Get ready for that interview!

So, you’ve spent hours and hours searching job boards for openings. You contacted all of your friends, joined social sites like Linkedin and expanded your network . You’ve tweaked your resume to the point that you are really happy with it. And you’ve sent it out more than a dozen times.  All that hard has work paid off and you’ve finally received a call back.  They want you to come in for an interview. Yikes! Are you ready?

Preparation

You have 72 hours to prepare for your interview. I guess its too late to lose ten pounds, or work on your tan, huh? Too late to get that MBA or latest certification I suppose. But, all is not lost because there are many things you can do that your competition is not doing, and I will tell you what that is.

What to wear

First, you need to decide what you are going to wear.  No matter what the dress code is of the company to which you are applying, you must dress in business attire. For men, that means you need a conservative dress shirt, a tie, and a suit or sports coat/blazer.  Make sure all of your clothes fit well.  For example, if you haven’t worn that blazer in a few years, try it on and make sure it isn’t a size too small (or too large if you have lost weight).  Make sure you can comfortably button the top button of your shirt so that you don’t choke yourself when you tie the tie.  I suggest you polish your dress shoes, and if they look bad, go buy new ones.   Look good and be comfortable.

For women, it is the same.  Wear a nice looking outfit that is just a little conservative.  While a business suit would be best, you can mix and match pants or skirt, with or without a jacket, but unless you are applying at Hooters, I suggest you demonstrate old fashioned modesty and fashion conservatism.    You too need to ensure that your clothes fit well, your shoes are clean and polished, and that you are presenting yourself in a serious manner.  Dress in such a way that says “I am a serious business person”.  I am not qualified to discuss hair and make-up, so you may want to call your mom (unless she still works at Hooters, in that case you can call my mom).   The bottom line is that you want to be assessed on your talents, not your physical assets.

Company Research

One often overlooked step in the process is to do some research on your prospective employer.   Knowing a little bit about their management team, their products,  their culture and their financial health could give you insight into what they are looking for in an employee and what you want in an employer.  Even knowing a little about the people with whom you are interviewing will give you insight that may just land you the job.

So, how do get that information?

The first and best source is the company’s website.   Most companies have a great deal of information about themselves including products, the management team and company news.    You can find out if they have multiple locations, if they are a domestic or a global player.  There is a wealth of information that can be used to familiarize yourself with the company.

Your next best option is  good ole Google.  If you go there and simply enter in the company’s name, you may get all you need.  Business intelligence about companies, especially public companies is all over the internet.  You can get more indepth product knowledge, financials, good news and bad news – even any pending legal action against them.  You can enter individual people’s names, and you might even get information on the person with whom you are interviewing.

If your new employer is a public company, you can go to yahoo financials at http://finance.yahoo.com/ to get their stock symbol and get incredible data as to how well they are doing, the performance of the stock over time, the management team, and a variety of analyses.  Even if you don’t understand everything about the information, you can still get a great feel for them.

If your new company is small and privately held, you can still get some decent business intelligence from a company called Hoovers at http://www.hoovers.com/ (note that there is an s after hoover.  If you go to hoover.com you will go to the vacuum cleaner people and that would suck .  Hoovers will give you a lot of free information on their site, and if you choose to get a paid membership, they will give you even more.

And the last way to get information is from current and former employees.  If you know anyone that currently works there, or has worked there in the past, you can find out a great deal about the culture, working hours, benefits, and your new boss.  Just remember that this is one person’s opinion, and not real, independent research.

The questions

The most important part of the process is the interview itself.   Most likely you are going to interview with someone in HR first.  They are the gatekeepers.  They are most interested at this point in what they call your presentation.  That is insider talk for “how do you look”?  I don’t mean in terms of EEO (race, color, gender), but more in terms of are you just a slob.   Their reputation is on the line too if they bring in someone that just doesn’t look or act normal.  Assuming you don’t look like a serial killer, you will now interview with your potential boss and maybe a few co-workers.

You need to be prepared for all sorts of questions during your interview.  Some may be about your knowledge, some are a chemistry test (will you fit in the department), and others will be open-ended questions that are designed to simply allow you to talk.  I have often asked open-ended questions to see if the candidate is articulate.  Be prepared for this part of the interview by studying your resume.  Know what you have written as your interviewer may ask you to explain something you claim to have done.

Be prepared for the typical questions like “what are your strengths”, “what are your weaknesses”, “where do you want to be in five years”.  They seem to always come up, so be prepared.  Sometimes, interviewers will accidentally ask questions that are illegal in the U.S.   They cannot ask your age for example, but will sometimes ask what year you graduated high school to try to determine that.  If you feel the question is inappropriate, try to dance around it and answer it vaguely.  If they persist in getting an answer, call them on it and decide right then and there that you don’t want to work for them.  I promise, unless you are desperate for a job, that behavior is a flag that will make working there miserable later.

If asked about your salary expectations, try to say that you are open.  Many times the budget for the position may be lower than what your needs are, but hiring authorities have much more latitude to change the salary, and will do so if they like you.  If they persist with the salary question, try saying that you would expect to be compensated fairly based on the responsibilities of the position, and if that fails, then give them your number.   You should have one in mind just in case, but don’t low ball.  Ask for what you feel is fair.  You can get salary information from http://www.salary.com, but remember that that site is not science, but a survey of similar companies and positions that is for research purposes only.

The  more interview scenarios you can create in your mind, the better prepared you are going to be if you are asked any off the wall question.

Bring your resume

No matter what you have heard, bring three copies of your resume.  All too often, HR did not make copies nor distribute yours.  If you show-up without it  and HR dropped the ball, you will look bad, not HR.

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Well, there is more of course, but this article is already longer than most of you want to read, so email me if you want more at mike.anderson@directyourcareer .com or leave me a comment.

Good luck!!