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You searched the want ads and sent out dozens of resumes, finally you got a call asking you to come in for an interview. Congratulations, you made it further than 80% of the people who applied for that job. Now you have ONE chance to make a good impression and either get a second interview or better yet, get the job. That one interview may last 30 minutes or all day, but regardless of the length of the interview you need to know how to maximize your chance for success. Below are 10 tips for interview success:
1. Be Prepared - Do Your Research Regardless of the level of the job you are interviewing for, know about the company where you are interviewing. In today’s age where you can find out almost anything on the Internet it is irresponsible to go into an interview and say “I don’t know anything about your company.” Do your research and know basic information. A) You should be able to discuss key products or services of the company. B) Google the company and if it has been in the news recently show you are knowledgeable and ask a question about the recent article you read. C) Read the company mission statement and vision and make a comment about the mission statement and why you would like to work at a place with that mission or vision. The important thing is that you let the interviewers know you are interested and took the time and effort to do your research. 2. Dress Appropriately Appropriate dress is generally considered a bit more professional than others in a position similar to the one you are seeking. Unless you are seeking a very high level job, you do not need to wear an expensive business suit. For men, a nice pair of pants, a button down colored shirt tucked in either with or without a tie, and a pair of nice casual shoes should be good for most positions. For women a nice skirt either just above or below the knee or a pair of business slacks with a comfortable shirt or sweater should be a safe bet for almost any low to mid-level professional job. 3. Arrive Early for the Interview Make it a point to be early for the interview. If you think it will take you a half hour to get there, leave an hour early. You are interviewing for a job, if you have to sit around a little bit that’s okay. There are several good reasons to arrive early. Some places have you fill out an application once you arrive to be interviewed, if you arrive early you can take your time completing the application. Arriving early gives you a chance to observe employees and customers moving about the lobby. While waiting for the interview you can learn more about the company by reading literature in the lobby. Plus, being early gives you the opportunity to calm yourself down before you are interviewed. 4. Turn Off Your Cell Phone This doesn’t need much explanation. There is nothing more important than the interview, so turn off your cell phone. A cell phone ringing in an interview just creates one more obstacle to overcome. 5. Feel Free to Take Notes Take a small pad of a paper and a pen with you to the interview. If you think of questions you would like to ask during the interview, write them down and wait for the appropriate time. 6. Remember the Names of the People Interviewing You Being interviewed is an anxiety producing experience and remembering the names of the people you are introduced to may not be at the forefront of your mind, but believe me, it should be. You make a good impression by calling people by name. If necessary write the names of the people interviewing you and if necessary, even ask the person’s name a second time to make sure you have it right. 7. Treat the Black Manager Like Everyone Else Interviewing You I have experienced black candidates who are being interviewed only talk to me or completely ignore me and only focus on the white interviewers in the room. Neither makes a very good impression. Be cordial and professional with everyone interviewing you. All of the interviewers are a part of the decision-making process and they are all seeking to find the most qualified person who will best fit into the organization’s culture. It is your job during the interview to show everyone in the room that you are not only qualified but that you will fit in. 8. Put a Positive Spin on Everything Regardless of the question you are asked, answer it in a positive way. The #1 cardinal rule of interviewing is NEVER BAD MOUTH A FORMER EMPLOYER. If you are leaving your job because you and your boss didn’t get along or you were not given enough responsibility, you don’t need to be so brutally honest. Don’t use phrases like, “I didn’t like…” “I had a problem with…” A good response to why you are leaving a job is that you are looking for additional responsibility; you are looking for more opportunity; the company you work at is larger (or smaller) than the one you are applying to and you feel it will broaden your experience to work in a company of that size. 9. Thank Everyone Who Interviewed You Make sure that you thank each person who interviewed you. Make it a point to shake their hands. You should be the first to extend your hand. After you get home send a quick email thanking all that interviewed you. If you do not have the email address of everyone that interviewed you, write to the person who contacted you initially, thank him or her and ask that they convey your thanks to each of the other people of the interview committee. Remember it is important to mention each person by name. 10. Follow-up During the interview, you may have been given information on the decision making process and told when you will be notified as to whether you did or did not get the job. If you are interested in the job, and you were not told about the timeframe for hearing more, make a follow-up call a week later and simply tell them that you are interested in the job and wondering where they are in the decision-making process. Ask if you can supply any additional information. Keep these tips in mind and you will greatly improve your chances of having a successful interview. At the end of the day, whether you get the job or not, the important thing is that you feel good about your performance in the interview. If you think of additional tips for job interviewers, please send me an email and I will add the best tips to the bottom of this article. I just returned from New Orleans: I just spent the last week at the American Association of Colleges and Universities conference held in New Orleans. The most poignant and most important thing from the conference is what it meant to be in New Orleans a year and five months after Hurricane Katrina literally devastated the city. The early news reports after Katrina showed a city underwater, images of lawlessness, and the failure of the U.S. government to respond. Recently, I have heard very little about New Orleans except that it remains a lawless city. Prior to going, several people asked me if I was concerned for my safety. After spending almost a week there, I cannot say there is no violence but I didn’t see any, and I have definitely feared more for my safety in parts of San Francisco and Oakland than I did in any part of New Orleans. I walked to the French Quarter and around the French Quarter alone until midnight on Friday. There was a significant police presence, but there was no violence. On Wednesday, I took the street car to its end and returned after dark. Three of us took a cab down to the Lower Ninth Ward, the most severely damaged, least recovered and considered one of the two most dangerous areas of the city. On Thursday, I attended a community symposium in the Central District, the other most dangerous area. Later that night, I walked with three other women nine blocks to the Ogden Museum to view a photography exhibit on public housing. In all of that time on the streets, I saw no violence or even police activity. What I did see, was a city almost in ruins, which appears to be as abandoned by the United States government as it was those initial days after the hurricane struck. I was fortunate enough to talk with the van driver, Nelson, on the way to the hotel. He shared his story. His story is only one of 500,000 stories of how that day in late August 2005 changed a life. Prior to August 27, 2005, Nelson lived two blocks from the 17th Street levee. He had the foresight and means to evacuate at the first sign that the hurricane was headed into the gulf. Nine months later, he returned to his home to find it still standing. FEMA came two weeks after his return to the city and assessed the damage. He was told the house, with a water damage line across the second floor stairwell and on the ceiling, had sustained little damage and it was safe for him to move in. FEMA offered only to replace his stove and refrigerator. Though Nelson could hear the electricity crackle in the walls, the inspector could not hear it. At the first rain, Nelson’s roof collapsed and his house was uninhabitable. Today, Nelson is living in an apartment with his son, filing paper after paper in an attempt to receive monies for the repair of the home that has been in his family for three generations. We were told that somewhere between 50% – 70% of the city’s residents have not returned. Our drive through the lower ninth ward revealed the sad truth that far too many would have nowhere to live if they did return. Block, after block, after block of abandoned and uninhabitable homes lined the streets of the lower ninth ward. There were no signs that the government had intervened to help rebuild the area. The one redevelopment effort, in what I would guess was a two to three mile radius, was a section of approximately 20 homes built by Habitat for Humanity. It was not only the lower ninth ward that was affected. The formerly bustling Business District is probably only 60% occupied. The Central District, formerly crime ridden and depressed, was in the process of community redevelopment when Katrina struck causing all progress to come to a screeching halt. And, while the French Quarter is striving to survive, many buildings are closed and it appeared that more were closing than were re-opening. The streets on Friday night, while vibrant by the standards of most cities, had less than a third of the crowd I remember from my last visit about eight years ago. The real story of New Orleans is not the lawlessness of a forgotten city; it is the tragedy of a country spending 200 billion dollars on a war that has no purpose, no logical endpoint and no possibility of meaningful victory; when an historic, thriving, landmark city is reduced to its shell, and efforts to rebuild are left to the charity of a few. L’esa Guilian http://www.askdrlesa.com |