Preparing for the Interview: The Interview Process
An effective interview should:- Convince the employer that you are the best candidate for the position.
- Demonstrate how your past experience (education, work, activities) fits the qualifications of the position.
- Show that you have an understanding of the position and organization and how you will fit in.
- Reflect your self-confidence and enthusiasm.
The following suggestions are offered to ensure an effective interview experience:
- The key to effective interviewing is preparation:
- Know yourself. Be ready to identify your abilities, accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses, goals, and priorities. Know examples on how to demonstrate each.
- Research the organization, the product lines, and their competitors.
- Practice with friends or by taking advantage of Career Services practice interviews with a career counselor.
- Prepare questions to ask the Interviewers to gather more information about the company and to demonstrate that you have done your research. Make sure that they are well thought out.
- Dress appropriately and conservatively. Generally a navy blue suit for men and a skirt or pants for women.
- Arrive ten minutes before the interview. If you arrive too early, it's an inconvenience; too late and it's over.
- Upon being introduced, use a firm handshake, smile, and have good eye contact.
- Be enthusiastic and sincere during your interviews.
- Keep your answers brief and concise, but include concrete examples.
- Maintain a conversational flow - a dialogue rather than a monologue. Use feedback questions at the end of your answers, body language and voice intonation to accomplish this.
- When discussing a negative experience remember to state what you learned.
- Remember to shake the interviewer's hand at the end of the interview and again state your case of why you are the best candidate.
- Keep an interview journal. After the interview, write a brief summary of what happened.
Twelve Ways to Prepare for Your Job Interviews
The employment interview is often the key and final hurdle in the job campaign. Letters, applications, references, resumes and other resources are designed with one goal, to secure an interview. Your actions during the interview may determine if you will receive a job offer. Remember that the best candidate does not always get the job - many times the person who best prepares for the interview is hired.
- Conduct Practice Interviews
- Learn the kinds of questions you may be asked and develop the best answers. If your qualifications are weak in some areas, determine how to express them as positively as possible. Learn more about the interview process.
- Research the Organization
- Look at magazine articles, brochures, or websites, or talk with customers/clients to familiarize yourself with the organization. And then work facts based upon your research into your interview conversation. Learn more about researching employers.
- Express Qualifications
- Know three good reasons why you are an outstanding candidate and subtly work them into your responses.
- Listen to the Interviewer
- Adjust to the interviewer's style and try to ascertain why particular questions are being asked. Respond completely to all aspects of a question.
- Poor appearance
- Poor voice, diction, grammar
- Little enthusiasm, passive or indifferent
- Evades, hedges unfavorable factors
- Late for an interview, disrespectful
- Talks too much, rambles
- Unable to handle silence
- Negative attitude
- Lack of extracurricular involvement
- Couldn't sell him/her self to employer
- Overbearing or aggressive
- Lack of purpose or career goals
- Unwilling to start at the bottom
- Lack of courtesy or proper etiquette
- Poor eye contact, extreme nervousness
- Lack of poise or lack of confidence
- Condemnation of previous employer
- Lack of leadership skills
- Didn't ask for the job
- Talked about salary
- Don't Monopolize the Conversation
- While interviewers usually want more than a simple "Yes" or "No" answer, you should also avoid long discourses. Make your answers accurate, brief, and as interesting as possible.
- Be Positive
- This is not the place to knock your school, past employers, professors, etc. An optimist is more useful in an organization than is a pessimist. If you can be enthusiastic about past experiences, you are likely to be positive about future employers.
- People Hire, Not Organizations
- Remember that people make hiring decisions and your goal is to make effective contact with the interviewer. Hopefully, he or she will end up liking/respecting you.
- Ask Questions
- Reflect your self-esteem by asking questions about the organization and the job. This is another place to demonstrate that you researched the organization. Hopefully, the interviewer will mention salary so you won't have to ask.
- Point Out Why You Like the Organization
- Are there reasons why you think the organization is a particularly good one? Are there factors which led you to single it out among many others of its type? If so, citing them can help build a link between you and the employer.
- Express Interest
- Assuming the job/organization interests you, take time near the end of the interview to express that interest. Unless you say you like the job/organization, the employer has no way of knowing this.
- Learn What Happens Next
- Is your file complete? Is additional information needed? Are your references complete? What are the next stages in the employment process and when might they occur?
- Express Thanks
- Thank the interviewer for his or her time and interest, just as you would thank anyone who spent time helping you. If appropriate, thank the receptionist/secretary or anyone who also helped you. Send a thank you letter immediately after your interview.
Common Reasons for Applicant Rejection:
Source: Kent State University, Career Services Center
Source: Career Opportunities News, Garrett Park Press, Garrett Park, MD
