How to Ace That Job Interview
You’re on the job hunt, you’ve got a rock star resume, and as luck would have it you’ve gotten a call saying that the company wants you to come in for an interview. Maria Larsen, a Human Resources generalist from Phoenix, Arizona has several tips to help you shine when you go in for the interview.
1. Attire
“Know the dress culture of the company,” explains Larsen. “The best way to gauge this is by dropping your application off in person. If you are unsure, you can ask the person at the front desk. But business casual is always a safe bet.”
“This should go without saying,” says Larsen, “but remember the three B’s: boobs, belly, butt. None of those should be showing. You would think that would be common sense, but I’ve had people show up for job interview with curse words or drug paraphernalia on their shirts, too much skin showing, or saggy pants.”
2. Give Candid Responses
“Most interviews are moving towards a behavioral focus. HR people want to know what you would do in a particular situation. So think of examples ahead of time for potential job interview questions. Have you ever worked on a team? What is a good experience, or a bad experience? What made your team successful, or not? If you had a difficult customer who wanted to complain, how would you handle the situation?”
Larsen says, “interviewers want to see your thinking process. So be specific about your examples and how you handled the situations.”
3. Listen to the Question
“Be sure to listen carefully to each question,” advises Larsen, “then pause for a second to think about your answer before giving your response. You want to make sure that you actually addressed what the interviewer was asking.”
4. Don’t Give Too Much Information
“There’s a difference between being candid and giving too much information,” Larsen explains. “You don’t need to talk about your personal life or put forward a political agenda during a job interview. Just give the interviewer the information they need to know: can you do the job that you are interviewing for?”
5. Follow Up
Larsen says that it used to be common practice for applicants to e-mail their interviewer to say thank you for their time, “but in today’s market we are so inundated with e-mails and phone calls that a follow up e-mail would just be one more piece of correspondence for me to handle.”
That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t follow up on an interview that you think went well. “If you haven’t heard back from the company within five business days, go ahead and call or e-mail to check on the status of your application. But don’t sound desperate,” says Larsen. “Keep the conversation short and to the point. Thank them for their time, say that you would like to check on the status of your application, and that’s it.”
I hope these tips are helpful and that you’re going to ace that job interview and get a great job. It’s a tough job market out there, but keep your chin up. Something fabulous is just around the corner.
Another great article in the series!
For a lot of employers, there is typically an exploratory or informational interview, often by phone, done by someone from HR.
When you get to the point where you are interviewing with the people who may be your supervisors and colleagues, they already know you are qualified for the job. At this point it’s more about fit; how will you fit in with the team? Are you work styles compatible with the established norms in that department? This is definitely the time to let your personality out a little.
Also, at all stages of interviewing, you should have questions prepared to ask of your interviewer as well. Not just technical questions regarding salary and benefits either. It’s always good to ask about opportunities for advancement, as well as average turnover for that position or department. In later interviews, try to pick up on information that may be hidden in questions asked of you, then use that to ask a question of your own to get more details about a particular responsibility, task, or procedure. It shows the interviewer that you were paying attention, and also that you are thinking ahead. Nothing caps off a great interview quite as much as seeming like you are ready to start tomorrow!
Thanks for the additional tips, Mike.
I’d agree with these points except for #5. HR generalists may well consider thank-you notes just one more thing to cope with. But once you reach the point of having direct interviews with the people who would be your actual supervisor or coworkers, then I think a thank-you note to those people is still very appropriate. There have been a few times when I’ve interviewed candidates, and they have actually written such good thank-you letters that it made them noticeably stronger candidates. They really took advantage of that second chance to show how their particular strengths could benefit the workgroup, based on things they learned about us during the interview process, and which they hadn’t conveyed during the actual interviews. (We put candidates through multiple back-to-back interviews, so they may learn something from the 4th person they talk to, and the thank-you note gives them an opportunity to tie that knowledge to their skills for people 1-3.)
I probably don’t have to remind an LGBT audience not to make the same mistake that I see a little too often in thank you notes: don’t address a letter as “Dear Mrs. So-and-so” unless you’re absolutely sure the woman is married and uses that form of address! Ms. is a much safer bet, or depending on your field and the level you’re interviewing at, Dr. may be an even safer one.
When I interviewed prospective employees I wanted to know if the applicant would be a good fit with the other members of the staff. I not only asked situational questions for work environment but I did ask personal goals and interests. I also needed to know how they would relate to the patients they would see. Our Home Health Agency treated all ages, with different culteral backgrounds. I would ask questions that would demonstrate how they handled various scenarios in the past.
Thanks for the tips, S & Margaret. It’s a tough job market, and I think that people can use all the help they can get, so expert advice from people who have done the hiring is really appreciated.