INTERVIEWING
Applicants in nearly any field will go through at least one interview, and possibly
several. At its best, an interview can reveal vital information about an applicant as
well as enable the applicant to judge the suitability of the position, the company,
and the tasks to be performed.
A skillfully performed interview can help interviewers determine the
applicant’s specific abilities, ambitions, energy, ability to communicate,
knowledge and intelligence, and integrity. Moreover, it can help the interviewee
show his or her strengths in these areas.
Let’s consider some of the procedures and methods an interviewee can use in
taking part in an interview as well as those used by an interviewer in conducting an
interview.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE JOB APPLICANT
Interviews are an important part of the process of seeking employment. Even for
part-time and temporary jobs, you will benefit if you approach the interviewing
process seriously and systematically. There is no point in applying for positions
that are obviously outside your area of expertise.
When you are granted an employment interview, remember that all you have
to sell is yourself and your qualifications. You want to show yourself in the best
possible light. Take care with your appearance; if you want a particular job, dress
in a way that is acceptable to the person or the organization that may ─ or may not
─ hire you.
PREPARING FOR THE INTERVIEW
Of course you will want to be fully prepared for the interview. Two important tasks
you must complete before the interview itself are writing a cover letter and
preparing a resume. The role of the resume (and the cover letter) is to “sell yourself
and get an interview” (Schmidt and Conaway, 1999, p.92)
Write a cover letter The cover letter is a short, well-written letter expressing your
interest in a particular position. Always address the letter to the person with the
authority to hire you. If you do not already have the appropriate person’s name,
you can probably get it by telephoning the company. Because you are trying to
stimulate the reader’s interest in you, make sure that your cover letter does not read
like a form letter. The cover letter should include the following elements:
Where and how you found about the position,
Your reason for being interested in this company,
Your main skills and accomplishments (summary of a few key points),
How you fit the requirements of the job,
Items of special interest about you that would relate to your potential for the
job,
And a request for an interview.
The letter should be one page or less. You should always include a resume with the
letter.
Include a resume The resume, a summary of your skills and accomplishments, is
your “silent sales representative” (Stewart and Cash, 2000, p.274). Although there
is no universal format for resume writing, there is some agreement on what should
be included and excluded. In writing a resume, include the following information
cast in a form that increases the likelihood of your being asked for an interview.
1. Contact information: Your name, address, e mail address and telephone
numbers at which you can be reached. (Always)
2. Job objective: A one sentence objective focusing on your specific area(s) of
expertise. (Important for full-time career positions)
3. Employment history: Paid and unpaid experiences beginning with the most
recent. Be sure to give employment dates and briefly list important duties
and accomplishments.
4. Education: Educational institutions attended, degree completed or expected,
date of completion, with focus on courses that are most directly related to
the job.
5. Relevant professional certification and affiliations: Memberships, offices
held.
6. Community services: Community service organizations, clubs, and so
forth, including offices and dates.
7. Special skills: Fluency in foreign languages, computer expertise.
8. Interests and activities: Only those that are related to your objectives.
9. References: People who know your work, your capabilities, and your
character who will vouch for you.
Notice that the list does not include such personal information as height,
weight, age, gender, marital status, health, race, religion, or political affiliations,
nor does it include any reference to salary. You should already have the permission
of the people whom you will use as references.
In addition, you should consider what format your resume will follow
(solicited or prospective etc.) The resume should not be more than three pages. For
traditional university students, one or two pages should be your goal. Moreover the
resume should be neat, carefully proofread to be error free, and reproduced on a
good quality paper. Try to look at your resume from the employer’s point of view.
What do you have to present that can help the employer solve problems? Think in
terms of what the company needs, and present only your skills and
accomplishments that show you can do the job. Most important, be tactful but
truthful in what you present. You should emphasize your strengths, but avoid
exaggerating facts.
Electronic Cover Letters and Resumes Electronic cover letters and resumes are
those that are sent on line. Electronic resumes have become quite popular with
employers and job seekers. For example, from 1995 to 1999 the percentage of the
resumes that were received electronically by Microsoft increased from 5% to 50%
(Criscito, 2000, p. 2) Employers like electronic resumes because they then can sift
through large numbers looking only for particular qualifications or characteristics.
Candidates like electronic resumes because they can send essentially the same
material on line, saving time and money.
Although electronic cover letters and resumes contain the same content, they
may differ in several ways (Schmidt and Conaway, 1999, p. 98-99). Many of the
differences take into account the fact that they will be scanned electronically. Thus
it is wise such things as boldface, italics, and bullet points because they will “only
confuse computerized word searches or interfere with the scanning process” (p.
98). The most important thing to remember for a scannable or e mail resume is to
keep the format simple.
There are three kinds of electronic resumes: the paper resume that becomes
an electronic version when it is scanned into a computer; an ASCII text email-able
version (a generic computer file that you create especially to send through cyber
space); and a multimedia resume that is given a home page at a fixed location on
the Internet for anyone to visit (Criscito, 2000, p.2).
A scanned resume can be attached to an e mail and sent directly to a
company’s recruiters over the Internet. If you already have a paper resume,
scanning allows you to send the resume without typing it. A resume that has been
prepared, saved and sent as a generic ASCII text file has the advantage of being
able to be read by anyone regardless of the word processing software he or she is
using (Criscito, 2000, p.3). Such a document can be sent as a file to company
recruiters or posted to the home page of a company, a job bank, or a newsgroup.
Finally, when you post your resume on a home page, you have dramatically
increased the likelihood that someone who is seeking employees with your
qualifications will see your resume and inquire about your interest in their
company.
THE INTERVIEW
Interviews are used by the company to decide whom to hire. During the interview,
the interviewer assesses candidates to determine whether they have the skills and
abilities needed for the job. More important, during the interview, judgments about
the candidate’s personality and motivation are made. Here are some guidelines to
help you prepare for the interview.
1. Do your homework. Learn about the company’s services, products,
ownership and financial health. Knowing about a company shows your
interest in the company and will impress the interviewer. Moreover, you will
be in a better position to discuss how you can contribute to the company’s
mission.
2. Rehearse the interview. For most of us, job interviews are at least
somewhat stressful. To help prepare yourself so that you can perform at your
best, it is a good idea to practice interviewing. First, try to anticipate some of
the questions you will be asked and craft thoughtful answers. You might
even try writing out or saying answers aloud. Give careful thought to such
subjects as your salary expectations, your possible contributions to the
company, and your special skills.
3. Dress appropriately. You want to make a good impression, so it is
important that you look neat, clean and appropriate. Men should wear a
collared shirt, dress slacks, and a tie and a jacket. Women should wear a
conservative dress. According to a survey of 153 companies conducted by
Northwestern University, the factor that is first in leading to rejection is poor
personal appearance (Schmidt and Conaway, 1999, p.110).
4. Be prompt on arriving. The interview is the company’s first exposure to
your work behavior. If you are late for such an important event, the
interviewer will conclude that you are likely to be late for work. Give
yourself extra time to cover any possible traffic problems. Plan to arrive
fifteen or twenty minutes before your appointment.
5. Be alert, look at the interviewer and listen actively. Remember that your
nonverbal communication tells a lot about you. Company representatives are
likely to consider eye contact and posture as clues to your self-confidence.
6. Give yourself time to think before answering a question. If the
interviewer asks you a question that you had not anticipated, give yourself
time to think before you answer. It is better to pause and appear thoughtful
than to give a hasty answer that may cost you the job. If you do not
understand the question, paraphrase it before you attempt to answer.
7. Ask questions about the type of work you will be doing. The interview is
your chance to find out if you would enjoy working for this company. You
might ask the interviewer to describe a typical workday for the person who
will get the job. If the interview is conducted at the company offices, you
might ask to see where you would be working. In this way, you prepare
yourself to know how you will respond to a job offer.
8. Show enthusiasm for job. If you are not enthusiastic during an interview,
the interviewer is likely to reason that you may not be the person for the job.
Employers look for and expect applicants to look and sound interested.
9. Do not engage in long discussion on salary. The time to discuss the salary
is when the job is offered. If the company representative tries to pin you
down, ask, “What do you normally pay someone with my experience and
education for this level position?” Such a question enables you to get an idea
of what the salary will be without committing yourself to a figure first.
[Link] not harp on benefits. Again, detailed discussion about benefits are more
appropriate after the company has made you an offer.
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS IN INTERVIEWING OTHERS
In your work experience you will experience interviewing from both sides of the
desk ─ you will need experience at both interviewing and being interviewed. Once
on the job you may be called on to interview customers about complaints,
interview co-workers to get information relevant to your work, interview
prospective employees, and so forth. So you need to know how to plan and
conduct interviews.
As an interviewer you represent the link between the job applicant and the
company. Much of the applicant’s impression of the company will depend on his
or her impression of you, so you will want to be able to provide answers to answers
the applicant may have about your company. In addition to the obvious desire for
salary information, an applicant may seek information about opportunities for
advancement, influences of personal ideas on company policy, company attitudes
toward personal life and lifestyle, working conditions, and so forth. Moreover, you
are primarily responsible for determining whether this person will be considered
for the position available or for the possible future employment with the company.
DETERMINING THE PROCEDURE
The most satisfactory employment interview is probably a highly to moderately
structured one. In the unstructured interview, the interviewer tends to talk more
and to make decisions based less on valid data than in a structured interview
(Stewart and Cash, 2000, p.238). Especially if you are screening a large number of
applicants, you want to make sure that all have been asked the same questions and
that the questions cover subjects that will be most revealing of the kind of
information you will need to make a reasonable decision.
Before the time scheduled for the interview, become familiar with all the
available data about the applicant: application form, resume, letters of
recommendation, and test scores if available. These written data will help you
determine some of the questions you will want to ask.
CONDUCTING AN INTERVIEW
An interview is a structured conversation with the goal of exchanging information
that is needed for decision making. A well-planned interview comprises a list of
questions designed to get the needed information. Interviews, like speeches and
essays, have an appropriate opening, body and conclusion.
Opening the interview Open the interview by stating its purpose and introducing
yourself if you have not previously met.
Sometimes interviewers begin with “warm up” or easy questions to help
establish rapport. A good interviewer senses the nature of the situation and tries to
use a method that is most likely to encourage the other person to talk and provide
adequate answers. Although warm-up questions may be helpful, most participants
are ready to get down to business immediately, in which case warm-up questions
may be counterproductive (Cogger, 1982).
Questions used in the body of the interview The body of the interview consists
of primary questions to which you need answers. Because the quality of
information depends on how the questions are phrased, let’s consider the
characteristics of three types of questions you will ask: open or closed, neutral or
leading, primary or secondary (Stewart and Cash, 2000, p.80).
1. Open questions are broad-based questions that ask the interviewee to
respond with whatever information he or she wishes. Open questions range
from with virtually no restrictions, such as “What can you tell me about
yourself? Or “What seems to be the problem?” to those that give some
direction, such as “What is your one accomplishment that has best prepared
you for this job?” or “Can you tell me the steps you took in using the
product?” Interviewers ask open questions to encourage the person to talk,
providing the interviewer with an opportunity to listen and to observe. Keep
in mind, however, that open questions take time to answer and give
respondents more control, which means that interviewers can lose sight of
their original purpose if they are not careful (Tengler and Jablin, 1983).
By contrast closed questions are narrowly focused questions that require
very brief answers. Closed questions range from those that can be answered
with yes or no, such as “Have you had a course in marketing?” to those that
require only a short answer, such as “How many restaurants have you
worked in?” By asking closed question, interviewers can both control the
interview and obtain large amounts of information in a short time. Closed
questions seldom enable the interviewer to know why a person gave a
certain response, nor are they likely to yield much voluntary information;
therefore, both open and closed questions are used in employment
interviews.
2. Open and closed questions may be either neutral or leading. Neutral
questions allow a person to give an answer without direction from the
interviewer, such as “How do you like your new job?” The neutral question
avoids giving the respondent any indication of what the interviewer thinks
about the issue or how the question should be answered. By contrast, leading
questions are phrased in a way that suggest the interviewer has a preferred
answer, such as “You don’t like the new job, do you?” In most employment
interviews neutral questions are preferred.
3. Primary questions are those open or closed questions that the interviewer
plans ahead of time. They serve as the main points for the interview outline.
Secondary or follow-up questions may be planned or spontaneous, but they
are designed to pursue the answers given to primary questions. Some follow-
up questions encourage the person to continue (“And then?” “Is there
more?”); some probe into what the person has said (“What does ‘frequently’
mean?” “What were you thinking at that time?”); and some probe the
feelings of the person (“How did it feel to get the prize?” “”were you
worried when you didn’t find her?”). The major purpose of follow-up
questions is to motivate a person to enlarge on an answer because
interviewees’ answers may be incomplete or vague, interviewees may not
really understand how much detail you are looking for, and occasionally
interviewees may be purposely evasive.
Closing the interview Towards the end of the interview, you should always
explain to the interviewee what will happen next and how information you
gathered will be used. Explain the procedures for making decisions based on the
information. Also, let the interviewee know whether and how he or she will receive
feedback on the decision. Then close the interview in a courteous, neutral manner,
thanking the interviewee for his or her time and interest.
Throughout the interview, be careful of your own presentation, try not to
waste time, and give the applicant time to ask questions.
QUESTIONS ASKED IN AN INTERVIEW
1. Tell me about yourself.
2. What are your strengths and weaknesses?
3. Why should our company hire you?
4. What are your long-term goals?
5. Why did you select your college major?
6. Why did you decide to go to that college?
7. What interests you about this position?
8. Do you like working alone or in groups?
9. What was your greatest accomplishment? Disappointment?
[Link] would your best friend describe you? Your worst enemy?
[Link] your grades adequately reflect your ability?
[Link] do you want to work in this industry?
[Link] have you done to prepare for work in this industry?
[Link] do you measure success?
[Link] else can you tell me about yourself that relates to this job?
[Link] book have you read lately?
17. Would you accept a position in this company if I offered it to you right
now?
[Link] is a manhole cover round?
[Link] will you do if we do not hire you?
20. What if …?
