This is the second in a three part series inspired by an e-book of career advice that prescribed answers to interviewing questions.
Here, I take a look at the Q & A given by the e-book's authors, and suggest an alternative response:
Question: What are you passionate about?
Suggested Answer: This question is a good opportunity to share what is important in your life.
My answer: Talk about your values, your interests, your hobbies – but keep it professional and always remember that there’s a job on the table.
As I see it, interviewing is like the Olympic gymnastics competition. No matter what the forum is—from balance beam and parallel bars to floor exercises—everyone knows what the judges are looking for, and everyone knows that to get the medal, the gymnast must stick the landing. (I expand on this--and share my own hobby here--in a piece for Glassdoor.com on How Passion Can Improve Your Career Prospects.)
So even if you are the best cupcake maker in Chicago, the best junior scuba diver in Mobile, Alabama, an avid traveler with pictures from two months in Outer Mongolia—you still need to share your attributes, interests and qualities in such a way that it directly relates to the position.
Otherwise, you won’t stick the landing for the question. And you may not get the offer. Because what matters most to a majority of employers—is that you’ll be able to do the job if you hired.
How do you see this one? I'd love to hear your take!
Photo by John Crowley
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