Guest Post - Evan Kamau

Evan is one of Chris' Spring 2012 Professional Speaking students at Carnegie Mellon. Here he writes about job interviews.

Am I ready for the job interview? This was the first question in my mind when I got the interview invitation for my dream job. I knew it was important to prepare adequately. That meant practicing interview questions and answers, dressing in appropriate interview attire and after the interview, sending thank you letters to my interviewers. Having taken Chris Labash’s communication classes, I knew that during the interview, the first impression I made on my potential employer was the most important one.

An important question to answer is what exactly makes a successful interview process and experience? I will answer this question based on four dimensions: What the interviewer looks for in a candidate, the five important questions that the candidate needs to answer before the interview, important steps to a successful job interview, and finally an effective way of mentioning your story to the interviewer.

What the interviewer looks for in a candidate?

Number one thing every employer looks for in a candidate is FIT and whether the candidate is a pleasant person. The employer asks himself or herself the question, can I see myself working with this person? This means that it is important that the employer likes you. The candidate must remember that making a mistake in hiring you costs the employer three times the cost of hiring you. The next important consideration that the interviewer makes is the VALUE that you as a candidate is bringing to the organization. The other important qualities that the employer evaluates can be summarized as: 

Tech savvy, the ability to comprehend and utilize the latest trends in technology and innovations.

Enthusiasm for the field, role and responsibilities for the job you are interviewing for.

Match expectations between you as the candidate and the employer job requirements.

Personality characteristics of the candidates.

Qualifications and potential to handle the requirements for the job.

Team player skills demonstrated from the candidate’s prior experiences.

The ability to adapt to the corporate culture and learn new things easily.

Effective Communication skills on the job.

The ability to deal with uncertainty.

Initiative when handling new projects and new opportunities.

What are the five important questions that the candidate needs to answer before the interview?

Why are you here?  The interviewer wants to know whether you really like the company or you are here for one of the 100 interviews you have been attending.

What kind of person are you? The interviewer is interested in the unique characteristics in you, such as creativity, ethics, and flexibility.

What can you do for us? Project the VALUE and the unique skills you are bringing to the company.

What makes your different? You should bring out your unique traits that distinguish you from the other interviewees.

Can we afford you? The interviewer is interested in knowing your salary expectations and whether the company can afford that salary.

What are the important steps to a successful job interview? 

Research the company’s basic facts, culture and current stories not directly visible in the media. You can use resources such as Glassdoor.com, past employees, etc.

Carry multiple copies of your resume, keep the resume one page, have a precise story for introduction, be honest to not put anything on your resume that is not true

Ensure you Get a good night’s sleep

List out the stories you want to talk about and the questions you want to ask

Don’t be late for the interview.

Be polite during the interview.

Prepare for the Introduction and remember that the last sentence is as important as the first one

Make the interview a conversation by asking the right questions. Don’t wait till the end to ask the questions. You can capitalize on the inevitable pauses of the interviewer to ask questions or you can tag the questions at the end of your sentence.

It is important to use stories to bring your asset points to the front.

Do not forget to discuss the next steps after the interview.

Post Mortem – analyze what you did right and what you can do better.

Remember to send a thank you note – you can use this to send additional information that will help you give them another good story

Is there an effective way of mentioning your story to the interviewer?

The most effective way to tell a good story to your interviewer is by use of the STAR technique.

Situation –Explain with clarity what the situation was,

Tasks – Explain what the task was

Approach –enumerate how you went about solving the challenge

Results- Most importantly do not forget to mention what the results were