Thoughts, Ideas, and Other Randomness

Recently I interviewed for a new position at work. It would be a more important job with more responsibility, higher pay, more hours, and more influence on the course of the business as a whole. While I may not get the job (I have a scheduling conflict because of school) the interview itself went perfectly. In fact, I think that it went so well, the only thing that could possibly prevent me from getting the job, would be that conflict.

So, how do I know it went so well? Well, luckily I work for a company where it is an excepted practice to ask questions later. I spoke with one of my interviewers a little while after the actual interview, and without alluding to anything much, he told me that I did a great job. I asked about some of the other interviews he’s done, making sure that I didn’t ask about my competition on this round, so see why he thinks I did so well.

Here are the points that he claims put me amongst the top runners for the position:

1. I Dressed Up: While it seems like a no brainer to me (a most of the rest of the planet) people have shown up for interviews in nothing more than a t-shirt and jeans, and expected to be taken seriously. The fact that I had on a button down shirt, tie, jacket, and slacks gave me positive points from the moment I walked in the door.
2. I Knew My Current Job: Again, a Duh moment for me, but there are those people out there who have hopes of moving up in the business world without knowing what they’re supposed to be doing in their current position. I know my job, I work hard at it, and I try to keep on top of everything I’m supposed to be doing daily to ensure that I get the job done.
3. I Know What I Want: I want to move up in the company, I made it obvious that I wanted to move up, and I was able to give my reasons why. Many past interviewees weren’t sure what they wanted, only that they didn’t want the position they were currently in. Their interviews didn’t go well, because it seemed more like they were just trying to get out of their current jobs, not that they really wanted the position they applied for.
4. I Knew The Job I Was Going For: By that I don’t mean that I just submitted an application and went for whatever they offered. There have been other management positions in the past that I pointedly did NOT apply for. This one I did want, so when the position became available I went for it. I also researched the position, found out what the duties were, made sure that I talked to the person who currently has the position about the job, and made sure that I knew the people I would be over if I got the job. When it came to the portion of the interview where they asked me what I thought was expected of me, I was able to give them (I think) exactly what they were looking for.
5. I Though About The “Other”: In every interview I’ve ever had, and every interview I’ve ever done, there comes that question, “What other changes/duties/areas do you think this position should entail that ‘we’ haven’t considered?” I knew this question was coming and for two days before my interview, I thought about the other areas I thought the department should embrace. When the question came up, I answered it easily and even made had a couple of examples on hand to support my ideas.
6. I Researched: Like I said before, I not only spoke with the person whose job I would be taking (he got a better position himself, so there’s no jealousy there,) I also spoke with his team to find out what they did. I made sure I read and re-read over the position’s duties. I thought about what I wanted to say before hand, and I got examples of ideas I thought would work for my ideas. I even went to the competition to see what they were doing that I thought we could do to make th company better.
7. I Spoke Well: Now this is more a a learned technique than something you can read and get immediately, but here’s what I do. First, don’t rush to answer every question. Take a moment, breathe in, think, and then answer. I find that repeating the question as part of my answer gives me that extra few seconds I need to collect my thoughts as well.
8. Overall, I was prepared: And really that’s the most important thing about interviewing for a new position. Interviewers are always going to throw questions at you that you don’t expect. (I myself have asked interviewees the dreaded, “How many nickels would it take to fill this room?”) So you have to expect that you may not know the answers off hand. It’s okay, follow the tip from #7 and you should be okay here. (And the best answer to my question I’ve ever heard, “More than I’ll make in a year.” though, “With or without the furniture?” was also a good one.)

If you follow these simple things you should be able to do fine on any interview you go on as well. Let me just give you one more little piece of advice, most employers want to hire you. If they didn’t want you, or think that you would work for them in some way, you wouldn’t be on the interview in the first place. So relax, and just have fun with it, even if someone else gets the position over you, you get the experience, and the education of what going on a great interview feels like.

Good luck.