Tell me about your previous work experience ?
Tell me about your previous work experience ?
When asked how your experience relates to a marketing role, a strong answer would be:
- My years of experience have prepared me well for this position. You mentioned that customer service is a big part of this job; I spent three years working in a high-volume call center, answering customer calls and identifying solutions.
- I developed extensive skills working with customers even when they were distressed. I'm excellent to handle at poor situations and finding a way to make the customer happy. Our customer satisfaction rating increase 10% during my tenure at my previous employer. Since the role of your marketing department is to improve customers' impressions of the company, my experience will be an asset to your team.
1. Describing Your Experience
- Do you research about the position for which you’re interviewing.
- You need to know everything you can about what your responsibilities will be, what skills you’ll be expected to know or learn quickly, and the environment you will be working in.
- Most importantly, you need to know how it is similar and how it is different from your previous or current job. This is critical so that you don’t take any steps on while you are discussing your experience at your previous job.
- You may not want to rave about how much you enjoy your small and intimate company if you’re applying at a huge corporation. The more you know about the opportunity, the easier you can tailor your response to show how well you’d fit in at the company interviewing you.
Remark on things you enjoyed about your last place of work.
- Give specific examples, and make sure they align with the position you’re interviewing for.
- The interviewer is trying to determine how well you will fit in at their company, and also trying to determine your character.
- It’s important to show that you’re a team player and loyal to your employer, while highlighting specific things you enjoy in your previous position that will be similar in the new position.
Phrase any dislikes tactfully.
- This is not a time to meaninglessly bash your current or previous employer. Rather, use it as another chance to show how perfect you’d be for the position you’re up for.
- If you’re interviewing for a position that is different than the one you currently hold, you can simply explain why you’re a much better fit for the former. You can also use this as an opportunity to explain what your old company lacked and what the new company offers.
- For example, if you’re attempting to make the move from accounting to sales you could explain that you didn’t like the lack of face-to-face communication you had in your previous role.
- If you’re moving from a large company to a small company, you could discuss your desire for a more intimate office setting.
- Don’t speak derogatorily about co-workers or your company. This will not show you in a positive light, and the interviewer would much rather see loyalty, dedication, and optimism.
2. Explaining Your Exit
- Focus on your desire to work for the interviewing company.
- Clearly there is a reason why you are interviewing for a new job, and your explanation should flatter the interviewer. Let them know that you want the opportunity they’re offering, and that’s why you are leaving your current position.
- You may be totally and completely satisfied at your current job, but you view this opportunity as even better.
3. Discussing Skills and Strengths
- Highlight previous job skills that are applicable to the new opportunity.
- Tell the interviewer about any and all areas of expertise that would be transferable to the new job.
- If there aren’t many specific skill set overlaps, you can speak more generally about how quickly you learn new things, adapt to new situations, and master new skills.
- Personal qualities such as a strong work ethic, being dependable, and being a great communicator are great to discuss as well.
Give an example of how you handled issues at previous jobs.
- While it would be nice to tell the interviewer that everything was perfect in your previous job and you were Employee of the Month every month that is probably not believable.
- You can and should bring up challenges you faced in your old position, and how you rose up to them. Use a concrete example where you can show how you keep cool under pressure, make tough decisions, or exercise strong leadership skills.
- The key is to show the interviewer that you’re a critical thinker focused on solutions and results.
Consider your biggest accomplishments thus far.
- It is imperative to brainstorm your answer beforehand, as this is your chance to discuss your most important success story to date.
- Think about a time where you overcame a huge challenge, made a big positive change at your place of employment, or received outstanding results or feedback after completing a task. Make sure that whatever your accomplishment was, it relates to work you would be doing in the position you’re interviewing for.