Interviewing

Your interview with a prospective employer is prime time live: A single chance to get to know each other and for each of you to build a positive image: you of yourself, and the interviewer of his/her company. The interviewer evaluates applicants based on their attitudes, appearance, behavior and exhibited knowledge. Remember that job interviews make most of us nervous. Your goal should be to be prepared so that you can be as comfortable as possible during the interview. Success does not come from trying to be someone else. It comes from being yourself. This will require some practice.

Review your work history. Your ability to succinctly answer questions about this area and prioritize what is important to the interviewer's areas of interest will keep the interview moving positively.
Practice typical interview questions. Since practice makes actual events easier to handle, you may want to sit before a mirror and ask yourself interview questions.

Types of Interviews
Practice Interview Questions
Sample Interview Questions
Sample Questions You Can Ask an Interviewer
How to Answer Classified Advertisements
Completing Applications

Types of Interviews

Interviews can be one-on-one, panel, serial or behavioral. Most people are familiar with one-on-one interviewing, but you should ask how many people (their titles/job functions) will be interviewing.

One-on-one interviews: You will be interviewing with one person. These usually last around 30-50 minutes.
Panel or group interviews: A committee will have a list of questions which each candidate should be asked. Address answers and make eye contact with each member of the group as much as possible. These usually last longer than a one-on-one interview.
Serial interviews: You will go from one interviewer to the next, with each interviewer asking certain questions of candidates. Be consistent with your answers. In these types of interviews, several interviewers rank candidates.
Behavioral interviews: The questions are structured, but differ in that they are about targeted competencies of successful employees in a particular field. They ask more about experimental/demonstrated learning.

Practice Interview Questions

Tell me about yourself.
Why did you leave or why are you anxious to leave your present company? What's happening at your present company?
What would your boss say were your two strongest characteristics?
What would your boss say you need to work on the most?
What is your principal strength?
What is your principal weakness?
What are your long-term goals?
How high do you feel you can go in business?
How would you feel about relocation?
Tell me about a time that you moved to a new area.
How do you incorporate technical advances in your field?
Occasionally work requires...... Is this a problem for you?
Can you remember an instance at work when..... and share it with me?
How do you intend to handle...?
Tell me about expressing your opinion when your answer may be taken negatively.
Tell me about having a project "blocked" at a higher level. What did you do?
Can you describe a (situation, project, etc.) from work when a team member was not performing his/her duties? As a manager, what did you do?
What is one of your major accomplishments?
What is your major accomplishment at this or your last job?
What was the toughest problem you faced in business? How did you resolve it?
What was your best job? Why?
Who was your best boss? Why?
Who was your worst boss? Why?
If you joined us what would you bring to our company?
What would you do differently in your previous job?

Sample Interview Questions

(Interview questions can usually be broken down into the following categories)

Business Problem Solving Questions

Tell me about a time when you had a work problem and didn't know what to do.
Tell me about a time when you found a work problem was more than it appeared to be at first.
Tell me about a time that you had to act with little or no information.
Tell me about a time you were "blind-sided" or did not know what to expect.
Have you ever had to downsize or streamline an operation?
Have you ever initiated or done business/product start-up?

Human Relations/Customer Service Questions

How do you deal with people you dislike?
Tell me about a time you were pushed to your limit.
Who are the best people you've ever put together as a team/workgroup and why? What happened to them later?
Tell me about a time when you had to sell something.
What's different about dealing with internal vs. external customers?
Tell me about a time you changed your style mid-stream.
How would you handle delivering bad news to someone of higher status, because something wasn't working?

Personal and Functional Skills Questions

How transferable are your technical skills to other functional areas?
What are your best and worst technical skills?
When is the last time you took a risk?
Where do you see yourself ten years from now?

Sample Questions You Can Ask an Interviewer

Before going to an interview (and perhaps even before you schedule one), you must research the company with which you are interviewing. This will allow you to answer their questions more thoroughly and will also help you in determining what questions you would like to ask the interviewer.

What motivates you to remain with this company?
What are the areas the company could develop more fully?
When you hire, where do the people come from?
What types of people are successful here?
What new/different types of expertise are necessary for this industry?
Why do people leave this field?
Considering all of the people you've met in your line of work, what personal attributes are essential for success?
What do your primary customers tell you their needs are going to be in the next five years?
What do you think of my resume?
Do you see anything lacking?
What organizations might be interested in hiring someone with my background?
What do you think is going to be my biggest obstacle to finding a position?
What is the background of most senior level executives?
Would it be possible for me to walk through your operation and see how work is done here?

You should select four to six questions from the above list and use the ones that are most relevant in your interviewing process or to a certain employer. Learn how to show interest in the employer, by asking for information.

Classified Advertisements: Answering a specific advertisement

Use ads in locating the positions for which you are qualified, for locating companies in the area, and for identifying companies that are in a hiring mode. Keep a record of ads of interest. When calling about a position advertised in the paper:

Have a script handy to address key needs from the advertisement in your conversation. Have a clear understanding of questions you plan to ask, realizing the need for brevity. Your script helps you be more prepared.
Have paper and pen ready for taking notes.
Introduce yourself by clearly stating your name and reason for calling.
Be positive.
Ask for a particular person or the hiring official for this type of position.
If you have a referral source, mention how you know of the opening or your referral source.
Say that you are inquiring about the ad, desiring to receive more details. Ask them questions like: Exactly what are this position's responsibilities on a typical day or week? What about the requirement of.....? How important is it that...? I have a degree or experience in.....would that be okay?
Record the contact date, person's name and address (for mailings).
Be sure to thank them for their time and let them know your resume is on the way.

Completing Applications

Most positions will require that you complete an application for the Human Resource Department. Pay attention to the following tips:

Remember to bring a blue or black pen.
Have dates, references, names, addresses and telephone numbers on your resume or a card and bring it with you.
Read all the instructions carefully.
Complete every section of the application. If an item does not apply put N/A (not applicable).
Print clearly. Be able to state the nature of your work at each job. State honestly, but as positively as possible, your reason for leaving your previous job.
Make sure all words are spelled correctly and check your grammar.
Tie in any prior experiences to the potential job's demands.
Check to see if a signature is required.
Should there be any questions of the person receiving your application, include another clean copy of your resume.

Remember, interviewers can get a sense of who you are from how honest, detailed, neat, well-prepared, complete and accurate you are in filling out the application.