Think about your work style. For example, my spouse does not work well in groups. They know this and they’d be miserable in a position where a lot of teamwork was required. On the other hand, I thrive in a team environment because helping out others is really satisfying to me.
After you understand your work style, think of five or six different situations that illustrate that work style. Make them a story. For example: “I’m know in my department as an Excel expert. I frequently get asked questions about how to do different “obscure” functions. Just the other day, one of the directors came over and was asked me if I’d be willing to show Steve how to create a dropdown box. Steve is a pretty shy guy and he isn’t comfortable asking for help. So I sent him an email with a spreadsheet that I had made that included a dropdown box with a message saying that I thought this was pretty cool and I thought that he might find it cool as well. I also included a link to a youtube video that I used to learn how to do it in the first place.” You’ll be able to use this example to multiple types of questions and it also gets across a bunch of stuff about you. Feel free to reuse the story on multiple questions but give a slightly different angle. For example, you might bring up what Steve’s reaction was to your email. (He probably posted in the Insignificant Signals thread!)
Finally, tell the truth. First off, the interviewers will know you’re lying because you’ll have to answer too many questions to keep the lies straight. As Judge Judy says, if you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything. Second, if you give the answers that you think the interviewers want to hear you very well may end up in a job that you aren’t suited for. Sometimes not getting an offer is better than getting an offer. I’ve had this happen to me for several positions where I’m pretty certain I was the most “qualified” candidate. In hindsight, I’m really glad I didn’t get offered any of those positions.
