Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: In the workplace, I react the same weight, I will give people leverage to do what they’re supposed to do, but if they don’t , I usually take it upon myself to do it because I feel like for the job to be well done I have to do it myself.

First off, I agree with PP that the fact that you can diffuse a difficult situation and not get confrontational is great. (I am personally very confronational by nature and have had to put in great effort to not let it run my professional interactions). Just think of examples that illustrate that. I think getting a friend/trusted colleague to help you answer questions is a great idea.

Now, to the quote above. Not only would I not bring that up in an interview, I would actually change your MO on this. Especially if you are going to work at Big 4 (I am a former Big 4-er myself). That kind of strategy will not serve you well. You just can't do other people's work for them if they are not pulling their weight. You will either not be seen as a leader (especially if you are interviewing for supervisory positions) or will get so much sh!t dumped on you that you will soon be posting the "help I am burnt out" threads. If a co-worker is not pulling their weight, let your management know, or if you are a supervisor, then coach your team to get better results. At Big 4, at least the one I worked for, as well as many other big organizations, when you get to supervisory level much emphasis is placed on staff development. Believe me, there have been many times when I felt that I could do an assignment better and/or faster than my staff, but you have to resist that and coach them to improve, offer suggestions, constructive feedback etc.

Thank you for your feedback. That’s something I am learning to do but is still one of my weaknesses (maybe could be a good answer to the what’s your weakness question and how are you working on it?) Currently, I supervise one person on my team who is not pulling their weight and because of my non-confrontational nature, I am giving them a lot of leeway and they are getting away with a lot of stuff. For example, I will ask them to do x and they will always forget to do x even if I remind them 2 or 3 times. The thing is after the 3rd time, I always end up doing it myself because I feel like im wasting energy reminding the person to do it over and over and they just are not focused enough to remember. I’ve had subsequent meetings with her and then told her to actually do a weekly spreadsheet where everything is detailed for each account to keep track of the things she does and I think that has helped a bit in how efficient her work is, but confronting her when she makes mistakes over and over is something I am still struggling with.

Dude. Grow a pair. If some twat isn't cutting it, fuckin tell her or can her ass.

I have one more question. How do you address the question of applicable/relevant experience at a job interview? When you lack a specified qualification in the job description, how do you tackle that and persuade the interviewer that they should hire you even though other candidates might have that particular skill/qualification? Why should they go with you and not someone with that experience that they are looking for?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: In the workplace, I react the same weight, I will give people leverage to do what they’re supposed to do, but if they don’t , I usually take it upon myself to do it because I feel like for the job to be well done I have to do it myself.

First off, I agree with PP that the fact that you can diffuse a difficult situation and not get confrontational is great. (I am personally very confronational by nature and have had to put in great effort to not let it run my professional interactions). Just think of examples that illustrate that. I think getting a friend/trusted colleague to help you answer questions is a great idea.

Now, to the quote above. Not only would I not bring that up in an interview, I would actually change your MO on this. Especially if you are going to work at Big 4 (I am a former Big 4-er myself). That kind of strategy will not serve you well. You just can't do other people's work for them if they are not pulling their weight. You will either not be seen as a leader (especially if you are interviewing for supervisory positions) or will get so much sh!t dumped on you that you will soon be posting the "help I am burnt out" threads. If a co-worker is not pulling their weight, let your management know, or if you are a supervisor, then coach your team to get better results. At Big 4, at least the one I worked for, as well as many other big organizations, when you get to supervisory level much emphasis is placed on staff development. Believe me, there have been many times when I felt that I could do an assignment better and/or faster than my staff, but you have to resist that and coach them to improve, offer suggestions, constructive feedback etc.

Thank you for your feedback. That’s something I am learning to do but is still one of my weaknesses (maybe could be a good answer to the what’s your weakness question and how are you working on it?) Currently, I supervise one person on my team who is not pulling their weight and because of my non-confrontational nature, I am giving them a lot of leeway and they are getting away with a lot of stuff. For example, I will ask them to do x and they will always forget to do x even if I remind them 2 or 3 times. The thing is after the 3rd time, I always end up doing it myself because I feel like im wasting energy reminding the person to do it over and over and they just are not focused enough to remember. I’ve had subsequent meetings with her and then told her to actually do a weekly spreadsheet where everything is detailed for each account to keep track of the things she does and I think that has helped a bit in how efficient her work is, but confronting her when she makes mistakes over and over is something I am still struggling with.

Anonymous wrote: In the workplace, I react the same weight, I will give people leverage to do what they’re supposed to do, but if they don’t , I usually take it upon myself to do it because I feel like for the job to be well done I have to do it myself.

First off, I agree with PP that the fact that you can diffuse a difficult situation and not get confrontational is great. (I am personally very confronational by nature and have had to put in great effort to not let it run my professional interactions). Just think of examples that illustrate that. I think getting a friend/trusted colleague to help you answer questions is a great idea.

Now, to the quote above. Not only would I not bring that up in an interview, I would actually change your MO on this. Especially if you are going to work at Big 4 (I am a former Big 4-er myself). That kind of strategy will not serve you well. You just can't do other people's work for them if they are not pulling their weight. You will either not be seen as a leader (especially if you are interviewing for supervisory positions) or will get so much sh!t dumped on you that you will soon be posting the "help I am burnt out" threads. If a co-worker is not pulling their weight, let your management know, or if you are a supervisor, then coach your team to get better results. At Big 4, at least the one I worked for, as well as many other big organizations, when you get to supervisory level much emphasis is placed on staff development. Believe me, there have been many times when I felt that I could do an assignment better and/or faster than my staff, but you have to resist that and coach them to improve, offer suggestions, constructive feedback etc.

Anonymous wrote:8:20 here, you actually do have the soft skills, you are just underplaying them. You were able to explain to me and had experience in diffusing a situation, which by the way people pay money to be trained in exactly what you explained. You also had experience with someone not pulling his/her weight. You thought out why you want to move to this job and how it fits with what you want to do.

You are painting a picture of someone who is laid back and can help keep things from escalating but also competitive and driven. I think as other people mentioned you need to practice these questions, take these things and market yourself more, and a make sure you have tied in what the company will be getting with your experience that will help them while you are learning new things.

Thank you! I still have a few days before the interview and a friend volunteered to help me practice with difficult behavioral questions ( One part of the interview is behavioral questions for 45min, then 45minutes of a case study and 45 minutes of a functional interview). I'm thinking the behavioral int. will be the toughest one for me so that's where I will spend most of my time on and find detailed answers to the most common questions for each of my jobs! Appreciate the help.

8:20 here, you actually do have the soft skills, you are just underplaying them. You were able to explain to me and had experience in diffusing a situation, which by the way people pay money to be trained in exactly what you explained. You also had experience with someone not pulling his/her weight. You thought out why you want to move to this job and how it fits with what you want to do.

You are painting a picture of someone who is laid back and can help keep things from escalating but also competitive and driven. I think as other people mentioned you need to practice these questions, take these things and market yourself more, and a make sure you have tied in what the company will be getting with your experience that will help them while you are learning new things.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
ahah would be glad to do that Thanks for the examples you provided. ( Ive had 3 major jobs so finding 7 stories would be a stretch . I guess you can say I have been working at very boring jobs where nothing out of the ordinary happens, ever, maybe that's what the problem is!!!!

You aren't looking hard enough.

Why did you leave each job? Theres 3 of them.

Assuming you did SOMETHING at each job, thats another 3 stories.

Assuming you've ever been promoted, thats another story.

Left one job because I was done with school, left 2nd because I had a child ( only left 2 jobs ) I am at my 3rd.

Wrong. You left your first job to pursue a passion in X which laddered directly into your interests that had been developed through your education in Y. You joined your third job because it provided you with the opportunity to further develop as a leader, specifically through the roles key responsibilities, including X and Y.

You my friend need to learn the art of marketing.

That's awesome that you could come up with that on the fly. Yes I do need to learn the art of marketing as I think I don't know how to sell my skills well which ends up not getting me the job most of the time even though I have the right skills, I just can't sell them. Any advice on how to learn to do that?

Tell you what, send me your resume, I'll figure it out for you. cplwebinar@gmail.com

You actually already have my resume, lol.....I am the one who opened the "how much are you making n how old r u" thread on the Money &Finance thread a couple of months ago, Remember?......

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
ahah would be glad to do that Thanks for the examples you provided. ( Ive had 3 major jobs so finding 7 stories would be a stretch . I guess you can say I have been working at very boring jobs where nothing out of the ordinary happens, ever, maybe that's what the problem is!!!!

You aren't looking hard enough.

Why did you leave each job? Theres 3 of them.

Assuming you did SOMETHING at each job, thats another 3 stories.

Assuming you've ever been promoted, thats another story.

Left one job because I was done with school, left 2nd because I had a child ( only left 2 jobs ) I am at my 3rd.

Wrong. You left your first job to pursue a passion in X which laddered directly into your interests that had been developed through your education in Y. You joined your third job because it provided you with the opportunity to further develop as a leader, specifically through the roles key responsibilities, including X and Y.

You my friend need to learn the art of marketing.

That's awesome that you could come up with that on the fly. Yes I do need to learn the art of marketing as I think I don't know how to sell my skills well which ends up not getting me the job most of the time even though I have the right skills, I just can't sell them. Any advice on how to learn to do that?

Tell you what, send me your resume, I'll figure it out for you. cplwebinar@gmail.com

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
ahah would be glad to do that Thanks for the examples you provided. ( Ive had 3 major jobs so finding 7 stories would be a stretch . I guess you can say I have been working at very boring jobs where nothing out of the ordinary happens, ever, maybe that's what the problem is!!!!

You aren't looking hard enough.

Why did you leave each job? Theres 3 of them.

Assuming you did SOMETHING at each job, thats another 3 stories.

Assuming you've ever been promoted, thats another story.

Left one job because I was done with school, left 2nd because I had a child ( only left 2 jobs ) I am at my 3rd.

Wrong. You left your first job to pursue a passion in X which laddered directly into your interests that had been developed through your education in Y. You joined your third job because it provided you with the opportunity to further develop as a leader, specifically through the roles key responsibilities, including X and Y.

You my friend need to learn the art of marketing.

That's awesome that you could come up with that on the fly. Yes I do need to learn the art of marketing as I think I don't know how to sell my skills well which ends up not getting me the job most of the time even though I have the right skills, I just can't sell them. Any advice on how to learn to do that?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
ahah would be glad to do that Thanks for the examples you provided. ( Ive had 3 major jobs so finding 7 stories would be a stretch . I guess you can say I have been working at very boring jobs where nothing out of the ordinary happens, ever, maybe that's what the problem is!!!!

You aren't looking hard enough.

Why did you leave each job? Theres 3 of them.

Assuming you did SOMETHING at each job, thats another 3 stories.

Assuming you've ever been promoted, thats another story.

Left one job because I was done with school, left 2nd because I had a child ( only left 2 jobs ) I am at my 3rd.

Wrong. You left your first job to pursue a passion in X which laddered directly into your interests that had been developed through your education in Y. You joined your third job because it provided you with the opportunity to further develop as a leader, specifically through the roles key responsibilities, including X and Y.

You my friend need to learn the art of marketing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
ahah would be glad to do that Thanks for the examples you provided. ( Ive had 3 major jobs so finding 7 stories would be a stretch . I guess you can say I have been working at very boring jobs where nothing out of the ordinary happens, ever, maybe that's what the problem is!!!!

You aren't looking hard enough.

Why did you leave each job? Theres 3 of them.

Assuming you did SOMETHING at each job, thats another 3 stories.

Assuming you've ever been promoted, thats another story.

Left one job because I was done with school, left 2nd because I had a child ( only left 2 jobs ) I am at my 3rd.

Anonymous wrote:
ahah would be glad to do that Thanks for the examples you provided. ( Ive had 3 major jobs so finding 7 stories would be a stretch . I guess you can say I have been working at very boring jobs where nothing out of the ordinary happens, ever, maybe that's what the problem is!!!!

You aren't looking hard enough.

Why did you leave each job? Theres 3 of them.

Assuming you did SOMETHING at each job, thats another 3 stories.

Assuming you've ever been promoted, thats another story.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm sure you have been faced with those situations, just not on such a grand scale as you perceive they're asking about. You've NEVER experienced conflict in a prior position? It doesn't have to be the type of conflict that you cower in a corner or storm out the door and leave forever - have you ever made a suggestion to a coworker that they disagreed with and you talked it out to reach the logical conclusion? Have you ever felt stifled by a boss or micromanaged and figured out a way to mitigate those situations? While you probably haven't experienced an ethical dilemma on the scale of seeing your boss steal petty cash or similar, have you ever worked with an employee who slacked off? Have you ever had a boss that fibbed to a client or something?

Those can be framed as any of the situations you listed, it's simply that - how you frame it. There's not a "right" answer to those questions.

I personally like to find typical questions and literally do a practice interview out loud. It helps you to remember your answers later if you hear them once or more times before the actual interview. Good luck!

To be honest, I am thinking and nothing really, nothing comes to mind. I work as an analyst and I have always worked in great environments with great people. I don’t remember a conflicting situation, we probably discuss disagreements and come to a consensus but the disagreements are not that great that they are even worth mentioning. It could be something like “ I think you should write down the word Million as supposed to MM in your report”. Always had great bosses who were friendly, open door policies and amazing mentors, never had a micromanager as a boss. I have a very easygoing personality, anti-confrontational at best!

Give me your résumé and an hour of your time and I bet you a case of beer I can find answers to everything.

Practice reframing. Here's how:
Make a list of six or seven stories
Identify and categorize them - each story can be spun three or four different ways
Practice transitional sentences:
"For me the biggest challenge I've had is working with a team that ..."
Or "I've never had particularly difficult bosses, or perhaps I have and I just adjust naturally, but in general that's my approach to challenging situations such as what described or when a team member isn't carrying their weight. For instance...."

Etc

ahah would be glad to do that Thanks for the examples you provided. ( Ive had 3 major jobs so finding 7 stories would be a stretch . I guess you can say I have been working at very boring jobs where nothing out of the ordinary happens, ever, maybe that's what the problem is!!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HR Bitch here: Firstly, I can suss out if someone is just a nervous interviewer but will be a great employee.

Secondly, practice, practice, practice. Write out each question you have a hard time with, come up with answers, and rehearse giving them. Then practice with other people.

Unfortunately, the company I will be interviewing for is very cut-throat and competitive, I think having a bad interview because of nervousness will totally cost me the job. I will practice, thank you

OP, have you been happy in past jobs with great bosses, easy-going co-workers, little conflict, etc? I am asking because if that is the kind of environment where you thrive, I wonder if you will be happy in a place that is very cut-throat and competitive. I much prefer to work in places that are not at all competitive and have not lasted long at jobs where cut-throat was the environment.

You’re right , I am a very easing going person and would definitely prefer an environment that is not cut –throat, however I have realized that in my field if I want to grow and be challenged, I have to get out of my comfort zone. For ex, don’t have any issues at my current job, I could probably stay here for the next 10 years, but I am not challenged, I know everything the job entails, and I have zero motivation. I feel like I need to get out of my comfort zone, and find something more challenging, otherwise I will never grow as a person or will have a stalled career, but you’re right it is a risk and I might end up hating it

I'm also wondering how you haven't had the difficult co-worker, the difficult client, or difficult boss ever? Did you have jobs not in your field, maybe in HS or while going to college where you dealt with that kind of thing? No group projects in college where someone tried to take all the credit and do none of the work etc? Is there someone that other people have issues with but you handled that person well? I can't believe that anyone lives such a conflict free life at every single job and if by chance this is true, I would worry we would hire the person and he/she would quit.

So a few questions, is there maybe a job that is more challenging but less cut throat than the ones you targeted? What is your 5 year plan I.e. you see yourself going to this intensely competitive , cut throat job and in 5 years you will do what with the new skills/knowledge? Can you honestly see yourself still there and moving up to more responsibility? You say you are easy going and anti-confrontation, does that mean you are a doormat and don't speak up/stand up for yourself or does that mean you've cracked the code of doing such in a way that makes everyone feel good rather than abrasive/ruffling feathers? If you have cracked the code of having steel when need be but doing it in a way that doesn't leave hard feelings, how do you know this and what are the examples? Do you possible defuse a situation without it ever escalating to a big thing?

I think the bottom line with the job is besides having the skills, the company has to believe you want that job not just any job, and you will bring some of those soft skills to the job and be there long enough that you aren't wasting their time to hire you. If you believe it yourself and have done your homework (understanding how your technical skills, soft skills, and goals align with the job opportunity) and radiate that confidence and sincerity, I think it comes through in the interview.

Hello,
No, I actually did not work in HS or college. I’ve had 3 jobs in my life and yes I have dealt with difficult people but not in a confrontational way, I always diffuse the situation, let the person vent, calm them down , find out what the problem is and offer different options/solutions. I am not in a client facing role so most of my dealings have been with internal people. I do not consider myself a doormat, yes I’ve had experiences in college where people did not pull their weight in group projects, I eventually just took it on myself because I did not want my grade to suffer because of someone else. I remember one instance where we actually had to kick someone off of our group because she just was not pulling her weight. In the workplace, I react the same weight, I will give people leverage to do what they’re supposed to do, but if they don’t , I usually take it upon myself to do it because I feel like for the job to be well done I have to do it myself. The job I am talking about is at one of the Big4 and yes it is very competitive and cut throat, I am a very competitive person by nature and I perform well under pressure and challenging environments, I do feel that this would be a huge step-up in my career and will help me develop skills I have not yet developed due to the fact that I have not been exposed to such an environment before. The companies I have worked at so far have been pretty much laid back with easygoing people for the most part. But does it mean I wouldn’t strive in a different environment just because I was not expose to it? I think in the end it is all about the person’s character, not necessarily what they have been exposed to. Unfortunately, in the job market and interviews, people do focus a lot on past experience, I am aware that past behavior somewhat predicts future behavior, ( that’s what we are taught in Finance ) But is it always the case, does past behavior always predict future behavior? If that was truly the case then wouldn’t we all be able to predict the future and know for sure who the best person to hire for x job was?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:HR Bitch here: Firstly, I can suss out if someone is just a nervous interviewer but will be a great employee.

Secondly, practice, practice, practice. Write out each question you have a hard time with, come up with answers, and rehearse giving them. Then practice with other people.

Unfortunately, the company I will be interviewing for is very cut-throat and competitive, I think having a bad interview because of nervousness will totally cost me the job. I will practice, thank you

OP, have you been happy in past jobs with great bosses, easy-going co-workers, little conflict, etc? I am asking because if that is the kind of environment where you thrive, I wonder if you will be happy in a place that is very cut-throat and competitive. I much prefer to work in places that are not at all competitive and have not lasted long at jobs where cut-throat was the environment.

You’re right , I am a very easing going person and would definitely prefer an environment that is not cut –throat, however I have realized that in my field if I want to grow and be challenged, I have to get out of my comfort zone. For ex, don’t have any issues at my current job, I could probably stay here for the next 10 years, but I am not challenged, I know everything the job entails, and I have zero motivation. I feel like I need to get out of my comfort zone, and find something more challenging, otherwise I will never grow as a person or will have a stalled career, but you’re right it is a risk and I might end up hating it

I'm also wondering how you haven't had the difficult co-worker, the difficult client, or difficult boss ever? Did you have jobs not in your field, maybe in HS or while going to college where you dealt with that kind of thing? No group projects in college where someone tried to take all the credit and do none of the work etc? Is there someone that other people have issues with but you handled that person well? I can't believe that anyone lives such a conflict free life at every single job and if by chance this is true, I would worry we would hire the person and he/she would quit.

So a few questions, is there maybe a job that is more challenging but less cut throat than the ones you targeted? What is your 5 year plan I.e. you see yourself going to this intensely competitive , cut throat job and in 5 years you will do what with the new skills/knowledge? Can you honestly see yourself still there and moving up to more responsibility? You say you are easy going and anti-confrontation, does that mean you are a doormat and don't speak up/stand up for yourself or does that mean you've cracked the code of doing such in a way that makes everyone feel good rather than abrasive/ruffling feathers? If you have cracked the code of having steel when need be but doing it in a way that doesn't leave hard feelings, how do you know this and what are the examples? Do you possible defuse a situation without it ever escalating to a big thing?

I think the bottom line with the job is besides having the skills, the company has to believe you want that job not just any job, and you will bring some of those soft skills to the job and be there long enough that you aren't wasting their time to hire you. If you believe it yourself and have done your homework (understanding how your technical skills, soft skills, and goals align with the job opportunity) and radiate that confidence and sincerity, I think it comes through in the interview.