Episode Notes

On the sixty-fourth installment of Tristan's Tips, our amazing host Tristan Layfield discusses how we can prepare for the pandemic-related questions we may get during job interviews. He breaks down four different questions you could be asked relating to COVID-19 and shares how he would answer them if he were in our shoes. Since the onset of the coronavirus, the pandemic has made a cameo in the majority of conversations that we’ve had. With that being the case, there’s no reason to think that our job interview won’t be another area where it will rear its head!

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TRANSCRIPT Tristan: What's going on, Living Corporate?! It's Tristan of Layfield Resume Consulting, and I'm back to bring you another career tip. This week I want to talk to you about how you can prepare for pandemic-related questions you may get during interviews.

Since the onset of the coronavirus, the pandemic has made a cameo in the majority of conversations that we’ve had. With that being the case, there’s no reason to think that our job interview won’t be another area where Ms. Rona will rear her head. A news editor named Andrew Seaman reached out to the LinkedIn community to understand what type of questions may be asked in interviews in the near future and how to answer them. I want to take a moment to share some of that information with you all.

So the first question you may receive is, “What have you learned about yourself during the pandemic?” This could be a follow-up question to the dreaded “Tell me about yourself.” If an interviewer asks this question, they are usually trying to gauging your emotional intelligence. They want to know how you handle a crisis and the emotions that come with those situations. If I were to answer this I would probably say something along the lines of ‘The pandemic taught me that during highly stressful times, building solid routines not only decreased my anxiety but made it easier for me to get into the work I need to do and be more productive.”

The next question might be “Can you do the job while working from home?” Since the majority of companies are still required to do work remotely it’s likely that any new people they offer positions to would have to be onboarded virtually. Since this will become part of the new normal, they want to know you have not only the capabilities but the resources to work from home. Let them know if you have a dedicated workspace, if you have experience working from home, or what steps you’ve taken to be able to ensure you can complete a normal workday while being at home.

Then we have the question of “Are you willing to work from an office when the pandemic is over?” Since many company work-from-home policies are temporary, you should definitely be prepared for this question. If you aren’t looking to go back into the office, I’d suggest looking for roles clearly advertised as “remote.”

The last question they discussed is “How have you been spending your time?” I’m personally not a fan of this question because I think we are all experiencing a stressful historical event and many of us have consciously or unconsciously moved into a space of survival. But seeing as how many companies and organizations fail to recognize the humanity in that, they will ask this question to get an idea of how you deal with stress and if can still operate to provide value to the company during that time. They are looking to see if you’ve been volunteering, taking online classes, or learning new skills. If you haven’t, please don’t beat yourself up too bad. Talk about how you’ve been really targeted in your job search and getting focused on what you want from the next step in your career.

This tip was brought to you by Tristan of Layfield Resume Consulting. Check us out on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @LayfieldResume or connect with me, Tristan Layfield, on LinkedIn.

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