Thriving, not just Surviving in a Job Interview

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"

This was the catchphrase made famous years ago by Monty Python. Unfortunately, that is also the way many people feel after attending a job interview. Attending the dreaded job interview turns the mightiest of us into a mound of quivering jelly.

The scenario is usually the same. You arrive early in the company's lobby, dressed to the nines, clutching your portfolio and extra resumes and then sit in the reception area where time just seems to stand still.

Finally, someone from HR comes to fetch you and you make brave small talk as you walk down an endless corridor and into some anonymous meeting room. Either the hiring manager is waiting or you are forced to wait some more, and make more small talk with the HR person until he or she arrives.

A quick handshake and the inquisition begins.

Now let's stop right here and turn things around. Pretend for a few minutes that you are the hiring manager (it is easy for me; I have conducted over a hundred job interviews).

You have been seeing a series of qualified candidates all week, but no one has jumped out of the pack and made a big impression during the interview.

Several of the candidates were so visibly nervous that you spent most of the interview just trying to get them to relax enough so you could get a sense of whether they could handle pressure well.

One candidate had great experience and qualifications but seemed to be bored with the entire interview process. Another became hostile at some of the questions projecting a "how dare you ask me that" attitude. And the candidate you interviewed this morning tried to hijack the interview and take it in another direction.

Still you sit expectantly with the hope that your needs will be met - does this person have the right mix of experience, skill and personality to fit in my department? I desperately need to fill this gap in my staff and get my projects back on track. I want this person to be THE ONE.

So there you are; it's a different perspective isn't it? You actually want the candidate to succeed and you are pulling for them.

At this point jump back into the candidate's skin. It is now your interview to blow.

There is no magic or alchemy to the interview process. No matter what the form - one on one, team or group interviews - the company and specifically, the hiring manager are trying to determine a few key things:

Do you have the skills to do the job?

Do you have the experience to do the job?

How well do you work with others?

The first question has usually been satisfied before you ever walked in the door. The skills you highlighted in your resume have brought you this far. The second question has likely been partially answered as well by your resume.

However, you will be asked to elaborate on your experience during the interview and to give specific examples. For example the interviewer will ask a question like, "Can you tell me about a project you are particularly proud of?" You should be prepared to give a specific example outlining the situation, why you are proud and what the outcome was - for example: money saved, award won, the eternal gratitude of your fellow workers, the world saved from disaster.

And keep it short. And compelling.

Remember you are telling more than a story here, you have an opportunity to project your passion and commitment for your work. And that talks volumes to the hiring manager, because it is starting to answer the third question about your personality. It also has the potential to reveal some negative information as well.

Unless you are Batman your accomplishments are likely the result of working with a team. So it is a good idea to frame your answers in that way, for instance by using "we" instead of "I". Remember, the hiring manager is likely looking for someone who fits into a team environment.

Oh, and keep your accomplishments relevant to the job at hand. In other words don't give the example of winning best costume at a Star Trek Convention as your proudest accomplishment when you are applying for work at a bank.

As part of your homework prior to the interview review the job description carefully and try to use examples that relate to the requirements of the position.

You will often find yourself in a targeted selection process that may require interviews with more than one person. It is good to use the same examples, rephrased of course, to each of the interviewers. Later when they are comparing notes they will be looking for consistency. Giving three different examples of your proudest accomplishment will look pretty inconsistent.

The other question that you are likely to be asked will be something to the effect of a situation that didn't go well. You may think that this type of question is just there to trip you up and to get you to reveal something negative about yourself.

And sometimes it is. But more often than not the interviewer is trying to learn how you handle stress. Are you the kind of person who blames, complains or runs away?

Choose your example carefully to demonstrate a silver lining for you or those around you - a lesson learned, an even bigger disaster averted, a noble experiment failed. Again, your answer will reveal the kind of person you really are.

During the interview look for opportunities to use humor, the appropriate kind, of course, as people respond well to someone with a good sense of humor (and if they don't did you really want to work there anyway).

Every interview will be different depending on the kind of job and the company doing the hiring, but they usually follow somewhat the same agenda. And the final part of the interview is normally the part when you get to ask the questions.

As a hiring manager this was always the part of the interview that I paid closest attention to. The kinds of questions that you ask are your opportunity to sell yourself to the hiring manager.

For example, in posing a question you can show that you have done some research and have a genuine interest in the company. Other great questions can be about the style of management of the department, opportunity for advancement or the company's goals.

An example of a good question you could ask might be, "I'm the type of person who likes to be proactive, will this position offer me the opportunity to take initiative?"

Now, what hiring manager would say "no" to that question? I like proactive employees, I love initiative. And you have framed yourself as a ‘proactive individual who takes initiative' in my mind. And that's a good place to be.

On the other side of the coin, your questions can easily kill your chances. If you break into frequent coughing fits during the interview and then only want to ask detailed questions about the company health plan I would have serious reservations about hiring you.

Now, the interview is over. Everyone rises and shakes hands again. Someone will walk you out to the lobby. A word of warning - the interview is not over. Do you remember all that small talk at the beginning? Well there will likely be some more on the way out and it likely will be noted.

An interview starts the moment you arrive in the lobby and announce your arrival and ends after you have left the building. Consider everything in between as part of the process.

I will often ask the receptionist what she thought about the candidate. Even an innocent sounding question like "Did you find us okay?" is really asking, "Are you going to have trouble getting to work on time?"

So there you are... That wasn't so bad was it? It certainly wasn't the Spanish Inquisition.