Are you prepared for your interview?

Failure to prepare, is preparing to fail.” – John Wooden

Always treat “The Interview” with respect. It is not easy to get an interview. There is so much competition for each role. The last thing you want is to walk out of the interview being really excited about the opportunity & get rejected because you didn’t properly prepare.

Anyone who has ever gone on an interview has a really good idea of the types of questions you be asked. The interviewer expects you to have answers ready, especially for the: “Why should we hire you?” variety.  Sometimes this is where people get stumped - it happens.  Hopefully this hasn’t happened to you, but make sure it never does again by taking your preparation seriously.

Start by listing your achievements and accomplishments from each of your positions.  Detail the implementation & all the processes. Be genuinely excited when you speak about your accomplishments & how it helped your current or past employer. Give specific examples. Never assume the interviewer knows what you’re talking about. For specific prep help check out our candidate resources page www.zetaconsulting.net/candidates/.

Recently we had a candidate who was interviewing at my client and 2 other firms. Before going on any of the interviews, she listed my client as her 3rd choice. I advised her to prepare as though this is her 1st choice. I felt she was going to love the people, opportunity & vision of the firm and felt strongly about her having this conversation.  After the interview when she called to debrief, she said she had learned a lot about the group & their vision, and was so excited about the opportunity.  She thought the interview went well and it was now her number one choice. 

The client ended up passing on her candidacy.  When I told her the news, she was extremely disappointed. Unfortunately, she was able to convince the interviewer that she was truly interested. When asked basic questions about her fit for the role she had a hard time answering.  By not taking the time to envision herself in the role, she wasn’t able to articulate what she could bring to the table.

Hard lesson to learn from experience.  Prepare for every interview as if it is your first choice role.  You want to be in a position, to be make the decision.