How to Answer Interview Questions - Q28

How would you go about establishing your credibility quickly with the team?

The best way to go about establishing credibility with anybody in any situation is to ask really great questions and try to understand the situation before trying to do any kind of magic trick.

(Incidentally, this is another benefit of asking questions in the interview…you show what you know by what you ask. If you ask great questions, it helps establish your own credibility as a strong candidate with the interviewer.)

A lot of people think you should jump on the white horse and charge in immediately with a quick, decisive fix, and that’s not what’s necessary in most cases. You can do more harm than good that way, and make a lot of people angry in the process with your arrogance and inevitable mistakes. What’s necessary is to ask the questions that reveal that you do understand the situation. Then you can make a stronger decision based on the evidence, rather than a knee-jerk reaction.

In other situations, the best way to establish credibility is just to buckle down and do your job as best you can as soon as possible. Actions speak louder than words.

For those reasons, this question is a FANTASTIC opening to show the interviewer your 30/60/90-day plan. You just have to say, “I think I can answer that question best with this: I put together an outline of what I hope to take action on and accomplish in my first 3 months on the job and I’d like to talk it over with you.” And you bring out your plan and go over it with the hiring manager.

In case you’re not familiar, a 30-60-90-day plan is a written outline of the primary actions you would take during your first 3 months on the job. You research the company and the job extensively to put one together, because the more specific the plan, the better off you are. The research helps make you the best-prepared, most knowledgeable candidate, and helps you create a better, more accurate plan. Your plan shows that you are very capable of doing the job, even if you have little to no experience. It shows that you’re willing to go above and beyond, if necessary, and it shows that you’re a strategic thinker, that you can analyze a situation and prioritize tasks.

Both the plan and the discussion of it that you have with the hiring manager show that would buckle down and execute on those things that would help you establish credibility and be a productive member or leader of the team.