Good interview answers that get you the job you always dreamed of

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How To Provide Good Interview Answers

Could freelance translators/interpreters use some tips on good interview answers? Absolutely!

My own experience tells me that if you want to get work from large corporations or government agencies, you probably would have to answer some interview questions.

That’s how they scan to find qualified professionals who take pride in their work.

How one answers interview questions says a lot about this person. If you impress your interviewer, you'll get the job. Period. So here are a few tips:

1- Research, research, research

Before you get an interview, you need to collect as much information about your potential client as possible.

What products or services do they offer?

Why do they need the translation or interpretation service?

Who are the targeted audience of your translation work?

What sort of terminology is involved?

You probably won’t have all the information, but being prepared will help you take control of the interview.

2- Good interview answers are always positive

Interview questions can be tricky. They key is to focus on the right things. All good interview answers should be based on truth.

For example, here’s a typical question:

- Are you aware of any mistakes you’ve made in your past translation/interpretation work? Can you explain?

Answer: No. But I realized that mistakes do happen. So I have developed effective note-taking ability to ensure that minimum content is lost in translation. (this is specifically applicable to my court interpreting job)

- Have you ever received any negative feedback?Answer: No. But I was told by lawyers that I tend to get animated when I deliver my work at court.

- What’s your greatest weakness?

I tend to be a perfectionist at work. So I like to proofread multiple times after I’ve completed a translation job. Some would say that I’m overly cautious.

See my point here? You need to focus on your strength rather than weakness when you answer negative questions. When you do mention your weakness, try to end up with a positive note.

This reminds me of a popular reality show – Million Dollar Listings on HGTV. When a realtor interviewed a potential candidate for an assistant position, he asked,

“ What’s your weakness?”

This is her answer,

“ I’m a very organized person but sometime I tend to expect the same thing from others and that makes others uncomfortable.”

Guess what? She was hired on the spot.

3- Good interview answers should avoid overly used general terms

I don’t know about you, but when I see people use terms such as “detail oriented”; “attention to detail”, “perfect Chinese and English skills” “excellent work ethics” etc, I couldn’t help but scratching my head.

Do people actually know what they are talking about?

Unless you pinpoint the actual skills or examples, these words mean nothing.

The truth is, many people think they are detail oriented, but they don’t even notice a spelling mistake on their resume.

And “perfect language skills” is not a measureable term. Instead, you can point out that you update your language skills regularly by taking courses or keeping close contact with communities in both languages etc.

As for excellent work ethics, if you don’t spell out what the ethics are, many interviewers are clueless. So don’t be afraid to say that you keep all your work confidential or anything else that might be important to the potential client.

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