The
Interview
Interview is an
opportunity for both the employer and the applicant to gather information. The
employer wants to know if you, the applicant, have the skills, knowledge,
self-confidence, and motivation necessary for the job. At this point you can be
confident that the employer saw something of interest in your resume. He or she
also wants to determine whether or not you will fit in with the organization's
current employees and philosophy. Similarly, you will want to evaluate the
position and the organization, and determine if they will fit into your career
plans. The interview is a two-way exchange of information. It is an opportunity
for both parties to market themselves. The employer is selling the organization
to you, and you are marketing your skills, knowledge, and personality to the
employer.
Interview Preparation
Research is a
critical part of preparing for an interview. If you haven't done your homework,
it is going to be obvious. Spend time researching and thinking about yourself,
the occupation, the organization, and questions you might ask at the end of the
interview.
Step 1:
Know Yourself
The first step in
preparing for an interview is to do a thorough self-assessment so that you
will know what you have to offer an employer. It is very important to develop a
complete inventory of skills, experience, and personal attributes that you can
use to market yourself to employers at any time during the interview process. In
developing this inventory, it is easiest to start with experience. Once you have
a detailed list of activities that you have done (past jobs, extra-curricular
involvements, volunteer work, school projects, etc.), it is fairly easy to
identify your skills.
Simply go through
the list, and for each item ask yourself "What could I have learned by doing
this?" "What skills did I develop?" "What issues/circumstances have I learned to
deal with?" Keep in mind that skills fall into two categories - technical and
generic. Technical skills are the skills required to do a specific job. For a
laboratory assistant, technical skills might include knowledge of sterilization
procedures, slide preparation, and scientific report writing. For an outreach
worker, technical skills might include counseling skills, case management
skills, or program design and evaluation skills. Generic skills are those which
are transferable to many work settings. Following is a list of the ten most
marketable skills. You will notice that they are all generic.
Often when people
think of skills, they tend to think of those they have developed in the
workplace. However, skills are developed in a variety of settings. If you have
ever researched and written a paper for a course, you probably have written
communication skills. Team sports or group projects are a good way to develop
the skills required of a team player and leader. Don't overlook any abilities
you may have When doing the research on yourself, identifying your experience
and skills is important, but it is not all that you need to know. Consider the
answers to other questions such as:
-
How have I
demonstrated the skills required in this position?
-
What are my strong
points and weak points?
-
What are my short
term and long term goals?
-
What can I offer
this particular employer?
-
What kind of
environment do I like? (i.e. How do I like to be supervised? Do I like a fast
pace?)
-
What do I like
doing?
-
Apart from my
skills and experience, what can I bring to this job?
Step 2: Know the Occupation
The second step in
preparing for an interview is to research the occupation. This is necessary
because in order to present a convincing argument that you have the experience
and skills required for that occupation, you must first know what those
requirements and duties are. With this information uncovered, you can then match
the skills you have (using the complete skills/experience inventory you have
just prepared) with the skills you know people in that occupational field need.
The resulting "shortlist" will be the one that you need to emphasize during the
interview. It is also in your best interest to identify the
approximate starting salary for that position, or those similar. There are
several ways to find out about an occupation:
-
Acquire a copy of
the job description from the employer (Human
-
Resources/Personnel) or check with Student Employment Services. If
you are responding to an advertisement, this may also supply some details.
The Career Resource
Centre has general information files on a variety of occupations. Make sure you
have read through the appropriate file and are updated on the occupation.
If you belong to a professional association related to the occupation,
use its resources. These associations often publish informative newsletters and
sponsor seminars. It is also a good way to meet people working in the field.
Conduct information interviews with people working in the field. Read articles
about people in the occupation, and articles written by people in the
occupation. Sources include newspapers, magazines and the internet. Find out
what the future trends are in the area. Is technology changing the job?
Step 3:
Know the Organization
The more you know
about an organization, the better prepared you will be to discuss how you can
meet its needs. Some of the characteristics that you should know about an
organization are:
-
Where is it
located?
-
How big is it?
-
What are its
products and who does it serve?
-
How is the
organization structured?
-
What is its
history?
-
Have there been any
recent changes, new developments?
There are a number
of ways in which you can access this information. Most medium- to large-sized
organizations publish information about themselves. You can access this a number
of ways:
-
On campus at the
Student Employment Services (company literature and business directories) or at
the Drake Centre Library
-
The Winnipeg
Centennial Library has a business microfiche with information on over 5000
Canadian companies and business directories
-
Many companies have
internet home pages which you can locate by searching by industry and company
name
-
Finally, you can
visit or phone the organization and request some information on their products,
services or areas of research
If the organization
is fairly small, or fairly new, there may not be much information published. In
this case, it will be necessary to do an information interview. Contact someone
within the organization, introduce yourself, explain that you are considering
moving into the field, and ask if it would be possible to meet with him/her to
inquire about the company/organization and about what exactly the position would
involve.
Step 4: Prepare Questions Having
completed your background research, you are now ready to prepare questions to
ask the interviewer(s). Try to think of questions for which the
answer was not readily available in company literature. Intelligent well
thought-out questions will demonstrate your genuine interest in the position. Be
careful how many questions you ask, however, as too many can imply you feel the
interview was not successfully run. Pick your questions with care -
this is your chance to gather information, so ask about what you
really want to know. Avoid sounding critical by mentioning negative information
you may have discovered. This is one of the most effective ways to compare
different employers, so for issues of particular importance to you (for example,
whether they support staff upgrading), you should ask the same
questions of each employer. Some sample questions are:
-
What are the most
significant factors affecting your business today? How have changes in
technology most affected your business today?
-
How has your
business/industry been affected by the recession?
-
How has your
company grown or changed in the last couple of years?
-
What future
direction do you see the company taking?
-
Where is the
greatest demand for your services or product?
-
Where is most of
the pressure from increased business felt in this company?
-
Which department
feels it the most?
-
How do you differ
from your competitors?
-
How much
responsibility will I be given in this position?
-
What do you like
about working with this organization?
-
Can you tell me
more about the training program?
-
Have any new
product lines been introduced recently?
-
How much travel is
normally expected?
-
What criteria will
be used to evaluate my performance?
-
Will I work
independently or as part of a team?
-
How did you advance
to your position?
-
What are the career
paths available in this organization?
-
When can I expect
to hear from you regarding this position?
It is very
important to ask the last question because employers want to hire individuals
who are interested in the position - and asking this question definitely helps
to demonstrate interest on your part. Exercise judgment when asking questions to
an employer. When being interviewed by a large company that has a high profile,
one would not ask the question "What is the history of your company and how was
your company started?" You can find the answer to this question in the
company's annual report or articles in magazines/newspapers. However, small- and
medium-sized companies do not always produce publicly available annual reports
and it may be difficult to access information on the company and its role in the
industry. This question is appropriate if you have exercised all other ways to
find out the answer.
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