12/11/21

Be Thorough but to the Point

Be Thorough but to the Point

If you love to talk and when you are nervous can go on and on, or if you are the opposite 

and clam up when you are in a stressful situation – you need to be conscious of this and 

not do either in an interview. When asked a question, an interview wants enough 

information that will help them understand what you are talking about, but not extraneous 

irrelevant information.


If you are answering a question using an example from your previous or current job and 

there is a lot of jargon or acronyms – try to use more commonplace terms that more 

people are familiar with or explain what you mean in the beginning. If you are asked to 

describe a time when you lead a project – explain what the project was about, how many 

people you managed and any key points that demonstrate what a great job you did. What 

you don’t want to do is get side-tracked and give details that aren’t relevant to the 

question. The interviewer is not going to be interested in a play by play of the entire 

project – they want to know your role in it.  


Keep on topic; take a moment before answering a question to organize the details in your 

mind. You don’t want to start answering, get sidetracked, and forget the point you were 

trying to make. If you stay on topic and know what you are going to say, you are going 

to be able to keep the interviewer’s attention.


If you are a person of few words, practice with a friend or family member before your 

interview. Learn how to expand your answers so you give thorough information without 

living the interviewer wanting more. But if you are in doubt, less is better – an 

the interviewer will ask follow-up questions if necessary.

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