The Importance of Interviewing:

The purpose of the resume and cover letter is to get you an interview. After the interview you either get a job offer or you don’t. Unfortunately, most people spend lots of time preparing their resume and cover letter and much less time preparing for the interview. The interview is the most neglected and most important part of the career development process. You can look great on paper, but if you don’t nail the interview, you will go home empty handed. Being a good talker and conversationalist does not necessarily guarantee a successful offer. The interview is a dialog between a candidate and employer to determine “fit” within an organization and a specific position. Your role is to help the interviewer see the match between your background and the job with such conviction that they must extend an offer to you.

The Mock Interview Format

If we assume that the three rules of interviewing are: practice, practice, practice, then the best way to prepare is with a video-taped mock interview. Here is how it works.

You arrive to the career counseling appointment appropriately dressed as if you were gong to the actual interview. This way the career counselor can evaluate your professional appearance. You will be asked to bring your latest copy of your resume. If possible, it is very helpful to bring a copy of the job description. This way during the interview questions can be tailored to the specific position and you will have a richer experience. A video-camera is then set up to tape the proceedings of the interview. In my practice, this interview typically lasts 30 minutes. The career counselor then asks a series of typical interview questions (ie., What are your strengths? Why should I hire you? Where do you see yourself in 5 years). Behavior-Based questions may also be asked (ie., Give me an example when you had to use your organizational skills to solve a problem. Tell me a situation when you had to go above and beyond the call of duty at a job?).

When the interview is over, the career counselor then takes the video and gives a careful analysis of how the client performed on each question. This part takes about an hour. This can include feedback on body language, eye contact, handling difficult questions, tone and delivery. Often clients come to their own conclusions on what they did right and what needs to be improved. The client may want to take notes as a reminder of what needs to change at the real interview.

How to Get the Most Out of the Mock Interview

Do Your Homework!

• Know yourself: inventory your top 3 to 5 skills, interests and values and the key accomplishments on your resume.
• Know your career field: conduct research on new products, services, trends and employers in the news.
• Know your employer: search the Internet and visit the company website to learn who they are and what they do.
• Know the specific position: understand the duties and how you can convince them you can do the job.

Be Yourself at Your Best!

• Search the Internet for “Answers to Difficult Interview Questions” – this is like a test that you can review in advance.
• Arrive ten minutes early - this way you can imagine it as an actual interview.
• Be sure to give a firm handshake with a smile and good eye contact – this will get the interview off on the right foot.
• Take three deep breaths before your interview- this will help you relax, stay focused and be yourself.
• Pretend that this is your first day on the job – this will make you feel a lot less nervous.
• Be 20% more enthusiastic than you would normally be – this will convey to the interviewer your energy level.
• Persuade the interviewer that you are the best candidate for the position using convincing examples.

Interview to Win

Often the mock interview is not a “fun” experience for the client. Yet, I have never had a client that said they didn’t learn something that improved their interview technique. Professional athletes watch video-tapes of their own performance in order to beat the competition. If you take the same approach, you will win in your own professional career development.