Bas

icInte
rvi
ewTi
pst
o
Fr
ont
KeepinMindwh
en
Int
er
vie
w

(
Backgr
ound-
li
ghtbl
ue)

Bel
i
evei
nyourgr
eatnessbecausewhaty
oubel
i
evei
s
whatyoucome!

Submi
tt
edby
:Mar
yGr
aceCaduci
oCancej
o

(
1sti
nsi
de)

Mont hsofhardworkandwai t
inghavef i
nall
ypaidoff
—you’
vegotani nt
erv
iew f
or
yourdr eam j
obli
nedupf i
rstthi
ngt omorrow morni
ng.You’
vepr essedyourbest
businesssuit
,resear
chedthecompany ,lookedoveryourresumeandment all
y
preparedanswer
stosever
alstandar
di nt
ervi
ewquesti
ons.What’
snext?

Despi
tealltheenergythatjobseeker sty
pical
lypouri ntopre-
inter
view
prepar
ati
on,mostofwhaty ou’vel
earnedwi l
lli
kelyfl
youtt hewi ndow assoonas
youwalkintothemeet i
ngroom andshakehandswi t
ht hehiri
ngmanager .Whi l
ethe
ti
mey ouspendonpr e-i
nter
viewpreparati
onisalwaysbeneficiali
nt heend,it
’seasy
togetcarri
edawaywi thoverlycomplexstrat
egiesandsy stemst hataretoov ague
toreal
lycomei nhandywhenpushcomest oshov e.

Back t o basics:an i nt
erview checklist.Rathert han try
ing t o under stand and
assimilatebooklengtht r
eatisesoni nt
er v
iewtheor y,
it’
sbettert oboildownal loft he
element sofsuccessi nt
ot hef orm ofabasi cchecklistofi ntervi
ew obj ectives.If
you’r
et het ypewhot endst ogetner vousandf lust
eredinst ressfulsituations,i t’
s
parti
cularlyi
mpor t
antt okeepy ourinterviewstrategysimpleandeasyt or emember .
JustasMi ssionControlrunsast r
onautst hr
oughabasi c“al
lsy stemsgo”ev aluation
i
nt hemoment sbeforet akeoff
,y oucanav oi
dj obsear chdisastersbyget tingi nto
thehabi tofmentall
yrunni ngthroughaf ewsi mplegoal sandst rategi
esasy oubegi n
theintervi
ewpr ocess.Her eareaf ewbasi cguideli
nestohelpy ougetstar t
ed:
(
2ndi
nsi
de)

•Arr
iveear
ly.Getreli
abl
edir
ecti
onstheni
ghtbef
ore,anddoev er
ythingi
nyourpowert
oshowupt enminut
es
bef
oreyourscheduledappoi
ntment
.Nothi
ngsays“unprof
essi
onal”li
kebei
nglat
etoyourf
ir
sti
nter
view!

•Makeagoodf i
rstimpressi
on.Ther i
ghtatt
itudeisequalpart
swarmth,pol
i
t eness,humbl
egr at
it
ude,
si
nceri
ty,andenthusi
asm.Lav i
shyourf
ullat
tent
iononev er
yoney
ouencount
erattheinterv
iewsi
te,f
rom the
par
kingattendantt
otherecepti
oni
st.Gr
eetyouri
nterv
iewerwit
habigsmi
leandafi
rm handshake.

•Sellyoursel
f.Sur
e,t
hehir
ingmanagerhashadachancetolookoveryourappl
i
cati
onmater
ial
s,butyoucan’
t
rel
yony ourr
esumet ohel
py oulandt
hejob.Theyneedtoknowexact l
yhowy oucanhel
pthisorgani
zat
ion
succeed.Maket hemostcompell
i
ng,per
suasi
vecasefory
oursel
fthaty
oucanmust er.

•Keeptabsony ourbodylanguage.I t
’simpor t
anttorelax,butdon’
tlety
ourselfgett
oo.Sure,t
hehir
ing
managerhashadachancet olookovery ourappli
cati
onmat er
ial
s,buty
oucan’
tr el
yonyourresumetohelp
youlandthejob.Theyneedt oknow exact l
yhow y oucanhel pthi
sorgani
zat
ionsucceed.Maket hemost
compell
i
ng,persuasi
vecaseforyour
selfthatyoucanmust er.

•Speakpr ofessi
onal
ly.Tryt
osoundl ikeyou’reanaturalforthejob.Av oidimmaturesoundi ngspeaking
patt
erns, suchaspepper i
ngyourspeechwi thtoomany“ li
kes”andt i
l
tingt heendofy oursentencesupsot hey
soundlikequest i
onsinsteadofstat
ement sssi
onal
ly.Trytosoundl i
key ou’
reanaturalforthejob.Avoid
i
mmat ur esoundingspeakingpatt
erns, suchaspepper ingyourspeechwi thtoomany“ li
kes”andt i
lt
ingtheend
ofyoursent encesupsot heysoundlikequest i
onsinsteadofst at
ement s.

(
3rdi
nsi
de)

•Projectpoi
seandconfi
dence.Walki
ntotheroom l
ikeyoudeservetobether
e,andimaginethaty
ou’v
e
al
readylandedt
hejobthatyou’
reaf
ter
.Trynottoappeardesper
atetolandt
heposit
ion,ev
enifyoureal
ly
ar
e!

•Showwhaty ouknow.You’
vedoneyourresearch,sodon’tf
orgettoshowitof
f.Workafewkeyfact
sabout
thecompanyint
oyouranswersi
nanatural
,unpretenti
ousway .Al
so,i
fyouhaveexper
iencei
nthefi
eld,
don’
t
beafrai
dtouseafewtechni
calt
ermsift
hedi scussiontur
nstoshoptalk.

•Avoidnegati
vi
ty.Proj
ecti
nganairofprof
essi
onal
i
sm meansstay
ingpoi
sedandposit
iveatal
lti
mes.Ifyou
havetodescri
beanegat i
vesit
uati
on,fr
ameiti
nthemostdi
plomati
cwaypossi
ble.Tr
ynottodenigr
ateyour
cur
rentorpastemployersorcoworker
s.

•Ask smar tquesti

ons.Come prepared wi
thaf ew good quest
ions aboutthe posi
tion and y
our
responsi
bil
i
ties.Al
so,youcanhighl
i
ghty ourabi
li
tytoanalyzeandthinkquickl
yony ourfeetbyposing
questi
onsaboutkeyissuest
hatemergeduri
ngthei
nterv
iew.

•Endonahi ghnote.Gooutthesamewayy oucamein—withabi

gsmi l
eandaf i
rm handshake.Adda
si
ncer
ethanksfory
ourhir
ingmanager
’st
imeandconsi
der
ati
onanddon’
tforgett
oaskaboutthenextst
ep
i
nthehir
ingpr
ocessbefor
eyoumakeyourexi
t.
 10basi
cpoi
ntsbef
orey
ougoont
hatal
l
-impor
tanti
nter
view.

1.DoYourResear ch.Researchingthecompanybef or
etheintervi
ew andlearni
ngasmuchaspossi bl
e
aboutitsserv
ices,product
s,customer sandcompet i
ti
onwillgi v
ey ouanedgei nunderst
andi
ngand
addressi
ngthecompany 'sneeds.Themor eyouknow aboutt hecompanyandwhati tstandsfor
,the
bett
erchanceyouhav eofselli
ngy our
selfi
ntheint
ervi
ew.Youal soshoul
df i
ndoutaboutt
hecompany '
s
cul
turetogai
ninsighti
ntoyourpotenti
alhappi
nessonthejob.

2.LookSharp.Selectwhattoweartotheintervi
ew.Dependingontheindust
ryandpositi
on,getouty
our
bestint
erv
iew cl
othesandcheckt hem ov
erf orspotsandwr i
nkl
es.Evenifthecompanyhasacasual
envi
ronment,y
oudon' twantt
olookli
keyousl eptinyourout
fit
.Aboveal
l,dr
essforconf
idence.I
fyoufeel
good,ot
herswill
respondtoyouaccordi
ngl
y .

3.BePrepared.Bri
ngalongafol
dercontai
ningextr
acopiesofyourresume,acopyofy
ourrefer
encesand
papertot
akenot es.Youshoul
dalsohavequesti
onspreparedtoaskatt heendoft
heint
ervi
ew.Forext
ra
assur
ance,pri
ntacopyofMonst er
'shandyi
nter
viewtake-al
ongcheckli
st.

4.BeonTime.Neverarr
ivelat
etoanint
erv
iew.Al
l
owextrat
imetoarr
iveearl
yint
hev
ici
nit
y,al
l
owi
ngf
or
fact
orsl
i
kegett
ingl
ost.Entert
hebui
l
ding10to15minut
esbefor
ethei
nter
view.

5.Show Ent
husi
asm.A f i
rm handshakeand pl
entyofeyecont
actdemonst
rat
econf
idence.Speak
di
sti
nct
lyi
naconfi
dentv
oice,ev
enthoughyoumayf eel
shaky
.

6.Li
sten.Onelofthemostnegl
ect
edint
erv
iewskil
l
sisli
steni
ng.Makesur
ey ouar
enotonl
ylist
eni
ng,
but
al
soreadingbetweenthel
i
nes.Somet
imeswhatisnotsai
disjustasi
mport
antaswhati
ssaid.

7.Answert heQuestionAsked.Candi
dat
esof
tendon'tthi
nkaboutwhet
hertheyareactuall
yansweri
ngthe
quest
ionstheiri
nter
viewer
sask.Makesur
eyouunder
standwhatisbei
ngasked,andgetf
urthercl
ari
fi
cat
ioni
f
youareunsure.

8.GiveSpeci
fi
cExampl es.Onespecifi
cexampleofy
ourbackgr
oundi swort
h50v aguestor
ies.Pr
epareyour
stor
iesbef
oretheinterv
iew.Giv
eexampl est
hathi
ghl
i
ghtyoursuccessesanduni
queness.Yourpastbehavi
or
canindi
cat
eyourfutureperf
ormance.

9.AskQuestions.Manyinter
vieweesdon'
taskquesti
onsand misst he oppor
tuni
tyt
ofi
nd outv
aluabl
e
i
nfor
mat
ion.Thequest
ionsyouaskindi
cat
eyouri
nter
esti
nthecompanyorjob.

10.Fol
lowUp.Whetherit
'sthr
oughemai
lorr
egul
armai
l
,thei
nter
viewf
oll
ow-upi
sonemor echancet
oremind
thei
nterv
iewerofal
ltheval
uabl
etr
ait
syoubr
ingt
othej
obandcompany.Don'
tmisst
hisl
astchancet
omarket
your
self
.

I
tisi
mpor t
anttoappearconfi
dentandcoolfortheintervi
ew.Onewayt odothatistobeprepar
edtothebestof
y
ourabil
i
ty.Therei
snowayt opredictwhataninter
viewholds,butbyf
oll
owingtheseimpor
tantr
ulesy
ouwillf
eel
l
essanxi
ousandwi l
lbereadytopositi
vel
ypresentyoursel
f.

I
fyouhav eanypart
icul
arissuesorchal
lengesthatt
endt
otr
ipyouupduri
ngint
erv
iews,
feelfr
eet
odevel
opy our
ownstraight
for
wardcheckl i
stit
em tohelpkeepy ouontr
ack.Then,memori
zethedri
llandpr
act
icerunning
thr
oughiteachti
mey ouinterv
iew.Goodluck!