The Adventure of Face to Face Interviewing

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken" — Oscar Wilde. 

The adventure of face to face interviewing is likely one of the more stressful events you will experience.  There are a lot of emotions and energy at play.  I would equate the emotions being similar to my time as a theater performer.  Each company and interviewer will be a unique experience, and rarely will you have a sold sense of what the outcome will be.

“To be a great champion, you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are.” —Muhammad Ali

Any time that you interview in person you should give it your all.  Make a good impression and play to win.  You can always decide to decline an offer, but there won’t be a ‘redo’ of the interview and the impression you leave with the company and the interviewers.  One of those interviewers may land at a new company the next week…make sure they are left with the best opinion of you possible.

Take care of logistics.  Confirm the meeting date, time and place.  Map out the route at the correct time of day (checking traffic patterns) and plan to be 15-30 minutes early.  You have enough stress ahead of you during the day, take this opportunity to remove the stress of perhaps being late.  DON’T BE LATE!  If being late is unavoidable, then call ahead as soon as possible to alert them.  Sometimes a semi-truck hits a water buffalo on the highway.  If (or when) you arrive early, you can use those minutes to review your notes.

You have worked with someone up to this point to screen you and select you for the ‘in person’ interview.  Try to make this person a bit of a coach for you.  Some questions you should be asking them.

1. Make sure that you have the latest job description.

2. Inquire about their suggestions on your clothing choices for the interview.  Some companies (or hiring managers) will be more formal, and others will want a more business casual look.

3. Work to confirm who you will be interviewing with.  Ask for names and positions.  This allows you to mentally prepare for the day and do some research on these people.

4. If they haven’t provided an itinerary or some bounds on the time to be at the company, you should inquire with them about this.  Know when it starts, but also have an idea on when it will finish.

Now that you have the logistics confirmed you can move on to the research preparation.  Yes, there is homework involved.  Can you ‘wing it’?   Sure.  However, you are spending some of your time and so are the interviewers, why not do the best job you can. This doesn’t assure success, but it does ensure that you can hold your head up high and rest in the knowledge that you did your best.  I think about the research in three areas.

The first is to research the company.  Some of this may be review, but spend some time learning about the products, the history and how they are marketing themselves.  Look at the company website and ‘Google’ the company. You can also look them up on social media and/or some of the job search boards.  Get a flavor for the company, be familiar with a couple brands and learn a bit about how they have arrived where they are.  Just dropping a couple names or a little bit of knowledge about these areas can impress an interviewer.  This also may help you frame up some key questions that you want to ask during the interview to confirm a fit with this company for yourself.

The next area is to research the interviewers.  Use Linked In or social media sites to try and learn a little bit about the people that will be interviewing you.  You are looking for any common points of connection: a common school/university, a common geography you both lived in, people connections that you may share, job titles you both held, sports you both played, etc.  People want to work with people that they like and establishing some common points of connection can be key.

A final area to research is the job description and the goals for the position.  Look over the functional job write-up, note the top 5 focus areas for the role and then work to draw connections between your background and these key points.  What past experiences could you share that would create a memorable story that aligns with their wishes and needs?

 You have done the homework, arrived and dressed appropriately.  Now you are ready to begin the day.  Pay attention to everyone that you meet and greet them with a smile.  This includes the receptionist, people on a building tour, executive assistants, etc.  I know of some companies that include the receptionist in the hiring analysis.  Everyone is forming an opinion while you are there.

People will make an impression of you in the first 2-4 minutes.  Greet them with a firm handshake and look them in the eyes.  Try to have a bit of small talk about the weather, families, areas of commonality, etc. to establish some quick connection.  Then follow their lead about continuing with social discussions or getting down to business.  You need to let them lead and be an active listener and participant.

During the interview you need to be confident, engaged, positive and personable.  Some of this probably will sound a bit contradictory, but you are trying to find a balance during your time in front of them.  You need to be yourself but be your ‘best’ self.  The interviewers are looking for someone that is confident without being cocky.  They are looking for positive energy, but not hyperactivity.  They are looking for capability but also a fit with the rest of the team.

 You will get asked a lot of questions.  Answer them as honestly as you can and try to work in a short story as often as possible.  Stories are more memorable, interesting to your audience and will be a differentiator. Your answers can’t be too short, but they also can’t be too long.  You are in the interview for them to get to know you, but not to be bored by you.  READ YOUR AUDIENCE.  Pay attention to when they are following along and when their attention starts to drift.  A PAUSE is O.K.   Listen to their question, take a moment to process, frame up a response and then speak.

Body posture during the interview matters.  You will want to lean forward for some of it, but then lean back for other portions.  Show that you are engaged, but also comfortable…of course not too comfortable.

You will want to have a note pad, pen and some sort of portfolio.  You want to look professional, but also have the right tools to show interest and professionalism.   Bring a few copies of your most current resume with you.  People may show up without a resume or the most current version.  Work to make their job as easy as possible.  Use the note pad and the pen to make notes during the interview process.  Some of these notes will be for you to consider later during a job offer and the other notes will be useful in sending a thank you note to your interviewers.

If the interviewer watches the time correctly, they should offer you a chance to ask some questions. You need to have at least one to three questions ready for this opportunity.  We will review what those questions might be in the next discussion.  The important thing is that you have some intelligent questions that show that you care about the position, you are curious about the role and that you are organized.

At the end of each interview, be sure to Thank the interviewer for their time.  Look them in the eye, shake their hand and thank them by name.  First impressions are the most important, but final impressions matter too.