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Successful Interviewing
Hiring decisions are often made in the first 30 seconds, so the employer‘s first impression of you is crucial. Put your best foot forward by remembering the basics: promptness, a firm handshake, confident posture, good eye contact, professional attire, and a genuine smile. Interviews will vary from employer to employer, but anticipating certain commonalities will enable you to be prepared. Some interviewing guidelines can be found below. Please contact your co-op coordinator with any questions.
Preparing for the Interview
- Dress appropriately in a business suit. See http://www.symsdress.com/ for tips and pictures. Be polished - including shined shoes, manicured nails, and minimal fragrance.
- Research the organization by checking their website. What services or products does the organization provide? # of employees? How long has the organization been in business? Who are their key customers?
- Know the position for which you are interviewing. Your co-op coordinator will send you the description if you ask. What skills are required? What personality traits are sought? How do you fit into that?
- Know yourself. What are your top 3 strengths and weaknesses? What experiences do you want to address in the interview? Have at least 3 stories ready to tell about your skills and accomplishments (see the STAR technique).
- Practice, practice, practice. Recite answers to common interviewing questions in front of a mirror or with a friend until you are confident in your responses.
- Know how to get to the interview location and arrive early. Some students do a "test drive" the day before the interview to time traffic. Plan to arrive 15 minutes early.
- Bring at least 2 copies of your resume on good quality resume paper with you. You may want to invest in a nice leather portfolio (available at any office supply store) for your resume, a pad of paper, and a pen.
- Focus your answers on your accomplishments and what you can do for the company (as opposed to what they can do for you).
- If you‘re in a group interview situation, address the person who asked the question, but make eye contact with the others during your answer.
- If you don‘t know how to answer a question, it is okay to pause and think about it. It allows you to reflect and compose an intelligent answer, and it makes your answers appear less "canned."
- Be conscious of your body language. Over 70% of communication is nonverbal, so be sure you are communicating an open, honest posture by uncrossing arms, sitting up straight, and making appropriate eye contact.
- While your answers to questions are important, the interviewer is really judging your composure, your self-esteem, willingness to pitch in, ability to get along with others, time management abilities, and your business comprehension. It is your job to inspire the interviewer‘s confidence in you.
- You can answer questions based on prior work experience, class projects, volunteer work, or experience through student/professional organizations.
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DO
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DO NOT
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Look the interviewer in the eye and smile.
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Chew gum.
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Be prepared to ask a few questions at the end.
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Ask about salary, vacation, or other "perks."
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Be polite, enthusiastic, confident, and calm.
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Complain about professors or past supervisors.
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Be honest.
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Bring children or friends with you to the interview.
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Offer a firm handshake at the beginning and end of the interview.
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Get so caught up in how you will answer the next question that you miss the interviewer‘s question.
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Ignore the secretaries or other staff. Be polite to everyone you meet.
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Relate your skills and experiences to the position.
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Use slang or (gasp!) profanity. Speak clearly and in a professional manner.
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Thank the interviewer(s) for their time and ask for their business card.
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Sweat the small stuff. If you make a faux pas or forget something, it‘s not the end of the world.
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Sample Interview Questions
- Interview questions fall into two categories: Situational and Behavioral. Situational questions are more general, such as "Tell me about your strengths." Behavioral questions ask for examples of when you demonstrated certain traits, such as "Describe a major problem you faced and how you dealt with it." In a behavioral interview, the interviewer will ask you to provide details, and will discourage you from generalizing about several events. Using the STAR technique on behavioral questions virtually guarantees you will stay focused.
· All interview questions, whether situational or behavioral, are really asking the same thing:
Answering Interview Questions: The "Star" Technique
- With many questions (especially behavioral ones that begin with "Tell me about a time when you..."), you can use the STAR technique to ensure a detailed and specific answer. STAR stands for:
S - (discuss the Situation)
T - (discuss the Task involved)
A - (discuss the Action you took)
R - (discuss the Result you achieved)
For Example: Q: "Tell me about a time when you were on a team and a member wasn‘t pulling his or her own weight."
A:"I was assigned to a team to build a canoe out of concrete. One of our team members wasn‘t showing up for our lab sessions or doing his assignments. I finally met with him in private, explained the frustration of the rest of the team, and asked if there was anything I could do to help. He told me he was preoccupied with another class he wasn‘t passing, so I found someone to help him with the other class. He was not only able to spend more time on our project, but he was also grateful to me for helping him out. We finished our project on time and got a ‘B‘ on it."
Types of Face to Face Interviews
- Every interview will be different based on company culture, interviewer personality, or interviewer mood, but they can be organized into four basic categories. For each of these interview types, you may be asked situational or behavioral questions.
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Type of Interview
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What to expect
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One-on-One
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This is the most traditional (and common) interview where you and the interviewer have a private meeting. Often, the position and company will be described to you first, and then the interviewer will ask you questions. Sometimes, the reverse approach is taken.
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Panel
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In a panel interview, you will meet with several people simultaneously. The group might include your immediate supervisor, co-workers, a human resources representative, and/or a senior manager. The challenge of this format is to build rapport with each interviewer. To do so, make eye contact with all the panelists as you answer, not just the person who asked the question. As always, focus on your success stories.
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Case
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You are presented with a problem or question and asked how you would solve it. Sometimes the question is related to the industry, and sometimes it is seemingly random (for example, "How would you figure out how many jellybeans are in this jar without counting them?") The goal is not to come up with the right answer, but like in math class, the interviewer wants you to show your work. He/she is looking for common sense, logic, deductive reasoning, analytical skills, and problem solving skills.
Think about what you need to solve the problem, and whether all the necessary information was provided. If not, ask questions to gather the information necessary to give an informed decision. Show how you would use data to generate options. Based on the data, discuss available options and your understanding of the situation, and then explain how you would make the final decision.
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Stress
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In this situation, you will be presented with seemingly rude or tactless questions to assess your ability to adjust, keep your cool, and think under pressure. While the questions may upset or anger you, remember what the interviewer is doing and respond confidently. Examples of stress questions include:
- We‘ve tried to hire people from your school/major before, and they‘ve never worked out. What makes you different?
- Why have you accepted such uninteresting summer jobs?
- Wouldn‘t you be better off in another field?
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Companies often use the telephone to screen candidates. What starts out as an informal conversation may actually be an interview, so it is important to be prepared. During these conversations, employers may request additional information, set up a face-to-face interview, reschedule a time for a more formal phone interview, or may use the telephone as the only interview.
Things to keep in mind:
- Since the call could arrive at any time of the day or night, let anyone who might answer your phone know that you are expecting calls from employers. Ask them to take thorough messages including the caller‘s name, company name, phone number, time, date, and reason for the call.
- Make sure your answering machine message is professional.
- Stand up while talking with the employer (you will sound more assertive) and smile while talking (your tone often mimics your facial expression). Some people keep a mirror near the phone to make sure they smile.
- If you have Caller ID and are unprepared to speak with the employer at the time they call, let it go to voicemail. Make sure you call back as soon as possible (preferably within 15 minutes, but always within 24 hours). Employers have been known to offer the job to someone else when they can‘t reach their original candidate.
- Have your resume in front of you (and review it ahead of time), as they may ask you questions about it.
- Never ask the employer to call you back later. Nothing sends the message "I don‘t really care about this job" faster. If you can‘t talk then, don‘t answer the phone.
- If Call Waiting beeps, do not answer the call. Either ignore it or let the interviewer know that your call waiting is beeping but should stop shortly.
- Place your pets in another room so they cannot be heard.
- If you expect the call at a certain time, be ready 10-15 minutes in advance, just in case.
- Do not eat or drink during the interview.
- At the end of the conversation, thank you interviewer for calling and confirm next steps.
- Send a thank you letter reiterating your interest in the position.
- To distinguish yourself from other candidates and leave a great impression, mail a thank you letter within 24 hours after each interview. Address the letter to the person(s) you met and be sure the name is spelled correctly. The letter should be typed on resume paper. To see frequently asked questions about thank you letters, visit: http://www.quintcareers.com/thank_you_letters.html
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