Consider Every Encounter an Interview

Interviews come in all shapes and sizes; formal and informal. So the best practice is to treat every encounter along your job search journey, or your career path, as an interview.

Let me start out by first mentioning a few things about informal interviews. These interview opportunities can come in the disguise of a conversation over a latte at Starbucks, or a brief encounter in the check-out line at the grocery store. They can occur when you are having a casual conversation with a friend or co-worker or someone you have networked to as a result of a friendship or business relationship.

During these conversations:

• inform others that you are on a journey, gathering information to improve your job search strategies. Welcome all ideas and comments.
• share positive thoughts and ideas as you also practice and share, in an informal way, the critical points included in your "30 second commercial."
• don’t assume because this person is not a hiring manager he/she doesn’t need to learn of your talents, experiences, and dream job.
• don’t make the mistake of assuming that since you’ve know this person for any length of time that they somehow know what you’re good at.

Depending on the direction the informal conversation takes, try to learn something about how you can help this person as they are helping you, ask if you can share your resume for their ideas and feedback, and don’t be shy about asking for two other contacts they think you should make to expand your network. Remember, it’s all about networking!

Formal Interviews

Usually the first introduction to the formal process is through a screening telephone interview. Recruiters love this option as it provides a quick way to size you up. So, be prepared – you will probably only have one shot at making a great impression.

Usually the screening interview will take about 10-20 minutes. The recruiter will probably not have a background in your field, so don’t get too bogged down in the details. Be prepared for the call by having your 30-second commercial script handy, as well as your resume and the ad you responded to, if in fact that is how you got connected to the recruiter. The recruiter has a mission – to determine if you’re qualified to proceed further in the hiring process.

It’s important for you to focus on being yourself: professional, interested and credible. Be ready to respond to general questions about your background and interests and the most critical question, "What salary are you seeking?" This is definitely a question you need to be prepared for – too high and you won’t be included in the group asked to participate in the next stage of the process. As much as you can, offer a reasonable range and note that once you learn more about their expectations it will be easier to define a specific amount that is commensurate with the performance they are anticipating.

Following the screening, the employment interview can go in a number of directions, usually dictated by geography and/or culture.

The one-on-one interview usually takes place in person, and is usually conducted by the person who will be the supervisor. However, with more organizations geographically spread out, the one-on-one interview may be conducted through video conferencing. In order to get to this one-on-one you may first have to pass a series of individual conversations with others such as: the HR Manager (looking for fit), a group member (looking for team skills), and/or a colleague in another department you would interface with (looking for customer service skills). Be sure to ask who you will be meeting with when you are called to schedule your interview. Armed with this information you can prepare to answer questions from the perspective they will be most interested in.

One-on-one interviews usually last about 30-60 minutes. Treat these invitations as a time to have an interesting two-way dialogue. Remember, the employer wants to learn more about you, and you should have your questions ready so you can learn more about them (at least three for each person you are being interviewed by). Your questions could address a variety of topics including the organizational challenges you read about while doing research, the competencies they believe are most desired for success in the position, or a description of the manager’s leadership style. Your questions should be addressing information that is not already known to the public. Demonstrate that you did your homework.

Speaking of homework, make sure you are practicing interview questions. You’ll find books of interview questions at the library, and certainly there are lots of questions available over the internet. As you are practicing, please be aware that most employers today utilize the behavioral interviewing methodology. So be sure you have a ‘story’ that you can share about your key competencies, experiences, and values. My book, Position Your Next Move for a Successful Job Search includes an entire chapter on strengthening your interviewing and behavioral interviewing skills.

Depending on the structure of the organization, you may learn that you will be interviewed by a panel. Don’t panic – be ready! Companies often decide to interview by a panel in order to be more efficient with time, or provide you with a taste of their corporate culture. Be confident just like in any other interview – but this time, connect with everyone (usually 3-8 individuals). Here’s where your abilities to win people over will shine. Just like with the individual interviews, have a strong handshake, make good eye contact with each panel member and demonstrate humility. And just like I explained in the one-on-one interviews, each panel member will be looking for an answer to their specific agenda – leadership skills, fairness, team-oriented attitude, technical competencies and flexibility, just to name a few.

Although rare, I do want to mention the group interview. I have a friend who encountered a group interview a few years ago where she was being considered for the Sr. HR Manager. She said it was very stressful. Not only did everyone have to answer questions from a panel in front of the other candidates, they also were put on teams with the other candidates to perform tasks. (Sort of like the HGTV "DesignStar" process.) Be prepared, be yourself and try to learn as much as you can by observing the other candidates. Collaborating with someone who could possibly be taking the job away from you may not seem like a good strategy, but it certainly could indicate that you put what’s best for the company ahead of your own personal gains.

The Next Round

There are other events that you may encounter when interviewing. You might be asked to:

• demonstrate a particular skill set
• participate in a video interview
• tour the office or plant and along the way hold mini-interviews with workers
• complete psychological, work-style preference, and/or emotional intelligence assessments
• join the future boss for lunch or dinner

You just don’t know what the company may have in store for you, so always make it a rule to ask, "Who will I be meeting with, and what is their title?" "What can you share with me about the style of interview I should be prepared for?" "How long should I plan to be on site?" "Do you know if there will be a tour or meal involved?"

You’re probably thinking, I’m not going to ask those questions; I would be totally out of line. But trust me, you would not be. Your competitors will probably be asking these questions and preparing for the situation they now know they will be walking into. Just think how different your confidence level could be if you have this information in advance. It doesn’t hurt to ask. Either they will share the interview strategy with you, or they’ll politely say they can’t. You have one shot at helping yourself be at your best for the interview – take it.

As always, I welcome your comments to my posting. Please share your thoughts below. If you found this article helpful, I’m very happy for you to pass it along to others. Have a great week.

This article was written by Deborah A. King, SPHR, CEO an Executive and Career Coach with Evolution Management, Inc. Debbie and her team are energized about guiding your strategic job search and assisting with your professional development. Contact Debbie for more information: Debbie@evolutionmgt.com; 770.587.9032.

A Graduation Gift – A Solid Job Search Strategy

It’s that time of year again: graduation announcements, celebrations, and job search. Some ambitious students may already be implementing their strategy, while others may not have had time enough between projects and exams to think about it yet. Whatever situation you or your graduating friend is in, there’s good news. According to the 2011 Job Outlook Report issued by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, employers are indicating a hiring projection well improved from last year. Good news, and another reason to celebrate!

But before the celebrations begin, the graduate should devote some quality time to developing a job search strategy that will deliver a good job. So here’s my early graduation gift: a road map for planning a successful job search strategy.

After the years of dedication you’ve put into your education one thing I’m sure you’ve learned is that no one is just going to give you a job. In fact, unless you’re totally clueless, you are aware that we’ve been experiencing a downturn in the economy and hundreds of thousands of people are out of work, making the competition for every job more intense. Analyzing these two data points, you also realize you’ll have to be sharp, prepared, and strategic in your job search to make the most of your time and efforts. So what’s the first step?

Getting Started
As you think about your job search, keep my EMI Job Search Model in mind. This model forms an integrated strategy of:

• a well developed, growing and utilized network of friends, family and colleagues interested in helping you succeed
• a strong and focused resume that quickly illustrates the value of the knowledge, skills and abilities you have to contribute to the right organization
• a confident and prepared interviewer who is comfortable speaking with others about her strengths, as well as those traits she is still developing

Surrounding these cornerstones of the model is a communications strategy implemented through continuous follow up.

Key actions before leaving campus include the following:

• Clean up your social media presence – remember HR types and hiring managers will be looking at what you’ve got posted. If you can, take down controversial comments, links, photos, etc. It’s time to get professional – meaning not everything you do, think or experience should be public.
• Make sure your ‘LinkedIn’ profile portrays you with a professional image and that you connect with all your professors, friends, and college acquaintances and then begin to expand from that base.
• Take advantage of the career counseling offered through your Career Center – resume preparation, speakers, job boards, job fairs, etc.
• If you haven’t been a student member of the professional association that supports your field of interest – join! (I have more to say about this later) Try to go to a few meetings to meet more people to include in your job search network. Often the Student Chapters are invited to the larger association meetings – a great networking opportunity.
• Check in to available internships – these may be managed through the Career Center or directly by your Department Chair.
• Utilize relationships the college has with business partners to schedule networking interviews with business leaders. This will help you formulate your search strategy, as well as expand the pool of companies that know you are available and ready to make a difference for their organization. 

Is Your “Old” Room Still Available?
For many students without a job, the only option may be to move back home with Mom and Dad while you are in job search. Be aware that this can be difficult for everyone – it’s not just about you. Also, be aware that they want you to be successful and probably feel that they have some life experiences that would be helpful for you to know about. Be respectful and kind. Yes, it’s a different generation, but they have probably held more jobs than you have and just may have some nuggets of wisdom that will help you. Listen and be grateful.

Remember how earlier I congratulated you for knowing about world affairs and the global economic crisis? Those events have some far reaching ramifications that will impact your job search:

• more competition as a result of the number of people out of work
• employers reluctant to hire full-time positions; you may have to consider part-time or temp assignments in the short term
• expanding opportunities with small businesses, but you’ll probably need to wear multiple hats
• expanding opportunities for spammers and rip-off artists; be careful protecting your personal data – if the opportunity sounds too good to be true, it probably is
• finding ways to reduce costs has led many industries to embrace technology-based operations – this is good news for you since your generation is comfortable using and adapting to technologies. Make sure you bring that out in your resume and interview

With the marketplace changing, so goes the hiring process. You will see fewer jobs being posted on sites such as CareerBuilder and Monster. You may have been too busy studying to hear the story about Delta Airlines. A few months ago they posted a hiring need for 1,000 flight attendants -- they received 100,000 resumes! No organization has the internal capacity to deal with that type of response. So, as jobs become available, more organizations will be working through recruiters and through networking. Do you see why I want you to get comfortable networking? That’s where the jobs are, and will be for the near future. So I realize that you like to text and chat, but get yourself comfortable with face-to-face interactions. Be aware of your communications and interpersonal skills. If you need a coach to improve in these areas, get one – it will be an investment in yourself that will pay off for many years. Also, while you were in school did you ever come across the growing reliance on Emotional Intelligence (EI) in hiring selection and job fit? If you haven’t, you should become familiar with it and keep the principles in mind as you practice interview questions.

Bringing It All Together
One of the first networking tasks you can create is to ask a few trusted individuals for feedback on your resume. Hopefully you received some great help from your Career Center. Don’t overlook the many avenues for information on preparing a resume available on the internet, as well as the free Career Transition resources I offer at my website www.evolutionmgt.com. Consider your resume a work-in-progress and always look for ways to improve it.

Another activity you can do in conjunction with your networking is to take on a job as a volunteer. Include the position and your accomplishments on your resume, even though you aren’t getting paid; it’s all about your talents and experience. A volunteer job allows you to demonstrate your self-motivation, energy level and willingness to take on new activities in order to learn. This could also be the perfect place to gain a good reference.

I mentioned earlier that I had more to say about associations, and it’s all good. Last month I had the honor of serving as a judge for the SHRM Southeast Student Conference which was held at Clemson University. The Conference was set up with educational sessions, as well as case study competitions for the 7 SE teams. The entire experience re-enforced for me that associations dedicated to student and professional development are a wonderful source for networking, learning, and career transition support. I know the business and HR students attending this conference walked away with a lot of good information as well as a healthy dose of confidence when it comes to presentation and communication skills and personal image. Here are a few of the many tips on Pam Greene’s Career Management Checklist that she shared with the students. Pam is the Chief Membership Officer for SHRM.

• Do your homework: research employers before you start applying – know whether you will fit in with the corporate culture and be prepared to answer the question, “What do you know about us?”
• Read! Keep up with news and trends in your field of study and be able to talk to professionals intelligently about your knowledge. By the way, have you seen this issue of TIME?
• Control helicopter parents!
• Create your own business cards
• Be a lifelong learner – don’t stop educating yourself when you graduate; continue to take courses, read books, and consider graduate school
• Don’t be late for interviews or work (most companies have a policy that you can be fired for tardiness)
• Dress for success – never go to work in clothes that are too trendy or inappropriate for the office 

In closing I’ll add two more things to the list:

• Understand what the business community knows, or thinks it knows about your generation and present yourself in a way that supports that assumption or challenges it
• Recognize the power of the first impression.

The job market is challenging these days. There are jobs, but there are lots of people applying. Know who you are and what you are good at. Recognize that this is your first job and not one that you’ll hold for the rest of your life. At the most, you’ll probably only be in this position 3-5 years and then you’ll be moving up, over or on to other things. Brand yourself and treat everyone you meet with respect.

In addition to the other Career GPS blogs available for your review, please also check out my website for free resources and my workbook Position Your Next Move for a Successful Job Search.  Congratulations and good luck with your career!

One question for those readers who are already out in the work world: What would you say are the top three “must dos” for students trying to find that first job? Please click below and offer your suggestions.

Q&A
Dear Job Seeker Q&A:
Since I want to check out all job search channels, I’d like to find out what jobs are available in the government sector. Can you suggest how I go about this.
Charlie

Check out Dear Job Seeker... to see my answer to Charlie's question.