Take your CAR to your interview

If you have landed the interview it means the company believes you have a good chance of being able to do the job. Now you just have to prove it. Unfortunately this is where many candidates fail. They aren't able to show the interviewer they are capable of doing the job - even when they are. This comes down to how they answer the question.

Here is one example of a "bad" way and a "good" way to answer an interview question.

"Tell me about your customer service experience."

Bad: "I am good at dealing with customers."

Good: "When I joined ACME we had a poor reputation for customer service. I implemented an automated follow up process for every support ticket. As a result our net promoter score increased by 75%."

The "bad" answer is vague and doesn't prove that the candidate is good at customer service.

The "good" answer is specific and shows a definite example proving that the candidate is good at customer service.

The good answer uses "C.A.R." Context. Action. Result.

Context. Begin by explaining the background to your example.

Action. Next detail what you did. Explain what other options you considered and why you picked the one you did.

Result. Finally tell them what specifically happened as a result of your action. Wherever possible share some numbers to support the result.

When you are preparing for your interview go through the job description and write out a C.A.R. for each line item.

Taking your C.A.R. to the interview can mean the difference between a qualified candidate getting the job - or not.