If you’re like me, you wish you could predict what interview questions are going to come your way. What will they ask? What answers should I prepare? Well, John Lees from the Harvard Business Review gives us one specific question to get ready for…  you can expect to be asked: “What do you hope to achieve in your first three months?”

Great, now you know what they might ask. So how should you answer it? You don’t want to be too adventurous, but you want to impress them. You want them to know you will observe the work environment and learn before jumping into action, but that you will take action. John recommends a three-stage approach:

  1. Make observations about the current state, explaining what you understand is happening.
  2. Connect it to experiences you’ve had outside the organization. How do your past experiences relate?
  3. Describe some actions you would take (once you know all the needed details). What recommendations do you think you’d have?