Interview preparation – The Company

AUTHOR: David M. Young

Should you know about the company before an interview? Technical candidates will focus more on the technology and what is being offered for them and their career, will they expand their skills, responsibilities, training, and basically what is in it for them based on a job description.

But numerous times I have been told by a hiring manager that they liked a candidate, but the candidate had no idea what the company did, and a lack of basic research concerned them about the candidates true interest in contributing to the company and the organizations goals.

So, YES, you should know about the company. But don’t limit this to just opening the company’s website. Walk through the following to expand your knowledge:

• Check the company website. Know their history, growth through the years, and leadership.
• If publicly held (you will generally find a stock listing on the website), then research their stock price (and if you want an A+, look through their past filings).
• Look for information on them on websites like Hoovers or Dunn/Bradstreet.
• If privately held, look for them on corporationwiki.com by searching for individuals who are owners or leaders.
• Search for relevant press releases in major newspapers or trade publications.
• Look for the company on LinkedIn and learn about the people who you may have 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd degree connections.
• Look for other job postings for the same company on the varioius job posting boards.
• Check salary.com for past information on salaries and comments (don’t let negative comments scare you. Often times the only people who post are those who have an ax to grind.)

Take notes, you may find some questions that you’d like answered based on what you read.

Ask questions that focus on responsibility, not just what is in it for you. Yes, none of this may come up…but … if prepared; this simple research may distinguish you from other candidates with similar experience and backgrounds.

Interview preparation – The Phone Interview

AUTHOR: David M. Young

Phone interviews occur in almost every job interview process. This is not just the first introduction. It may be the follow up with someone from Human Resources, could be during offer negotiation, and could also be based on location.   But, it is common for a phone interview to occur early on in the process to provide some sort of initial introduction for confirmation of skills in a resume, or could even just be a brief conversation for interest, soft skills, and assessment of personality fit with an organization.

A phone interview is important. Anyone who just “shows up” on the phone is putting themselves at a disadvantage. You should prepare for a phone interview in the same manner that you prepare for a face to face meeting. I will continue to cover details for a face to face meeting interview in subsequent blogs.   At a minimum make sure you cover the basics:

• Know your resume
• Know the job description
• Be ready early ( be near the phone number provided at least 10 minutes early.)
• Dress appropriately (even though it is on the phone, still dress sharply. If you are too relaxed, that will come across in your tone.

In addition, specific to a phone interview also make sure:

• Have a quiet location blocked off. Do not do this in your car, in a crowd, while you shop, or in an environment where others could be walking through or making background noise.
• Smile when responding. Your voice reflects attitude and that is magnified in a phone interview. Smiling may sound silly, but it affects the tone and quality of your voice over the phone.
• Stand up, no one can see you, if you are sitting, your mind can wonder while on the phone. Standing will make sure you focus.
• Have a mirror in front of you. This sounds cheesy, ut it greatly assists with focus and making sure you can see an audience, even if it is your face, it gives you the opportunity to see if you are paying attention.
• Take notes, you can highlight the question asked. But don’t get caught up in your notes such that there are long pauses.
• Pauses are good as it can be interpreted as you are being thoughtful, but be careful, pauses that are too long on the phone can be interpreted as a distraction.

Don’t read too much into the way the interviewer responds to your questions. Some people have great poker faces, or may have bad phone voices.  You create the energy on a phone interview, not the person calling. You may knock their socks off and without seeing them, you’ll never know. Believe you are hitting it out of the park and you will keep a strong energy in the phone interview, even if it is one sided.  And don’t make a decision of interest in a job as the candidate based on a phone interview.  Unfortunately, this is often a one sided conversation.  Even a great company will not try and “recruit” you on a phone call.   Your objective is to pass with flying colors so you can proceed to a conversation where you will learn more about the company.

And ….don’t talk too much. Just because you can’t see how they respond, make sure you are crisp in your answers. You have their attention for 10 seconds, after 30 seconds, they may start to drift off, after 90 seconds you may lose them. So if it is to talk through your resume, be brief on your past work. Highlight what you have done that matches the job description, but don’t’ drone on.

Ask them questions, feel free to get clarification on what they are asking, and make sure you are not the only one talking. What are they looking for, what are expectations of the role, how many people are interviewing, what are possible next steps, and feedback for you are all fair questions.

Don’t worry if it was scheduled for 30 minutes and went 15 minutes. Content, not duration is important.

As soon as you finish the call, write down notes, get their contact information for a thank you email, and prepare yourself for a “face to face” meeting with notes on the phone interview.

Above all else, don’t get bored. If you get bored, you lost the audience on the other end.

Phone interviews are not necessary evils. You can immediately separate yourself from other candidates with a brief time of preparation.

Enjoy it. If you do, the person listening to you will as well.

Interview preparation – The When and Where

AUTHOR: David M. Young

Interviews generally have an initial phone screen, then a face to face, and either a final phone interview with an offer, or possibly one or two more face to face meetings before an offer. The offer can be given in person, sometimes via phone, or at times, via email or the rare case of a formal letter that is mailed.

Often times, when interviewing, you will only know about the next meeting. In talking to the representative of the meeting when scheduling the initial interview, you are told it will be a phone call at a certain time, or to come to their office at a given time. But don’t just mentally block out that time. Plan before and after the interview.

If a phone interview, make sure that you provide a phone number that will not have static on your end and at a time when you will be able to close doors and not have external noises affecting the interview. Do not do a phone interview while you drive. We will have more details on the types of interviews, but believe it or not, a phone interview is not a casual interview. You should treat it no different than if you were in front of the person in a face to face meeting.

If a face to face meeting, plan on arriving 15 minutes before your meeting. Sometimes companies will ask you to fill out paperwork and you can do that in those 15 minutes. If there are parking garages, or a walk, make sure you factor that in to your travel so you are sitting in their offices 15 minutes early. Confirm the address and also ask about parking. If in doubt, make sure you have $20 in cash on your person in case the company does not “validate” or pay for parking. Print out a map and plan for traffic and construction.

For a face to face meeting, take it all in to assist in you determining if this is a place you can work. Can you make that drive every day? If in rush hour, are you ok with that? Are there places to eat nearby if you want to grab lunch away from the office? Is there a company cafeteria and what do they serve? Are employees friendly? Do you “fit in” with what you are observing?

The worst thing you can do is be late, appeared frazzled because you could not find a place to park, or to be sweating profusely because you had to jog to get there on time. This may sound crazy, but I have had feedback from clients on all of these items. In order to be in control of your thoughts… plan your travel for the interview. That planning begins with anticipating how you will get there and who you will ask for when you arrive.

Interview preparation – The What

AUTHOR: David M. Young

When scheduling an interview, people naturally will find out a time and an address. We do that for almost any meeting. Often times, we make assumptions about what will be discussed. Interestingly enough, candidates who prepare for an interview on their own almost always spend more time on how to answer all sorts of interview questions based on googling the topic as opposed to asking a few questions to help them focus in on what the individual interviewing them will be looking for in the interview.

Yes, it is valuable to be ready for your strengths and weaknesses as we well as that random question such as “if you were a flower what kind would you be and why”. And you should think through how you would answer standard interview questions. It is important enough that we will discuss it in more detail. But, often times you find out you have an interview the next day, and if so, you don’t have time to earn your PhD in interview questions.

If working with a recruiter, they should know who you are interviewing with, if they will ask questions about the specific job, or if they will ask “behavioral” type questions as opposed to skill specific questions. The home run is knowing what the interviewer is looking for and why they want to interview you. If you know this, then you will be ready to speak about past projects, companies, or experiences. When you answer about your strengths, you will be able to emphasize what the interviewer is looking for and help them uncover why you are a great fit for the job.

Your objective is to get the job. You do not want to fumble your words or seem dis-interested. If you have prepared for questions unique to this interview, you will be able to emphasize your interest in the position, as well as enable the other individual to more quickly, and decisively understand that you are a fit for the role.

Often times there may be multiple interview meetings. When this occurs, as you conclude the first interview, it is absolutely appropriate to ask about next steps. If indicated that you may have another meeting, ask who it is with, what their role is, and what they will be looking for in prospective candidates. Even if the person does not answer these questions, you have already shown a differentiation between you and other candidates in your interest for the role.

It is still a great practice to prepare for the general questions. But, do everything you can to be ready for the specific interview and the only way to do that is ask specific questions in advance.