Explain to me what you do and why you are good at it | NoBSJobSearchAdvice.com
By Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter
“I want you to pretend I’m 8 years old. I’m in first or second grade. And, I want you to explain to me what you do and why you’re good at it.”
I found this great question and I just thought it would be useful to help you prepare. Now, the film’s title is a shortened version of it. The question is, “You know, you’re seven or eight years old, you’re in first grade, second grade at most. Explain to me what you do and why you’re good at it.”
I think this is a lovely question because it really removes a lot of the bullshit from the description. What you are designed to do, or what you must do, boils down to the core essence of what you do. Because there are a lot of situations that can be “jargon rich” and people will say a lot of nonsense when, in fact, it can really be condensed. It could indeed be said more clearly.
It also gives the interviewer an idea of how to explain concepts or seemingly complex concepts and make them simple. Well, you can answer this.
First, in one sentence, the two sentences above describe what you do. So if I were answering this question in recruiting, I would probably say that I help companies recruit talent by finding them talent. One sentence. Notice what I did? Now, this may lead to follow-up questions, but, the key is one sentence, and then this sentence.
“Do you understand? Just want to make sure you understand? Because if you don’t understand, I’m going to go back and try to explain it a different way.”
Then, from there, why are you good at it. So in my case in the recruiting process, I might say something like, “I’m very well organized. I’m a good communicator.” So, can I explain to people what the opportunity is and explain to my client company, which is the company that’s hiring the person, why is this person going to help them fill a position? “One sentence. Although it is long, it is just one sentence. Maybe it can be split in half and then you go, “Do you understand? Or should I explain it differently?”
Again, you’re talking to a seven- or eight-year-old kid in first grade, second grade, or something like that. So the idea is to keep it simple. Now, if you think this is a more complex answer, please leave a comment and let me know what it should be. But again, condense what you did into very simple sentences. And then always say, “Do you understand? I just want to make sure you understand, because if you don’t, I’m going to explain it differently.”
What this does is show that you have a service orientation because you care about your audience and you’re not just spewing some nonsense that they want to understand. After all, you are only in first grade. You are seven or eight years old.
From there, all you have to do is make it clear that you want to make sure they understand. You’ve broken these concepts down, in my case, into two sentences, one of which was a little long, but it had room for them to pause and for me to absorb, whether they understood it or not.
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About Big Game Hunter Jeff Altman
Jeff Altman, Big Game Hunter is a coach and has been a recruiter for a hundred years. He is hired worldwide to provide career advice without a bachelor’s degree. This may involve job search, recruiting staff, management, leadership, career transition and advice on solving workplace problems. Schedule a discovery call on my website, www.TheBigGameHunter.us
He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 job search podcast on iTunes with over 3,100 episodes.
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