Interviewing Tips

You’ve learned as much as you can about the company, position and the interviewer. It’s now time to think about the interview itself, what points you want to make, how you want to be perceived by the interviewer.

What are your strengths and weaknesses and what experiences have you had in your career or life to show how you’ve utilized your strengths to overcome a problem or handled a situation? It’s also important to know what weaknesses you have so should the interviewer ask the question you can actually turn that weakness into a positive answer.

What you want to do is to have concrete examples of how you’ve handled certain situations that you can refer to in the interview process, especially those that have resulted in improvements, accomplishments or even learning experiences. You should have three to five points you want to get across to the interviewer that match what they’re looking for and use experiences to demonstrate each of these points.

Rehearsing what you want to say and how you want to say it with another person is a very helpful experience. The person you’re rehearsing with can provide important feedback on not only what you say, but how you come across saying it. Body language is critical in the interview process and it’s something people don’t think enough about.

When you’re practicing be sure to speak clearly and slowly enough so that the person you’re talking with can understand the points you’re trying to make. Be sure not to cross your arms or legs, sit up straight and lean slightly forward. Make eye contact when you speak. A firm handshake in the initial greeting and closing is also important.

While you may not know specifically the questions the interviewer will ask, here are examples of several that are often asked. They include, tell me about yourself, what are your strengths, what are your weaknesses, how would your co-workers describe you, how would your last boss describe you, how would your employees describe your management style, why should we hire you?

You’ve prepared and practiced and the day of the interview is at hand. Before leaving for the interview, focus on your appearance. You should dress appropriately for the position and if you’re in doubt it is better to be overdressed than underdressed. Candidates not dressed appropriately are easily dismissed and it is difficult to change that interviewer’s first impression.

Leave for your interview in plenty of time to get there and be sure to have directions. Plan on arriving at least 15 minutes prior to the interview, but don’t get there so early that you’re waiting in the reception area for a half hour. Ideally if you’re there 15 minutes early, wait in your car and do a final run through on some questions and time it so you’re at your appointment about five minutes prior to start. The other option is to wait in the reception area (but no more than 15 minutes early) and review any literature on the company they have available (newsletters, corporate bulletins, etc.). Be friendly to all you come in contact with.

Your goal is to take control of the interview if possible by providing detail of how your background/experience fits what they want in an employee and asking follow up questions to some of their questions. This makes for a far more memorable interview and reinforces why you’d be an ideal candidate for the position, especially if you can reiterate how your strengths are a good match. This is why preparation and practice are such important keys to the process.

Often times during an interview we’ll think of something we should have said to an earlier question or perhaps want to clarify an earlier answer. There is nothing wrong in asking the interviewer if you can go back to that earlier question and provide a better answer. It’s much better doing it during the interview than waiting until you send a follow up note or email.

Perhaps the most important advice is to listen closely to the questions asked and what the interviewer is saying. This information can be helpful in asking follow up questions or in using what they’ve said as part of one of your answers later.

When the interviewer concludes they’ll usually ask if you have any questions. Hopefully you’ve been asking questions throughout the interview so it’s more conversational in nature. You never want to leave without asking questions. Even if all of your questions have been answered there are a few questions you should leave until the end. The first question should be, do you have any reservations about my ability to do the job? It’s here that you can determine if they think you’re a viable candidate or not. If they do have reservations, it presents an opportunity to probe and overcome the objection.

The last question should be what are the next steps in the hiring process? If you’re interested in the job, you want to make sure they know that before you leave.