Personal Advancement
Impress employers with interviewing saavyA typical scenario: one job opportunity, and at least five other candidates being interviewed for the position. How are you going to set yourself apart from the others being interviewed? The answer: come prepared and polished. ELLEN GOLDHAR |
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 [ 2002-07-24 ] |
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With increased competition in the workforce for good jobs, the days of winging job interviews are gone. Being a good interviewee is a skill much like any, and with a little education and effort, you can improve your abilities and your results.
"Hiring managers are assessing three things during the job interview: can you do the job, will you fit in and do you want the job," says staffing expert Dianne Hunnam-Jones, regional manager for Accountemps, a staffing firm specializing in temporary placement of accounting and financial professionals.
To help ace your next job interview, here are some suggestions:
Come prepared
Research the company. Check out their Web site, get hold of any brochures or annual reports, or speak to people within your network who might be familiar with the prospective employer.
Besides being better equipped to ask intelligent questions, it will demonstrate your motivation and interest in the position.
Be yourself
Don't be the cloned interviewee -- one of those people who have read the books, taken the courses on interview skills and then sound exactly the same as all the other candidates. It makes it hard for the interviewer to tell who they're really hiring.
"If the company hires the clone, when the real you comes out and it's not a match to their organization it won't work anyway. It's better for everyone to realize this from the beginning," Hunnam-Jones says.
Tell the truth
According to an Accountemps survey, another factor interviewers value in today's business world is honesty. Thirty-two per cent of executives surveyed from Fortune 1000 firms value honesty more than any other quality in a candidate (rating just above enthusiasm at 29% and verbal skills at 28%).
Translation
Speak honestly about your career challenges -- everyone has had them. The potential employer cares more about the way the challenge was handled, i.e., was your approach positive and the outcome positive.
Treat everyone you meet in the company nicely. In another study conducted by Accountemps, 60% of executives said that they ask receptionists, office assistants and others for their opinions of potential candidates.
Learn to zip it
More candidates hang themselves simply because they don't know when to stop talking. An interviewer might pause after the candidate has finished answering a question because they know many candidates will keep talking to fill in the awkward silence. That's when the really interesting information seems to slip out.
"Candidates need to keep their answers simple and focused, limiting the information to the question that was asked. Let the interviewer do the probing," Hunnam-Jones says.
Ask insightful and intelligent questions
A co-worker's son recently went for a job interview. His friend was also being interviewed for the same position. The hiring manager spent about ten minutes describing the company and the responsibilities of the position. Then the manager said, "Well, that's about it, do you have any questions?" My colleague's son had a list of questions. His interview lasted an hour. His friend's interview, on the other hand, lasted about 10 minutes. When they asked his friend if he had any questions, he replied, "No, not at this time."
Guess who got the job? Exactly, my co-worker's son.
"Center questions around the company, the position and the future. Inappropriate questions are as bad as inappropriate answers. In the initial interview, avoid asking about salary and benefits. Rather, ask about things like the firm's long-term goals and its position as compared to competitors," Hunnam-Jones says.
Send a thank-you note
It's a way of remarketing yourself and expressing continued interest in the position. "I interviewed nine candidates last week and not one sent a thank you note. But imagine if only one did, they very easily would have been the one that stood out," Hunnam-Jones says.
Preparing for the interview does take some time and effort, but if landing that job is important enough then it's time well spent.
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