INTERVIEWS: Overcoming talking to much, hearing but not listening?

brumbino

Had an interview and the feedback was, well it was familiar!

I talked to much and whilst I heard what was said or asked, I didn't listen.

i.e. I thought through speech and understood the broad terms of the question but not
necessarily the depth.

So...can anyone suggest techniques, methods or resources that might help me so I don't make the same mistake again?

Zazen999

Which questions particularly do you feel that you talked too much and didn't answer?

What answer did you give?

brumbino

It was broad feedback....

In general terms I think I hear the start of the question, start thinking of an answer and away I go....so sometimes either I lose the sense of the question - not the topic - or I oversell myself through my answer.

Savvy_Sue

Practice with a friend? Get someone to ask you a question in several parts: eg "have you ever been in this situation, what did you do and what do you think you could do better next time", and see if you can listen to the whole question before you start thinking about the answer.

You can always ask for a complex question to be repeated.

brokeinwales

Make notes.

I do this at work because I work with someone who has floods of ideas and usually talks way too fast. As he's going off on a spiel I use the back of an envelope to write down key words in what I think he's saying then when he's stopped I go back and ask him to clarify each part.

I think something similar would probably work for you. Try practicing first by getting a friend to "mock interview" you (it doesn't matter what they ask - it can be about what you had for breakfast, it's the process that matters) and follow these basic instructions:

- Look them in the eye when they're talking and nod occasionally (this makes it look like you're listening even if you're not! Though eye contact also makes it easier to listen)

- Don't interupt. Challenge yourself to keep your mouth completely shut til they've finished taljing. Or take a sip of water whilst they're asking a question so that you physically can't interupt!

- Listen to the whole question. Instead of mentally forming your response whilst they're still talking, note down the key words of what they're saying (actually saying, not what you think they're saying) on a piece of paper. You can refer to this when they've stopped talking to help formulate your answer, to make sure you cover everything they asked, rather than just the first part. (Taking a notepad into an interview also looks quite good!)

- Don't be afraid to ask them to repeat the question , or to clarify what they're asking if you think your concentration lapsed. Also remember it's OK to pause a few seconds and think before speaking, and to speak slowly - this actually looks far more intelligent and professional than charging straight in with a torrent of words. If it's an interview, they want to hear what you have to say, no-one is going to interupt you so there's no rush!

Get your friend to challenge you a bit by asking questions that start as one thing but turn into something else.

e.g. "What's your favourite song/ from the musical Grease/ from the original stage show, not the film version?"

"how do you eat an avocado/ when you've got no cutlery?/ And what do you think your approach to this problem says about you?"

Savvy_Sue

If you are using a notepad, make sure that you write the absolute minimum, not the question verbatim ...

So in the example I gave, you'd write no more than "situation / what I did / do better", NOT the whole lot!

SueC_2

Don't be afraid of a short pause for consideration between them asking the question and you delivering your answer.

Zazen999

If you try it with a friend; write the question and the opposite of the question; and ask your friend to take notes on the topics you cover.

Then; look at what actually answered the question and what answered the opposite of the question. It might help you to find out where you are going wrong.

the fact that you can't remember which questions that you KNOW you waffled on; leads me to believe that you just aren't listening to the actual questions or structuring your answers in your head before you open your mouth.

heretolearn_2

Is it nerves that just makes you gabble on? Perhaps if you tackle that and build your confidence you'll do better in interviews.

Having interviewed a lot of people, this isn't uncommon. It gets very frustrating to the interviewers to be given a great answer, but just not to the question you've asked! Watch out for this happening during the interview - if someone goes off track we do our best to guide them back to the right question, maybe by asking again, or asking again re-phrasing it slightly on the assumption that they didn't understand us first time round. IT gets really annoying when you can see from someone's background and CV that they should be able to talk well about what you've asked, and sometimes we've struggled for about 10 minutes trying to get the right info out of people, but if they still don't listen we just have to give up. They get marked down a) for not giving us the information we have requested and b) being someone who won't be able to follow instructions, which is really serious to us.

So you need to get on top of this. It makes you seem as if you'd be a ditzy person in your work, or someone who simply won't follow orders, or someone who won't be able to communicate well with colleagues. that's why it stops you getting those jobs.

Take a deep breath and make the effort to really listen to the question. Stop rushing. Don't think of any answers until you've heard the whole thing. Stop again. Think before you open your mouth. If you need to, ask a question to clarity what they've asked you. Only then should you start to answer.