For each question, you can decide beforehand
which of the three core messages (SKILL,
WILL, and FIT) you want to convey in your
answer. Remember what you learned in
section one about storytelling. Prepare stories
with practical examples that are directly
related to the position. Each story should talk
about the challenges you have faced in your
career, which steps you took to overcome
them, and which measurable results you
delivered. This will hammer home the
message you want to convey.
3. You will be much more confident walking into
the interview knowing that you have perfect
answers to many of the questions you will be
asked. This is a huge advantage because you
will appear much more relaxed and confident.
11
Where can you find these 20 questions, you might
ask? Don’t worry – you can find them in Chapter 8 of
this guide. I suggest that you prepare detailed
written answers for each question. Rehearse them
in the same way as we taught you for the elevator
pitch section – practice until the answers feel right
and you can deliver them naturally.
We are almost done with this section, but before we
move on, there are a few more general tips you
should remember when answering questions:
LISTEN WELL AND BE
PRECISE
We often hear from hiring managers that
candidates often don’t answer questions in a clear
and precise manner. To prevent this, it is important
to pay very close attention to what you are being
asked. If you do not understand the question, make
sure to ask the interviewer to repeat and/or clarify
it. Let’s face it: you can only answer clearly and
precisely if you have a firm understanding of the
question. And that is what the interviewer is looking
for - a precise answer backed by an experience or
achievement to emphasize that you know what you
are talking about.
DON’T INTERRUPT
We know from experience that many senior-level
professionals are not the best listeners. However, it
is important not to interrupt the interviewer. This
shows respect and demonstrates that you have
strong interpersonal skills. If you are interviewing
via a video platform, remember that there can be a
slight time delay. So, avoid rushing to answer a
question until your interviewer has finished
speaking.
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BE AUTHENTIC

It is not advisable to pretend to be someone else

in an interview.

Firstly, it is highly unlikely that you will be able to

believably maintain a false persona for the
duration of the entire job interview. And if the
interviewer doubts your honesty during the
interview, it is almost certain you will not get the
job. Secondly, you probably will want to have this
job for at least a few years. The likelihood that
you would be able to maintain this false persona
without the truth coming out over such a long
period is zero.

6. ASKING QUESTIONS – ANOTHER CHANCE TO

STAND OUT
decided to dig deeper. What we discovered was it
Towards the end of the interview this question
had less to do with the actual questions themselves,
often arises: “Do you have any questions?”. Most
but rather the way that these questions triggered a
candidates do not realize that having questions to
conversation. These questions sparked a detailed
ask is yet another great opportunity to
discussion about how the candidate would shine in
demonstrate SKILL, WILL, and FIT. Moreover, it
this job position. So, the key takeaways here are:
allows you as a candidate to steer the
conversation where you want it to go. We made a
survey asking recruiters for the type of questions
they have been asked and which ones made the
best impression. Instead of boring you with more
numbers, let us give you the result in a nutshell.
Recruiters answered that less than 5% of all
candidates ever ask any meaningful questions.
However, there were a few questions that they
were asked that led them to not only remember 1. Asking the right questions can be a very
the actual question but also the candidates who powerful tool.
asked them. How come? They said the questions 2. By asking the right questions, YOU can steer
that impressed them the most were the ones that the interview into a certain direction of your
conveyed that the candidate had a deep liking. This allows you to suddenly take control
understanding of the topic (SKILL) and of the situation.
demonstrated the will to know how they could use 3. Less than 5% of all candidates use this to their
this to create value for the company (WILL and advantage.
FIT). We asked ourselves how asking such a
question could be so powerful and therefore
 13

So, now let’s look at three questions which could do the trick. These questions are
twofold - they give you an advantage in the interview and help you determine if the
position is right for you.

WHAT ARE THE TOP THREE CHALLENGES FOR A

PERSON IN THIS ROLE?

This question states: I am analytical. I think about problems and find

solutions. I am a doer who wants to understand how I can create value. This
is a great question that shows initiative. What’s even better, however, is that
asking this question usually ignites a discussion regarding the challenges of
the position. This gives you the perfect opportunity to have well-prepared
examples about how you tackled and solved similar challenges in the past.
Remember to describe the challenge, how you approached it, and what the
outcome was (measurable results).

WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE SIX MONTHS

INTO THIS JOB?

This question states: I am motivated, goal-orientated, and KPI-driven. It will

trigger a similar discussion as the question mentioned above.

WHAT DO YOU LIKE/DON’T LIKE ABOUT WORKING

HERE?

Many candidates are afraid to ask such a question. Don’t be - it is a great

question because it conveys two messages. First, you really want to learn
about the company, its values, and the working atmosphere. You will not
settle for just any job; you care about what kind of job (FIT) it is. Second,
inquiring about the reasons not to work for the company sends the signal
that you have various options and choices open to you. We are using
psychology here once again. Someone who has multiple options available
will always be perceived to be more competent (SKILL) and more valuable.

One last thing: although asking questions is great, do not proactively ask
about salary, bonuses, perks, and holidays before entering the negotiation
phase. This would set the wrong tone and possibly give a wrong impression
of yourself.
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7. THE FOLLOW-UP – SEND A THANK-YOU NOTE

A follow-up email is key nowadays. Two days
after the interview, send a brief courtesy email.
Surprisingly, not many candidates bother to do so.
However, it will ensure that you stay at the top of
the interviewer’s mind. You have no excuse not to
as it takes less than 20 minutes of your time to
write a polite and well-crafted thank-you email.
However, it is not wise to send too many
messages, as you don’t want to annoy the
interviewer. Although waiting to hear back can be
stressful, resist the temptation to bombard your
interviewer with emails and phone calls – they’ll
just think you’re desperate.

8. ANSWERING QUESTIONS: PART II – THE TOP

QUESTIONS AND HOW TO ANSWER THEM
Competency-based interview questions
(sometimes also called “behavioral questions”)
focus on the core competencies that are required
to be successful in a job. This includes
knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal
characteristics. It is expected to give specific
examples of past situations or exercises that
demonstrate your competence in a particular
area. For all these types of questions, use the
tactics shared in Section 5. In addition, use a
framework called the STAR Interview Technique.
It is helpful because it allows you to stick to an
For example, the interviewer might ask you: “‘Your
resume says you are an excellent negotiator’; can
you provide me with an example?” To demonstrate
what we mean by the STAR Interview Technique,
the answer could be something like:
Situation: Our division wanted to try a new
marketing channel, but we had
already used up our budget.
Task: Evaluate how to get the required
budget.

easy-to-remember framework, ensuring you don’t

forget important information. If you do not know
already, STAR stands for: Situation, Task, Action,
Result. When telling a story, you first start by
explaining the situation. You then explain the
tasks, the actions you took, and the results you
achieved.
Action: We renegotiated a long-term
contract with one of our suppliers
to cut costs and then presented
the results to the CEO.
Result: Just from renegotiating the contract
with our supplier, we got 50% of the
budget increase that we needed.
When the CEO saw the long-term
cost-savings we had achieved, he
gave us the rest of the budget that
was still missing.
 15

By using the STAR method, your answer is Please note that while the questions you might be
structured and well-thought-out and, more asked may differ slightly, the answers you give will
importantly, will hold the interviewer’s interest. essentially be the same.
To conclude, here are the 20 most frequently
asked competency-based questions promised
earlier.

1. Tell me about yourself. / What should I know about you?

2. What are your strengths/weaknesses?
3. Why do you want this job? / Why do you want to work for us? / What kind of role are
you seeking?
4. Why should we hire you?
5. Why are you the right fit to succeed in this role?
6. Where do you see yourself in five years’ time?
7. Why do you want to leave your current job/Why have you left your job?
8. Why were you let go from your last position?
9. Can you explain this gap on your resume?
10. What does teamwork mean to you?
11. What are your hobbies? / What do you do when you’re not working?
12. What are your salary expectations?
13. What was the biggest challenge you have faced and how did you solve it?
14. Tell me about a time you failed. What did you learn?
15. Give me an example of when you had to support others in a team. Why did they need
support? What did you do to support them? How did that change things?
16. Give me an example of when you had an important deadline. How did you manage
your time? What did you do to ensure that the deadline was met? How would you
organize your activities differently next time?
17. Describe the last time you missed a deadline. Why did this happen? How responsible
were you for this? What did you do to try to overcome this problem?
18. Describe an occasion when you had difficulties working with a team. What caused the
problems? How did you respond? What was the outcome?
19. Tell me about a time when you were able to anticipate a problem. How did you know
the problem was likely to occur? What did you do? How effective was your action?
20. Give me a recent example of a setback you experienced. Describe the situation. How
did you react to the problem?
 16

CONCLUSION
With these frequently asked questions, you’ll be
well equipped to Master the Interview. Now you
know how to tell a story, make a great impression,
position yourself with the perfect pitch, and rise
above all other candidates by asking the right
questions and checking in with the company
afterwards. This guide is your key to developing
stellar interview skills and conquering one of the
hardest parts of the application process – the
interview.

Mastering the Interview, however, is just one out of

three success factors for landing a great new job.
The two others are Finding All Relevant Jobs and
Getting Interview Invitations. The more relevant
jobs you find, the more chances you have to get an
interview, and the more interviews you get, the
more opportunities you get to master the
interview. These three building blocks combined
are what we call the Job Search Funnel. This is
why you also need to tackle the Career Blockers
Getting Interview Invitations
holding you back from seeing all relevant jobs and
Your resume is one of your most important career
being invited to interviews.
tools as it decides if you get invited to the interview.
But many professionals have no idea where to start,
Finding All Relevant Jobs
what to include, and what to leave off of their
The average candidates never even see over 50%
resumes. They also don't know the pitfalls of
of all relevant job opportunities due to the way
Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), which
they search. It is very hard work to find all jobs,
automatically filter resumes before reaching the
and most don't know how to do this. Further, they
hiring manager. A professionally written resume is
frequently don't have access to the relevant
guaranteed to get you more interviews to land the
headhunters, controlling roughly 15%-20% of the
job you want faster. For this reason, we're here to
senior-level job market. For this reason, we
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