Survive Your Interview!

Public speaking is consistently rated as one of peoples’ biggest fears.  Whether it’s being on a stage, being in front of people, or just knowing what to say, it can be a daunting task for some.  Sure you can try some of the classic tricks like imagining the audience in their underwear, but that would just weird me out and would probably make me more nervous thinking about a bunch of scantily-clad-creepers staring at me.

After I wrote this first paragraph I realized I set out to write about interviewing, not public speaking…. However, I think interviewing holds many of the same fears that giving a speech does.  It may not be in front of a large group, but you are still expected to be impressive with your rhetoric.

As many college students are preparing for job interviews in the coming weeks and months, I would like to share a few thoughts that can hopefully help in the process.

• Be Prepared, But Don’t Over-think It. You could have 5 interviews and potentially be hit with 5 completely different sets of questions.  Companies are getting more creative in their interviewing.  If you just stand in front of a mirror and practice your response for “What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses” and other generic questions, you may be up you-know-what-creek without a good answer.  Your interviewer doesn’t want to hear your sound bite of a pre-rehearsed question, they want to know the real you.  Study up on some current events, be prepared to discuss books you may be reading or hobbies you are involved in.

• Do Your Homework. Find out about the company that you are interviewing with.  It seems so basic, but you would be shocked at how many interviewees don’t have a clue about their interviewer.  It doesn’t make a good impression when they ask you if you have any questions for them and you ask how many single girls work there or what kind of coffee they have in the break room.  Prepare some meaningful questions that let them know you actually care about working for them, not just earning a paycheck.

• Stay Sharp. As I mentioned earlier, companies are getting creative with their questions.  It is becoming fairly common to see questions designed to see how quickly you can recover from a tough or completely random query.  Most companies are looking for smart, creative people that have solid problem-solving skills, not just someone who tosses out answers like “I think my biggest weakness is that I care too much about my job and work too hard.”  At that point your recruiter is holding back the vomit while drawing a huge red X on your resume.  Be original and be creative.  Sometimes it’s not about what you say but how you say it.  They might ask you questions that don’t really have a good answer, they just want to see how you process it and get out of a jam.  Be ready for anything.

• Practice. Find a friend or ask your career center for help in asking you some tough questions that will get you prepared for your interview.  You wouldn’t just stroll onto the field, court or stage without first getting familiar with the task at hand.  Why not do that for an interview?  If you are serious about your career and finding a killer job, your interview is a key point to landing it.

It is hard to predict what kind of environment you will face in an interview.  There are many techniques for conducting an interview and you cant possibly anticipate every question, but if you are cognizant of the possibilities and prepared to be challenged and think outside the box when giving your answers, you’ll be much better off.

I love watching the show “Survivor.”  One of my favorite things on the show is when a certain group of castaways pull off a major upset to completely blindside another survivor and vote them off.  It is always classic to watch the person as the dude reads the votes and the person had no clue they were even a target.  Don’t be that guy.  Don’t get caught off guard by the recruiter asking you “how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop.”