Interview For Success

Marge Watters

• Publisher: Collins
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781443415521
• Topic: Crescita personale
• Subtopic: Carriera

Finding the work you want can be a daunting challenge. The rules have changed, the playing field has been rearranged and the players are unpredictable. Those who play smart will learn a lot about themselves and the dynamic environment of the workplace.

Playing smart includes being ready for every conversation that focuses on your career direction. It could be an informal chat with an old friend or a formal interview. It could be a networking meeting or a brief encounter with a new acquaintance. Regardless, you need to prepare thoughtfully and practice often before you put your message out there. Begin by composing your scripts and then increase your competence by developing answers to standard interview questions. This special edition of It's Your Move helps you prepare for this very important part of the career transition process.

Interview for Success

It is not always the most qualified person who gets the job; it’s the one who does the best job in the interview.

Interviews are the culminating point of your efforts in the job search process. When you have been selected for an interview, be assured that you have met the hiring organization’s preliminary skills and experience requirements. As you enter the interview process, the audience is on your side. The interviewer is hoping that you will be the right candidate for the position so that they can successfully conclude their search and bring a qualified and well-suited person on board. The interviewer’s goal will be to verify that your qualifications and experience meet the hiring specifications, and that your style, personality and other attributes will be a fit with the chemistry and culture of the organization.

Interviewing is a two-way street. While the interviewer is judging your suitability, you are evaluating the position, the organization and the people. As you move through the interview process, you need to ascertain whether or not the content of the job meets your criteria. Both the position and the organization must also meet your needs and expectations regarding values, interests and career goals.

Preparation for the Interview

The prerequisites for doing well in interviews include knowing your strategic advantage, having clear criteria for your ideal job, preparing an accomplishment-focused résumé, scripting and rehearsing your five sound bites and doing thorough research. If you have given any of this short shrift, go back and work on it now. If you have done your homework so far, you’re almost ready to go into the interview with confidence.

Tip: The most important part of preparing for an interview is the review and rehearsal of your scripts. Invest the time to bring your verbal presentation up to the highest standard.

To be completely ready, you must also understand the interview process and anticipate the interviewer’s objectives and questions. You need to plan and rehearse your responses. This preparation can present a challenge if you’re out of practise. Many people haven’t been interviewed for a job outside their organization for years. Even if you have changed jobs within your organization, those interviews are often merely friendly formalities.

Be cautious of being overly confident if you are experienced at interviewing others. Switching to the other side of the table requires a different mindset. There are numerous styles and approaches to interviewing, and you need to be flexible, attentive and prepared. Questions that you would never think of asking might be posed, and an unfamiliar format might be used. Don’t let false confidence lead to a lack of preparation and a less-than-excellent performance.

Use the following guidelines to focus your preparation.

GUIDELINES FOR INTERVIEW PREPARATION

• Keep working on the research. If you haven’t done so already, find out everything you can about the organization. Develop a wealth of knowledge on its products, services, strategy, structure, culture, challenges, opportunities and people.

• Get as much information about the job as you possibly can. If there is a search consultant or external recruiter involved, ask them your questions. If the interviewer makes the appointment personally, keep them on the phone for a few minutes and ask some questions about the job. Get a copy of the position description if it was not included in the posting. Be creative and determined in your research.

• Use your network to find someone who holds a similar position. Ask them in detail about their responsibilities, challenges and opportunities, as well as the key characteristics necessary for success.

• Know your audience. Search executives and external recruiters will conduct the first round of interviews for their client. Human resources staff from the hiring organization might conduct a screening interview. In some cases you proceed directly to the hiring manager. Use your research and networking techniques to learn something about each person you will meet in the interview process. If you can discover what’s important to them, all the better.

• Plan your approach. Armed with all of the information you’ve collected, do the following:

– Anticipate the key skills, knowledge and personal characteristics that could be required for the job. Think about the elements of your strategic advantage that match the requirements, and bring to mind an accomplishment story that would illustrate your expertise and attributes on every point. This takes some time.

– Include the stories arising from your work on the previous point, and refresh your memory on at least 10 to 12 unique stories from your past. Practise telling them and keep them top-of-mind, even though you may not need to recount them all.

– Create a brief outline of the key points you want to get across in the interview. Jot them down.

– Go through the questions in Prepare Your Scripts and plan your responses with this specific opportunity in mind.

– Think of at least three questions that you could ask each interviewer. The individual’s role will determine the suitability of the questions. Jot your questions down for review immediately prior to the interview.

– Think of at least three reasons for your interest in the opportunity and three compelling reasons for the organization to choose you for this role. Jot them down.

• Find out exactly where you’re going and plan your travel route. Think about parking, walking distance and bad weather options. You don’t want to arrive late or frazzled.

• Think about the dress code for the industry sector and organization. Plan to dress one step up. If in doubt, opt for conservative business dress.

• On the night before the interview, check your outfit and accessories, consume only healthy foods and beverages and get a good night’s sleep.

• Take extra copies of your résumé and your jot notes for a last-minute review. Do not weigh yourself down with an over-sized briefcase.

• Do something to control your nerves and emotions before the interview. Go for a walk, do deep breathing exercises, meditate, listen to calming music if you’re tense or energizing music if you’re feeling low. Call someone from your support network and have them talk you into the right frame of mind.

• Remind yourself that one of your goals is to make the interviewer’s job easy for them.

• Visualize yourself doing well.

Tip: If you have trouble coming up with three convincing reasons for wanting the job, it’s probably not the right one for you!

During the Interview

To gain perspective, put yourself in the interviewer’s shoes. The pressure of selecting a good candidate to fill a vacant position is tremendous because hiring mistakes are costly. Choosing someone who will work well and fit comfortably with the existing group is no small task. Aside from personality issues, there’s a mandate that needs to be filled, and the interviewer has limited evidence regarding your abilities and potential for the role. Perhaps reminding yourself of what the interviewer is experiencing will help you stay calm.

Interviewers have different styles, attitudes and levels of skill in conducting interviews. They also have varied knowledge of the job, the key issues and the people involved. You won’t know how much information, experience, training or support the person you’re meeting has. There may have been plenty of time to do adequate planning, or they might be operating on the fly. The interviewer might disagree with the hiring approach, or it could be their pet project. They could be a seasoned veteran at conducting interviews or a complete novice.

All of this is going to have an effect on the interview, and all you can do is be alert for clues and be prepared to adjust to the situation as it unfolds. The more calm and confident you are, the better it will go. Your body language, voice quality and ability to think improve dramatically when you are relaxed. Your calm demeanour can also put your interviewer at ease and reduce tension. Remain focused on the interviewer and listen carefully to the questions. Stay in the moment by concentrating fully.

Tip: Re...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• What You Need to Know Before You Start
• Prepare Your Scripts
• Interview for Success
• More from It’s Your Move
• About the Author
• Copyright
• About the Publisher