One of my favorite writing tips is “Tell the reader what you’re going to tell them, then tell them.” The example answer with signposting language above does a good job of previewing the information before they describe each point, something you can also do in your answers.
Let’s look at some examples of signposting language that you can use to help the interviewer understand where you’re going to take them in your answer.
Preparing for an important interview? OmniInterview is specialized in helping non-native English speakers speak confidently in their interviews in just a few hours of Coaching. Reserve a Discovery Session to see how OmniInterview can help you prepare for your upcoming interview.
The Importance of Signposting Language
Signposting language helps your listener understand what to anticipate. Just as a road sign helps drivers anticipate what's about to happen on the road, signposting language helps your listener understand what you're about to say, and signals a transition from one idea to the next.
If you'd like to know more about signposting language, check out my blog post on the importance of Signposting Language when interviewing for a job in English.
Signposting Language to Begin your Answer
Signposting language is flexible and adaptable, it's not something to copy and paste. Here are a 10 examples of signposting language you can use in your next job interview in English, as well as examples of how this language might change to fit different types of answers.
“Sure, let me tell you about my X, my Y and my Z.”
Question: Could you please tell me about your top professional strengths?
Signposting Language in Answer: Sure, let me tell you about my leadership skills, my analytical abilities, and my ability to come up with creative solutions...
“I’m going to give you an example of my teamwork skills by telling you about my most recent project at Acme, Inc.”
Question: Tell me about a time that you led a team successfully in a recent project.
Signposting Language in Answer: Certainly. I'm going to give you an example of my teamwork skills by telling you about my most recent project at Acme, Inc."
“There were three main ideas / problems / solutions that we found after our analysis: X, Y, and Z.”
Question: Could you tell me a bit about a time you've discovered a problem, and proposed solutions?
Signposting Language in Answer: I would be happy to. In my current position, we discovered that a spreadsheet that we were using was outputting incorrect information. I was part of the team that did some analysis, and after running a smaller dataset through the spreadsheet, we discovered that there were three main problems contributing to the errors: first... second... third...
“I’d like to answer your question by telling you about a client who had a negative experience with our software, and whose experience led to implementations for improvement.”
Question: Could you tell me about a time you had to interact with an unhappy client?
Signposting Language in Answer: We recently had a client who was unhappy with our CRM software because the call-log was only registering inbound calls, and outbound calls were not being registered automatically. I'd like to answer your question by telling you a bit more about our client's experience and feedback, which actually led to implementations for improvement in our software.
“I’m very passionate about research in my field for three main reasons: X, Y, and Z”
Question: What are some reasons that motivate you to research improved efficiency in radio communication?
Signposting Language in Answer: I'm passionate about my research for three main reasons, first: so that people in remote areas can have access to the internet; second, so that new markets can be opened up for business; and third, to reduce costs for business operations. Let me tell you a bit more...
Signposting Language to Indicate a Transition between Ideas
You can always use “First, Second, Third” to indicate that you’re moving from one idea to another, but here are some more complex signposting language strategies.
“So, now that we’ve talked about X, let’s move on to Y.”
Question: What are your professional strengths and weaknesses?
Signposting Language in Answer: So, now that we've spoken a bit about my strengths, I'll move on to describing my weaknesses.
“That’s a bit of information about my X, let me tell you about my Y.”
Question: How will your previous professional experiences help you in this new role?
Signposting Language in Answer "... That's a bit of information about my responsibilities at Acme, Inc., so now let me tell you a bit about my role as Project Manager at ABC, Co...."
“Let me elaborate a bit more on X”
Question: What are your professional aspirations for the next five years?
Signposting Language in Answer: "Let me elaborate a bit more on my reasons for wanting to transition to the clean energy sector."
“Expanding on the idea of X…”
Question: Tell me about your most memorable client.
Signposting Language in Answer: "...expanding a bit more on my previous point..."
“I’d like to address X a bit more in-depth.”
Question: Tell me about your management style.
Signposting Language in Answer: "...I'd like to address my balance of collaborative and participatory management styles a bit more in-depth..."