Be Prepared for Your Interview

Being well prepared for an interview is the most important part of landing a job. Here are some tips to get you ready for the visit with your dream employer.

Enthusiasm

Always show as much enthusiasm as possible for the company and the position. One thing interviewers always look for is a candidate who is excited about the opportunity. Enthusiasm doesn’t mean you’re bouncing off the walls, but do:

• Arrive 5 to 10 minutes early.

• Dress appropriately and professionally.

• Listen carefully to the interviewer and respond to the real questions.

• Take a few deep breaths to help you relax and smile.

• Show confidence in yourself and your abilities.

• Speak-up!  Avoid coming across too quietly, but don’t shout.

Things not to mention, at least in the first interview—pay and benefits. 

Ask Good Questions

Questions about the Company
Do your homework here! Make sure you’re completely knowledgeable about the firm or company based on information on their Web site and current news. For example: Who are the organization’s competitors and customers.

Questions about the Department/Division
Narrow your focus by preparing questions about the internal organization. Areas to ask:

• Organization chart.

• People/positions you would interact with most, including individual departments and divisions

• Reporting relationships—above and below the open position

• Interactions with outside groups including vendors, customers, and governmental units

Questions about the Position
This is the heart of the interview. Your questions here will serve two distinct purposes. The first purpose is to provide you with sufficient information to determine if the position is appropriate for your skill set and career objectives. Second and more important from an interviewing perspective, to provide you with a view of what a hiring manager is looking for in your background. Ask about:

• Specific duties and responsibilities for the position

• Areas which may have been neglected that will require special attention

• Projects to be addressed initially and over the next six months

At this point, the best question to ask the interviewer is what it takes to be successful in this position and at the company. Once you have the answer, you can then begin to toot your own horn, and sell the interviewer on your skills.

Discuss Your Qualifications

In today’s highly competitive job market, you must distinguish yourself from other candidates.  Don’t be shy about it. Since the hiring manager will typically lead this discussion, be prepared to answer his or her questions fully and positively.
Some keys to doing this:

• Know your resume including dates of employment, accomplishments, etc.      

• Realistically relate your skills/strengths to the needs of the company and position. A good way to accomplish this is by using examples from your experience. That is, discuss a specific, positive situation by stating: a) what difficulty were you faced with; b) your solution to the difficulty and how it was implemented; c) the positive results, including dollar/time savings or other quantification, and d) how this example relates to the needs of the hiring manager.

• Be prepared to field questions about weaknesses. Choose something that is NOT vital to your success in the open position. Avoid personality/character flaws. Present a game plan you have devised to improve the weakness. Confirm that you do not feel this weakness would limit your success in the open position.

• Talk in terms of achievements. “Responsibilities are driven from job descriptions. Achievements are what set two individuals apart.”

Advancement Potential

This is an area of obvious interest and concern to you and, therefore, is fair game for you to ask. In fact, most interviewers will discuss promotional opportunities from the open position as part of their interview. You, however, must be careful in how you approach this subject. The safest way to address:

• Express a tremendous amount of interest in the position.

• Ask how the interviewer got to his or her level in the company.

• Ask, “If someone came into this position and performed very well, what additional responsibilities or promotions might be available?”

Salary and Benefits

It’s inappropriate to discuss salary and benefits on a first interview, unless the interviewer brings up the subject. You want to be prepared to discuss this issue if the interviewer brings them up.  Suggestions on how to address questions of what salary you’re looking for:

• Don’t give a specific dollar amount or a salary range.

• Do provide the hiring manager with your current salary, review date, overtime, etc.

• Let the hiring manager know that the most important thing to you is the right company and the right position, and you feel very good about this opportunity.

• Let the hiring manager know that if he or she makes a reasonable offer, you’d be happy to come to work there (let the definition of “reasonable” wait).

• Your opportunity to negotiate the best offer comes when you know you’re the final candidate—the one to whom the organization wants to make an offer. Usually the salary will be revealed to you when an offer is made. Until that point, avoid discussions about salary.

Ending the Interview

When the interview is winding down, there are a few key points to cover. The meeting may end quickly so be prepared. These points are important in order to set the frame of mind of the interviewer regarding you.

• Thank the interviewer for his or her time.

• Re-express your sincere interest in the position and the company.

• Ask if there’s anything else you can add to clarify your qualifications for the position.

• Ask the interviewer for a business card in case you think of questions later (this will also help when you write your thank-you notes).

• Firmly shake hands and exit.

Finally

Make sure you ask these questions before leaving the interview: 

• “Do you see anything in my background that will prevent me from doing this job?”

• “The position sounds very interesting; I’d like to be involved here. What’s the next step?”

By asking these two questions before you leave the interview you’ll know whether there are any issues in your background you can follow-up on or speak to a reference about, and you’ll know what the interview process is and how fast they are looking to make a move.

Information compliments of Tradewinds Solutions.