reCareered: How To Take Control Of The Interview: Best of reCareered

Monday, May 14, 2007

How To Take Control Of The Interview: Best of reCareered - page 2

Change Your Approach:

So how do you change your approach to gain control of an interview?

Research - After you've done some research on the company, position and hiring manager, you should have a good idea if strategy will work. For instance, If the job is a customer service job and the company wants an employee to keep their heads down and nose clean - these strategies probably aren't right for that type of interview.
Stop being defensive – most job candidates take a defensive interview stance and answer questions that the interviewer asks.
Take the offensive - Take the stance that you are interviewing the company.
You ask the questions - In an interview, the person asking the questions controls the conversation.

As a candidate, interview the company to see how the fit is for you. Get a feeling to see will your skills will be valued? Do you see a mentorship relationship with anyone you’ve interviewed with? Does the company “feel” right? Can you succeed here? Does the company’s management style and culture fit your personality comfortably? Is there growth potential for the company, and for your career?

Examples Of Effective Questions:

HR questions - “Can you describe the company’s culture?” or “How do you see the company’s culture changing as you capitalize on industry trends that project 25% growth over the next 3 years?”. Other good HR questions are “Can you describe the personality types of people who are successful at your company?”
Hiring manager questions - "How does the company's goal to decrease costs by 20% influence your departments priorities and plans?" or "What does your department need to do to help affect plans of 25% growth?". Other good Hiring manager questions can focus on implications "What happens if your department is unable to ____ ?"
Hiring manager's boss questions - "If you could change one thing about this department, what would it be?" or "What are your goals for this department and what do you see as possible obstacles to achieving these goals?"
Hiring Manager's peers and team - "What types of projects have earned you recognition?" or "What types of personalities work well with this department?". Other good peer & team questions are "How did you reach your position with the company?" and "Do you spend more of your time developing new projects or maintaining existing projects processes? (the answer may not be obvious based on title)"