Interview Tips
Beforehand | Resumes | Research | The Interview | Basic Interviewing Strategy |
Give It Some Thought | Pitfalls
Wrapping It Up
Interview preparation is perhaps, the single most overlooked aspect of the job changing process. A candidate who's fired up and ready to go at the time of the interview has a tremendous advantage over a candidate who's not. The more carefully you prepare for your interview, the better your chances of getting hired.
Being prepared ahead of time and knowing exactly where you are going will also help you feel confident and at ease- two very important things for an interview! We have a few tips to help you be prepared.
Be sure to get directions at least a day before your interview so you don't get lost and arrive late. And here's a tip: Always bring some cash to pay for parking. Never ask an employer to validate your parking stub, or reimburse you for parking. Not only is it impolite, you'll create a negative impression, since its considered common courtesy to pay your own expenses for a local interview.
If you're coming from out of town, then it's especially important to get directions. Naturally, if the expenses for your interviewing trip are going to be covered by the employer, wait until the interview has concluded (or better yet, the next day) to settle up. Usually, the company will prepay the airfare, or other major expenses, and will reimburse you for the rest, such as your car rental, cab fare, hotel room, and meals. It's customary that you pick up certain non-essential expenses, such as long distance phone calls from your hotel room or the bar tab from the lounge in the hotel lobby.
The best time to arrive for an interview is 10 minutes early. So if your interview is scheduled at 2:00pm, arrive at the employer no later than 1:50pm. This will allow the employer time to finish any meetings, close projects, or gather other members of the interviewing team. Plus if the employer has an Employment Application that needs to be completed by all candidates, the 10 minutes will allow you to complete it without doing it during the interview and interrupting the employer's schedule.
If for some reason you're running late, call ahead, if possible an hour before the scheduled interview time, to ask if they still have time to meet with you or need to reschedule. Ask if you can reschedule for later the same day, or if not, later in the week. If something unexpected happens that you have no control over, simply explain the situation to the employer when you arrive. Stay cool. Explain the situation briefly and then get down to business.
Looking and acting professional throughout an interview is very important. We suggest a nice and conservative suit for the first interview. If you don't have a suit and cannot invest in one than a well pressed outfit is also acceptable. Do your best to coordinate, keep simple colors and no or few patterns. You do not want the interviewer to be distracted, especially in a negative way, by the way you are dressed. The key is, no matter what you are wearing be sure it is clean pressed and well fitted.
Now that you look sharp, don't forget to BE sharp. Keep from using slang or foul words, chewing gum or performing nervous habits such as tapping a pen on the desk. If you know you get nervous it is best not to hold on to any items that you may be tempted to fiddle with. Set them on the table in front of you when you are not taking notes and fold your hands together giving your full attention to the interviewer.
Being organized is also very important. An interviewer will take visual note of everything about you, including what you've brought with you. If you bring a large bag with your personal items and papers it may be distracting and certainly won't look professional.
Cell phones. Don't bring them in to the interview with you if at all possible. If you are currently working and you are required to keep your cell phone with you for work or emergency purposes, then place the device on vibrate and notify the interviewer ahead of time that you may need to take a call. The only calls you should answer would be those from work or a genuine emergency, and even then be sure to be as tactful about it as possible. It is important that you value their time so make the call as brief as possible.
Of course, bring a couple of copies with you and be sure to read your resume before the interview, so you're completely familiar with everything you've written. Nothing is more embarrassing (or potentially fatal to your candidacy) than being quizzed on some aspect of your resume and not being able to remember the details. This is especially important for jobs that have technical products or specific language that will reflect your level of knowledge. If you cannot remember what kind of widget you work with you won't look like the best-qualified candidate. Review your background and memorize names, companies, products, sales numbers, processes and anything else that may come up. Don't be caught in the Thinkers pose too long!
When you arrange the interview, find out who you'll be talking to, and what their function is or title is within the company. Will you be speaking with the hiring manager? The personnel director? Will it be a group interview? It is nice to know this ahead of time so you are not caught off guard when you walk in to a room with 3 or 5 people ready to drill you.
Get to know the company. If possible browse their website ahead of time to find out what they do, the type of industry they are in, who their competitors and their clients may be. This information will help you in many ways. Learning about the company ahead of time may also keep you from embarrassing yourself in the interview by asking a question you should already know!
While the amount of background information you can gather about a company is practically endless, it would be ludicrous to try to become a walking encyclopedia of corporate trivia. However, knowing something in each of these categories should significantly improve your odds of getting hired:
The company's personnel -- who the major players are. For example, if you were interviewing for IBM, it might be considered a faux pas to look puzzled and ask, "Who?" at mention of the name Thomas Watson, Sr.
The company's basic structure -- what products or services they provide to which customers, what the various divisions are, and whether they're privately or publicly held.
By arriving for your interview adequately briefed, you'll make a strong impression on the interviewer. Best of all, you can spend your interviewing time discussing your background and the company's needs, not the corporate biography.
Asking questions during the interview also shows that you have taken the time to prepare and that you are interested in this opportunity. Questions about the position itself may come up naturally during the discussion however it is also a good idea to have some questions jotted down ahead of time. You may want to ask the interviewer to expand on the information you found on the Website or maybe to share the goals of the division with you. Ask about the company, the industry and the opportunity. Preparing short questions that are open ended and non-threatening to the company or of the person directly. Preparing them ahead of time will ensure that you don't end up with your foot in your mouth!
You want to give the interviewer the floor and wait until they invite you to ask questions before getting out your list.
**You should also be aware that there's one specific taboo to first-level interviewing, in terms of the questions you should ask. Never, ever bring up the issue of salary or benefits. If the employer initiates a dialogue surrounding these issues, and asks if you have any questions, fine but it is not good to come across too self-serving.
While it's unthinkable to accept or even consider a job without first knowing the financial rewards (or the details of the benefit package), there are better and timelier ways to broach the subject, without endangering your candidacy.
Most employers are aware of how stressful it can be to interview for a new position, and will do everything they can to put you at ease. They will usually take control of the interview and let you know how they want to proceed.
Eye contact will help you keep focused and will help you build rapport.
Be enthusiastic. If you are scared, take a deep breath and then smile. Smiling usually helps in any situation and should lighten the mood in the room. People like to work with happy and enthusiastic people. Employers that can see you are interested in the job often will remember that when it is time to choose the right candidate and it may help your chances in a close situation.
It is important to present your background in a thorough and accurate manner. If there are things that are not that impressive don't spend much time on them but it will do you no good to lie. End the explanation with a positive note such as what you learned from that experience.
Remember to think about the situation from the employer's perspective: You may be the 10th person the manager is seeing that week, and many people feel just as awkward interviewing as they do being interviewed. A comfortable exchange with someone who has similar professional interests may be a welcome relief from the regimented interviews. If you have the ability to make whomever you're talking to feel like they are simply engaged in an intriguing conversation, you could be setting yourself apart from the pack.
There are two ways to answer interview questions: the short version and the long version. When a question is open-ended, I always suggest to candidates that they say, "Let me give you the short version. If we need to explore some aspect of the answer more fully, I'd be happy to go into greater depth, and give you the long version."
The reason you should respond this way is because it's often difficult to know what type of answer each question will need. A question like, "What was your most difficult assignment?" might take anywhere from thirty seconds to thirty minutes to answer, depending on the detail you choose to give.
Therefore, you must always remember that the interviewer's the one who asked the question. So you should tailor your answer to what he or she needs to know, without a lot of extraneous rambling or superfluous explanation. Why waste time and create a negative impression by giving a sermon when a short prayer would do just fine?
Let's suppose you were interviewing for a sales management position, and the interviewer asked you, "What sort of sales experience have you had in the past?"
Well, that's exactly the sort of question that can get you into trouble if you don't use the short version/long version method. Most people would just start rattling off everything in their memory that relates to their sales experience. Though the information might be useful to the interviewer, your answer could get pretty complicated and long-winded unless it's neatly packaged.
One way to answer the question might be, "I've held sales positions with three different consumer product companies over a nine-year period. Where would you like me to start?"
Or, you might simply say, "Let me give you the short version first, and you can tell me where you want to go into more depth. I've had nine years experience in consumer product sales with three different companies, and held the titles of district, regional, and national sales manager. What aspect of my background would you like to concentrate on?"
By using this method, you telegraph to the interviewer that your thoughts are well organized, and that you want to understand the intent of the question before you travel too far in a direction neither of you wants to go. After you get the green light, you can spend your interviewing time discussing in detail the things that are important, not whatever happens to pop into your mind.
Giving these questions some thought ahead of time will help you give concise, positive answers. Here are some common interviewing questions we came up with but also try to think of things directly related to the position you are interviewing for.
- Why do you want this job?
- Why do you want to leave your present company?
- Where do you see yourself in five years?
- What are your strengths? Weaknesses?
- What do you like most about your current company?
- This question is probably the hardest to answer: What do you like least about your present company?
I've found that rather than pointing out the faults of other people ("I can't stand the office politics," or, "I don't get along with my boss"), it's best to place the burden on yourself ("I feel I'm ready to exercise a new set of professional muscles," or, "The type of technology I'm interested in isn't available to me now.").
By answering in this manner, you'll avoid pointing the finger at someone else, or coming across as a complainer. It does no good to speak negatively about others. Be Positive - In particular, avoid negative comments about past employers.
Interviewers like to know how you respond to different stimuli. Situation questions ask you to explain certain actions you took in the past, or require that you explore hypothetical scenarios that may occur in the future. "How would you stay profitable during a recession?" or, "How would you handle customer complaints if the company drastically raised its prices?" are typical situation questions.
And lastly, some employers like to test your mettle with stress questions such as, "After you die, what would you like your epitaph to read?" or, "If you were to compare yourself to any U.S. president, who would it be?" or, "It's obvious your background makes you totally unqualified for this position. Why should we even waste our time talking?"
Stress questions are designed to evaluate your emotional reflexes, creativity, or attitudes while you're under pressure. Since off-the-wall or confrontational questions tend to jolt your equilibrium, or put you in a defensive posture, the best way to handle them is to stay calm and give carefully considered answers.
Of course, your sense of humor will come in handy during the entire interviewing process, just so long as you don't go over the edge.
Even if it were possible to anticipate every interview question, memorizing dozens of stock answers would be impractical, to say the least. The best policy is to review your background, your priorities, and your reasons for considering a new position; and to handle the interview as honestly as you can. If you don't know the answer to a question, just say so, or ask for a moment to think about your response.
Pitfalls (Reasons Why People Don't Get Hired):
- Untidy personal appearance
- Inability to express information clearly
- Lack of genuine interest or enthusiasm
- Negative attitude
- Lack of eye contact
- Incomplete or sloppy application
- Being late for the interview
At the conclusion of your interview, after you have asked your questions, you can wrap up any unfinished business you failed to cover so far, and begin to explore the future of your candidacy. You may want to ask when they will be making a decision, if there is another step in the process and when you should follow up with them. Getting an idea of their time frame will keep you from being a pest!
After each interview, don't forget to ask for business cards from those who were involved in the interview process. At the first opportunity you have, send "follow-up" letters or emails to those individuals you met with, making sure to "thank them" for their time and to remind them once again that you are very interested in the job.
And remember to maintain a positive attitude. The better your interviewing skills, the greater your chances of getting the job.
Good Luck!
