The Hanover Consulting Group
How To Interview
First Step - Know what you want, think about your goals and consider if you want to revise any of them. During a job change is an ideal time to adjust and refocus on your career and life targets. Check out Career Management. Now you are ready to select what interviews to go on and what offers to accept.
You are interviewing to present your strengths and why you would be successful in this position if they hire you. Stay focused on what is being asked be sure to listen to the complete question before responding.The interview is not the time to determine whether you want the position or not. Go into the meeting assuming you want the position, clear your head so you can focus on making a great first impression. You have time after the interview to reflect on what was said and decide whether or not you truly want the position. And whether you want the position or not you always want to leave people with a good impression of yourself.
Research
Google the company, the people you are scheduled to meet, their products, the industry. Check out how many past and present employees show up on job boards. Look up the position on the company's Web site and other job boards. You may be able to look at requirement, responsibilities and a description of the position. You might even be able to search out people who had the position before you.
Proper preparation will enable you to feel more confident, overcome interviewing inexperience and you will sound more believable when presenting yourself and your qualifications. Begin by preparing your employment, education and accomplishments, which will outline your qualifications. On these pages, which are for your eyes only, state the facts, be honest but don't be modest, don't minimize your strengths, be specific when describing results. Have short stories to tell that demonstrate how well you do your job. These stories should describe the situation, how you dealt with it, and the positive outcome you created. What you do is important but it’s how well you do it that will get you the job.
Found on the Candidate Resource Page are instructions on how to build your Feature - Accomplishment - Benefit
presentation
Don’t underestimate the value of rehearsals. Try to put yourself in the place of the company. Think about what type of person they want to hire. What do they want to accomplish by adding this person to their staff? Then think about the questions that you may be asked in the interview. Prepare by writing out answers to these questions, and then you can rehearse and refine your answers. You will be surprised how many of these questions you will hear in the interview. You will feel more comfortable and look more professional by taking this extra effort prior to your meeting with the company. Strive to project eagerness and interest, be a conversationalist by being yourself.
People hire people that they like. It is important to be conversational and look for similarities so that you can develop rapport, but don’t forget why you are there, to sell them on you and what you can do for them.
Predicting Questions - Be Prepared
With a little research, planning and intuitive thinking you can predict over 90% of the questions you will be asked during the interview. Go through the following process to generate a list of probable question that maybe asked. Develop the best way to answer each one, rehearse them and role play them with someone who will give you knowledgeable and honest criticism. If no one is available use a tape recorder and critique it yourself.
Put your self in their shoes and ask what question would you ask?
What issues might warrant a question from the information you supplied? Changes in employment, gaps in employment, low or high production, any of thing out or the ordinary may cause a question and you should write it down. You should try to make your answers to these questions concise and positive.
Requirements for the job: team player, enthusiasm, territory knowledge, work ethic, credit trained, Microsoft Excel, cold calling etc. and then list examples of you successfully dealing with each of them. Use short stories that demonstrate, not just what you did but how well you did it. Then explain how your employer benefited from your accomplishment. If you don’t have some required experience you may be able to talk about a similar situations that you have had experience. Another way to deal with missing experience is to stress your ability to learn and share examples of being a quick learner in your past experience. We deal with this at the end of this article under "asking for concerns".
General Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself? Give a 2 minute advertisement with an actual example from your past.
2. Why did you move from A company to B company? Have a brief positive reason for each job change.
3. Why is there a gap in your employment? Any gap will require an explanation.
4. Why should I hire you for this position? Give a 2 minute ad with an actual example from your past.
5. Why do you want this job? The employer is looking for compatibility and that you will be a long term fit.
6. Describe your present job responsibilities.
a. Which are the most difficult and why? b. Which are the most enjoyable and why? 7. What is your greatest weakness?
8. What is your greatest strength?
9. What accomplishment in your present job are you most proud of?
10. What was your best idea (regardless of implementation)?
11. What would you like to have accomplished, but haven’t in your present job?
a. What prevented you from doing so?12. What particular strengths and weaknesses would you bring to this position?
13. What do you know about our company and this position?
14. What would it take to succeed in this position?
15. What elements are important to your job satisfaction and that of your subordinates?
16. Describe what qualities would make an ideal boss for you?
17. What are you short and long term career objectives?
18. What are the biggest frustrations in your career?
19. What might your present company and department do to become more successful?
20. What do you do in your leisure time?
21. How would you describe your personality?
a. How would your associates describe you?22. How do your spouse and children feel about this possible change?
23. Why are you leaving your current employer?
24. Can you work under pressure, deadlines, etc? Give an example.
25. What is your philosophy on management?
26. Do you prefer staff or line work? Why?
27. What features of your previous job did you dislike?
Be prepared to answer each question with an example or two. Be ready to describe how, what, where.
These are just a few questions that are commonly used in interviews. Take some time to think about your industry and what other kinds of questions might be asked, and then rehearse them.
Handling the Money Question
Do not talk about money, benefits or vacation. During the interview is the time for you to sell them on what you can do for their company. Once they are convinced that you are the one and they have eliminated the competition then they will be selling you and you will be in your best position to receive an offer. The money question can be a stumbling point, don’t trip over it. If asked about what you would expect or what would it take to get you to move? Try this response:
- “I am currently making $__ , obviously I’m looking to better myself but I am here to learn about the whole opportunity and I am sure if you think I’m the best person for the job that you will make your best offer and I will give it full consideration.”
- If they ask again your response would be, “(interviewer’s name) I am not thinking about the money so I can focus my attention on the opportunity and what it will do for my career. I am sure that if you think I am the best person for the job that you will make your best offer and I will assure you I will give it full consideration”
Selling With Questions
You should be prepared to ask some questions to show you have done some research and know something about their company, products, industry and that you have interest in the position. These questions should continue to sell you into the position by pulling out additional information so you can tell him/her about successes you have had in similar situations.
1. What is your competitive advantage in the marketplace? Respond with a success story when you had a similar advantage.
2. What part does this position play in the overall goals of the (company name)? Share an example from your past when you played a similar role or express how much you would like to do that in the future.
3. What are the challenges that need to be overcome to be successful in this position? Respond with a story about how you dealt with a similar challenge and were successful.
4. Say I have this job and we are now 12 months down the road. What will I need to have accomplished in order to get a strong review? Respond with a story about how you have been able to accomplishment this in the past. You may be able to discuss how you would do this for them if you had this position.
Second Chance to Clear Away Concerns - Summing Up the Meeting
Ask for concerns:
1. Given my background what do you see as the greatest challenge I will have in adjusting to this position?
2. What do you see as the greatest differences between this position and my past experiences?
3. Now that we have gotten to know one and another is there anything about this position that you think might be difficult for me to adjust to?
The purpose of these types of questions is to uncover what concerns the interviewer may have that will stop him/her from giving you a positive offer.
If they give you their concern you can respond with examples from your past when you have successfully done this or done something similar as proof of your ability. If you do not have that experience respond with this three step answer.
- Ask what percentage of the job is that?
- What can I do to come up to speed in that area? How long would you expect that to take?
- Then assure him/her of your willingness to put forth the extra effort do that and your ability to contribute to the team immediately with your other skills.
Closing the Meeting
Thank them for their time, express interest and ask what the next step is and when it will take place. Always get a specific time and write it down in front of them. This closing can take several levels of assertiveness. Your choice of words should depend on your personality, confidence and how positive you feel about the position and how you think the interviewer is feeling about you. Here are a few examples stating with strongest and getting softer.
- Mr. Employer I think this is an excellent opportunity for me and I am confident of my ability to be successful in this position. I hope you share that confidence. I am ready to consider an offer if you are ready to make one.
- Mr. Employer this sounds like a great opportunity and I feel very confident about my ability to be successful in this role with your company. Can we schedule the nest step in your process today?
- Mr. Employer I have enjoyed meeting with you and learning about your company and this opportunity. When should I expect to hear from you?
If you know the next step is to meet someone higher up in the organization then you can assume this person is in the position to recommend or reject you from that next interview. In this case don't ask him for a decision but use the following: Mr. Employer do you feel comfortable recommending me for the next step in the process?
Thank You Note
If you decide you don’t want the position follow up with a note thanking them for their time and let them know you have decided to go in another direction. If it is a position you want to pursue use a thank you note expressing your enthusiasm for the position and mention one of your strong points that would be useful in this position. Then after a few days follow up with a phone call to keep their interest peaked and ask for the next step.
Keep the Process Moving
If they tell you to expect to hear from them by a certain time and that time passes, give them a call. It could be someone in the hiring process is not available and they need to wait to get you on their schedule. These delays can be unavoidable. You will need to be assertive enough to get an answer and polite enough to be construed as a team player that is professional and easy to work with. Persistence, political savvy, assertiveness, people skills and through follow-up are all good skills that can be valuable attributes for certain jobs.You are owed an answer if they gave you a time table. If they try to close the meeting without a time line then ask for one. “(Employer’s name), I am working with several opportunities and I am very interested in your position. Professionally I think it is important to give each company a timely answer. Can you give me an idea of when you want to have this person onboard?”
When there is a delay it could mean you are not the right candidate but they want to keep you just incase they can’t find anyone. (Sorry the reality is you're not getting the job.) It could mean they are only fishing for talent and don’t have any position to fill. (Not nice but it happens) It could mean someone in the decision process is having second thoughts as to the necessity of the position. No is not the answer we want but knowing allows you to quit wasting time and energy on a dead opportunity and get after some other real ones.
Practice will increase you confidence and enable you to smoothly close the meeting and maximize your potential. I recommend role playing with someone or into a tape recorder.
Good luck in landing your dream job.
Keep It Real - You do not want to mislead anyone in the interview. This could end up having hired you for the wrong position and result in damaging your career. The strategy of an interview is to get your information presented positively and accurately. In this article I use several phrases in quotes. I do not want you to use my words. This information is intended for you to digest and put into your own words.
Post Interview
Immediately after your meeting if you are working through a recruiter, confer with him/her to discuss the position and strategize on how you want to proceed. If you are going on your own then sit down and make some notes. Draw a balance sheet with pluses on one side and negatives on the other. This will help you to clear your head and develop your own strategy. Don’t let emotions and fear of change rob you of an opportunity for advancement.
Executive Search for the Financial Service Industries
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