Guest Article: Six Interview Tips

By Michael R. Neece, CEO of Interview Mastery

1. Interrogation versus Interview:
Most candidates expect they will be interrogated. An interrogation is when one person asks all the questions and the other gives the answers. An interview is a business conversation where both people ask and respond to questions. Too many job seekers believe an interview is an interrogation. With this attitude, candidates do not ask questions and hence do not make their best impression. You need to ask questions throughout the interview. If you don't, you force the interview to be an interrogation.

2. Making a Positive out of a Weakness:
Unskilled interviewers frequently ask candidates "What are your weaknesses?" Conventional interview advice recommends you highlight a weakness like "I'm a perfectionist" and turn it into a positive. Interviewers are not fooled. If you are asked this question a highlight skill that you wish to improve upon and (most importantly) describe what you are proactively doing to enhance your skill in this area. Interviewers don't care what your weaknesses are. They want to see how you handle the question and what your answer indicates about you.

3. No Questions:
Every interview concludes with the interviewer asking if you have any questions. The worst thing to say is you have no questions. Having no questions prepared indicates you are not interested and not prepared. Interviewers are more impressed by the questions you ask than the selling points you try to make. Before each interview make a list of 5 questions you will ask.

4. Only Researching the Company, What about You?
Candidates intellectually prepare by researching the company. Most job seekers do not research themselves by taking inventory of their experience, knowledge and skills. Formulating a talent inventory prepares you to immediately respond to any question about your experience. You must be prepared to discuss any part of your background. Creating a your talent inventory refreshes your memory and helps you immediately remember experiences you would otherwise have forgotten during the interview. Interview Mastery gives you a talent inventory template and many other job search downloads.

5. Leaving Cell Phone On:
We may live in a wired, always available society, but a ringing cell phone is not appropriate for an interview. Turn it off before you enter the company.

6. Waiting for a Call:
Time is your enemy after the interview. After you send a thank you email and note to every interviewer, follow-up a couple days later with either a question or additional information. Contact the person who can hire you, not HR (Human Resources). HR is famous for not returning calls. Additional information can be details about your talents, a recent competitor's press release or industry trends. Your intention is to keep their memory of your fresh.

Guest Author: Three Keys to Interview Success

By Michael R. Neece, CEO of Interview Mastery

"In job search, the interview is everything."

1. Interviewer Questions

Write down and practice your response to typical interview questions.

Typical interviewer questions include;
- “Tell me about yourself.”
- “What are your strengths and weaknesses?”
- “What are your salary requirements?”
- “Why did you leave your last position?”
Be sure you're ready to respond to these and other Frequently Asked Interview Questions (FAiQ). Each question is an opportunity. You need to know how to structure your answers. Having a template (or framework) helps you respond to any FAiQ.

Interview Mastery shows you exactly how to handle FAiQs with fill-in-the-blank templates and structured response strategies.

2. Your Questions

Interviewers are more impressed with your questions than any selling points you try to make. Create questions before each interview that you'll ask. When the interviewer asks if you have any questions just take out your list. Your questions should start with “What” or “How”. The following are examples of questions you can ask. Be as company and industry specific as possible when creating your own questions.
- What are the reasons driving the need for this position?
- What are the three top challenges that I'll face in this job?
- What are the key metrics for measuring success in this position?
- How do the position's responsibilities align with the department's goals?

3. Opening Questions

Ask one “opening“ question at the start of every interview.
Interviewing is like playing darts in the dark. The target is each interviewer's screening criteria. Each dart represents a dimension of your talents. To win this interviewing "dart game" you have to locate the target and decide which three “talent darts” to present. Asking the right questions at the start of the interview is the key. Examples of effective "opening" questions you'll ask include;
- “What are the key skills you feel are required for success in this position?”
- “What parts of my background are you most interested in learning about?”
- “What did you see in my resume that created your interest in my background?”

-- Interview Mastery is the job interview program for candidates covering more than 50 interview topics and situations. The program is based on 20 years of research and authored by Michael Neece, the “Interview Master” from Monster.com who has written extensively on interviewing for both companies and job seekers. Interview Mastery is the most widely used program of its kind and used by job seekers in 66 countries.

Guest Author: Response Strategy for Frequently Asked Interview Questions

By Michael R. Neece, CEO of Interview Mastery

Each interview question presents your client with an opportunity to present why they are the best person for the job. Your client's response should highlight their positive qualities and avoid presenting reasons to disqualify them as a candidate. For each quality your client presents, have them describe a situation where they demonstrated that quality. Coach them to describe specific examples of their experience where they demonstrated the quality they are discussing. Basically, you want them to be able to prove what they claimed.

For example, if your client states that they " Work well under pressure," describe an example where they did work effectively under pressure and delivered the results required.

Let your clients know that they shouldn't play the interviewer's game with alternative or trick questions. Interviewers often ask trick questions like, "Do you prefer to work alone or on a team?" Tell your clients: "In your response, be like a politician. Politicians answer questions by presenting information they want to present and do not allow reports to trick them." The next time you watch a press conference, notice the kind of questions reporters ask and see how the politician responds. Politicians often answer questions indirectly by presenting information they want to convey. Your clients can use a similar response strategy.

For example, if the interviewer asks if your client if they prefer to work alone or on a team, they are trying to get you to say you're one way or the other. Don't play this game. The reality is that most jobs require us to work independently and in teams. Your client's response to this question needs to show that they have been successful in both situations.

Before responding to any interviewer question, coach your client: "Take your time, breathe, and think about your answer. Thoughtful answers delivered clearly are much better than answers given rapidly. The quality of your answer is not measured by the speed of your response."

Other tips for clients. Tell them:

Be honest and succinct with your responses.

Tell the truth in a positive manner and don't discuss things or events in a negative fashion.

Long answers are less effective than concise responses and tend to make interviewers suspicious. (If you are talking more than 90 seconds without interaction with the interviewer you may be giving them more detail than they want. If you feel you've been talking too long, just stop and ask the interviewer a question like "Am I giving you the level of detail you're looking for?" This question prompts a response and promotes a conversation. Besides, if you're putting the interviewer to sleep with your long answer, asking a question will wake them up.

After your client's response, have him or her ask the interviewer a tag-on question to make sure they are understood accurately and to promote two-way communications.

Your clients deserve the best, so help them practice their responses to frequently asked interview questions (FAiQ) and prepare them to be their best when it matters most.

-- Interview Mastery is the job interview program for candidates covering more than 50 interview topics and situations. The program is based on 20 years of research and authored by Michael Neece, the “Interview Master” from Monster.com who has written extensively on interviewing for both companies and job seekers. Interview Mastery is the most widely used program of its kind and used by job seekers in 66 countries.