Interviewing can be a harrowing experience. Suddenly the spotlight is on you, the candidate, and they are asking you questions like, “Tell me about yourself,” and “What is your greatest weakness?”, and “Tell me about a time when you failed to complete a project on time,” and “Tell me about a problem you had with a supervisor or co-worker and how you resolved it,” and “If you were a fish, what kind of fish would you be?” This is a crucial moment, the penultimate experience in your job search. They actually want to talk to you… So what do you say?
There is so much trepidation about interviewing that the internet is full of interviewing tips, pointers, tricks and advice. Seminars abound. Books fill store shelves. Experts are everywhere. Like most things in this process, there are at least as many different opinions as there are people giving them. But here’s the main thing you need to keep in mind: They’ve called you for a phone interview or for a face-to-face interview, so there’s something in your résumé that makes them think you’re qualified. You’ve made the semi-finals. They have recognized you as a qualified candidate for the job. That’s a huge step. As we say in the Career Search Network (www.careersearchnetwork.org), “You’ve made it to the prom.” Now the interview is the “dance”. You need to be ready. You’re probably going to be scooted around the dance floor by several members of the employer’s team, so you want to make a good impression and dance well with all of them. Following are some ideas I have found that make sense in the interview process. They may help you be a better dancer.
First, know yourself and your accomplishments. Have a vocabulary, developed from your résumé, that concisely describes what you can do to contribute to your new employer’s operation. The interview is not about you as much as it is about how you will fit into their culture and how you fill their needs. Having this vocabulary and a set of stories about your accomplishments will help you speak with confidence and authority about your expertise and how that expertise will help them fill their needs.
Second, research the organization. The reason you’re there for an interview is because they have a need, and they have a high degree of confidence that you will be able to fill it. You need to get up to speed on what their needs are and what the organization is all about: products, services, values, vision, mission, projects, problems, sales trends, industry trends, mergers and acquisitions, recent changes in management, stock price if it’s a public company, government regulations, etc. Again, the interview is not as much about you as it is about how you will fit into their culture and fill their need. Focus on the employer. Learn all you can about them. Some sources you can use to learn about the employer include your networking contacts (current and past employees, suppliers, service providers and vendors), recruiters, the organization’s website, and the internet. You can call and talk to the receptionist, the PR director, the marketing director or anyone who will answer the phone. Often, the research you do will make all the difference, because you could well be the only candidate who took the time to do the research.
Third, practice interviewing, preferably with someone who knows how to do interviews. You need confidence in the interview process, and the best way to build confidence is to practice. Find someone in your professional or personal network who is a recruiter or a hiring manager, and ask for their help. If all else fails, go on the internet and find a list of the top interview questions, print them out, and have someone ask you a few random questions from that list. Behavioral interviewing is a growing trend, so be prepared. These are the questions that start with something along the lines of, “Tell me about a time when…” or “Have you ever…” These questions will usually focus on specific bullet points from the job requisition, but they may also involve bullet points from your résumé. The closer your résumé resembles the job requisition and the better you know your own résumé, the better you’ll do. Often behavioral interview questions will focus on organizational behavior, basically how well you play with others. One major point here is, as always, to be honest. Everyone has had work situations where there were problems, projects that didn’t go well, people who were difficult. When asked about such problems, tell the truth and talk about how you positively resolved the problem at the time or what you have learned that will allow you to resolve or avoid such a problem in the future. This is what employers want to know.
Related to this, if they ask you to name your greatest weakness, be honest about a job-related weakness and what you have done or are doing to overcome that weakness. Let me emphasize that your focus needs to be on job related issues, not issues from your private life. With behavioral questions, interviewers are usually more interested in the way you answer the question than in the actual answer, so don’t get flustered, don’t get embarrassed or angry, and don’t get bogged down in unnecessary details, just tell the truth and focus on the positive outcome. If you can’t think of a positive outcome at this moment, get busy. You need to have your positive, forward-looking responses to tough questions ready to go. That’s the point of an interview. From your résumé and application, they’ve already determined you’re a good candidate. Now they want to know how you will fit into the organization. Be prepared to answer tough questions. The question for which you are unprepared is the question you’re likely to get. That just seems to be how things work.
When you arrive for the interview, remember that you are “on” from the moment you step onto the property, until the moment you leave the property. Greet everyone with a firm handshake, a confident and friendly smile, and look them in the eye. Eye contact sends a message of sincerity, respect and self confidence. Body language, tone of voice, eye contact, facial expressions, posture, how you are dressed, and how well you are groomed all say more than your words, so be sure you’re sending the right message and making a positive impression, ready for prime-time, so to speak. Everyone you meet will form an opinion about you, and the recruiter, HR manager or hiring manager may very well ask any one or all of them their opinions. So be on your best behavior. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, treat everyone with kindness and respect. Not only is it just the right thing to do, it’s also in your best interest. When you are hired, these people will be your coworkers, and some of them may be reporting to you. You’ll need their cooperation, support and loyalty. In addition, if the hiring manager is like me, he or she WILL ask their opinions of you when you leave the interview, and will put a lot of stock in what they have to say about you.
Related to this, if the interview involves lunch, dinner, drinks, a round of golf, a sporting event or any other social activity, you’re still on an interview. Don’t let down your guard. Treat wait staff and other service people with respect. Be on your best behavior. Watch your language. Be careful how much you eat and drink. Tension and nervousness can distract you from your purpose. It may be easy to overindulge. Pay attention, because they’re paying attention to you. If the activity involves food, my recommendation is to avoid large, complicated or potentially messy dishes, and I suggest that you avoid alcohol, because you want to keep a clear head. If your host orders alcohol, you might order a glass of wine or beer, but I would nurse that one drink to the end of the meal or event. I also recommend staying on the inexpensive end of the menu. Reducing cost is a priority for almost every business, non-profit or government entity. In almost every case, demonstrating your cost consciousness in a social setting will be seen as a positive thing.
In the interview, don’t answer too quickly. Don’t start answering before they’ve finished asking their questions or making their statements. Wait a beat. Take a second and organize your thoughts. Don’t just start talking to fill silence. On a phone interview, silence usually means they’re taking notes. In a face-to-face interview, they may be taking notes or just waiting to see how long you can stand the silence. Think about your response. Why are they asking that question? What are they really trying to find out? How can you make your answer a positive reason for them to hire you? Be concise. Leave them wanting more and asking more questions, which gives you more time to organize your thoughts. Remember, answer the question, then shut up. Too much information is too much. If you can’t answer the question in less than two minutes, you need to work on the answer. There’s a reason TV commercials have gotten shorter. Our attention spans are shorter. Your answers need to be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to be interesting.
When they say, “Tell me about yourself,” focus on how you discovered the passion for what you do. This question is not about where you grew up, your hobbies or how many pets you have. It’s about the job and how you developed the expertise that makes you a fit for the job. If you’ve prepared yourself with information about the organization and you have a confident sense of who you are, you can answer this question with a concise, two-minute statement that focuses on how your passion will fill their need. Be prepared to talk about your proudest professional moment, perhaps in context of a list of two or three other proud achievements. When they ask, “How or why did you leave your previous employer,” make your answer positive and focus on why you want to work for this organization. Be honest, but make it as positive and forward-looking as possible. Don’t complain or make negative remarks about your previous boss, coworkers or organization. That’s a flashing, red warning light to the prospective employer, indicating that you are going to be a problem. While you want the interview to become a conversation between professionals, don’t get too comfortable. It’s still an interview.
During the interview the most important questions may be the questions you ask. You need to ask questions that have to do with the organization, the job and how you intend to perform it. Do not ask how soon you will qualify for vacation or what paid holidays are offered. Ask what their goals are for this position. Ask what they see as the biggest challenge for this position. Ask how your performance will be evaluated. Ask what the next steps are in the hiring process. Ask them when you can start.
After the interview, you need to send hand written thank-you notes to everyone who talked to you in the process… that means you get their business cards, and send the notes before the end of the day if possible or the next day at the latest. I’ve heard of people who keep thank-you cards and stamps with them, in their brief cases or in the trunks of their cars, so they can write their notes and send them from the employer’s zip code. I know this sounds really old-school, but bear with me. People like to be thanked, and they like it to be personal. Emails are better than nothing, but are not really good enough, and a text message is almost worse than nothing. A job interview is not just another business transaction or social interaction, it’s the prelude to one of the most important events in anyone’s life; getting a job. Both you and the employer have expended a lot of time, energy and resources to this meeting. You need to give that effort more respect and consideration than an email or a text message conveys. A hand written thank-you note on a professional looking card is a rare and always appreciated gesture. Only about 20% of candidates send thank-you notes, yet I’ve heard that a “Thank You” is more valued by people than money. Like so much in life, some of the simplest things are the most important things. Think about it; has there ever been a time when you did not appreciate being sincerely thanked? The Golden Rule applies: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Send a thank-you note. You’ll be ahead of the pack.
Finally, follow up. If they said they’ll be in touch on Thursday, do not call or email before then, but if you don’t hear from them by the end of the day on Thursday, contact them on Friday. If they asked you to provide some additional information, do it immediately. If you read a relevant article online or in an industry periodical, send the link or a copy of the article with a brief note, “I saw this article and thought it was relevant to our discussion.” Even if you are not hired, don’t burn any bridges, but stay in touch in a respectful and relevant way. Position yourself as a professional resource, someone who can and will help them. You never know where it might lead. If the person they hired doesn’t work out, or if another position becomes available in the organization, you’ll probably be the first one they call.
Ret Martin
SPHR certified Human Resources Generalist & Administrative Management Professional
martin3820@charter.net
http://www.linkedin.com/in/retmartin