[00:00:00] Andrew Hibel: Welcome to the HigherEdJobs Podcast, mailbag edition. I'm Andy Hibel, the chief operating officer and one of the co-founders of HigherEdJobs.

[00:00:08] Kelly Cherwin: And I'm Kelly Cherwin, the director of editorial strategy.

[00:00:12] Andrew Hibel: Today, Kelly and I are going to talk about how to capitalize on a good interview question. This is one of the rare mail bag editions.

We've been doing mailbag editions with that, our good friend Matt Trainum, but they've kind of translated into these Ask an expert podcasts that we've been doing, but we felt like this was truly a mailbag. Plus, I'll be honest, I'm really uncomfortable doing an episode called Ask the Expert and just featuring ourselves on that, that seems a a little bit too much for me, so, uh, uh, maybe. Ask the people who should have a clue, but maybe don't always have a clue.

[00:00:51] Kelly Cherwin: …somewhat have a clue. I guess that's what we are today. Yeah. So as Andy said, we are not labeling ourselves today as the expert, but [00:01:00] we wanted to call this episode a mailbag episode because we are taking some really good questions from our listeners, questions that are on their mind related to job search or the interview process.

So, we wanna tackle a few different types of questions, but more importantly, like we said in the, in the title, how to capitalize and put your best foot forward.

[00:01:17] Andrew Hibel: And really, this is so nuanced of a conversation. If you're in an interview, presenting yourself in the way that you want to present yourself authentically.

It's really up to you on what you feel comfortable. Somebody might feel comfortable singing a little tune in an interview. That wouldn't be me. I'd be very uncomfortable presenting myself in in a way that was a little bit showing a quirkier side of me. So when we offer some ideas that we have today, we don't have the absolute be all, end all answers.

Find the answer that feels right for you. Kelly, what was one of your favorite questions that was put out there that you'd hope you'd be able to capitalize on?

[00:01:59] Kelly Cherwin: [00:02:00] Well, I think I like this one that says, ‘Why do you want this job?’ I think we can agree. That's a kind of a common question in most interviews.

Andy, I know you like baseball a lot and kind of give the analogy of a, a question that is kind of served up well, a, a pitch that goes, you know, right in the strike zone. So how one you can really hit out of the park. Yes. Yes. So how can you hit this out of the park? Well, I wanna focus in on the word authentic that you're using.

I think that's where you could take a response and hit it out the park, being yourself and telling the story of why you want this job. And not reading back what the job description is, but giving true examples of your authentic self, giving examples of how you've excelled through the years, how you can connect your personal mission to the institution's mission. So it's a great place to really showcase your talents, your abilities, you know, telling that, that true story.

[00:02:54] Andrew Hibel: And I think to take your analogy a step further, when you have a pitcher and a hitter, they've both [00:03:00] spent hours and days and months and years of their lives working on their pitching mechanics or their hitting mechanics.

Your employer mechanics and your candidate mechanics are so important going into this question, as an employer, an employer is going to ask this question to really find an answer to the question, why is it that you want this job? Don't tell me here you want this job because you've been doing task A, B, C for 20 years.

Tell me why you'd like ABC task. Tell me why ABC task matters to you and you find it to be something engaging and meaningful in your career. The employer is also trying to demonstrate here from an employer mechanic standpoint that they have the same level of commitment and enjoyment of ABC task, and they're somebody that this candidate wants to work with and will work well with and is attractive as an employer.

So you kind of have those employee mechanics going on on one side when you ask that [00:04:00] question. But then as a candidate, now, how do you hit that out of the park?

[00:04:04] Kelly Cherwin: Looking for more conversations in higher ed, we invite you to join the HigherEdMilitary community as we discuss issues, best practices, news and general trends affecting our institutions and the higher ed military affiliated community.

Inspired by the deep commitment to service that veterans and military connected faculty, staff, and leaders have towards the academic community. We at higher ed jobs, established higher ed military as a resource for both original and curated news and information, as well as job opportunities from colleges and universities actively recruiting military connected professionals. Visit us at higheredmilitary.com on Facebook and LinkedIn.

[00:04:36] Andrew Hibel: Let's go to the other end of the interview and talk about the candidate mechanics. The candidate mechanics. When you have that big old fastball right down the middle, this is the point to just shine. This is the point to say, I love this because I'm good at this and I can't imagine my career without it.

If you're kind of applying for something, that's where you're at. If you're applying for something, that's the next step in your [00:05:00] career. Give all that, but also say, listen, because I love all of this. I want to take the next step. I want to manage other people who are great at doing ABC task. That opportunity there is really, really, really important on both sides of the mechanics.

I actually would stress the authenticity part because what you're each looking at each other for is that connection. Is this somebody who I can work with? Be who you are. They're gonna figure out pretty quickly if you get the job or you've offered them the job, you are the person who you are. Be that person.

You're have a much better chance that, oh, this is somebody I can work with. Trying to be somebody who you're not in this process is absolutely not something that is going to serve you or the person on the other side of the table well once you start working together, this is your first chance to get to know each other.

Sometimes it isn't a fit and that's okay. [00:06:00] It might be a great job. It might be the right place to work together. But it might not be the fit that you're looking for, and that's okay. Those two sets of mechanics into that question usually produce an answer that the candidate's pleased with and really what the employer is looking for to judge whether or not you're the right candidate.

[00:06:19] Kelly Cherwin: And we've heard before that you are being interviewed, but you're also interviewing the employer. So, I love your advice of being you, being yourself, because that's what the employer wants to know. They wanna know if you are going to bring a excitement and passion to this position, be able to excel, be able to potentially rise to a leadership position, but from the candidate side, you want to know if that's the type of place that's going to value you, value your contributions, allow you the ability to potentially move up into a leadership role. Is it a good cultural fit? There's certain questions that a job seeker can ask as well to gauge that, but I know we're talking today about how to capitalize on good questions [00:07:00] and just give a little teaser.

We might be following up with another episode on, you know, how to digest some questions that might not be the best, but going back even further to what I was saying before about, you know, getting a strike thrown at you. There's sometimes that you might not get a strike and you kind of have to think on the cuff of how to get around that.

And the employer, they're trying to see how you're gonna handle that. They might not be intentionally putting you under stress, but if you respond and say, well, that's a stupid question. Or say, oh, one word response, that tells them a lot. The employers definitely not only the actual type of question because we have a list of questions in front of us that some of our are really, in my terms, like a little bizarre that it's not going to get to the core of if that candidate is gonna fit in well or they can do the job. It's more almost to kind of throw the, the job seeker or the candidate off a little bit. So, you know, showing their employer how you're gonna respond to that is a big part of the interview.

[00:07:56] Andrew Hibel: I completely agree and I really love the, you kind of [00:08:00] suggested that maybe you give your answer, but also ask a question, particularly if you've hit that sweet spot and you have just authentically put out there who you are and why you like doing this. Give a question back to the employer and say, hey, why do you like your job?

What's your favorite parts of it? And give them the opportunity to bond with you and share what they love and say, you know, just like you love Kelly, this part of your job. I love that part of the job too. It's so much fun. And people who do that really, really connect with me, that's gonna give you some instant feedback first of all.

Second of all, if you really are that passionate to me, that's a great question to throw back at them if they're like, yeah, I really don't like those sorts of things about my job. In fact, I really don't like that. But it's good that somebody else wants it. Well, that's a fairly typical answer that you might get, and from a management perspective it makes sense.

But also, if they don't love it the way you love it or don't at least respect it [00:09:00] as being important to the importance of the endeavor the team is responsible for. That's also a pretty good sign that maybe you're not gonna have as good of a fit here as you might think. That question, I think, would actually serve you well as a follow up to that fastball down the middle, I'm gonna actually ask you a question about one of these other questions. We're trying to look at the questions in a way that categorizes the question and the type of question, and this is a good question where I think you can demonstrate what's important to you and turn it around, just like the fastball down the middle.

But this question is, ‘what is a word that people have used to describe you that you don't necessarily agree with?’ So here, You're looking at something that might not be what you want it to be to describe yourself, it's asking to look at yourself in a critical way, kind of the, what's the thing you're worst at doing, type of question, and how do you turn that around?

[00:09:55] Kelly Cherwin: That is a, that's an interesting question. I kind of put this in the category of when an [00:10:00] interviewer will ask you what, your strengths and weaknesses are a job seeker doesn't wanna highlight all of their weaknesses and say, I come in late and I really don't know Excel and I don't work well with people like, like you don't wanna focus on all your negatives, so if you're gonna pick a word, pick a word that, that maybe you don't necessarily agree with kind of a, a neutral word, and take a riff or a spin on how you can turn that into being a go-getter.

A star. Um, I'm trying to think of a, of a word that like I'm pretending I'm an interview now on what, what I would say to that, if someone asked me what is a word? Um, you guys are probably thinking of all these words that you can say, Kelly is this? No, I'm, I'm, I'm doing

[00:10:41] Andrew Hibel: And I think this question's particularly difficult cause most of them is, is what is your biggest weakness? And usually the answer is like, oh, my biggest weakness really is I just try too hard. Yeah. Like, no, no, no. Give, give a weakness in something you're trying to improve. Show it [00:11:00] here. You have to give something that's gonna potentially disclose of weakness or potentially disclose, don't forget here, a strength. People say that I am really, really good at doing a podcast. I disagree. Well, people, first of all, don't say that, but second of all, like do you want to disagree with that? If somebody feels that way, that's a hard place to go, but having a sense of what it is, I think I come back to the same thing, be authentic.

I wouldn't always necessarily say, do the first thing that comes to mind, but vet the first thing that comes to mind. Because there's probably an authenticity to that and find a way to explain it and why it kind of sits with you that way. And try not to answer as they're asking the question. I'm impulsive,

[I, I cut people off. I dunno. I dunno, dunno what you're talking about. I don't cut people off.]

[00:11:55] Kelly Cherwin: We talk over people. Yeah. No, we, we don't . . [00:12:00] So Andy, I don't know how you feel, but I feel like we had a good conversation today on some interview questions and I'd absolutely hire you. . . Well, before we started recording, I was going through some of our previous articles and I thought of one that Justin Zackal wrote, and it is entitled ‘Seven Ways to Approach Panel Interviews.’

And I'm not saying that every interview is a panel interview and some of the questions that we talk about today, it could be just by a single interviewer. But I feel like the theme or the approach can relate to a lot of these topics that we talked about today. But what Justin ended in his article, his general theme of sticking to your story, circling back by giving examples that relates to your authentic story.

I know we talked about the word authentic a lot. So finding a common theme that even if it might be a, a bizarre question or maybe it's a question, like we said, it was out of the strike zone. If you can somehow bring that back into who you are and why you're gonna be the best fit for that position, [00:13:00] that will show your true, authentic self, so you're not just as he says, they're acing or surviving the interview, but you're actually hitting it out of the park.

[00:13:08] Andrew Hibel: I couldn't agree more with, with you and with Justin on that. This is a process where you have those questions and you have usually an opportunity or two to really put a strong message out for your candidacy. Stay on story. Stay to what's important to you. The advice I was given very early on in my career, and I'm actually gonna attribute it to the individual, he's now retired.

Brad Hatfield at the University of Illinois Foundation, who said to me, Andy, at the end of the day, they're hiring you. Be who you are. And that's pretty simple. In the midst of thinking things over and the pressure of the moment, it might feel differently, but it's usually something that works out pretty well for most people if they're able to put themselves forward in that authentic way.

[00:13:55] Kelly Cherwin: Like you said, stay on the story and stay true to your brand, and you are the only one that knows your [00:14:00] authentic brand [and nobody knows it better. Well, thanks Andy]

[00:14:03] Andrew Hibel: Thank you, Kelly. So once again, if you have interview questions or other questions for us, please feel free to email us at podcast higher ed jobs.com or tweet us at @higheredjobs.

We'd love to hear from you, and the information and comments and thoughts we get from our community really is something we'd like to engage with and respond to in a way. We think will help the community in general. So, thank you for, for those of you who've sent in some of these questions, and thanks to anybody who's considering sending something along to us.

Thank you and have a great day.

Ready to do the negative questions? No.