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Most
people are familiar with the traditional interviewing
advice and tips - make eye contact, arrive on time, give
a firm handshake, etc. These cardinal rules of interviewing
pervade job search information. While this advice is crucial,
it is important to ask, is it really enough to get you
a job in the current climate? Does arriving 10 minutes
early really make you feel as though you have aced the
interview? Does following these rules really set you apart
from the rest of the candidates? Do they lower your overall
anxiety and make you feel calm and confident? No, no,
and no? Then, what are you to do?
Effective
interviewing results not only from heeding the traditional
advice, but also from taking control of the situation.
You can do this by Interviewing from Multiple Perspectives.
This
approach requires you to analyze the situation from multiple
perspectives before, during, and after the actual interview.
It encourages strategic thinking and a confident presentation.
This approach also allows you to differentiate yourself
from other candidates and reduce your overall anxiety
about the interview process. It will enable you to feel
more confident, more in control, and more prepared.
The
goal is to conduct the interview that you want to have.
You need to determine what you want the interviewer
to know about you and then make sure that they know it.
Additionally, you need to ensure that you learn what you
want to about the company and position. This can only
be accomplished if you are in control and act like your
strong, strategic, savvy, and sure self!
Interviewing
from Multiple Perspectives includes five key strategies,
which encourage you to be deliberate and thoughtful throughout
the entire interview process: before, during, and after.
Keep in mind that this approach will not alleviate all
of your anxiety (as interviews are intended to be stressful
situations), but it can prevent anxiety paralysis by increasing
your level of preparedness. The more work that you do
up front, the more prepared, confident, and successful
you will be!
BEFORE
THE INTERVIEW:
1.
Take a Walk in the Interviewer’s Shoes
– Identify the interviewer’s pressures, concerns,
and needs and plan to address them throughout the interview.
You can gain this understanding through research of the
company, its competitive landscape, and other pertinent
external influences. Is the company just coming off the
heels of a merger? If so, the interviewer may need someone
who can help bring different types of people together
around a common agenda. You will want to highlight examples
of when you have done exactly that in past jobs. Speaking
to someone who works at the target company is a great
way to supplement the knowledge you will gain from Internet
research.
2.
Anticipate and Address Possible Concerns -
Review the typical questions an interviewer will likely
ask and consider them from the employer’s perspective.
Try to anticipate what concerns about the future underlie
the question and/or what they are looking to hear. Also,
try to think about what aspects of your background may
raise flags for them and plan to address these aspects
directly in an upfront manner (e.g., if there are big
gaps in your job history you will want to prepare in advance
how you are going to address them so that you remain in
control of the discussion). In addition, it is important
to consider stereotypical reactions your presence may
trigger and how you can subtly dispel them with your behaviors
and words. Stereotypes may derive from demographic characteristics,
social identities, previous employment history, career
path, nature of educational institutions and training,
etc.
3.
Make Yourself Part of the Solution - Start with
the job description of the position you are interviewing
for and break it down into its component parts. Then map
your strengths, skills, and experience to as many of the
employer’s needs as you can. Think of specific examples
from your experience that you can use as supporting evidence.
Make sure that you emphasize these matches during the
interview and that you are very comfortable talking about
them. To practice, put each point of emphasis and the
supporting examples on an index card. Say each of these
points aloud - on videotape, in front of a mirror, or
to someone you trust. Do not forget to bring the cards
with you to review before the interview.
DURING
THE INTERVIEW:
4.
Put Yourself in the Driver’s Seat - Approach
the interview from a position of strength and communicate
with confidence and competence. How can you do this?
There are two key aspects:
a)
Make it a two-way dialogue. Both you and the interviewer
should be evaluating whether the job is a good match for
you. Prepare specific questions to help you determine
if you will fit into the organization, be set up to succeed
and want to do the job. The questions should come from
the criteria you have deemed important to you, as well
as what you learn from your network and, of course, from
thorough research of the company.
b)
Act as if you already have (and are successful
in) the job you want. How would you greet someone? Carry
yourself? Dress? Communicate? Use this as a guide to how
you should present yourself. First impressions do
matter. Fake it ‘til you make it if necessary!!
AFTER
THE INTERVIEW:
5.
Look at Your Performance from an Outsiders Point of View
– As soon as you leave the interview conduct an
objective review of your performance. Identify what you
did well and what could have been improved. Reflect on
the parts of the interview that you feel could have gone
better and generate multiple hypotheses to explain how/why
they went wrong. Until you have sufficient data to validate
one of the hypotheses, do not assume that you are the
problem. Women tend to internalize negative messages.
Do not let yourself fall into the trap of self-blame when
a bad interview could have just as easily been a product
of a very bad day on the interviewer’s part.
Make
sure to write your thoughts down immediately following
the interview, while they are still fresh in your mind.
Then, within 24 hours, write a letter or send an email
that incorporates both a recap of your points of emphasis
and adds whatever information you wished you had communicated
during the interview.
Using
this approach certainly requires a lot more work than
‘winging it’. However, your in-depth preparation
will pay off by allowing you to feel more confident and
in control of the process. Interviewing from Multiple
Perspectives will better equip you to conduct the
interview that you want to have!
About
the Authors:
Adena Berkman and Adelaide Fives
are the principal partners and founders of Berkman Fives,
LLC, a Manhattan-based career development company focused
exclusively on women. Berkman Fives aims to help women
make informed career decisions, integrate career and life
planning, and thereby take control of their career paths.
Both women were trained at Columbia University and at
the highly respected JP Morgan Chase Career Services Center,
where they met.
For
more information, please see www.berkmanfives.com.
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