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30th Mar 2017

Google exec explains the key to nailing your next job interview

Alan Loughnane

This man knows what he’s talking about…

Job interviews are tough. Some people are naturals at selling themselves and their skills, but for others it’s a far more arduous task, one that requires much preparation.

You can usually expect the common questions such as: “Tell me about your biggest weakness, and your work history etc…”

But, we often get told that the key to acing a job interview is to research, be prepared and be confident, but this isn’t always going to get you the job according to one Google executive.

Peter Roper, Google’s head of mobile brand strategy, has said that these unusual and outside-the-box questions don’t really matter, but rather making a connection with your potential employer, which is far more important.

He said he may ask questions such as: “What’s your favorite color?”, “What’s the craziest thing that you’ve done?”, or “What are some things on your bucket list?” But what happens afterward is far more important, he says.

“The questions don’t matter as much as the conversation that happens after, in that it provides you a unique opportunity to really understand what someone’s passionate about and what someone keys in on,” Roper told CNBC. “And that’s kind of the best part of the conversation.”

So in short, next time you have a big job interview coming up, it’s often less what you say that counts, more how exactly you say it.

Although we don’t recommend completely neglecting the preparation for the interview either.

Topics:

Job Interview