How do you think you’ll go in business after years working in the public service?
Our Job & Career coach, Ann Mills, believes this may be a common interview question for those transitioning from government jobs into the private sector. She gave her tip on the best way to answer it:
- Acknowledge their concern.
- Re-assure the interviewer that you have both the skills and the attitude they are looking for.
- Identify the key things they are looking for and use examples to show that what you achieved is also relevant to their environment.
Example answer:
“I realise you might feel uncertain about that and I know I will have a lot to learn about your business. I am confident I can make this transition. When I was working in Department X, my role involved high volumes of client interaction and working collaboratively with teams. I regularly exceeded our performance indicators and so did my team. I am very driven, energetic and results focused and clients highly valued my abilities to achieve outcomes and exceed their expectations. In the end, clients want results and I deliver. For example…”