Wowing Your Next Job Interview
As a recruiter for many years I know how difficult a job interview can be. Going into project leadership at a fortune 10 company puts me on the interviewing side again but I have also had the opportunity to interview for other positions of advancement within my organization. It’s stressful. The expression “you only get one chance to make a first impression” is a true statement when it comes to a job interview. I know this may not sound encouraging but keep reading for a way to prepare.
Preparation:
Step 1. Find out everything you can about the company, position, and/or people you’ll be meeting with. This will help you to be prepared for questions they may ask about the company. If you already work in the organization you have a leg up in understanding the company and possibly the group or department you’ll be interviewing with. AD/HD NOTE:Write down everything you learn or think of. Especially questions that will pop into your head.
Step 2. Review your resume. Don’t count on your memory from when you wrote it. Read it. Re-Read it. Then add notes to it. As you think of things that you might not have written down in your resume add the notes to it. Look for gaps in dates and make notes of why that exists. Having a baby or taking a year off for sabatical. AD/HD NOTE: Make sure to set this copy with the notes on it somewhere where you’ll find it without having to think about it. You’ll want to make sure to take it. It won’t hurt to take an extra copy or two.
Step 3. Review possible interview questions. There are three types of questions usually asked. Point of view or hypothetical , specific field related, and personal questions. This is a good site with a lot of questions but if you google interview questions you’ll find a mountain of them. Don’t get overwhelmed. If you are experienced professional chances are the interview will revolve around how you handled different situations in your present or previous positions. AD/HD NOTE: Don’t look too much. Pick a set of questions that work for you. Write your answers out, as a lot of times that helps to cement the information in your head. Then practice them looking in the mirror. Then put the questions and your notes with your resume.
Step 4. Get ready the night before. Don’t do anything crazy like going out all night or staying up until all hours of the night. That’s not going to help. As a point I used to set my clothes out the night before and have them ready to go. AD/HD NOTE: Set everything you need for the next day out and ready to go. Including your alarm if it’s an early morning interview. You may not necessarily need it but it helps to keep you from getting anxious before you get out of the door.
Step 5: Know where you are going before you leave and plan on being 30 minutes early. AD/HD NOTE: Look up the address beforehand and make sure you have the map printed and ready to go. If you have the gps in your car or phone - use it. Don’t rely on memory. Get there early so you can go to the bathroom and make sure you’re 100% ready. Getting there early will go a long way to helping you relax, especially if you’re typically late.
The Interview Reminders:
- Firm handshake. First impressions count.
- Look them in the eye. It can be hard. The practice in the mirror will have prepared you for this.
- Sit on the edge of your seat. It’s strange but sitting on the edge of your seat helps to focus.
- Smile. It goes a long way to helping you both relax.
- If you don’t know the answer, tell them so. A good answer I’ve suggested many times over the years is “I don’t know but I know how to find the answer.”
- From your notes before the interview about the company, group, or people have a question prepared to ask him. During the interview you will think of more questions. Write them down as they come. Don’t be afraid to ask them. It will help give the impression you were paying attention.
Post Interview:
You may already have a sense of how the interview went. Send them a thank you note or email regardless of what you thought. They may not have a fit for you but someone they know might. Good manners go a long way.
Some time ago I worked with a young man interviewing for a position. We did as much research as we could about the company. Looking up information about them, talking to people, and even calling their front desk to have their corporate literature mailed to him. As he reviewed the material he started forming questions about the company in context of the position he was interviewing for.
Next we reviewed his resume. I looked over it and then we practiced talking about it. I would ask questions from different points. As we thought of different ways to handle the information he would write it down.
The practice interview questions he did by himself. I made sure he wrote them down first and then practiced them in the mirror. The advantage to doing this is you get familiar with your expressions so you know what you look like when talking to the interviewer.
The night before I stopped by to make sure he had everything picked out and set aside. Clothes ironed, shoes shined(if need be.) Everything was ready so that he had to go from shower to bedroom to car and not make any side trips. He had the map with the resumes and questions. I even called him in the morning to make sure he was on task to make it in time.
He got there early and made sure he was adequately polished before going in. He said afterwards he practiced the questions over and over again on the way there but because of the map he didn’t have to worry about where he was going.
The interview was supposed to last 30 minutes and went 90 instead. He so impressed the hiring manager that even though he didn’t get that job specifically, he got another job instead that paid more in a different group.
That’s a common story from people that make the time to prepare. It can be hard. Preparation is what makes the difference. Over my years of outside sales, recruiting, managing, and interviewing for positions myself I’ve seen hundreds of people. You know when the opposite party is not prepared. When I would find someone that had taken the time to prepare I knew they were serious about the position. Sometimes even if they weren’t a fit for me I would go out of my way to find a job for them in another group.
As a note my diagnosis has only been recent. I knew my shortcomings when it came to preparation or getting out the door and developed this for myself when I was in my 20’s. My friend that I helped with the preparation stage didn’t know it at the time but shortly after I was diagnosed with AD/HD he decided to be tested as well, and he has it as well. We laugh now because we had developed a process for preparing that worked when only after we found out we had so much against us.