Surviving a Job Interview

Interviewing Tips

1. Learn as much as you can about the company beforehand—know its products and services, its profit margin, its management,
its culture, its dress code, and anything else you think of.
2. Do practice interviews with a career counselor, friends, and family members—or with yourself, in front of a mirror.
3. Think about how your experience in work, classes, and activities can relate to the job you’re seeking.
4. Allow plenty of time to get to the interview and, if possible, visit the site in advance and time how long it takes to get there.
5. Plan your interview attire in advance and make sure your clothing is pressed, your shoes are shined, and your hair and nails
are well groomed.
6. Bring extra copies of your resume and a list of references.
7. Speak slowly and clearly and don’t be afraid to pause for a moment to collect your thoughts.
8. Be honest. Don’t try to cover up mistakes. Instead, focus on how you learned from them.
9. Be assertive. Remember that the interview is a way for you to learn if the job is right for you.
10. Ask the interviewer for a business card and send a thank-you note or e-mail as soon as possible.

Keys to a Successful Interview

Tools:

 Interviewing Attire
o Invest in a suit, matching shoes, and appropriate accessories. If you can afford it purchase two suits for multiple
rounds of interviews.
 Resume
o If your resume takes more than 30 seconds to review, doesn’t showcase accomplishment, or is riddled with typos,
interviews won’t follow.
 Reference List
o The candidate who can present a list of references at the interview has the edge in receiving an offer than the
candidate who faxes the information a few days later. Assemble your reference list before the interviewing process so
you’re prepared.
 Interviewing Skills
o Do you know the questions employers expect you to answer? Just as important, do you know the questions they
want you to ask? Assessing yourself (skills, attributes, strengths, areas of improvement) and researching the
company (culture, size, products and services) are critical assignments.

Attitude:

 Communication Style
o Are you presenting yourself as a student just hoping to get a job or an adult eager to enter the world of work?
o A solid versus a shaky handshake; appropriate eye contact versus none at all; speaking clearly versus talking low. If
your cues are keeping you from receiving offers, a career counselor can offer suggestions.
 Expectations
o Students sometimes expect job offers to come simply because they have earned a college degree. Today’s job
market is more competitive than ever, and other attributes such as poise and professionalism can make or break the
interview. What separates you from the rest?
 Diligence
o Do you send thank-you notes and follow-up correspondence? Are you approaching your job search as you would a
final class project? The amount of work put into a job search impacts the interviews (both quality and quantity) you
can expect.
 Confidence
o Your resume may make you the most qualified candidate on paper. But that’s why companies conduct interviews.
You’ll have a shot at being the most qualified candidate in the room only when you believe it for yourself and
demonstrate this fact to the company representative.
Interview Rubric

Excellent Interview Average Interview Interviewing Skills Need

Your appearance is professional
—you are wearing a business
suit. You greet and shake hands
First Impressions with your interviewer correctly.
Your conversation is
enthusiastic and engaging.
You look nice but you do not wear
a suit. Your greeting is appropriate
but you forget to shake hands with
your interviewer. Your
conversation is enthusiastic and
engaging.
Improvement
Your attire is not professional—you
wear jeans or shorts to this
interview. You do not greet or
shake hands when you meet your
interviewer. Your conversation is
not energetic.

Interview Content
Interview Skills/Techniques
You are knowledgeable about
the organization and position
you are interviewing for. You
display poise and confidence.
You relate your skills to the job
very well.
You have excellent eye contact
with your interviewer without
staring. Your language and
grammar is appropriate. You do
not use um or and. You speak
at the right speed.
You are knowledgeable about the
position but not the organization
you are interviewing with. You
display adequate confidence in
your answers. You state your skills
but do not adequately relate them
to the job.
You have adequate eye contact
with your interviewer. Your
language and grammar are
adequate. You say um or and a
few times, but not enough to
disrupt the interview. You talk a
little too fast or too slow.
You are not knowledgeable about
the position or organization you are
interviewing with. You are not
confident in answering questions
about yourself. You do not state the
skills you have to do this job.
You look at the floor or ceiling when
speaking. Your grammar and
language are not appropriate. You
say um or and too many times. You
talk too fast or too slow.

You successfully convey your
interest in this position. You ask
Closing appropriate questions to the
interviewer. You thank the
interviewer.
You convey some interest in the You do not show any interest in this
position. You are not prepared to position. You do not ask any
ask any questions. You thank the questions. You do not thank the
interviewer. interviewer.

Interviewers Favorite Questions…And Answers

1. What do you see yourself doing five years from now?

• “I want to hear something related to retail,” says Haley Peoples, college relations manager for JC Penney Co. Inc. in
Dallas, Texas. “I don’t want to hear ‘I want to be an astronaut’ or ‘I want to win the Academy Award.’”

• Peoples says the question is designed to help the interviewer know if the job seeker will be happy in that position, or
if he or she wants to work in it only as long as it takes to find something “better.”

2. How do you make yourself indispensable to a company?

• “We are looking for both technical and interpersonal competence,” says Doris J. Smith-Brooks, recruiting and
advertising manager for Boeing Co. in Seattle, Washington.

• Smith-Brooks explains that students who have interned or completed cooperative education assignments generally
answer the question best because they know what working for a company entails.

3. What’s your greatest strength?

• “Don’t just talk about your strength—relate it to the position,” Ferguson says. “Let them know you are a qualified
candidate.”

4. What’s your greatest weakness?

• “Say something along the lines of, ‘I have difficulty with this thing, and these are the strategies I use to get around it,”
Ferguson says. “For example, you could say, ‘I’m not the most organized of individuals, so I always answer my e-
mails and phone calls right away. I’m aware of the problem and I have strategies to deal with it.”
 5. Tell me about a time when your course load was heavy. How did you complete all your work?

• “We generally are looking for an answer like, ‘Last semester I was taking 21 credits, so I made sure I had a day
planner and mapped out all my assignments,’” says Felix J. Martinez, senior staff recruiter at Abbott Laboratories in
Abbott Park, Illinois. “We’re looking for a plan-ahead kind of individual, not someone who just flies by the seat of his
pants.”

• Martinez says recruiters at Abbott Laboratories use the STAR method of interviewing, which involves getting the
interviewee to describe a situation that includes a task that needed to be accomplished, the action taken to
accomplish the task, and the result of that action.

• “We actually tell the candidate, so they’re aware of what we’re looking for,” he says, adding that the approach can
help candidates focus on their answers.

6. Tell me about a time when you had to accomplish a task with someone who was particularly difficult to get along
with.

• “I want to hear something that shows the candidate has the ability to be sensitive to the needs of others but can still
influence them,” Peoples says, adding that he’s heard plenty of wrong answers to that question. “Don’t say ‘I just
avoided them’ or ‘They made me cry.’”

7. How do you accept direction and, at the same time, maintain a critical stance regarding your ideas and values?

• Smith-Brooks repeats that internship or co-op experience can give students the experience to answer that question,
pointing out that students with good interpersonal skills honed on the job can understand how to walk that fine line.

8. What are some examples of activities and surroundings that motivate you?

• “Most of our technical disciplines are teamwork professions and require getting along with and motivating other
people,” Smith-Brooks says.

9. Tell me how you handled an ethical dilemma.

• “Suppose you worked at a bank and a long-time customer wanted a check cashed right away but didn’t have the fund
balance in his account to cover the check,” Martinez says, explaining that if the bank’s policy prohibited cashing
checks in that manner, the teller would have a choice of violating bank policy or alienating a good customer.

• Martinez says the best way to handle such a situation would be to go to a supervisor, explain the situation, and ask
for advice. He adds that students who can’t offer a situation that they handled correctly the first time can explain how
they learned from making mistakes.

• “Explain that the next time, this was how you handled it,” he says.

10. Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a problem with no rules or guidelines in place.

• “I’m looking for a sense of urgency in initiating action,” Peoples says, explaining that the question probes a student’s
ability to overcome obstacles.

• For Peoples, students offering the best answers to the question describe a retail-related problem.

• “I’m looking for the right thing in terms of customer service,” he says.

Handling Improper Interview Questions

• If asked an improper question, you have a few options:

– You are free to answer the question. However, keep in mind that if you provide this information, you may
jeopardize your chances of getting hired, in the event you provide the “wrong” answer. There may be a legal recourse
available to you, but this is not the preferred outcome for most job applicants.

– You can refuse to answer the question. Unfortunately, depending on how the refusal is phrased, you run the risk of
appearing uncooperative or confrontational, and losing the job. Again, there may be legal recourse, but this is hardly
an ideal situation.
 – You can examine the question for its intent and respond with an answer as it might apply to the job. For
example, if the interviewer asks, “Are you a U.S. citizen?” or “What country are you from?,” you have been asked an
improper question. You could respond, however, with “I am authorized to work in the United States.” Similarly, if the
interviewer asks, “Who is going to take care of your children when you have to travel for the job?” your answer could
be, “I can meet the travel and work schedule that this job requires.”

Biggest Mistakes Made During an Interview

• Acting bored or cocky

• Not dressing appropriately

• Coming to the interview with no knowledge of the company

• Not turning off cell phones or electronic devices

• Not asking good questions during the interview

• Asking what the pay is before the company considered them for the job

• Spamming employers with the same resume and/or cover letter

• Failure to remove unprofessional photos/content from social networking pages, web pages, blogs, etc.

Questions You Can Ask At an Interview

• Can you describe a typical day for someone in this position?

• What is the top priority of the person who accepts this job?

• What are the day-to-day expectations and responsibilities of this job?

• How will my leadership responsibilities and performance be measured? And by whom? How often?

• Can you describe the company's management style?

• Can you discuss your take on the company's corporate culture?

• What are the company's values?

• How would you characterize the management philosophy of this organization? Of your department?

• What is the organization's policy on transfers to other divisions or other offices?

• Are lateral or rotational job moves available?

• Does the organization support ongoing training and education for employees to stay current in their fields?

• What do you think is the greatest opportunity facing the organization in the near future? The biggest threat?

• Why did you come to work here? What keeps you here?

• How is this department perceived within the organization?

• Is there a formal process for advancement within the organization?

• What are the traits and skills of people who are the most successful within the organization?