Building Relationships: The Key to Successful Interviewing

Career Lost and Found, All Rights Reserved

What is a successful job interview?

•The customary definition of a successful job interview is one from which you receive a job offer.

•How can you assure that your next

interview will be successful?

Building Relationships: The Key to Successful Interviewing

•Planning•Preparation•Performance

Planning: The groundwork

Building relationships begins even before your first conversation by establishing a common interest with your interviewers through your resume and cover letter.

▫Identify the right job opportunities for you▫Customize your resume to the specific

opportunity▫Write a cover letter that will capture the

reviewer’s interest

Planning: Identify the right jobs for you

•The right opportunities for you are those that are a good fit.

▫Your skills, knowledge and experience match the job requirements.

▫The company culture aligns with your values.

Planning: Your cover letter should …

• Explain why you are contacting the recipient

• Include -

▫a short background

▫career highlights

▫A summary of how your experience meets the job requirements.

• Prompt the reviewer to read your resume.

Planning: Customize your resume

• A great resume is:

▫ Simple

▫ Straightforward

▫ Easy-to-read

▫ Interesting

▫ Matches the job requirements

• A great resume prompts the reviewer to contact you to schedule an interview.

Planning: Building relationships - with whom?

•Friends

•Professional associates

•Recruiters

•Hiring managers/other interviewers

Planning: Ask for help from your friends

•Friends are connections to potential jobs •They are your support group

•They may play the roles of interviewers in your practice interview sessions

Planning: Leverage your professional relationships

•Professional relationships are sources of job opportunities

•Your associates may act as references for you

•They may also play the role of interviewers in your practice interview sessions

Planning: Connect with Recruiters

•Recruiters are direct sources of job opportunities

•They may call you about a specific job, but they may also have other opportunities for which you are a good fit

•Treat recruiters with the same respect you would give a hiring manager

Preparation: Do Your research

• Research the company▫Website and news items

• Research the interviewers▫Background▫Associations

Professional Civic Social

Local online

▫News items

Preparation: Practice, practice, practice

• Prepare for behavioral interviews▫ Interviewers want to know what you have done that contributed

toward your former organizations’ successes

• Write responses to typical behavioral interview questions:▫ “Tell me about a time when you handled a difficult situation.”▫ “Give me an example of a time when you used good judgment in

solving a problem.” ▫ “Give me an example of a time when you set a goal and achieved

it.”

• Develop your stories using the STAR format – situation, task, action, result

• Record your practice sessions, if possible▫ See yourself as others see you

Preparation: Dealing with interview anxiety

•Manage physical symptoms▫Do breathing exercises▫Have a snack before the interview

•Overcome negative thinking▫Avoid the Ladder of Inference

•Forget that it is an interview – be yourself!

Performance: The telephone interview

• The first interview is for screening and is often conducted by a recruiter.

• Be prepared to talk about your experience and why you are the right person for this job.

• Although the call may be casual, keep in mind that the recruiter’s notes may be passed along to the hiring manager.

• The second interview may be a call with the hiring manager.

Performance: Connect with the hiring manager during the interview

• The hiring manager is seeking the best fit for the job▫ The individual who meets or exceeds the job requirements

and can work effectively as part of the manager’s team

• You are seeking the best job for you▫ Know your job satisfiers/dissatisfiers

• Build a connection with the hiring manager during the interview that will satisfy both your needs▫ Ask questions about his/her experience with the company▫ Ask what it will take for you to be successful▫ Note any external connections you may have

Performance: Connect with other interviewers

•Other managers▫They may strongly influence the hiring

decision

•Prospective peers▫The hiring manager is seeking assurance

that you will fit in with his/her team

•The CEO

Performance: Interviewing with other managers

•Group interview▫Panel▫Fishbowl

•“Gauntlet” interview▫Single location▫Interviewers’ offices

Performance: Interviewing with prospective peers

•Answer their questions▫Notice how they relate to you

•Ask questions about how they work together▫Notice how they relate to each other

The CEO

•The interview with the CEO is usually the last

•Its customary purpose is to bless a hiring decision that has already been made

After the interview: what’s next?

•If you win the job▫Celebrate!

•If you don’t win the job …▫Conduct a review to understand what

happened ▫Stay in touch with the recruiter and the

hiring manager They may be a source of other opportunities

in the future

Questions?

Joanne Dustin, Career CoachCareer Lost and Foundwww.careerlostandfound.comjoannedustin@careerlostandfound.com

Career Lost and Found, All Rights Reserved