Remember Interviewing?

Well if you're like me then it has been quite a few years since you've really interviewed.  When you sit and think about it, many of us have a hard time expressing what we do and how we add value to our company, especially quantitatively.  My advice now is to keep track of any major accomplishment, sale, contract, whatever that you achieve in order to be able to draw on that information later.  In fact it wouldn't be a bad idea to just add a bullet point to your resume recording the event and the impact.  And if you can add numbers to demonstrate the value then all the better!  I'll post later about the resume critique that I paid for and the results.  For now I'll focus on the interviewing portion.

So two types of interviews are out there: phone and in-person.  Although the phone interview has a lot of appeal (not having to leave the house and being able to wear comfortable clothing like my robe and fuzzy bunny slippers) I much prefer the in-person event.  It is hard to beat the impact of a face to face impression.

If I'm scheduled for a phone interview I like to do a few things in preparation.  First, wake up early.  There is nothing worse than sounding like you just woke up.  You can't hide it, the person on the other line will sense it, and it sends a poor image of yourself.  Second, prepare index cards with answers to typical key questions.  Questions such as: Describe your major contributions in your last position, or Walk me through a situation where you had to define a problem, design a solution and implement the change.  You can find plenty of websites offering example prep interview questions.  So I will generally take a key event or two from my most recent positions and jot them down in the STAR format (Situation, Task, Actions and Results).  These cards define the situation that was a concern, the tasks required to develop the fixes, the actions taken to implement the developed fixes, and finally the results.  Can you quantify the results?  That part is key and difficult at times as many of our results aren't necessarily measurable.  For instance a more motivated worker, etc.  But when you drill down into the result, even that motivated worker should show some improvement in productivity.  My other preparatory step for a phone interview is to dress in a business casual mode.  Sounds weird but its the old psychological step of getting your mind in the right frame.

As for the actual interview, your goals are to present a professional image through your appearance and demeanour, and to establish a conversation rather than an interrogation.  Unless specifically directed otherwise, dress in the traditional shirt, tie and sports coat (or appropriate corresponding female dress code if necessary).  This is a sign of respect for the interviewer; it says I see this as a very important event.  The next challenge is to establish a conversation about your skills and qualifications for the position of interest.  This can be a challenge as not every interviewer is skilled at setting a good interviewing tone/environment.  How many times have you felt that you were just interviewed by the first person that walked into their manager's office and was handed your resume ten minutes before your arrival?  If by chance, you are the interviewer, then put some effort into it and prepare yourself.  Read the resume and make notes on it (though not in red ink, I did that once and it had the interviewee very concerned as he noticed all of my red notes all over the resume).  Both sides need to do their best at establishing an open environment that allows a true conversation between two professionals.

So give it your best and good luck if you are interviewing soon.  At the very least you might not receive an offer but you might make a new contact in the field (there's networking at work again!).