Mastering the Art of the Job Interview
By Tara Haelle, Graduate Student, University of Texas at Austin
Although he won’t be graduating until fall 2012, David Clark started the job search last November. “I already knew that I would need to get a head start,” says the senior in mass communications and print journalism at Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “The job market is so competitive already, so why not get some contacts?”
Clark’s attitude is the right one, according to several career counselors and recruiters. Before you even think about interviewing, you need to get companies’ attention. Even if you’re fresh out of college with little work experience to speak of, you can meet people and start networking.
“The interview starts long before you get the interview,” says Rachel Keener Killam, a career counselor at the University of Colorado-Boulder. She recommends attending career fairs, information sessions, employer and alumni events—any place they can introduce themselves and start a rapport to make a future interview more likely.
Harvard University career counselor Laura Malisheski recommends taking that proactive approach with informational interviewing, where students meet with current professionals in their field of interest to ask what the career field is like and what’s current in the industry.
Prepare: Research and Practice
“What we’ve discovered is that most people do badly in interviews because they haven’t done any preparation or practice,” says Richard Roberts, director of career services at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. “Research the company they’re interviewing with and be prepared to talk about why they think they are qualified for the job.”
Students do that research and interview preparation with the help of career center resources, most of which offer workshops and even mock interviewing opportunities.
“The most common negative we hear when a student isn’t pursued further is that a student didn’t do homework to know why he or she would be a good candidate for the job,” says Kathy Sims, director of the University of California–Los Angeles career center.
Clark, the senior who is still going through the interview process, says he was once asked by an employer whether he knew their radius. He didn’t hesitate: He told them where they operate from and whom they served. “That gave me bonus points because I had done that research before I went into the interview,” he says. He also says he practiced before every interview.
“The more practice you have interviewing, the better you become at it,” he says. “You can’t be a drone. You really have to sell yourself, which takes personality and practice.” He recommends knowing your strengths and weaknesses, your dreams and goals—and then what you can offer the company.
Spend three to five hours preparing for an interview, suggests Ben Best, a professional recruiter for 25 years who founded Vital Interview Prep. He suggests entering the interview with a couple of success stories from past experience, and then spend the interview focused on selling the employer on how you can meet his or her needs.
Dress for Success and Watch Your Body Language
“It’s an old cliché that first impressions are lasting impressions, but it’s a cliché for a reason,” says Lisa Carver, president of the human resources firm Moxie Consulting. “We know from management and communication research, it takes seconds for someone to form an impression of you. You need to present yourself as professionally as you can, regardless of the position you’re applying for.” She recommends “neutralizing” yourself, covering up any piercings or tattoos that may be fine to you and friends but not to a professional in the field.
At the same time, be yourself and let your personality out, suggested Keener Killam and Roberts.
“Let your personality come out,” Roberts says. “Use facial expressions, smile, make eye contact, have a good handshake. Having enthusiasm really stands out.”
Questions to Expect
There are four basic areas of questioning that applicants should anticipate, says Roberts:
Your education. Why did you choose your major or school? What was your most or least favorite class or professor? How did school influence you?
Your experience and qualifications. What skills and abilities do you have to handle the job? Be ready with 6 to 8 strengths that relate to the job and specific examples showing those strengths.
Your goals and objectives. What are you hoping to get from the job?
Your reasons for wanting to work for the company. Why do you want to work for that particular business? What can you contribute to that company?
“The number-one question that creates fear and loathing is ‘Tell me a little about yourself,’” says Malisheski. She says offering a biographical sketch is not how students should start. “Students should translate that into ‘Why should we hire you?’ They should go in prepared with 3 to 5 bullet points that answer that question.”
“The key is to find those past things that you’ve done that will relate to the position that you’re applying for,” says Carver. If you were a financial officer for a school club, you have organizational and budgeting skills. If you volunteered, you might have strong communication skills.
Unless it’s absolutely essential for the position type, avoid the classics: politics and religion. Also, says Carver, don’t speak badly about former employers.
“Sometimes you may be asked, ‘Why did you leave your job?’ so people need to be prepared for that question,” she says. “The first thing that comes to your mind might be ‘I worked for a psychopath,’ but you need to have a thought-out response to why you left your previous employment.”
A final word of advice comes from Sam Solomon, who graduated this past December with a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Texas at Austin.
“It’s a crazy kind of dance, the whole interview process, but don’t get discouraged if you’re having difficulties,” he says. “I’ve made some calls and was even shocked at myself when I found opportunities through third-party contacts, like friends of friends and LinkedIn. Even if you’re not very outgoing or the kind of person who really jumps out there, be bold enough to make that opportunity happen for yourself.”
TARA HAELLE IS A GRADUATE JOURNALISM STUDENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN.
Find Out More
Click for a great interviewing skills guide from Virginia Tech's Career Services office.
Click for more great interviewing tips from Career Services at Bethany Lutheran College.
Click for more interviewing skills from Career Services at Rollins College.
First Impressions are Lasting Impressions
• Google yourself and clean up social networking sites. You want your first impression to be the one an employer has when he or she sees you in person.
• Turn your cell phone off as soon as you are called in for the interview.
• Dress for success. Invest in a good-quality, professional interviewing suit that you keep dry-cleaned and well-pressed.
• Groom yourself well: a little makeup, but not too much. Make sure your fingertips are clean, your tattoos are hidden, and anything other than an ear piercing is taken out. Don’t wear cologne (the person conducting the interview may be allergic).
• Make eye contact and have a confident, unslouched posture.
• Smile! Start with small talk to put yourself and your interviewers at ease.
• Shake hands firmly, but not too firmly. Try to match the other person in hand-shaking demeanor.
Handling Behavioral Questions and What Is Your Weakness?
“The best predictor of future behavior is how applicants handled something in a previous job or a previous circumstance,” says Lisa Carver, president of the human resources firm Moxie Consulting. She says students should be ready to describe a handful of specific situations that answer how they handled tough situations.
“Behavioral questions are big now, and it’s not something you can wing,” Richard Roberts, director of career services at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, says. He says most of these questions, such as “Tell me about a time you had a conflict with a supervisor or a customer and how you resolved it,” deal with problem-solving and conflict resolution—and you should always have a happy ending in which you, not a manager or colleague, resolved the situation. He compared it to the other question that intimidates many job seekers: What is your greatest weakness?
“You think of a weakness that you’re turning into a strength and show that you’re working on it,” Roberts says. An example might be explaining how you’ve begun using a day planner to help with scheduling activities when time management became a challenge.
But most importantly, don’t tell a fatal weakness—I’m always late, I have trouble staying motivated, I call in sick a lot. Avoid what Roberts calls the “schmaltzy” weaknesses: “I work too hard” or “I’m a perfectionist.” It should be a true weakness, but whatever it is, explain how you’re working on it.
“The company wants to know if you’re self-aware and if you’re doing what you need to do to work on that weakness,” says Rachel Keener Killam, a career counselor at the University of Colorado-Boulder.
As far as other questions, if you do get one out of left field, it’s okay to take a moment to gather your thoughts, Keener Killam says. “It would be okay for a student to say something like ‘I’ve never heard that question before. I need a moment to think about that’ or ‘That’s a new one for me. I need a few minutes to think about it,’ and then they can kind of gather themselves.”
“What Questions Do You Have For Us?”
The biggest area of dispute among recruiters and career counselors about the interviewing process is what questions applicants should ask the employers when the time comes. The one question they did all agree should be asked is something about the goals or specifics of the position, which lets you position yourself as the best applicant because you know specifically what they’re looking for.
“When they give you an opportunity to ask a question, ask what are the goals of the position,” says professional recruiter Ben Best. “Then you can come back and say, ‘I can do that because I did that over here,’ and then back it up with a success story. Then ask, ‘What’s the first thing I can do that’s going to make your workload lighter or the department’s workload lighter?’ Then, you come back with how you can do that because of relevant experience from your background, and you tell a success story.”
Lisa Carver, president of the human resources firm Moxie Consulting, adds that asking about the duties of a particular position early on in the interview lets the applicant tailor answers to those duties throughout the interview.
Never ask questions you should have researched ahead of time, such as what a company does. Avoid questions about benefits—information that’s usually available on the company’s website anyway.
Best suggests asking only “value-added” questions—those that give you a chance to explain further how you are best for the position. He says to avoid any questions about travel, work-life balance, benefits, why the interviewer likes working there, or any other question that doesn’t immediately turn around and give you a way to sell yourself.
Carver expects questions about benefits, and Richard Roberts, director of career services at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, says you should ask questions about the type of training you’ll receive, how you’ll be supervised, and opportunities for professional development and advancement.
“I want to know what I will be doing day to day because the job could look really glamorous when you’re reading about it online, but it’s work, so it’s probably not going to be that glamorous all the time,” says Susannah Brinkley, who graduated from North Carolina State University in Raleigh in May 2011 with a bachelor’s degree in graphic design. “I want to know what the work day is going to be like, what the hours are, who I’m going to be working with, and get a tour of the facility.”
How to Wrap Up the Interview
As the interview draws to a close, take stock again: Did you get across every point you wanted to regarding how you are the best fit for this company? If not, take the opportunity at the end to emphasize those skills and experiences that are especially applicable to the specific job at this company.
Next, request a business card if you don’t already have one and ask what the next step is in the hiring process, says Rachel Keener Killam, a career counselor at the University of Colorado-Boulder. If the employers aren’t making a decision for a week or two, send a hand-written thank-you note after the interview. If they are making a decision soon, she says, send a thank-you e-mail.
“Many students don’t write thank-you’s, and what we hear from employers is that the thank-you helps you stand out as a candidate,” Keener Killam says. She recommends thanking them for the opportunity to interview, mentioning something specific about the interview, and if necessary, briefly clarifying any answers you gave during the interview. If there were multiple interviewers, thank each one with individual notes or e-mails.
Asking about the next steps in the process also gives you a sense of when to follow up.
Some people leave the interview and then they never follow up,” says Richard Roberts, director of career services at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. “Sometimes by following up, it gives you the edge over other applicants.”
