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SkimaTalk Official Course

Advanced Interviewing Skills Lesson 4: Describing Your Leadership Abilities

1.  Describing Your Strengths

2.  Describing Your Areas for Improvement 3.  Describing Your Accomplishments

4.  Describing Your Leadership Abilities

5.  Bringing it All Together

Advanced Interviewing Skills

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Today’s Lesson!

Session Guidelines

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Your session with your SkimaTalk instructor will be structured as follows:

Introduction / briefing

Practice interview – “leadership abilities” (information on page 11)

Teacher feedback / discussion

5 min

10 min

5 min

5 min

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Repeat practice interview

Spend 2 – 3 minutes reviewing the content on pages 5-8. Answer any student questions.

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Preparation�

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Interviewers Will Want to Hear About Your Leadership Skills

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The question can take many forms, such as:

l  “Please describe a time when you demonstrated leadership.”

l  “Please describe your experience leading teams.”

l  “Can you provide an example of a time when you took initiative to solve a problem?”

l  “Have you ever had to deal with a difficult teammate? If so, please describe what actions you took to make the relationship work.”

Leadership Is Not Only About Leading People

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Solving a tricky problem Taking initiative Managing a cross-functional team Dealing w/ a difficult employee

Leadership can be…

You don’t need to be in management to demonstrate leadership

Leaders Are People Who “Get Things Done” When Others Can’t

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The leadership question is an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to generate results

“At my previous job, I accepted a project that had been stalled for six months. I identified the key obstacles for each team member, and took the necessary steps to eliminate those obstacles. After just three weeks, the project was back on track and the team was re-energized. We finished the project ahead of schedule.”

Leadership Example

Three Keys to Answering the Leadership Question

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•  What is the problem or obstacle you helped the company overcome? •  If relevant, identify failed attempts by others at the company to solve

this same problem.

1 Identify the problem

•  What are the actions you took to fix the problem?

2 Outline the specific steps you took

•  What are the results of your actions? Be specific (e.g., the team launched the company’s new website in record time).

3 Demonstrate results

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Are You Ready?�

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Preparing For Your Interview

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You should spend 30 minutes preparing for your SkimaTalk session. To prepare, please take the following steps:

Read the job description for your practice interview (page 11).

Write down two examples of a time when you demonstrated leadership. Make sure you also write down the steps you took to solve the problem and the outcome of your actions.

Practice answering the following question out loud: “Please describe a time when you demonstrated leadership. What was the result of your actions?”

Practice Interview: Job Description

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Employer: ABC Co. – A leading software company. Job Title: Social Media Manager

Overview of Role: The Social Media Manager is responsible for managing the company’s social media accounts and creating successful social medias campaigns. Key Criteria: l  Creativity. l  Experience with popular social media tools (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). l  Strong organizational skills. l  Attention to detail. l  Able to work independently.

Interview Question

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Question: Please describe a couple times when you demonstrated leadership. What was the result of your actions?

Teacher version only

Teacher Instructions: 1.  Ask the interview question, and then listen to the student’s response. A “good” answer

will include the following: •  2 leadership examples. •  Relevant background information. •  Specific impact of each example.

2.  Discuss the student’s response. Focus on: •  Content: did the response include all the required information? •  Vocabulary and pronunciation: were there any errors? •  Structure: did the answer flow logically? •  Impact: did the student impress you with his/her examples?

3.  Ask the student to answer the question again, utilizing the feedback from your discussion.

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End of Lesson We Hope You Enjoyed It!