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Interviewing

Preparation

Communicate Your Strengths and Accomplishments

• Know yourself - your general career interests, abilities, skills, and enthusiasms.
• Be able to articulate past experience (whether paid, volunteer, internship or any other kind of experience) that relates to the requirements of the position for which you are applying.
• Be able to describe transferable skills that relate specifically to this job.
• Prepare a "personal sales commercial": two minutes of why you want to work here and what skills and qualifications you have to offer. This prepared piece is always helpful when the dreaded question "Tell me about yourself," is asked.
• Develop ten questions about the company prior to the interview. Prepare questions regarding product, work environment, specifics of position, company's outlook, etc. Your questions allow the interviewer to evaluate your professional and personal needs, as well as help both of you determine whether your relationship will be mutually rewarding.
• Know how the opportunity will impact your immediate and long term career development.
• Know the exact time and place of the interview, the interviewer's full name, the correct pronunciation and title. Arrive early.

Know the Employer

Get as much information as you can about the organization. Information you might want to know regarding a potential employer includes:

• Relative size of the firm or industry
• Potential for growth in the industry
• Annual sales growth rate in the last five years
• Array of product lines or services
• Potential new markets, products or services
• Competitors
• Organizational structure including company officers
• Recent items in the news
• Typical career path in your field
• Corporate culture
• Salaries and benefits
• Mission Statement

Where can you get this information?

• Annual reports/brochures published by the company, UWT Career Development Center, UWT Library.
• Read through local, state, and national directories. Some examples are: Standard & Poor's Register, Dunn & Bradstreet's Million Dollar Directory, and Directory of Major Employers, Central Puget Sound Region. These directories and others like them are available on campus at the UWT Library.
• Stay up to date on the business news: read the business page of the local papers, as well as the weekly Puget Sound Business Journal.
• Talk to people who work in the company if possible.
• Check with your local reference librarian for other possible sources of information.

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Practice

• Develop answers to common interview questions. Write the answer, then practice by saying the answer out loud. Listen to yourself answering each question.
• Have someone ask you the questions and give you feedback on your answers, as well as habits and mannerisms while you speak.
• Use a video camera to record yourself while responding to some of the questions.
• Pay attention to your body language, eye contact, and general demeanor. Avoid nervous habits like playing with a pencil in your hand, or fiddling with jewelry or clothes. Relax so you can smile naturally.
• As you frame your answers to the questions asked, make an effort to speak positively. Positive words and phrases that might describe your past experiences include:
  • Well organized
  • Problem solver
  • Ability to make quick decisions
  • Can establish good rapport with people
  • Diplomatic
  • Attentive to detail
  • Flexible
  • Creative
  • Ability to motivate
  • Sense of priorities, etc.

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Presentation

Resume

Your resume is the employer's first impression of you. It should be well organized, easy to read, free of misspellings and printed on good quality paper by a laser or letter quality printer. Be prepared to speak of everything on your resume. Give specific examples of your work. Tell stories from your experience.

Dress

Match the standards of the workplace. If you are unsure about dress code, always err on the conservative side.

Avoid an overabundance of perfume, aftershave lotion, make-up, jewelry, or hairspray.

Closing the Interview

• If you are interested in the position, ask for it, or ask for the next interview if the situation demands. If you feel the job is attractive and you want an offer made, be a good salesperson and say something like this: "Mr./Ms. Employer, I'm very impressed with what I've seen here today, your company, its products and the people I've met. I am confident I could do an excellent job in the position you've described to me." The interviewer will be impressed with your enthusiasm.
• If you get the impression that the interview is not going well and that you have already been rejected, do not let your discouragement show. Once in a while an interviewer who is genuinely interested in your possibilities may seem to discourage you in order to test your reaction.
• Thank the interviewer for his or her time and consideration.
• At the end of the interview ask if they have any additional questions about your qualifications.

What is the next step in this process?

As soon as you return home from the interview, sit down and write a thank you note to the people who interviewed you. (This is very important!)

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DOs and DON'Ts for Interviews

DOs

• If presented with an application, do fill it out neatly and completely.
• Give the appearance of energy as you walk. Smile! Shake hands firmly.
• Do wait until you are offered a chair before sitting. Sit upright, look alert and interested at all times. Be a good listener as well as a good talker.
• Do follow the interviewer's leads, but try to get the interviewer to describe the position and duties to you early in the interview so that you can apply your background, skills, and accomplishments to the position.
• Do make sure that your good points come across to the interviewer in a factual, sincere manner. Stress achievements. For example: sales records, processes developed, savings achieved, systems installed, etc.
• Do project a professional image while waiting. Organize your belongings so that when the interviewer arrives you will be prepared.

DON'Ts

• Don' t forget to bring a copy of your resume!
• Don't rely on your application and resume to do the selling for you. Interviewers will want you to speak for yourself.
• Don't smoke, even if the interviewer does and offers you a cigarette. Do not chew gum.
• Don't answer with a simple "yes" or "no." Explain whenever possible. Describe those things about yourself that relate to the situation.
• Don't lie. Answer questions truthfully, frankly, and succinctly.
• Don't over answer questions. And if the interviewer steers the conversation into politics or controversial issues, try to do more listening than speaking since this could be a sensitive situation.

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Links

Job Web

Articles on several topics (including interviewing), internship database, job listings and more.

Spherion

Interview tips and practice.

Princeton Review

Articles on negotiating salary, networking, informational interviewing, searching for a job on line, resume and cover letter advice, and internship search.

Husky Career Network

Husky Career Network is a searchable worldwide network of more than 4,700 UW alumni and friends (called Husky Career Network contacts) offering networking referrals and information about their career field and geographic area. Through this program, students and alumni can contact fellow alumni who have volunteered to provide advice and guidance on careers.

For more information about interviewing visit Career Development, or make an appointment with the Career Counselor.

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