How to nail your job interview, according to an ex-Microsoft HR executive: Don't say ‘I'm smart, I work hard’

How to nail your job interview, according to an ex-Microsoft HR executive: Don’t say ‘I’m smart, I work hard’

Posted by author January 24, 2025 Jobs

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Sabina Nawaz knows what turns her off in job interviews.

She is an executive coach with over two decades of experience, and prior to starting her own firm, Nawaz worked at Microsoft for 15 years, including as a senior director of human resources.

Some of her top job interview red flags are not showing up on time, not having the camera positioned correctly if you’re doing a virtual interview and not following up with a “thank you” message.

“I cannot tell you the number of people who simply don’t get the basics right,” she says. Another major red flag is not being prepared to talk about your strengths — but Nawaz has a simple trick to help people identify and highlight theirs.

Don’t say ‘I’m smart, I work hard and I get things done’

When job candidates get asked about their strengths, they often give vague answers that don’t really give a sense of who they are, and what they are capable of.

They’ll say, “I’m smart, I work hard and I get things done,” says Nawaz. “Good for you. You and everybody else.” Instead, you want to figure out what’s unique about you, and how to frame that within stories that really crystalize it.

Nawaz suggests coming up with 20 to 30 examples of personal endeavors or projects, “whether at home or at work, that you did yourself, you enjoyed doing and you were proud of,” she says. These can be as recent as today and can go as far back as when you were a kid. Within those, see which strengths come up the most.

Are you a fast learner? Do you love to build things? And when it comes to the jobs you’re applying for, “which of these set you apart?”

‘Curate a library of stories’ that reflect your successes

When it comes to how to present your strengths in an interview, break up your anecdotes into two main parts: the problem and the solution. “Spend about 50% of your time outlining the problem and 50% of the time outlining your strength,” says Nawaz.

Start by articulating what your strength is and then explain, in depth, what the problem was. Next, describe how you solved the issue, and connect that success back to your strength.

At the end of your story, make sure to explain the results of what you did as well. Say something like, “we landed the clients in our consultancy firm,” she says. “Not only was it a million-dollar contract, but they renewed for five years straight.”

When Nawaz works with her clients, “we curate a library of stories,” she says. At the end of the process, they have dozens of anecdotes at their disposal.

She highly recommends doing the same. That way, regardless of what you get asked in an interview, “you can plug and play these stories” and choose the one that’s most relevant and best shows you off.

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