So, you’ve memorized your top five strengths, you have a pretty solid understanding of what they mean, but how do you use them to your advantage in an internship or job interview?
The first thing to remember is that not everyone is familiar with the strengths language. So when they ask you the inevitable, “Name your top three strengths,” you can’t just rattle off “relator, achiever, and consistency.” You need to be able to translate these strengths into identifiable and transferrable skills. For example, my number one strength is relator. So in describing that, I might say something to the effect of, “I’ve found that creating deeper relationships with co-workers and students gives me energy. I don’t need to know everyone’s name in a room, but when I am working with someone one-on-one or in a small group, I want to feel a sense of connection. This allows me to better understand the needs and strengths of the people I am working with.”
See how I’ve used the defining characteristics of that strength and combined it with a real, identifiable situation?
Here’s another idea that I find fascinating. Some of the hardest questions to answer in an interview are behavioral questions. An example being, “Describe a time you had to resolve a conflict with a colleague or supervisor.” They are obviously looking for a specific story, but it can be difficult to come up with something on the spot. So here’s a strategy you might find useful.
Create a grid with two columns. In the first column, list each of your five strengths. In the second column, write about a specific scenario where you displayed that strength. When you are done, you’ve got five specific stories that you can pull from to answer those pesky behavioral questions. If you’ve got some notes jotted down in your professional portfolio, you can take a quick look, pick one of those stories, and relate it to the specific question.
There are so many ways that focusing on your strengths can better your professional habits. So think about them often, talk about them often, but most importantly, act on them often.
Jamie L. Stamey
Internship Coordinator
Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business