My interview
 

I've been out of work for almost 3 months and I finally have a promising lead, an interview, next week at a rehabilitation facility for those with serious mental illness.

I have attempted to pursue a career with this facility in January and March, but I have only met dead ends. After some emotional and mental breakthroughs and prayer, I received a call for an interview.

Although thrilled, the pressure is on and I already have a good feeling about the position and the people who work there (I have visited the site in earlier months).

I have overviewed company information and their mission statement. I have printed off common questions asked during an interview.

I am in conflict between doubt, insecurity, excitement and the need to be perfect during this interview. I do not doubt I am capable of the job. I doubt I will impress!

What are some of the most helpful tips and advice you have experienced? What "oops!" have you learned from?

Any creative analogies to use when thinking of an interview setting?

Practice. Practice, practice, practice.

The most important question is the "Tell me a bit about yourself question" where you give a 5-minute summary of your background and why you're a great fit for the position. You should know every one of the points you'll give in your answer to this question by heart.

Prepare the other talking points that you want to get across during the interview. These should basically be stories of your past successes spun in a way that's related to the field. You can use these stories to answer questions like "What's your experience with <blank>", "Why are you the best candidate?", etc.

Remember, an interview is an opportunity for you to sell yourself-so pick the points that you're going to sell and make sure you know them well.

As for practice, interview with a friend if you can, or a career office if you have access to one. Try not to do it with your partner as that can actually screw you up.

Also practice in front of a mirror. Don't memorize the answers you'll give to questions word for word, but make sure you can deliver those answers well. Practice the answer to the "who are you question" at least a few times each day, and practice the answers to other questions as well.

Look up some really weird/hard questions and practice answering. Your interviewers probably won't ask you anything weird like "What color are you?", but having that sort of practice will give you more confidence at the interview.

If you're into visualization, imagine yourself giving a perfect interview a few times. Imagine the interviewers asking some questions, you giving the perfect answers, the interviewer being really impressed. This will condition you to be in the right frame of mind during the actual interview.

Good luck!

Thanks for the post. Helpful, especially the visualization part which tends to be my weakness.

What is the best response for "tell me about yourself?" Would it be helpful to start in college? Where I was born?

It seems there are a variety of opinions on this and I am still in the process of determining which answer most suits me.

Remember, you're selling yourself. So you basically want to frame your response in a way that positions you for the job. That may mean starting from your birth or from your work experience. My first job was at an Apparel company that cared a lot about global fashion, so I mentioned that I was born in India, have been to several countries, and have moved around quite a bit. Normally I start around college though.

For example, I was applying to a position recently where Mathematical modeling, building reports, and communication skills were very important. Here was my rough answer:

"I’ve always enjoyed Math and teaching. I enjoyed learning so much that I finished high school when I was 15, and graduated from UC Berkeley with Honors and 24 units of graduate courses when I was 19. During my education I’ve always been working on my teaching and communication skills-I’ve done dozens of tutoring assignments for a variety of audiences and I even joined the debate club to practice my public speaking skills. I also started working with programming and Statistical Modeling in college. I made statistical models as a Research Assistant using SAS, for a paper that was published in Nature, one of the top scientific journals.

After graduating I used those skills at an apparel company called <blank>. I built a variety of reports for different projects, including optimizing the inventory layout in our warehouse, cleaning up our receivables and collecting $850,000 that might have been lost, setting up basic risk analytics for B2B customers, and more. I really enjoyed that job and learned a lot, but had to leave when my wife started graduate school at the University of <blank> (which was 3,000 miles away).

Afterwards, I worked at..."

Note the basic traits. I start with a few of my strengths. Those happen to be points that are highly relevant to the job (Mathematical modeling and communication skills) phrased in a believable way (Math and teaching).

Then I transition into explaining how I used/developed those strengths, as well as including things that sound good and are relevant. There are other accomplishments that I could include, but those wouldn't be as relevant to the job.

I then go into my work experience, tailoring it to the job as much as possible. I also leave out the parts of my experience that don't matter. I explain why I left the job, emphasizing the fact that I did enjoy the job but had to leave due to XYZ reason.

Then I repeat a similar description for my next job.

Note that I definitely wouldn't say the above word-for-word, or even come close. I just practiced writing my answer up so that I could figure out what the most important points were. I might add or drop points depending on who I'm interviewing with and what they tell me about the job.

ask for the job
 

As a Consultant i've been on scores of interviews.

Always ask for the job at the end. Daon't leave them wondering.

I've read this advice before so it must be sound. But why would they be wondering if you want the job after you've sweated through an interview? Do they think you suddenly changed your mind? :confused:

I would also say to do a couple of mock interviews with your husband or a friend. You can't prepare too much. I recently made the mistake of thinking I didn't want to sound too rehearsed and that I could mostly wing it and be spontaneously and natural. It didn't work out too well!

Also, engage the receptionist and the interviewer as real people, if the opportunity arises. As Erin explains in this article, How I Got Every Job I Ever Wanted out of all the competition, be the one they would enjoy working with and/or the one who can solve an immediate problem.

Why ask for the job?
 

Asking for the job doesn't in of itself guarantee you get the job. What it does is set you apart from the rest. It proves you *really* want the job.

I've interviewed plenty of people also. And you can tell they are doing it for the money, doing it because they have to, or whatever. And they come off as wishy washy and mediocre.

I've won interviews at about 20 of the Fortune 50 companies for high paying consulting gigs, and I'm currently at one right now, a financial company.

Can you describe your experiences of your best interviews and how you asked for the job?

Interviews
 

I've been hired by numerous Fortune 100 financial firms (Citi, JPMC, etc.), and many brand name companies (PepsiCo, McDonalds, etc.). I would say my success rate is about 90% when I interview with a VP a bit lower with mid level managers.

An interview at its root is a sales call. You are selling your services. Sales techniques apply, because they work. So at the end of every interview I *always* say "This sounds like a great job, I hope you decide to hire me, because I want this job" or some variation of that which sounds natural to you.

I'm not saying it works 100% or is the deciding factor, but all things being equal it will stand out in their mind when they are deciding between you and another candidate. You are there to close a sale, not to be coy. Don't assume they know your agenda. You want the job, they have the job, you are asking them for it.

Other things are to mirror the interviewer, to have good strong eye contact (that is natural), to have good posture, to avoid off color humor or remarks, have impeccable grooming (appearance means a lot, people will tend to hire based on attractiveness). Those are the things you can control. You never know what their agenda is, so you can't control all factors, but the ones you can control - you do.

They will ask you if you have any questions for them, you have to prepare for that in case your mind goes blank. Ask them questions specific to their company to show you did a little research. Ask them questions about what features they are looking for in this candidate, and why they were putting out the job offer (find out their need, then address it)

The other main thing is sales is to not necessary obsess over a single opportunity. You must generate more interviews and more opportunities. What this does is allow you to me more natural and relaxed because you have other options. While this may not really be the case, convince yourself it is before you go. That's the mental prep side of things. Get into a positive, confident mental state before you leave, and make sure the words running through your brain are positive and empowering.

That's what I know, hope it helps! Good Luck!

I work in recruitment and I do interviews both over the phone and in person. What I notice most is that that the person who is being interviewed has no idea what they are there to do. Let me explain..

Your purpose at an interview is to sell yourself to the person interviewing you. I don't care what you did when you were little or what you did at your last job as long as it doesn't show me how you will be of benefit doing the kind of work you have applied for.

Your job at an interview is to show the company that is hiring you how you can help them solve their problems and make more money. That's the primary reason you are being hired. Companies hire people as resource they can use. What kind of resource are you and what are you bringing to the table?

You are only useful to the extent that you can help the business as a whole to accomplish it's goals. And basically, if you are not useful then you are useless and nobody would want to pay you money for being useless.

So focus on this: What can you do for the company that is hiring you? What needs do they have and how can you personally fill these needs using your current skills and experience?

How can you be of benefit to the company hiring you?

thanks to the last two posters..lots of great advice and things to think about. Lots of thinking and planning to do!

Dulaney, Post #1111!!!

haha aww sorry about that angela. I kept meaning to read it and putting it off. Read a bit of it and really enjoyed it. It made me feel more comfortable with my future interview.

Thanks for that exclaimed reminder :p

:confused::confused::confused: :D No -- I only meant you had just posted your own post number one thousand, one hundred and eleven. 1,111.

:o I didn't even realize! I thought you were trying to get my attention back to your post! oops!

Anyway, I really liked Erin's description and that really helped me figure out what I need to do in my interview. :)

Feeling more nervous and insecure. The most challenging part is just having the confidence. It doesn't feel natural or comfortable to sell myself. While I know, deep down, I can do any job with excellence..I don't like the interviewing process. It's more about show and putting on some performance..at least that is what it feels like.

Impressing a person is just intimidating and stressful for me. I don't like going through this process one bit. And yet, I can't focus on this too much or it will backfire.

Back from interview. I think I did ok. I did my research and it was the second most difficult interview. He did not ask me "so tell me about yourself?"

He asked me why I am interested in the field, my two greatest strengths, weakness, if I can drive a 15 passenger van, an example where I excelled at a job, questions about my previous work at Holy Family and Happy Pet, and judgment calls: what would you do if someone told you he/she is suicidal?

Overall, I did well. I did say some things that I would like to have back but I was very personable and asked lots of questions. I did follow Erin's advice and I asked if he liked interviewing and he said he's done many years of it, "write a book!" I exclaimed.

However, my intuition says I did not get it. I didn't prepare so much for the judgment call questions and I think that hurt me. I did sell myself very well and I told him "I know I can do this job. I have excelled at every job I have ever had." And that is when he asked me to give him an example and I did.

Maybe psychology isn't for me..

Only thing I would add to this, as an employer. I am looking for someone who will fit in well on the team. In IT, there are some people that are brilliant at what they do, but have no people skills, and are just unpleasant to be around. I would rather take someone slightly less skilled that we can work with rather than someone who is just going to be a big downer and unpleasant. So, aside from skills, we are hiring a person.

Sounds like you did great!

The judgment calls questions; did you answer them the way you would handle it in real life? If so, you answered the right thing!

Trust me, this guy knows how difficult these questions are. He is not looking for the perfect answer, he is looking for the right personality.

If you found it difficult, so did others. He will just take the best person, not the person who knows everything perfectly by the book...

I have a feeling that you did get the job, or at least through this round of interview... :D

Thanks. Well, I did add that I had people skills. I appeared very friendly, outgoing (although I am more quiet in "real" life) and maintained eye contact.

I wouldn't call myself brilliant but I have great people skills and I believe he saw that.

I think you did great!

Remember that he sees lots of people for interviews. He does take the nerves into consideration. He realizes that you are nervous and things are a bit different then they are in "real life".

:) Aww, thanks for the calming post. I did answer them as I did in real life, although an interview seems to press more for what they want to hear than anything.

That's true (others thinking it was hard too)..I was telling my husband I wish I had a hidden camera to watch the other people being interviewed..I'd probably stop being so hard on myself! I said most things well but I don't like imperfection! Gotta ease up and be compassionate.

haha, that made me smile. Well, the good thing is if I did get it-no second interview! I mean, who likes a second one anyway?

I'll call back on Friday and hopefully he'll have a better idea of who he wants to hire.

Need to focus on lead generation
 

Hi Dulaney,

Congratulations on the interview, it sounds like you put your best foot forward, you were nervous about it, but you went and did a good job.

The key to a successful job hunt is lead generation. The focus needs to be on lead generation, not on the specific outcomes of interviews. What I mean by this is the focus needs to be on creating a lot of interviews. That way you go to the interview not with "hat in hand" needy, and begging, but as a person with a lot of options who is exploring yet another opportunity. People can detect this, they can smell it, they know it at a deep subconscious level. And it makes your chances of getting the particular offer much better, because it invokes the natural competitive desire in them to win a candidate that is sought after by others.

Also, by having multiple offers, if a particular interview doesn't work out, it's no big deal, there is another interview tomorrow. Yet another benefit is that you are not forced into accepting less than ideal offers.

So, it works like this. You go to an interview, you put your best foot forward, then you forget about it. Because your focus as soon as you get home from that interview is lead generation, and creating more interviews. You may say "there are no more jobs like this where I live", or "jobs are scarce". That is simply not true. Or, if that is true, that career choice may not be a good one, and one might consider outside the box options where interviews can be obtained. But since you are focused on getting multiple interviews, you spend little time worrying about the outcome of one specific interview.

I'm going to post this on my wall. :)

It's all about the process. The process creates the outcome. But people are used to focusing on the outcome.

How did it go? Any news?

Thanks ssandra for asking.

I called Lane on Friday and asked him for any updates. He told me he hadn't processed any interviews yet but will this week.

I have another interview as a teacher's assistant this Friday.

My mother in law is a teacher's assistant so I hope to ask her "what should I say if they ask me this?" questions.

It's difficult to not be discouraged and sometimes I think, "what did I do wrong?" But I have faith in the fact that the right job will come along.

Thanks for the post. Great points to focus on and I definitely like having more than one interview. It takes the pressure off and like you said, it allievates anxiety on a certain outcome.

Something I realized is that with a lot jobs I interviewed for in the past, I never really wanted the job.

At the time of the interview and shortly after, I really hoped to get the job, and may have had my heart set on it, but in hindsight I never really wanted it.

It was more of an acceptance/rejection thing. Also, I was caught up in the game. Like that Bachelor show, where the contestants may just want to win the game, and they're not necessarily in it for love.

Most jobs are like that. there's probably only 1% of jobs I would actually enjoy doing. Work is work,you know?

What kind of job do you have now?