Job interviews take many shapes and forms — whether you're submitting a pre-recorded video, meeting in-person with a room full of decision makers, or having a 1-on-1 conversation with the person responsible for sealing the fate of your next career move. Regardless of audience and interview style, there is bound to be a list of common interview questions that your prospective employer is going to pull from.
With just ten seconds of Googling, I came across this 50 Most Common Interview Questions article on Glassdoor. Does this list (or the article’s title alone) make you break out into a cold sweat?
It shouldn't. This common questions list won’t ever make you truly prepared to walk into your next job interview with confidence and ease. No matter what tips and tricks lessen your nerves in the short term, a canned response or a templated answer is going to stick out as inauthentic — even if your answers check off all of the interviewer’s boxes on a surface level.
Instead of memorizing a speech or answering a question with information that you think people want to hear, approach each interview question with the three S's in mind: Specificity, Sincerity and Story.
Specificity
“In the particular is contained the universal." — James Joyce
"Small stories are specific, small stories are human scale" — Anne Handley
Assume the role of expert — both of your own life experience and your unique skill set as it relates to the job. The more you can zoom on the details that set you apart from the crowd, the more your interviewer will understand who you are and where you're coming from.
Sincerity
"Perfectionism is a journey from “What will people think?” to “I am enough.” That journey begins with shame resilience, self-compassion, and OWNING OUR STORIES. To claim the truths about who we are, where we come from, what we believe, and the very imperfect nature of our lives, we have to be willing to give ourselves a break and appreciate the beauty of our cracks or imperfections." — Brené Brown
If you are caught off guard by unexpected (or the most obvious of) questions, don't get tied up in trying to answer in a way that will please the person on the receiving end. You have no way of controlling how your answer is going to be received. If you listen to the question deeply — and trust that a genuine answer will serve you regardless of outcomes — you will be in a much better position to communicate clearly and effectively.
Story
Specificity and sincerity are key ingredients when sharing stories. Combine all three S’s to communicate with impact and turn common interview questions into delightful answers.
"Because most of all, stories give delight…. they beguile…. the desire to know what happened next, or whodunit… The desire to know these things is passionate and universal. It transcends age and youth; it ignores education and the lack of it; it beguiles the simple and enchants the wise. It was as entrancing in the fire-lit cave as it is in the seminar room." — Philip Pullman
Stop worrying about how to answer "What are your weaknesses?"
Instead of toiling over the perfect/right/best answer to the common interview questions: "What are your strengths?" and "What are your weaknesses?", trust the three S's to craft an answer that covers the underlying theme of both questions.
Use this story prompt as a guide:
What's something that you did that you never thought you could do?
A story that arises from this prompt will inherently showcase your strengths and highlight any weaknesses that you were able to overcome to get to your story's triumphant end. Using this prompt will help you find a way to demonstrate your superpowers, reveal any hurdles, and showcase your high level communication skills.
“We all have our own way of telling stories, and our own strengths and weaknesses; some of us can make our listeners laugh, while others can make them shudder, and others again can bring them to tears, and the best of us can do all three. But we do it by making our stories our own — by adding, taking away, twisting, decorating, bringing up to date.” — Philip Pullman
extra credit resources
Now that you have a new way to approach your answers to common interview questions, here are some additional resources to help you nail your next job interview.
Also from the TMAS blog: Introducing Yourself In An Interview To Go Beyond Your Job Title
If your interviewer asks "Do you have any questions for me?" you can respond with a question or two from this handy list courtesy of Fortune.
One more quote to help you trust the power (and art) of storytelling:
“Because you go through life in a haze, staring at your phone and watching The Bachelor and being reasonably happy, but you never really break it down. You never stop to think about what’s going on in your mind and what you’re struggling with. Early on, someone said to me, “The greatest gift you can give is your story,” and that, for me, was the turning point. That became the premise of my work. That’s when I realized that maybe the things that I think are boring about myself are interesting to other people. Hearing what’s in your mind truly makes people feel less alone and gives them hope for things that they want to do and get through things that are difficult.” — Judd Apatow
Still having doubts about how to approach your next job interview? Watch this scene from The Devil Wears Prada. If anything, it will make you smile and ease the nerves for whatever next job interview comes your way. In all seriousness, Anne Hathaway uses the three S's and even though things don't go her way in the moment, we all know she gets the job!
Looking for help beyond articles and YouTube clips? Work on your answer to “What’s something that you did that you never thought you could do?” in a Crafting Your Narrative: Solo Retreat.