Nail Your Next Job Interview!

 You have cleared a major hurdle! You have an interview scheduled. What do you do next?

People hire and accept emotionally first, and justify logically later.

Here are some tips.

1. The initial question is generally an "ice-breaker", something like "Tell me about what you've done…". Be careful not to go through your entire work history here. But you also don't want to skim and miss something important. Tell the interviewer a synopsis of your experience, gearing your information toward what you know of the position in question (60 seconds). Then ask him for his description of the job's duties and responsibilities. As he describes the specifics of what he's looking for, share your specific experiences with the duties he's describing. Also, share your accomplishments in those tasks. You are positioning yourself as a direct solution to his specific need.

2. After hearing his description of all the duties and responsibilities, ask what the #1 priority is. What needs to be accomplished every day before you leave the office? And why? (Priorities are personal)

3.  What are the metrics for success?

What criteria will I be evaluated against? A good way to phrase this is, "Mr. Hiring Authority, if you and I were sitting here in one year, going over my annual performance review, and you were telling me how pleased you were with my performance, what criteria would you have used to come to that conclusion? This will cause him to answer specifically, giving you the information you need. It will also move him into a mode of mentally placing you in the company for one year successfully. Find out about problems or obstacles you may inherit.

4.  Questions

Ask any question that you will need to know in order to go to work for this company. You need to have all of your questions written out beforehand. Leave space to jot answers. The only questions not to broach are those regarding compensation or benefits. I wouldn't put you into the interview if there wasn't plenty of overlap in the numbers.

5. Ask for the next step. Too many candidates engage the interview in a passive way-answering questions, thanking the manager for the interview, never getting an idea of what the next step is. They also never give the interviewer a sense of if they even really want the job. Let him know. "I am very interested in taking this to the next level. From our conversation today, I feel that I would bring a lot to the organization, and that this would be a very good move for me, as well. Can we conclude our business today, or will I be coming back again for another

meeting? When will that be? Who will I be meeting with? What will they be focusing on?

Good Luck! You got this!