SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com. Congratulations!  You 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 interview,  it 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 today.  Why 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 great,  but 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 work,  creativity, 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 company.  Also, 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 punctual,  so 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 strengths.  Do 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 set,  and 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 have a  weekly 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 company.  Even 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 company,  so I'm experienced making high level design pieces  

on a tight deadline. I also interned for a  small 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 into a  graphic 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 coworkers,  your 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 job.  Just 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 soon.  What do you..." No, they want to be able to step  

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

You won't need to supervise me much because I  can 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 reason.  And 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  

prepared. Some people say you shouldn't ask a  question. And the answer is, it's not black or  

white, it's just your choice. But let's talk about  two more questions you could ask. You could ask,  

"What's a typical day look like in this role?"  Or you could ask, "How is success measured in  

this company?" It's a little bit more of a  heavy question, but it shows that you care  

about being successful. Or you could simply say,  "I think we covered everything, but if anything  

comes up, I'll let you know." Great. Well, what should you never, ever,  

ever ask in a job interview? You should never ask  something that is easily found on the company's  

website. If there's anything publicly shown like  who their clients are, these types of things,  

do not ask this because it shows that you didn't  do your research and the interviewer will think,  

"I'm just wasting my time." So make sure that you  do not ask something that is easily found online. 

Dan: Congratulations,  

you're hired. I'll see you Monday! Congratulations, you're hired. I'll  

see you Monday! Vanessa: 

Thank you so much. I'm really excited to  start in this role. I'll see you on Monday.