Thorough preparation will help in interview

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Congratulations! All of your hard work has paid off. You've been asked to come in for a job interview. All you have to do is be yourself -- friendly, interested and capable. Right?

Wrong. That's only part of the story.

Many employers are continually amazed at the number of applicants who apparently drift into job interviews without the vaguest notion of what they are going to say.

Interviewing is definitely the most challenging part of the job search. When you go on stage your performance must be worthy of an encore. In other words, anticipate your lines and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!

Thorough preparation will help you to think clearly and calmly, and that in itself will make you appear confident.

Dear Joan:
"I've been interviewed three times for similar supervisory jobs. Each time I've been one of the 'finalists,' but I haven't received any offers.

Everyone seems to be favorably impressed with my work experience and I always dress and act professionally during the interview. Do you have any tips on interviewing? Please don't list: no gum chewing, arrive on time and no slouching, etc. I'm looking for more detailed information. Thanks."

Answer:
You didn't mention whether you did any advance preparation for each of these interviews. It's absolutely critical, yet most people don't do it.

Interviewers are not just testing your appearance and personality. They are looking for several key things:

First: a verification of your résumé’s accuracy.

Second: the answers to any questions the resume raised in their minds.

Third: whether you will perform well on this job.

Fourth: whether you have the necessary temperament -- stability, flexibility, dependability, etc. -- to fit into the work team and the organization.

Let's take one at a time and get you ready to dazzle them at your next interview.

First, for the verification questions about your background: Free your mind of all cumbersome biographical facts by taking an inventory (on paper) of your entire work history. Include dates, addresses and any boss's name you can remember. (This will come in handy if you fill out an application before the interview.)

List all references' names, addresses and business phone numbers. Next, list your educational background with dates, grade point averages and perhaps even courses related to this position. Include all seminars, night courses and conventions you have attended. Jot down accomplishments, insights or knowledge you gained that might be significant enough to mention. (This is particularly important if you are fresh out of school or relatively inexperienced.)

To answer the second question in the interviewer's mind, prepare answers for any possible questions raised by your resume. Take a cold, hard look at it and try to anticipate any point that might create doubt or concern.

Any date gaps?
For example, ask yourself: Are there any date gaps? Does it look as if I stayed on one job too long without a promotion? Have I moved from company to company of from department to department?

Show your resume to others and ask them to be ruthless, particularly if they are in the same field as the job you are applying for. An objective eye can often spot questions you will miss. They may even be willing to role-play with you.

On paper, prepare answers to all tough questions. Don't apologize for anything, stay brief and factual and try to build in positives for any negatives.

Regarding date gaps, for example: "From 1970 to 1975 I stayed home to raise our preschool son. During that time, I did the bookkeeping for my husband's business. It gave me a chance to develop some new skills that I think will be very valuable in this position."

The best way to answer the third question -- "How well can you do this job?" -- is to paint a clear picture of successful past performance -- not just past responsibilities.

In story form, list all past accomplishments on former jobs. Spend the most time on the accomplishments that are similar to those you imagine could come from this job. If the position was advertised in the classified ads, be sure you illustrate each qualification they advertised for.

Bill Needler, Managing Director of the Career Forum, advised the job seekers who attend his executive job-search seminar to prepare "CAR" stories: Challenge -- Approach -- Results.

For example, if being a "self-starter" is required for this type of work, you shouldn't say, "I'm definitely a self-starter." Rather, "My present boss travels almost 40% of the time [Challenge]. I have to deal on my own with problems in customer service, scheduling, expediting and numerous day to day plans [Approach]. In fact, he's asked me to share some of my techniques with some of the other supervisors [Results]."

You can also project competence by quoting others. "My bosses /teachers often say I'm unusually quick to learn and am accurate. For instance...", or, "I've been told that I'm very good at winning cooperation from people I supervise. As a matter of fact, I never had a grievance filed against me, and our rate of production was always one of the highest in the company."

Facts-and-figures answers are usually the best. For instance, "I can develop a well-run unit with satisfied employees. When I started my present job, my unit was paying about 20 hours overtime weekly. Now the unit workload has risen 15%, and I've organized a system so there's almost no overtime. And there's very little employee turnover."

In addition, if you have any work samples that are outstanding tributes to what you can do, by all means bring them along to the interview.

The last unasked question you should answer for the employer is whether you have the necessary temperament to fit into the work team and the organization.

Expectations in this area can be difficult to gauge, so you will have to pick up cues as you go along. Listen carefully as bits and pieces of information are dropped. Phrases like, "We're a creative bunch," "We run a tight ship here," or, "We like to think of ourselves as one big happy family," can reveal enough information to help you sprinkle your responses with the same kind of phraseology (if appropriate).

Desirable qualities
There are some qualities that are desirable no matter what job you are applying for. Reassure the interviewer of your dependability, cooperation, sense of fair play, etc, by saying something like, "I enjoy people and they seem to like me," or, "I've always been fortunate in that the work groups I've been a part of have always pulled together in one direction -- even under pressure."

Aside from the four questions already mentioned, knowing enough about the company to ask intelligent questions, can make a big difference in how interested you appear.

Ninety-nine percent of all applicants don't do any research on the companies for which they interview. If you do, it's a strong signal that you really care about where you work and the contribution you can provide. If you are as results-minded as you say you are, then you had better be interested in the company's bottom line.

Questions like, "How do you think the company's new sales strategy will affect your department?" will impress them because you have done your homework and you show interest in the very same things the interviewer may be interested in. These questions can be about anything from growth trends to a brief comment about the chairman of the board.

How do you find out about these mysterious inside secrets? Easy. Go to the library and look in "Dun & Bradstreet Million Dollar Directory," "Moody's Industrial Manual," "Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives," or call the company's personnel office or public relations Department and ask them if you can pick up a copy of the company's annual report. (These are available at the placement offices of universities).

Unless a good opportunity arises during the interview itself, one or two of these questions can be saved for the "Do you have any questions? part at the end of the interview. The rest of the questions -- and you should come with many -- should deal with anything that you want to know (except salary).

Stress all aspects
Focus on all aspects of the job -- reporting relationships, responsibilities they'd like to see expanded, percent of time spent in work itself, etc. Structure work-oriented questions in a way that suggest you're looking for ways in which your talents could help solve problems.

For example, "In what area do you see the biggest payoff occurring if some problems were solved?"

You may hit a hot button that will give you more free information that you can use to sell yourself.

Careful preparation will give you the competitive advantage in any job interview.

Do you need answers to tough job hunting questions?  Are you looking for some added punch to help you stand out from the crowd?  Joan Lloyd’s has developed job hunting tools that can help you to maximize your job search:

Savvy Negotiation Strategies to Get Paid What You’re Worth on a New Job (Detailed, special report)
Easy, Step-by-step Guide to Using the Internet to Land a Great Job (Detailed, special report)
The Resume that Gets Results and the Interview that Gets the Job (37 page, detailed instructions)