Interview Tip: Answer Questions by “Leading the Witness”

A job interview determines whether or not you get a job offer, so why not take control of it?  Use the “Leading the Witness” method of interviewing, as explained by Skip Freeman, the President and CEO of an Atlanta-based recruitment firm.

Skip outlines the four basic concerns that almost all interviewers have when they meet you:  Can you do the job? Do you want the job?  Will you do the job?  Are you a good fit for the organization’s culture?

Interviewers probably won’t ask you these four questions directly, BUT they’re the questions that interviewers answer in their own heads before deciding if you’d be a good hire or not.

Slipping the answers to these four questions into the natural flow of the interview is what Skip calls “leading the witness.”  If you can give the answers to these four questions while also answering the questions you were asked, you’ll be doing a lot to convince the interviewer that you are the right person for the job.

On his blog, Skip gives great examples of common interview questions (like “where do you see yourself in five years?”) and compelling answers - answers that tell the interviewer YOU can do the job, you want to do the job, you will do the job, and you fit the culture.  Read Skip’s blog for specific examples of interview questions and how to hit the answers out of the park.