FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE the strongest. Here are the preparations to make before heading out to the interview.
Backstage in the theater, the announcement “Places, please” is made five minutes before the curtain rises. It’s the performers’ signal to psych themselves up, complete final costume adjustments, and make time to reach the stage. They are getting ready to go onstage and knock ’em dead. You should go through a similar process to get thoroughly prepared for your time in the spotlight.
Winning a job offer depends not only on the things you do well but also on the mistakes you avoid. As the interview approaches, settle down with your resume and the exercises you performed in building it. Immerse yourself in your past successes and the transferable skills and professional values that made them possible. Interview nerves are to be expected; the trick is to use them to your benefit by harnessing that nervous energy for your physical and mental preparation.
Here’s what you should bring with you:
The company dossier: Always take copies of the resume you customized for this job and an executive briefing that clearly defines how you match the job’s requirements: one for you and one for each of the interviewers you might meet. Your main interviewer will invariably have a copy of your resume, but you can’t be certain of that with other people you meet. It is perfectly acceptable to have your resume in front of you at the interview; it shows you are organized, and it makes a great cheat sheet. It is not unusual to hear, “Mr. Jones wasn’t hired because he didn’t pay attention to detail and couldn’t even remember his employment dates”—just the kind of thing you are likely to forget in the nervousness of the moment.
A decent folder with pad of paper and writing instruments: These demonstrate your preparedness, and they give you something constructive to do with your hands during the interview; you can keep your resume in the folder.
Reference letters: If you have reference letters from past employers, take them along. Some employers don’t put much stock in written references and prefer a one-on-one conversation with past employers. Nevertheless, having them with you and getting them placed in your candidate file can’t do any harm.
A list of job-related questions: Asking questions that give you insight into the day-to-day realities of the job shows your engagement with the work. It also helps you advance your candidacy because our judgments about people are based, in part, on the questions they ask since those questions speak to the depth of their interest and understanding. Additionally, asking questions gives you insight into how you should best focus your answers to the interviewer’s queries.
You can find more questions to ask at the end of Chapter 13.
Any additional information you have about the company or the job: If time permits, visit the company website, review any company literature and research you might have, and do a Google search for news articles mentioning the company by name and for articles that relate to your profession.
Directions to the interview: Decide on your form of transportation and finalize your time of departure, leaving enough time to accommodate travel delays. Check the route, distance, and travel time. If you forget to verify date, time, and place (including floor and suite number), you might not even arrive at the right place, or on the right day, for your interview. Write it all down legibly and put it with the rest of your interview kit.
To arrive at an interview too early indicates overanxiousness, and to arrive late is inconsiderate, so arrive at the interview on time, but at the location early. This allows you time to visit the restroom (usually your only private sanctuary at an interview) and make the necessary adjustments to your appearance, review any notes, and put on your game face. Remember to add contact numbers to your interview kit, so if you are delayed on the way to the interview, you can call and let the interviewer know.
Your dress should be clean-cut and conservative. As you could be asked to appear for an interview at a scant couple of hours’ notice, keep your best outfit freshly cleaned, shirts or blouses wrinkle free, shoes polished, and all readied for interviews at a moment’s notice.
Visit the hairdresser once a month so that you always look groomed, and keep your nails clean and trimmed at all times (even if you work with your hands). While you will naturally shower or bathe prior to an interview, and the use of an unscented deodorant is advisable, you should avoid wearing aftershave or perfume; you are trying to get a job, not a date. Never drink alcohol the day before an interview. It affects your eyes and skin tone, as well as your wits.
KNOCK ’EM DEAD TIP
In the early rounds of interviewing, stay away from questions about where the job can lead and what the pay and benefits are. It’s not that these questions aren’t important, just that the timing is wrong. It won’t do you any good to know what a job pays when you aren’t going to get a job offer. Instead, ask the questions that will lead to a job offer being extended, and then ask the questions you need to evaluate that offer. For questions to ask during the negotiation phase, see Chapter 27, “Negotiating the Job Offer.”
When you get to the interview site, visit the restroom to check your appearance and take a couple of minutes to do the following:
• Review the company dossier.
• Recall your commitment to the profession and the team, and the professional behaviors that help you succeed.
• Breathe deeply and slowly for a minute to dispel your natural physical tension.
• Review the questions you will need to identify first projects and initial needs.
• Smile and head for the interview—you are as ready as you are ever going to be. Afterward you will review your performance to make sure the next one goes even better.
Under no circumstances should you back out because you do not like the receptionist or the look of the office—that would be allowing personal insecurities to triumph. You are here to improve one of your most critical professional skills—turning interviews into job offers. Whatever happens, you can and must learn from this experience.
KNOCK ’EM DEAD TIP
It is inappropriate and distracting for you and for the interviewer to have a cell phone ring during an interview. If for any reason you forget and it does ring, just apologize and turn it off. Never answer a personal call at a job interview.
As you are shown into the office, you are on!
This potential new employer wants an aggressive and dynamic employee, but someone who is less aggressive and dynamic than he is, so take your lead from the interviewer.
• Give a firm handshake—respond to the interviewer’s grip and duration.
• Make eye contact and smile. Say, “Hello, Ms. Larsen. I am John Jones. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”
• Use first names (unless asked).
• Smoke (even if invited).
• Sit down (until invited).
• Show anxiety or boredom.
• Look at your watch.
• Discuss equal rights, sex, race, national origin, religion, or age.
• Show samples of your work (unless requested).
• Ask about benefits, salary, or vacation.
Now you are ready for anything—except for the tough questions that are going to be thrown at you next. We’ll handle those in the following pages.