Interviewing For A Job

Interviewing For A Job

By Annabelle Reitman

A job interview is an exchange of information - the interviewer is trying to obtain information about your qualifications, experience, and professional characteristics and your goal is to obtain information about the organization, the position, and the work environment. Both of you need specific input to make decisions about proceeding to the next step in the hiring process. Preparation is the key to successful interviews; this is especially so in the first interview which can be a screening phone interview. The objective of your first interview is to make the cut for an invite back for the next round while the objective of your final interview is to be offered the job. The two most essential pre-activities are: 1) researching the organization and 2) knowing how to answer and asking questions.

Be familiar with the employer: visit their web site, request the latest annual report, do an Internet research, etc. Know about their basic characteristics, e.g. products/services, size, mission, latest research efforts, sales volume, financial status, possible issues/concerns.  The more you know about the organization, the more the interviewer will feel that you are truly interested in working for them. Also, the better you can match your background to meet their needs and requirements as well as show how you can "add value" to the organization, the better are your chances for making the next cut.

Anticipating the types of questions that maybe asked and responding with relevant items in your professional story is good preparation for successfully promoting yourself.  This is not the time to be shy or self-effacing. Your ability to communicate strongly and succinctly why you are the perfect match is what ultimately gets you the job offer. Review your resume so as to be able to refer to specific items and elaborate on or stress your expertise, demonstrated results or professional characteristics. Additionally, assess your weaknesses, gaps, and any thing else in your background that you think maybe detrimental to the impression you want to make with the interview. Beyond the standard questions that you can expect to answer, the following are samples of a more sophisticated nature that maybe asked in the second and/or final round interview:

1.    What was the most stimulatinging issue or project that challenged your experiences or skills?  What were the outcomes?

2.    A concern we have is ____(examples, increase our market share, lower budget costs), what steps would you take to improve the situation?

3.    What were a couple of your major achievements and why are they significant?

4.    What position has given you the most satisfaction and why?

5.    What is unique about your background and experience that would strengthen your ability to contribute to the organization? 

6.    Given what you know about our organization, how do you think you can best contribute to carrying out our mission and/or improve your department's productivity?

7.    What is your favorite type of project and team role?

8.    How do you solve problems without sufficient resources and/or a short deadline?

9.    What characteristics do you think an outstanding leader should have?
Annabelle Reitman, Ed.D.
Career Management Strategist, Author
Email: anreitman@verizon.net