Guest Post: Nikolaos Kagkalos

Nikolaos is one of Chris' 2010 Professional Speaking MISM students at Carnegie Mellon University. Here he writes about the art of interviewing.

I still remember a teacher of mine during the undergraduate school years repeating and almost yelling at my class: "You, guys, when you have free time in the future, just go to interviews. Not one or two. Not even three or four. GO TO MANY! Tens, twenties...go to as many as you can! If you can do a hundred, it's awesome!" What a wise advice for future graduates...

The crucial question for everyone who seeks a job is: "What does a company wants to know about someone who wants to hire?" The pyramid of the information the company wants to gather has many levels; company wants to know about the knowledge of the candidate, his/her personality, confidence and trust, sincerity and probably thousands of others. A little bit above all these is the value of the person, that is, how much the company can get from him/her. But above all is the question "Is he/she a pleasant person?" or "Does he/she fit?"

From the candidate's view, what company should we choose to work for? Everyone has a bunch of companies they would like to work for. We see people saying: "I want to work for Google so bad! I have seen pictures from their offices and they are so cool!" Yeah! But this is not a good reason to apply there. And just the name of the company does not mean too much sometimes. Before applying, do RESEARCH; what is the history of the company? What is the culture fostered in there? How do they treat employees and how much do they pay? What are the prospects of promotions? All these enquiries lead us to clarify whether the company is the right pick for us. And how do we get the answers? Ask! Google it! There are many ways to find out. As long as you really want it, you can find the way to get it. Remember: the more information you get, the less are the chances to be hired by a company that does not fit you.

From the time you pick your target and before you arrange an interview, you should be able to answer convincingly questions like:

Why you are here?
What kind of person are you?
What can you offer to our company?
What differentiates you from the rest?
Desired salary?

In addition, be prepared for "hypothetical, real situation questions". For example, "what would you do if..." or "let's say the company...how would you act?" Depending on the position you seek, build working scenarios and answer them. As an inference, organize your thought, write down your answers, practice on them like it was a performance. Make mock interviews with experts from your school or teachers or even with yourself in front of the mirror! It is very important to know everything by heart.

After all this preparation, hit the target. Go for the company and seek an interview. You cannot do much here. If they want to hire people, you will be called - and this will be based on your solid resume (or in other words, your personal...flyer). Put much effort into this and remember: make it short and accurate, demonstrate results, and use keywords. Once you are called, also figure out the following tips to get the most out of it- which is getting the job:

• Try to know the company - again, it is very important
• Prepare your answers and pick interesting life stories that describe yourself
• At the time of the conversation: perform like an actor, be relaxed, be natural, make the interview look like a CONVERSATION by asking questions!
• Express in a diplomatic way how passionate you are for the job
• Be polite. Support your opinions in a good manner BUT never go beyond the limits

Interview is mostly actions; get your act together, practice, perform. Many words sometimes do not count - actions do. So go out, walk and get what you want!

This content is based on my personal experience and the lectures of Professor Labash.