Tips For a Successful Job Interview
You got the call.
by by apes_abroad via Flickr
They want you to come in for an interview. After the elation wears off, you start sweating.
What are they going to ask? How can I best prepare for this? What if I prepare for the wrong things?
Share Your Tips
I get questions related to interviews all the time. I want you to share your tips too.
Yes you, the one reading this right now.
Post a comment below and share your tips. I’ll leave the first comment with my tips. Please point others to this post and ask them to add their own advice. Let’s get a lot of great information out there, and debate with each other on the validity of our points.
Oct 8th, 2009 at 10:59 am
1) Treat the interview like a discussion – This is a two-way conversation, not an interrogation. You should be looking forward to finding out about the organization and role as much as they are looking forward to picking the right candidate. Looking at it this way will help put you at ease and allow them to get to know you better.
2) Review your own history – specific examples and stories from your past are the best way to illustrate you know what you are talking about. It’s good to review your illustrative “stories” and have them fresh in your mind so you can call upon them on a whim. If they ask a “what would you do if…” question, try to respond with a specific example that closely relates and illustrate how you ACTUALLY did handle it, and what you learned from it.
3) Come with questions – Of course you want to know a lot about the company beforehand, but not to impress them with your ability to google. I think of at least 5 insightful questions and write them down beforehand. Remember, this is a conversation. More questions arise as our conversation progresses too, but it’s good to have a short list of relevant, probing questions. I like to ask specifically about their organizational structure, business model, how project management is viewed within the organization (who are the proponents and detractors of viewing it as a formal discipline), etc.
4) Come with at least 3 copies of a portfolio – The resume and coverletter sometimes get stripped down to ugly, malformed text by the time it gets to the hiring manager. I always bring a portfolio in a professional report cover including things like my resume and a personalized cover letter for each interviewer and 1 spare generic one in case of a last-minute addition (always ask for full names and titles when setting up the interview!). I also include letters of recommendation from previous employers/professors, a print-out of my LinkedIn.com recommendations, academic credentials if applicable, example artifacts from my previous work that are not confidential, etc.
Portfolios are custom-made for each interview and can contain very different materials. I give my portfolio to each interviewer at the end of the interview as something for them to keep that will give them an even fuller view of who I am as a candidate.
Everyone, please contribute your own comments!!!
Reply
Oct 11th, 2009 at 7:27 am
The interview is going well, you treat it like a discussion, have some of your stories ready in your mind and prepared some questions that you could even use during the interview. Bat then… it comes… that one question you were so afraid of. The question to which you don’t have an answer. Don’t panic, the best thing to do is to start thinking out loud. Show how you treat a question you don’
Reply
Oct 11th, 2009 at 7:31 am
hmmz, someting went wrong. Wwll, let’s just contunue
t have an answer to yet. You start thinking. The only difference now is to start thinking out loud so that your future boss and colleagues don’t have to guess what you are thinking. And meanwhile you even keep the interview going.
Reply
Josh Nankivel Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
It’s a good question, and the only remedy I know of is preparation. I’d go the other way and not start thinking out loud; if anything it would be better in my opinion to ask them to restate the question or perhaps ask them if you can go on to another question to give you a chance to digest it and then come back to it later.
Reply
Oct 11th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
If you are properly prepared for an interview, there should not be a question you are afraid the interviewer will ask. It is ok not to know an answer to a question. Some employers like a person who has something to learn. An improvised answer could make things worse and blow the interview.
Reply
Josh Nankivel Reply:
October 11th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
I agree. As someone who has interviewed a lot of people, I find it painful when someone is trying to think out loud and come up with an answer artificially. I will usually stop if I know they are struggling and offer to come back to it later. Most people who are conducting interviews won’t be sensitive to this though.
Reply
Oct 12th, 2009 at 9:44 am
I usually ask if there is anything they would like me to prepare for specifically or bring to the interview. So far no prospective interviewer has minded the question (as far as I can tell anyway).
For one interview I was asked to bring along a short presentation which worked superbly as a conversational tool and meant I had all the facts about the case studies fresh in my mind.
Reply
Oct 13th, 2009 at 6:06 am
I’d advise anyone to have a good answer to the question “What are your weaknesses?” This usually comes up. The thing I find most difficult with an interview is to come across as both competent and humble. I usually sell my competence well, but fail miserably at selling my lovely personality. (I live in Sweden, I think employers here think differently than in, for instance, the US. But that’s just a guess.)
Reply