7 - Preparing For The Interview
7 - Preparing For The Interview
7 - Preparing For The Interview
What are the three most important business objectives a person in this position will need to accomplish?
Why are they important to the company?
NOTE: (If you're not able to get this question in beforehand, you can still ask it right at the start of the
interview.)
Who will be interviewing me? (This enables you to learn about them via the WWW prior to the interview)
Write down how you can accomplish those objectives. Include relevant past experience and training and a plan for accomplishing
the objectives.
Stop and relax. Take a deep breath and get your thoughts in order.
2.
The good news is that the interview can still be turned around. You must focus on the customer's needs and the
questions being asked NOW. Relate the questions to the customer's needs and then create a solution/answer to the
question.
3.
Observe the tone of voice and the body language of the people interviewing you. If they have decided you are not the
best candidate then they will get board or upset.
If they are board you need to be positive, invigorate the people in the room with a happy attitude and customer
focused answers. Use your body language to increase the energy in the room. Wave your arms, point at things etc.
If they are upset or nervous then you need to relax them by being relaxed yourself. Take on a conservative attitude
that will re-assure them you are a responsible person that can be depended upon.
4.
It is standard practice at the end of the interview to be asked if you have any additional questions. Use this time to ask
questions that will show them:
You have done your homework
You think strategically
You are aware of cutting edge technology and approaches to doing business.
Do not discuss the questions that you had a hard time with.
Get personal business cards with contact information & 4 or 5 words of what you have to offer an employer. I get my
cards from Vistaprint.com.
2.
Create a compelling message that appeals to the employers self-interest while ordinary job seekers are
simply asking for a job.
3.
Know as much about the company as possible to help create an effective message.
Get on their web site and memorize their products and services.
Look at their press release section for news.
Talk to a few people about what they know (call the receptionist, sales people, service reps etc.)
Contact a stockbroker. They have access to industry and company research and annual reports. Find out if
they are in a fast growth mode, or are they in a conservative mode from undesirable performance.
Search for articles on the company in industry trade magazines and news papers.
Look online for comments, discussions, blogs, forums, and additional insights.
Search Google and the employers web site for press releases announcing new employees. Youll often
find reasons why those people were hired.
Look for good news about the company.
Look for challenges that the company is facing, and think about how you might contribute to their success.
Contact customers and competitors of the target employer. Asked them, 'What is it about Company ABC
that keeps you awake at night?' or 'What makes your product or service superior to ABC's product or
service' you can learn a lot of valuable information this way.
Create a one page paper with a summary of their products and corporate strategies. Include your findings
about their top two or three competitors with an eye toward identifying key similarities and differences.
Also include their products, services, customer demographics, and how the company was started, who the
founders are, and if the founders are still with the company. they want to know that you care enough about
"their" company and the job you are applying for to have done your homework
4.
Learn about the great things people interviewing you have done. This makes it easy to talk about common
interests and helps you get to know them before they even meet you. It also demonstrates that you do your
homework.
Search online for personal resume web sites and general information about every one you will be
interviewing with to find positive things about them or if you have anything in common.
Check to see if the people interviewing you have Linked-In or face book web sites. If they do print it out
and put it in your primary portfolio. It may come in handy to compliment people on their accomplishments
Don't ever provide negative advice or expose negative information.
A pen and paper for taking notes with the name and phone number of the interviewer at
the top.
Have a story/example for each bullet on the job description and each bullet in your resume.
3.
Write down the answers to difficult questions you don't want to be asked.
Don't shy away from these questions and hope they won't be asked. Expect them to be asked and have your
answers composed, practiced, and ready to go. Some questions to tackle are:
Your weaknesses.
If you have a gap in your resume, have a good response for when you are asked about it.
If you were fired or laid off, be prepared to tell the employer why with a positive spin.
NOTE: NEVER LIE about anything. Remember what goes around, comes around; and
lies will catch up with you some day.
4.
Write down an introduction; an opener that says who you are and what you do. This is your 60 second
elevator speech that should leave the person excited about working with you and wanting to learn more about
you. It's a tool that helps you target your skills to meet the employers needs. It allows you to summarize your
most marketable strengths in a brief and concise manner. Your elevator speech can be used to answer these
common questions:
Include:
a) Your past title or the title you are applying for.
b) The type of work you have been doing as it relates to the job.
c) How you can help them with challenges they are confronting.
d) How you can fill a gap in their team skill sets.
e) How well you work as a "team Player" through collaboration and helping others succeed.
f) Why you are excited to be interviewing with this company.
5.
Create an outline of important things for this meeting (interview). The below items came from steps
above:
The top 3 points you want to make sure you get across.
6.
Write a script with questions for someone to ask you and answers that you wish to give.
Write down some of your most insightful, witty thoughts regarding the state of your industry and
profession.
Be prepared to describe past positions, responsibilities and accomplishments. This is not a time for
false modesty, so don't be afraid to highlight your professional strengths and play down your terrible typing skills.
Remember it's not bragging if it's the truth.
Ask your spouse, your child or a friend to play the role of interviewer so you become more
comfortable speaking about yourself in front of others. Again, this is a confidence builder. The more you practice, the
more confident you'll be.
4.
5.
6.
Keep the conversation at the interview focused on those objectives. The employer will appreciate your ability to
keep the interview focused on the employer's business objectives.
If conversation gets steered away to upcoming spring training or the snow this winter, or Tiger's apology on Friday,
you just make sure that you steer it back to how you can contribute on the three key needs.
This interview is NOT ABOUT YOU and how wonderful you are.
If you think about the interview from your future boss' point of view, the interview is not about you. It's about how
well you fit into their business needs. If you stick to your talking points above, you'll avoid one of the most common errors
people make in job interviews: talking about themselves without a real purpose. Yes, you need to discuss your career goals,
but only in the context of how they match up with what your boss is looking for.
And, yes, you need to discuss your prior performance and successes, but only to the extent that it supports how you
match the key needs the company has for the open position.
A job interview is a sales call it's about selling you, your experiences, skills, and talent to accomplish the
business objectives of the employer.
Sit down at your desk 30 minutes early. That way if they call early you can still be "ON TIME".
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
Dress for success. Dressing for success will help you feel successful even though they cannot see you
through the phone line.
Be poised, confident, upbeat, passionate, and excited about their company.
Reveal what you honestly like about the person or the company. Sincere flattery starts the interview off in
a positive way. Mention something flattering about the persons LinkedIn Site or their personal web site. Say
something flattering about the company that you have discovered via their web site or Google research.
Be interested in them and the challenges they are hiring you to overcome.
Write down the name and job title of each person.
Answer questions and ask them. Remember, it's a two way conversation, and an opportunity for both
parties to see if there is a match. Think of this as a meeting not an interview where your objective is to identify
their challenges and propose solutions to those challenges.
Know what questions NOT to ask. Don't ask about salary, bonuses, vacation time, benefits, or your office
space. Don't ask about on-call or overtime except in the context of doing it for no additional pay because on-call
and/or overtime comes with that type of work.
Make sure you cover anything that was not discussed in the interview before you leave. For example:
2.
Prepare an Interview Folder for you to use of things that might be helpful at the interview.
a) Put your portfolio in a very nice briefcase or plastic report cover
b) The document: Getting_the_job_outline_of_important_things
c) The document: Questions_to_ask_at_an_interview
d) Directions to the interview location
e) A printout of the company's entire web site (with notes and questions written on every page)
f) A printout of the job description (with notes and questions written on it)
g) A printout of any interesting press releases about the employer's successes.
3.
Prepare several Career Portfolios of things to leave with each person interviewing you
NOTE: I always print at least 5 portfolios even if "only one person" will be interviewing me
a) Put your portfolio in a very nice briefcase or plastic report cover
b) Either the cover letter you originally sent with the resume or a new one customized for the job
requirements.
c) A "Requirement Qualification Fulfillment" document. Email me and I will send you a sample.
d) A color copy of your resume.
e) Awards you have received.
f) A copy of Certificates and Diplomas.
g) Letters of recommendation from past employers or college professors.
h) Recommendation people have written on your Linked In site.
i) Examples of your work (documents and programming code you authored).
j) Staple your business card to the cover of the portfolio.
4.
Have a story/example for each bullet on the job description and each bullet in your resume.
Use the STAR approach
Situation
5.
NOTE: Your objective is to identify their needs and match your skill sets to those needs. Don't tell
them about your hobbies or anything else that is not related to the job you are applying for. The
exception to this is if you know they have a hobby that you also share.
6. Write down answers to standard questions such as:
Your strengths.
Where you want to be in the future.
What was the worst project you have been involved with?
17. Write down the answers to difficult questions you don't want to be asked. Don't shy away from these
questions and hope they won't be asked. Expect them to be asked and have your answers composed,
practiced, and ready to go. Some questions to tackle are:
Your weaknesses.
If you have a gap in your resume, have a good response for when you are asked about it.
If you were fired or laid off, be prepared to tell the employer why with a positive spin.
NOTE: NEVER LIE about anything. Remember what goes around, comes around; and
lies will catch up with you some day.
Include:
k) Your past title or the title you are applying for.
l) The type of work you have been doing as it relates to the job.
m) How you can help them with challenges they are confronting.
n) How you can fill a gap in their team skill sets.
o) How well you work as a "team Player" through collaboration and helping others succeed.
p) Why you are excited to be interviewing with this company.
19. Create an outline of important things for this meeting (interview). The below items came from steps
above:
The top 3 points you want to make sure you get across.
Write a script with questions for someone to ask you and answers that you wish to give.
Write down some of your most insightful, witty thoughts regarding the state of your industry and
profession.
Be prepared to describe past positions, responsibilities and accomplishments. This is not a time for
false modesty, so don't be afraid to highlight your professional strengths and play down your terrible typing
skills. Remember it's not bragging if it's the truth.
Ask your spouse, your child or a friend to play the role of interviewer so you become more
comfortable speaking about yourself in front of others. Again, this is a confidence builder. The more you
practice, the more confident you'll be.
What are the two most important business objectives a person in this position will need to accomplish?
Why are they important to the company?
1 or 2 questions you would like to ask them. It is best if the question came from
research you have done about the company. This demonstrated commitment and dedication to this
opportunity.
The day of the interview not less than 2 hours before the interview
1. Send a confirmation note the day before the interview
Include in your email the time the interview is to start, the address you are to go to.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
Arrive in the parking lot 30 minutes early. That way if there is a traffic jam, or your car runs out of gas, or
you get lost you can still be "ON TIME"!!!.
NEVER BE LATE!!! Be 6 to 10 minutes early. Don't be more than 10 minutes early and don't show up
less than 6 minutes early. More than 10 minutes early can disrupt the schedule of the person you are going
to meet, "on time". Between 0 and 5 minutes early says you care as much as "everyone else" interviewing
for the job. Do you want to be "everyone else" or "above average".
Dress for success. Dress a little more conservative than the average person at the company. It is best to
visit the company (incognito) to scope out the environment, the general dress code, and learn how to get
there.
I like to dress in the car or a bathroom close by. That way your clothes are "PERFECT" with no wrinkles
at all. Especially those nasty wrinkles in pants caused by sitting in a car for 30 minutes driving to the
interview.
Be poised, confident, upbeat, passionate, and excited to be there.
Be interested in them and the challenges they are hiring you to overcome.
Greet everyone with a firm handshake, looking eye to eye, and smiling in a confident yet comforting way.
Give each person your personal business card.
15. Right after your introduction; say something flattering to the interviewer. Reveal what you honestly like
about the person or the company. Sincere flattery starts the interview off in a positive way.
16. Open your portfolio and put these documents on the table in front of you. This is so you can refer to them
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
and so the people interviewing you see that you have done your homework:
Printout of the company's web site with notes and questions written in plain view.
The mini portfolios. (You should have a mini portfolio for each person)
An paper with the names of each person interviewing you, their title, and email address.
An ink pen, green highlighter, and paper for taking notes. (green is a GO color, Yellow is
a CAUTION color, red is a STOP color, and blue signifies TRUST and COMPTENCE)
Answer questions and ask them. Remember, it's a two way conversation, and an opportunity for both
parties to see if there is a match. Think of this as a meeting not an interview where your objective is to
identify their challenges and propose solutions to those challenges.
Know what questions NOT to ask. Don't ask about salary, bonuses, vacation time, benefits, or your office
space. Don't ask about on-call or overtime except in the context of doing it for no additional pay because
on-call and/or overtime comes with DBA work.
Make sure you cover anything that was not discussed in the interview before you leave. For example:
5.
Send a thank-you note. Email one version and also send a handwritten version. Thank you cards work well
here.
Include in your email anything you left out during the interview. Add credibility to your email by
mentioning something specific the interviewer said that impressed you.
If you promised to follow up on a specific day and time, keep that promise.
Continue interviewing. No matter how great an interview went, no matter how many people told you that
you are "the one", you do not have the job until you have formally been given a job offer in writing. Don't
let everything ride on one job. Keep going until you are officially employed.
Don't turn down any other offers until you been on the job one week. Stall the other companies until you
are absolutely sure the company you choose is the right choice.
Send a thank-you note for having the opportunity to interview with them.
Include the fact that you are disappointed.
State that this was a job you really wanted because ...
Express a desire to work there in the future.
Wish them and/or their team sincere success.
Tell them you hope the person they choose fits well with the team and can help the company achieve their
corporate goals.
I am at YOUR service!
Ken Hughes
Expect Excellence -- Oracle Certified Professional
Phone:
H:253-859-7771
C:206-310-8547
Hugheskc@yahoo.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/hugheskc
Make sure you have a document heading for all Word documents such as resumes or cover letters. Consistency
will make the employer feel like you are professional, detail oriented, and dependable.
KENNETH C. HUGHES
11030 SE 270th ST.
Kent, WA. 98031
Home: (253) 859-7771
E-Mail: HughesKC@yahoo.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/hugheskc
RESUME OF EXPERIENCE, TRAINING, AND PUBLICATIONS
Videos to watch:
Interviewing techniques (behavior based interviewing)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nN7Q7DrI6Q&feature=related
6/21/2016