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  • Vanessa: Hi, I'm Vanessa from  

  • SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com. CongratulationsYou got the job. Let's talk about it

  • "Congratulations! You got the job." What wonderful  words to hear. But what comes before that? A job  

  • interview. When you hear those two words, how  do you feel? Does your heart begin to beat? As  

  • you start to breathe heavily, do your palms  get sweaty? Well, if you feel nervous about  

  • a job interview, don't worry. Millions of people  around the world also feel the same way. In fact,  

  • if you didn't feel nervous for a job interviewit would be a little strange. But never fear,  

  • today I am here to help. The best way to ace  the interview and get the job is to practice

  • So today, my husband Dan and I have a fun  role play interview for you. My husband,  

  • Dan, is the hiring manager at a graphic  design firm and he is looking for a new  

  • graphic designer. Maybe that will be me. I will  be answering these questions, giving you a sample  

  • answer and some tips for each question. Like  always, to help you with this important lesson,  

  • I have created a free PDF worksheet with all of  these top 10 interview questions, sample answers,  

  • and most importantly, there is space for you  to write your own sample answer. I want you  

  • to write that out and practice it. Say it out  loud three times so that you can prepare for  

  • your job interview and ace it and get the job. All right. Are you ready for the job interview  

  • to find the perfect candidate for the graphic  design position? Let's see question number one

  • Dan: Hi, Vanessa. Thank  

  • you for coming in today. Why don't you start  by telling me a little bit about yourself

  • Hi, Vanessa. Thank you for coming in todayWhy don't you start by telling me a little  

  • bit about yourself? Vanessa

  • Certainly. First of all, I've always  been labeled as artistic so it just  

  • made sense to study graphic design  in college. Then when I graduated,  

  • I moved to Chicago and worked for a fast paced  design team, making marketing brochures for a  

  • big insurance company. It was greatbut now that I have the experience,  

  • I would love to work with a more local business  where I can have more contact with the clients

  • Tip: keep it brief and professional. They don't  need to know that you go kayaking every weekend  

  • and that you visited 30 countries. But as  they say, you never have a second chance to  

  • make a first impression. So make sure you sit up  straight, smile, be pleasant, and make them think  

  • "I would be crazy not to hire you." Let's go to question number two

  • Dan: I see. So why are you interested in this job

  • I see. So why are you interested in this job? Vanessa

  • I want this job because I'm passionate about  graphic design. I see myself working in this  

  • field long term because it involves hard workcreativity, and innovation. And from my research,  

  • it seems like your company also has these  same values. I'm excited to work for a  

  • company that shares the same values I do. Tip: this answer shows your long term  

  • commitment to the job and to the companyAlso, it shows that you did some research  

  • about the company in advance. This will  put you a notch ahead of other candidates  

  • so make sure to do your research in advance. All right. Let's go to question number three

  • Dan: That's  

  • great. How did you hear about this position? That's great. How did you hear about this  

  • position? Vanessa

  • I read about your company, and I've been  interested in working here for several  

  • months. I hoped that a graphic design  position would open up so I created  

  • an alert on LinkedIn to let me know if that  happened, and I got an alert, and here I am

  • Tip: this answer shows that you were proactive  about finding a job, especially a job in this  

  • company. It shows that you care about them  and it makes them feel good about themselves  

  • as well, which hopefully is all true. All right. Let's go to the next question

  • Dan: So tell me, what are your biggest strengths

  • So tell me, what are your biggest strengths? Vanessa

  • Some of my biggest strengths are my creativity  and my ability to learn quickly. I'm also good  

  • at working with clients and I'm a good  listener, so this means that I listen to  

  • exactly what my clients want and I make sure  that the final designs reflect the heart of  

  • their business. Finally, I'm very punctualso I always can meet the project deadlines

  • Tip: be confident, but don't brag. In this  situation, it is absolutely necessary to say  

  • what you are good at, what are your strengthsDo not downplay your strengths. Also, notice  

  • that in this answer, I gave some adjectives.  I'm creative, I am a good listener, but I also  

  • said why they're important. "This means that,"  you can always add this phrase in your answers  

  • to give a good example. "This means that I will  listen to your clients and I will have designs  

  • that reflect the heart of their business." Why are  those traits important? They're just words. Well,  

  • you are going to show concretely how they will  affect the company. Don't forget to include that  

  • phrase, "This means that your clients will always  be satisfied because my designs will reflect the  

  • heart of their business." Beautiful answer. All right, let's go to the next question

  • Dan: Okay. What are your biggest weaknesses

  • Okay. What are your biggest weaknesses? Vanessa

  • My biggest weakness is that in my former  role, I had a more specialized skill set,  

  • and I understand that for this job I will need  a more generalized skill set. So I look forward  

  • to learning quickly and figuring out what all  of those tasks are so that I can do my best

  • Tip: this is the most difficult question in  an interview, in my opinion, so you need to  

  • be very careful and prepared about how you're  going to answer this. You could say, "Well,  

  • sometimes I'm late." Or, "Well, sometimes I just  forget about what I'm supposed to do," You will  

  • not get the job. Instead, you need to choose  a weakness that you can frame in a positive  

  • way. So notice in my answer I said, "Well, in my  previous job I had a specialized skill set," and  

  • then I showed growth. I showed an understanding  of how I can get better. "I understand for this  

  • job I will need a more generalized skill setand I'm excited about learning new things."  

  • So this shows you understand how to get better. Let's take a look at a couple of other examples  

  • because I think this is a tricky one. If you say  that you are shy talking in front of large groups,  

  • how could you frame this in a more positive  way? You could say, "I'm not yet comfortable  

  • speaking in front of large groups, but to  help myself with these public speaking skills,  

  • I'm going to weekly Toastmaster meetups. I haveweekly speaking coach that I meet with to help me  

  • with this skill." You're showing growth and you're  showing how you understand that you can get better  

  • in the future. So make sure you answer this with  that growth mindset. "Yes, I have this weakness,  

  • but I am working on making it better." Key. All right, let's go to the next question

  • Dan: Thank you.  

  • So where do you see yourself in five years? Thank you. So where do you see yourself in  

  • five years? Vanessa

  • In five years, I see myself continuing  in the graphic design field, but with  

  • greater responsibility, like taking on  a leadership role of training junior  

  • level designers who join the staff. Tip: when you answer this question,  

  • you need to show your commitment to the companyEven if you are not 100% sure that you will still  

  • be in this position and still working for this  company, this is your chance to fake it till  

  • you make it and say that you are interested  in staying in this position and potentially  

  • benefiting the company with your increased  experience. So in my answer, I said that I'm  

  • interested in leadership and I would be interested  in helping junior level designers come into the  

  • staff and be well trained. This might be something  different for you, but make sure you do not say,  

  • "In five years, I'm interested in becoming the  manager." Well, maybe that guy's, the manager.  

  • You don't want to take his job. And you don't want  to say something completely irrelevant. "Where  

  • do you see yourself in five years?" "Well, I've  been thinking about taking a world tour. I'd love  

  • to visit Japan and Poland and Brazil." They're  not interested in your personal goals. Instead,  

  • you need to talk about your professional goals  in five years, ideally with that company in  

  • a position that will benefit the company. All right. Let's go to the next question

  • Dan: Okay. What experience do you have in this role

  • Okay. What experience do you have in this role? Vanessa

  • I mentioned that when I lived in Chicago, I  worked for a fast-paced design company making  

  • marketing brochures for a big insurance companyso I'm experienced making high level design pieces  

  • on a tight deadline. I also interned forsmall company right after college, making  

  • their websites and setting up several graphic  design elements for their social media channels

  • Tip: for this question, have specific details  in mind. Notice how I said I worked for a fast  

  • paced design company, we had a tight deadline,  I also interned. I gave specific examples of my  

  • experience. I didn't say, "Well, I've been doing  graphic design for a while. And yeah, I have a  

  • lot of experience." You will not get the job if  you say this. You need specific examples in mind,  

  • and that will help you to ace the interview. Let's go to the next question

  • Dan: Tell me, why did you leave your most recent job

  • Tell me, why did you leave your most recent job? Vanessa

  • I'm looking for a fresh opportunity that's more  client-based. One of the advantages of working  

  • in Chicago is that I got to work alongside other  graphic design professionals, but I didn't get to  

  • work directly with clients, and that's the part  that's the most rewarding to me. I enjoy helping  

  • local businesses transform their vision intographic design that truly represents their brand

  • Tip: this is another tricky question because  they're looking to see if you will say something  

  • negative about your past job, your past coworkersyour past boss. This can really make it or break  

  • it for you in the interview so make sure that you  say something that states a skill that you learned  

  • in your past job and how it can be applied to  your current job. I especially use the phrase  

  • "That's really rewarding to me." That means  that I am personally fulfilled. And a company  

  • wants you to be... Well, a good company, wants  you to be personally fulfilled because you will  

  • stay in that job and do a good job and have good  rapport with your coworkers when you are rewarded,  

  • when you feel like this is a satisfying job. So when you say, "Hey, I see working in this  

  • company as something very rewarding to me because  I love working with clients. That's what I missed  

  • in my previous job so I'm excited to work with  clients." Notice I didn't say anything bad about  

  • my boss. "Oh, my boss. You should have heard about  him. Oh my goodness." Nope. There's no bashing,  

  • There's no negative talk about my past jobJust a skill or part of the job that I would  

  • like to do differently in this company. Great. Let's go to the next question

  • Dan: So why should we hire you

  • So why should we hire you? Vanessa

  • You should hire me because I can take  on a lot of responsibility without much  

  • supervision. I'm also innovative. I can  come up with creative, fun ways to meet  

  • your client's needs while upholding the  positive reputation of this company

  • Tip: for this question, for each thing that  you state, you need to give a why. Why is  

  • that important? "I'm a fast learner." Well, who  cares? "I can do it without much supervision."  

  • That is the why. Most managers do not want to  be over your shoulder asking you, "Why didn't  

  • you do the deadline? Come on, it's coming soonWhat do you..." No, they want to be able to step  

  • back and just let you do what you need to doSo you're telling them, "Don't worry. I got it.  

  • You won't need to supervise me much becausecan take responsibility and it'll be great." 

  • For the next thing, I said, "I'm innovative."  Well, why does innovation matter? Why do you  

  • care that I'm innovative? I need to give a reasonAnd I said, "Oh, your clients will be satisfied  

  • with my creative fun designs that will uphold the  company's reputation." I'm not just thinking about  

  • myself. I don't want them to say, "Oh, you're  just the best designer. You're so great." No,  

  • I want the reputation of the company to be  the thing that stands out here. So the key is,  

  • for each of your answers, you need to give  "That means that you won't need to manage me  

  • much because I can take responsibility. That  means that your clients will be satisfied and  

  • the reputation of this company will be upheld."  You need to give a why for each of these answers

  • All right. Let's go to our final question. Dan

  • Thank you so much for your time. Before  we go, do you have any questions for me

  • Thank you so much for your time. Before  we go, do you have any questions for me

  • Vanessa: Yes. Well, we covered a lot in this  

  • interview, but I was wondering what would you like  me to focus on during the first month on the job

  • Tip: this question is a bit controversial. Some  people say you should always have a question