While it's easy to study five, ten, or even fifteen hours for a test, many people "wing it" when it comes to interviewing. At the end of an interview, you don't get a grade --- you get a salary! Your salary is a direct reflection of your skills and your ability to demonstrate them to another. You want your interview to be organized and represent you in a positive manner.

You interview in order to obtain an offer. No judgements should be made during the interview because there may be other positions, places in which to work or different people within the company to work with. If you go in and are immediately disinterested you may know you are not going to take the offer, but if you do a good job, at least that decision will be in your hands. It is also a small world, meaning that if you "blow" an interview because you did not want that company, five years later it may haunt you when you go to interview with that manager who has now changed companies.

The OBVIOUS-

  • Dress well for your interview. If you are interviewing for a customer liaison or sales position, this is especially true. It doesn't matter if there is a dress code or not. You should be dressed as well as or better than anyone who is interviewing you.
  • Women - Makeup-conservative!
  • Perfume cologne-NONE What is one person's dream fragrance will give another a headache. Smell is known to be one of the strongest memory triggers. You don't want to accidentally smell like his or her ex!
  • Shoes- silly, no. Everyone has a new suit for interviewing, but old raggy shoes will be your give away that your normal dress is less than professional.


50-50 rule-You should be speaking 50% of the time, the interviewer 50% of the time. If you are speaking too much, you are not giving the company time to explain their problems. If you are speaking too little, they may not know at the end of the interview if you can do the job.

The three things you need in order to get an offer:

  1. You need to understand what the company is looking for. If you leave the interview not understanding what you would be doing-you have not done your job as a candidate.
    Questions not to ask:
    • Any self serving question that does not have to do with what the job entails or what your ability to do it is, should be kept to yourself until after you want/are offered the job.
    • Insurance issues take up time and are better left to the Human Resource Manager, not the interviewer. They are only important if you want the job. Spend your time wisely.


    Questions to ask

    • About the company, past, present and future.
    • In which areas could this company improve? What is being done to improve it?
    • About the position
      • New position? Taking the place of another? Expansion?
      • Duties?
      • % of daily tasks? eg. 50% meeting with users, 10% writing, 40% programming?
      • Growth path. Where can this position take me in the 2-5 year time frame?
    • About the interviewer
      • Not too personal
      • What do you like about this company? What brought you here? How long have you been with the company? Help the interviewer to open up about themselves. This will develop rapport, show interest, answer questions.
  2. Curtail your experience to the position. (Again, you need to know what the position is.)
    • Give open ended answers, not, "Yes, I have done that." But, "Yes in my last position we had a similar problem and I solved it by..."
    • If you don't know the answer, ask a question. "Could you explain what exactly you mean by that?" Get into a conversation. It could be that you do know the answer; you just have not heard the issue referred to in that manner. It also might be a time where you might mention being a quick study on different problems, etc. Do NOT ever exaggerate or lie about knowing something you do not.
    • You interview for a position because it offers more challenge, interest, and increased advancement. If you have exactly the right (same skills) for the job, chances are you will not be challenged. You want a position that is more than what you currently do. You want room for growth, room for challenge.
  3. Be enthusiastic! Don't gush all over the place but remember things like body language, eye contact, voice, and tone. Sit up straight. Smile.



$$$$$$ Talks
The interview is NOT necessarily the time to discuss money. If you work through a recruiter it is definitely not.

Why? You do not have all of the information about benefits, the position, or bonuses to give an answer. The only appropriate answer is..." I am currently making $??,???. I am open to any reasonable offer." If asked again, just say: "I am sure that you will make me a fair offer." Remember, if you say a number that is too high you might not get an offer and find out later that there were bonuses, stock options, time off, flex hours and overtime pay that you did not take into consideration. If you mention a number too low, you may have sold yourself short or end up paying for benefits that you currently get for free at your present job.

The Close -The end of the interview...last impressions count!

Back to 1,2,3

The interview situation usually ends something like this. "So, (John) is there anything else that you would like to know about the position (company)?"

You handle it like this:

1. "No, I understand that you are looking for a person who is able to do..." (reiterate the position as you understand it. This will show that you have been listening.)
2. "I feel with my experience (my education, my ability to learn things quickly) that I am well suited and could handle the work and responsibility."
3. "When will I hear from you??" BE SILENT (The first one who talks loses!)

Good handshake. Practice if necessary. Eye contact.

CONGRATULATIONS!
Let me know if these techniques have helped you! Practice, role play. Remember at the end of this test, you will be offered a job, not a grade.