Documenting Success

How to search for a job after college – Part III: Interview
Published on January 17th, 2007

(This is Part III of the series. Here are Part I, Part II and Part IV)

While you’re talking to friends about job openings in their companies, and sending out resumes, you should keep in mind why you’re doing this. And even though your ultimate goal, of course, is to find a job, everything that I’ve described up to this point has been dedicated to one intermediate goal: getting an interview.

When does the interview begin?

Most people have a wrong impression of when the interview starts. They think that it begins with the question “So, tell me about yourself” at a formal sit-down with the hiring manager. In reality, your interview began a lot earlier, when the company contacted you – either by phone or email – regarding your resume. Everything you do from that point on will determine your hiring chances.

How to behave at an interview

One thing you always have to keep in mind about interviews is that appearance is key. Don’t listen to anybody who tells you otherwise. No matter how smart and talented you are, if you don’t act the right way, you won’t get the job. If you don’t dress sharp (unless they specifically tell you to dress casually) you’re not getting the job either.

Remember, you will be evaluated by people who are facing the prospect of spending the majority of their waking time sitting right next to you. And more often than not, they’ll have about half an hour to get to know you.

It’s not as serious as it sounds – use common sense and you should be all right. Dress in a business suit. Shave/put makeup on. Don’t pick your nose during the interview – wait until you go home. Speak clearly, don’t be arrogant or annoying. Don’t overdo the dressing part. Smile, use etiquette when applicable (i.e. hold doors for others). Don’t appear overly serious and nervous.

Another major thing to remember is to act enthusiastic. As I mentioned before, you always have to keep intermediate goals in mind. At the interview stage, your goal is to get a job offer. Even if you’re having doubts whether you really want this particular job, you should act like it’s your dream opportunity. If you’re planning to think long and hard whether to accent the job offer, you should still do everything in your power to get the offer in the first place.

Just about the worst thing you can do on an interview is to act like “I don’t really want this, and I’ll be doing you guys a favor if I take it.” Instead, you should be practically bursting with enthusiasm over the prospect of being hired at this place!

Asking questions

A major ingredient of being prepared for the interview is coming up with questions of your own. Asking questions about the company, the industry, the position, the team – everything relevant – shows the interviewer that you’re serious about this job. Put some thought into preparation, because a creative person that takes initiative is a trait that most companies look for in all their candidates.

What kind of questions should you ask? Anything and everything. Browse the company’s website before the interview and try to come up with some questions about it. Ask about the business, what technology they use, how the team works, etc. You should also ask as much as possible about the position itself, even if it’s just to elaborate on the job posting.

When asking questions – listen. Don’t just ask to put a checkmark that you did. Make sure you listen to the person’s response and ask any follow up questions necessary.

Answering questions

While you’re going to ask a lot of questions, most of the interview will be spent answering questions from others. Some questions are going to test your knowledge or experience directly related to the job. Others will be more generic, probably asked of all candidates this person ever interviews. Most of these are fairly common and you should get ready to hear them everywhere. Do you work well in a team? What do you think about working long hours? Tell me about yourself. What are your biggest strengths and weaknesses? For some of those questions, you should have the answer prepared.

Sometimes you may also get “impossible” or “puzzle” questions. These are designed to test your ability to “think outside the box” and the most famous example is “Why are manhole covers round?” (So it cannot fall through the opening)

Job knowledge questions

With questions such as “Do you know…”, or “Have you done …” there can be only two possible outcomes – yes or no. If yes, then great! Otherwise, the answering gets a little trickier. If you don’t know something, do not guess or lie. Guessing will make you look incompetent and will only get the interviewer irritated. Lies will eventually get out, usually with disastrous results.

However, what you also don’t want to do is just flatly say “No, I don’t know / Never done it.” In fact, the word “no” should probably not escape your lips at all. Always try to add something positive to your answer. If you can’t think of anything, you can always say “While I haven’t had a chance to do that, I am a very quick learner and always pick new things up very fast. I would absolutely love the opportunity to learn that, I’ve been wanting to for a while.”

General questions

When you’re being asked questions like how well you work in a team-oriented environment, you should remember a few things.

First, this is not a B.S. question, no matter how much it seems like one to your cynical self. If it was one, people that are interviewing you wouldn’t waste their time asking it.

Also, you should remember your goal. Why are you at the interview? Because you want to pass, and you want to get an offer. It then becomes obvious that the right answer is yes, you’d love nothing more than an opportunity to work in a team with a hundred people, even if all you really want from a job is an office with a door that locks, and the freedom to snarl incoherently in response to all attempts to socialize. Why shouldn’t you answer that you’re a “lone wolf” kind of person? Because it will decrease the chances of you getting the job.

Every question like the one above should be answered positively. Otherwise, you are ruining your chances of getting an offer.

Tell me about… questions

A lot of interviewers like to start with a broad question like “tell me about yourself” or “why do you want this job.” Another popular one is “what are your strengths and weaknesses?” Or “tell me about your biggest project” In your industry, there may be other, more specific ones.

The only trick to those questions is to prepare. Figure out in advance what you’re going to say, write it down if needed, and practice your speech in front of the mirror. But what should you actually tell? Believe it or not, that’s not as important! When the interviewer asks you those questions, he or she mostly wants to see if you’re able to speak coherently.

One exception to the rule is the ‘weaknesses’ question. This is actually a trick one. The intent of that question is to get you to reveal something that would hurt your chances of getting the job. Don’t fall into that trap. Instead, prepare the answer that turns the negative into positive. For example: “My biggest weakness is that sometimes I get so absorbed in a task, that I forget my surroundings. I forget to eat lunch, go to the bathroom, or go home until it’s finished.”

Puzzle questions

Finally, there’s a category of puzzle questions. I won’t spend too much time on it, since most companies don’t ask them. But generally, those questions will sound impossible to answer – “How many gas stations are there in LA? How do they make M&Ms? “. Microsoft is the company that made those questions famous on their interviews.

Once you know the secret, it’s very simple to answer these questions. Just remember: more often than not, there is no right answer. I mean, there probably is one, but even if your interviewer knows it, he or she is least interested in hearing it. What they’re interested in hearing is your way of thinking. They want to know that you don’t give up when faced with a seemingly impossible task. So start thinking out loud. When you need a number, take your best guess. “Hmm, so there must be about 10 million people in LA, and ¾ of them drive a car… “ In the end, if you come up with an answer that’s not obviously, outrageously wrong , the interviewer will be happy with it.

And that is it for Part III. Remember, I’m always looking for questions and comments, so feel free to email me or post below. Part IV (the last one) coming up very soon!

(This is Part III of the series. Here are Part I, Part II and Part IV)