March 2006
Nailing the Interview
By
President of Workforce Associates
and author of
NetWork: Maximizing Your Career Resources on the Internet
Available online and in print from Author House
March 2006
Nailing the Interview
By
President of Workforce Associates
and author of
NetWork: Maximizing Your Career Resources on the Internet
Available online and in print from Author House
There are always new websites in job searching that crop up every month. I try to screen the best of those I regularly run into for you to benefit from. Recently I found that several progressive local newspapers are including a fun game entitled "Nail the Interview." Austin, Atlanta, and Chicago are examples of local newspapers whose online sections include this interactive and instructive "game" for active and passive job seekers.
The essence of the game is that you pick your character that is looking for an entry level or management position and decide upon a resume that might catch the eye of an interviewer. Depending on your job seeking savvy - or not -- the "game" will navigate you through the process to become a senior manager. If you're highly competitive, you'll find other job candidates for this same position. Whoever "wins" will have the higher salary!
If you happen to pick a resume that is incomplete, has typos, or a format that is off putting to a potential interviewer, a very helpful screen will pop up with references to 15+ articles about various aspects of writing an effective resume and re-acquainting you with the do's and don'ts of effective interviewing. All of this tutorial information is most helpful and useful in beefing up your own resume, without the didacticism of articles - even such as this one!
Cox Ohio Publishing became the first newspaper group to offer this interactive online game used to promote a specific brand or service. The group, based in Dayton, launched "Nail the Interview" in October 2005 to promote its JOBmarket Web site.
Nail the Interview is designed to help readers hone their behavioral interviewing skills. The game has two different interview scenarios - entry level and management. Each scenario walks the user through every stage of the hiring process:
According to a recent press release by Inland Press Association, Kane Cochran, an Internet marketing specialist for Cox Ohio Publishing and its flagship newspaper, the Dayton Daily News, designed the game with the help of Kelle Fraser, JOBmarket product and marketing manager, and Dave Therkelson, product marketing manager.a) selecting the right resume
b) deciding what to wear to the interview
c) negotiating a higher salary.
"We didn't want it to be just a game," Cochrane said. "We wanted something that the user got fundamental information about the job interview process. "It's easy to play but hard to master," he added in a recent interview about the game's origin.
Cochran and Therkelson designed the game using flash animation and Fraser created the story line. The questions will remind you of ones that you've heard in previous interviews or will hear and they try to mimic real-life questions as much as possible.
Cochran, who had significant experience designing online educational tools, had to persuade management to get approval. This radical departure from most job searching tutorials was initially met with skepticism. "It took some negotiating," he said. "We saw every key member in the company that would have any say or input. We went to them with an idea of what we wanted it to be and what it could be."
According to Fraser, the game beat all expectations. Nearly 4,000 users registered for the game before the end of 2005. Users played more than 10,700 games and generated 23,000 page views. More than 2,100 users linked back to the JOBmarket website.
"We took a couple wild guesses but because it's a first of its kind. We didn't have any way to anticipate any statistics," Fraser said. "It far exceeded our hopes. We were just hoping to get about 220 users to the site a month, which we dwarfed by bringing (4,000)."
The game caught the attention of the group's parent company, Cox Newspapers in Atlanta. The game is expected to be released at more Cox Newspapers properties sometime during the first quarter. Aside from entertainment and educational value, the game also serves as an advertising vehicle. Subtle advertisements are woven into the game. They are not overwhelming or glaring. An example is a small logo of a local café on the player's coffee mug.
Nail the Interview also helped the JOBmarket site differentiate itself from other online competitors like Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com. "They have nothing like this," Fraser said. "We need to do everything we can to have things that our competitors do not have. We have to be unique. We have to have the most local jobs but we also need that edge, something educational and fun.
"We want (users) to come to us before they go to the Monster and CareerBuilder Web sites," she added. The game is still picking up speed as the newspaper continues to promote it in print and online. Local high schools and colleges added exposure by posting links to the game on their career resource Web sites. Professional Internet job searching writers and experts like Peter Weddle are actively promoting it as well.
Try your own luck and "Nail the Interview" with lots of different characters and scenarios. You'll gain confidence and experience as you do so and will be much better prepared than role playing or practicing with your spouse or best friend . . . and you'll have fun besides!
Jane M. Lommel, Ph.D.
jlommel@WorkforceAssociates.com
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