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The shape of a great interview, in 3 partsBy Peter Gray
It's painful to interview badly for a job you know you're qualified for. But it happens. I won't use this space to rehash the usual interview advice - that literature is already vast - but I'll share a top complaint from interviewers: "the candidate wouldn't stop talking about himself." Don't talk too much about yourself. You may be thinking, "Don't talk too much about myself? It's an interview! They ask me questions about myself. I answer them. What do you expect?" Well, I expect a good interview to be divided into three parts. Part I is when, granted, you talk about yourself. The nearly universal first question in any interview is an open-ended request to "tell me about yourself" or "walk me through your resume." Resist the temptation to ramble. The old interview-tips chestnut about having an "elevator speech" is spot-on, yet frequently ignored at this juncture. Instead, too many candidates run out the clock recounting their job history in excruciating detail. If you do, you're missing a huge opportunity and maybe even blowing the interview. You want to keep Part I as brief as possible, because your interviewer doesn't care that much about your career history. What your interviewer cares about is his or her organization, and the issues there that require the attention of a new employee. Your background is only of interest to the interviewer in terms of how it establishes your professional credentials, and indicates that you may be able to help the organization run better. That's the interviewer's job - to figure out if you can help the organization run better. To have a great interview, make the interviewer's job easier. Don't make him or her guess that you might be able to improve things at the organization. Make him or her certain of it. And the best way to do that is by asking questions to figure out what the organization hopes the new employee will accomplish. In Part II, you turn the tables and get your interviewer talking. And if you've made a good initial impression, something that one hopes your resume established and Part I of the interview reinforced, your interviewer wants the chance to talk. He or she wants to describe the job, explain the organization's needs and goals, and maybe - maybe — even sell you a little on the opportunity. If you doubt this, try asking: "What are the most important things you need the person hired into this position to accomplish?" Then listen. React. Ask follow-up questions that probe deeper. If the interview is going well, chances are the interviewer will respond enthusiastically and at length. This turnabout gives you important information for Part III of the interview, when you again do a larger share of the talking. You even get to talk about yourself again. Only this time, you aren't talking about your career history, but about how - based on what you've learned in Part II - you can help the organization run better. That's the shape of a great interview: In Part I, you briefly establish your credentials. In Part II, you learn about the situation. In Part III, you explain how you can help. Remember that from the interviewer's perspective, an interview is not primarily about you and your past. It's mainly about the organization's present and future. A good interview doesn't feel like an interrogation or a performance. It feels like an idea-generating, problem-solving meeting between two professionals who aren't working together yet, but should be. Peter Gray is the head of executive recruiting at QTI Professional Staffing in Madison. peterg@qstaff.com madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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