October 2005
10 Points that Every Job Candidate Should Convey to an Interviewer
By
President of Workforce Associates
and author of
NetWork: Maximizing Your Career Resources on the Internet
Available online and in print from Author House
Interviewing strikes fear into every job hunter, especially because it means that you’re close to the top of the job searching process. Most job hunters concentrate on preparing their answers to questions without realizing that it is a two-way process. By this I mean that an interview is your golden opportunity to ask some vital questions that may not be obvious from their corporate website, your contacts with those who work in the company, and your extensive Internet research about the firm before the interview.
Here are ten major points that you need to prepare for a successful interview:
1. You will be undoubtedly asked why you are considering leaving your present job for a new one. Without damning your current employer, carefully consider what is missing in your present position. It may be the lack of career advancement, irregular reviews to guide your performance on the job, a boss who is clearly deficient, few colleagues to "click with", incompatibility with corporate culture, lack of flexibility re schedules and work hours, etc.
A smart interviewer will take this information and formulate a picture of the new position to you based on what you say is deficient about your current job. The disparity between what you report as deficient and what the new employer is offering is called the "position differential". It is the fundamental reason a person changes jobs. Learn from the interviewer what this new position specifically offers that is more consistent with your values and temperament. Then you will be able to more accurately judge if you will be happy there.
2. You will be asked about how you work best. Some employees work best if left alone while others work best as part of a team. It is your job to know enough about the company's operational philosophy and the way the hiring manager works to see if your working style will either mesh or grind in this new environment. Don’t belittle this important point during the interview because working compatibility style can be just as important as the substance of the position itself.
3. You will be asked about your strengths and weaknesses. Be honest about your strong points and limitations. All of us have strengths and weaknesses. The interviewer’s role is to identify them and be able to present them to the hiring manager. This is usually presented to job candidates as a question that focuses on which functions you do not enjoy performing. We are seldom good at things that we don't like.
4. Think carefully about what you would like from this new position. Everyone wants something. Your interviewer will probe carefully with open-ended questions until s/he gets their questions answered. It is difficult to determine whether a given hiring situation has a good chance of working out if you do not clearly express what exactly you are looking for.
5. You will be asked if you are interviewing elsewhere. This is a big issue for interviewers and hiring managers. They will naturally ask you this important question. If you have three other companies that you are considering and two offers are arriving in the mail tomorrow, this is absolute need-to-know information for them. If the hiring manager or interviewer wants to make an offer, it's time for you to advise them as to what the competition looks like and suggest that they move consideration onto the express lane!
6. Be prepared to tell them what your bottom line is. This is a first cousin to the question above but it is more specific and flavored with a "closing the deal" mentality. The question above relates to what you want in a new position but this one quantifies your bottom line. For example, if you want more money, this is where the interviewer will assess how much it will take to close the deal. While point #5 will let the interviewer know what kinds of projects you prefer to work on, this point will give the interviewer more detail about exactly the kind and scope of projects that these are.
7. Make sure that you convey that you’re confident that you can do the job 110%. Even though you may not be the perfect candidate, you should leave the interview with no doubt in her mind that you can perform all the functions of the position. Furthermore, you must convey convincing evidence, case studies, references, and other pertinent information during the interviewing process that demonstrates that you can perform functions that closely align with the demands of the current position. Be prepared to offer solid information about your capabilities that will offer a compelling case as to why you can do the job.
8. Research the new company culture. Predicting the future is tricky business but the interviewer will be closely evaluating your chance for success. Not everyone that is capable of doing the job will work well at the new company because compatible corporate culture plays a vital role in yours and their success. For example, the culture of a buttoned-down insurance company in Boston is very different than the garage culture of a software startup in Silicon Valley. If you have doubts or a very fuzzy idea about the values and modus operandi about the company, it is imperative that you ask them to clarify what their corporate culture is
Make sure that you research the company’s tuition reimbursement plans, opportunities for career advancement, support for participating in professional associations, and time to attend conferences and training programs. This will give you volumes of information about the concrete ways in which the company values its workers.
Finally, ask how much supervisory training their managers have been given. All too often, the best workers are promoted to become managers without being given professional tools to do their new jobs well. These dedicated workers, without formal management training, become Bad Bosses. Find out about how the company is addressing professional development for managers before you are subjected to one of their awful ones!
9. Check out the salary ranges of this new position. Understand exactly how the company’s current compensation program is structured. This means more than base salary. Be sure that you ask about bonuses, how and when they are paid out, employee referral programs, stock options, and/or grants that have been awarded. Compile a complete list of benefits and how they are structured through the company’s website. Ask questions if that section is not clear or missing on their website. Also ask about when and how often you will be having your performance reviews because this can alter cash compensation.
10. If flexible schedules and telecommuting possibilities mean a lot to you, talk about it. Commuting is a quality-of-life issue and discussing it is important. A ten-minute commute against traffic is very different than taking the car to a train and having to walk five blocks to the new organization. If the commute to the new company is worse for you than it is in your existing job, bring it up and see how the interviewer responds. If the new commute is shorter, that may be a terrific selling point. By all means, be sure that you convey what your current commute is and how you feel about the proposed new one.
There are few things hiring managers value more than solid feedback from job hunters based upon a well-executed interview. Convey your considered research, thoughts, experience, and opinions to the interviewer and you will taking major steps towards becoming a world-class asset to your new employer.
Enjoy this beautiful October weather. Talk to you soon --
Jane M. Lommel, Ph.D.
jlommel@WorkforceAssociates.com
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