PURPOSE 

The interview is a mutual exchange of information between an employer and a candidate for a position. The primary objectives are:

• To supply information about yourself that is not contained in your resume; to show that you understand yourself and have a sense of direction in your career.

• To enable the employer to evaluate your personality and attitudes in terms of the demands of the organization and the possible position.

• To enable you to gain information about the organization and the job which is not available through other sources.

• To give you and the employer an opportunity to discuss the desirability of further contact or an offer of employment.

INTERVIEW PREPARATION  

KNOWLEDGE OF YOURSELF

To impress an employer you must be well prepared and understand the value of what you have to offer. Be able to relate your assets to the position and the organization. To accomplish this you must know yourself.
Review your self assessment sheets and your Preparing for the Resume and Job Interview worksheet. Review your resume and be prepared to answer questions about the contents. Substantiate all points with information.
Rather than trying to determine only at what level you are currently functioning, some interviewers want to see how you have grown over time in areas related to their position(s), e.g., interpersonal/work skills, motivation.
Some will compel you to talk about your failures and mistakes to find out what you have learned or have since done differently. 

KNOWLEDGE OF COMPANY/ORGANIZATION

You must be familiar with the position and the organization so that you can demonstrate how and why you will be an effective employee.
Try to find out as much as you can about the organization prior to your interview.
Ask the company to send you material, e.g., annual report, brochures, in-house newsletter or magazine. This knowledge will also help you to decide whether you want to be associated with a particular organization.
Review information in the section on Researching Employers. Obtain information, if you can, on whom you will be meeting with and the schedule for the interview period. If you can find out about your interviewer(s), e.g., name, title, background, in advance, you will be able to commit their names to memory and use them during the interviews.

Your success or failure in the interview can depend on your appearance and the interviewer's first impression of you. If it is not good, it will be much harder during the rest of the interview to change the interviewer's mind. Look neat, clean and well-groomed. Select proper clothing for the type of organization interviewing you. If in doubt, be conservative.

 DURING THE INTERVIEW

Don't worry about being nervous during the interview—this is normal and will be expected.
Just remember, the interviewer wants to hire you if you have the right qualifications and interest in the position.
Many interviewers will begin the interview with some "small talk" to help you relax. This may seem irrelevant to the position, but you are still being evaluated.
Take these opening moments to show a great attitude, e.g., pleasure speaking with the interviewer, interesting facts about the organization which you found during your research.
You may want to ask some questions about the organization, its products/services to hear the interviewer talk, to get a sense of energy level and pacing.

The second phase of the interview consists of the interviewer asking you questions to try to determine your match to the specifications needed to do the work well.
The most reliable way for an interviewer to project how you would perform in the future is to examine the past. Therefore, many employers prepare some behaviour-based questions. Which ones are asked depends on the work you are interviewing for.
Examples:

• Tell me about a time when you had to go beyond what is ordinarily expected of an employee in order to get a job done.

• Give me an example of an important goal you set and describe your success in reaching it.

• Discuss occasions when you adapted to a wide variety of people and situations.

• Describe a time when you had an angry customer on the telephone.

By analyzing the questions asked of you, you will be able to find out more particulars about the job for which you have applied.
What emphasis does the interviewer seem to be placing on which skills, knowledge, personality traits and attitudes.
That insight can help you focus your answers more easily to the employer’s position.

In your answers, if you adopt a model similar to the following,the interviewer should ultimately be able to determine:

Can you do the job?
Will you do the job?
Do you fit in?

Prior knowledge of possible questions the employer may ask enables you to prepare points to include in your answers, thus allowing you to relax and be yourself.

Think about why the question is being asked. What does the employer REALLY want to know? Following are some typical questions. Watch for behaviour-based questions!

• Tell me about yourself.
• What are your short-term goals? What about in 2 and 5 years from now?
• What is your own vision/mission statement?
• What do you think you will be looking for in the job following this position?
• Why do you feel you will be successful in this work?
• What other types of jobs are you looking for in addition to this one?
• What supervisory or leadership roles have you had?
• What experience have you had working on a team?
• What have been your most satisfying/disappointing experiences?
• What are your strengths/weaknesses?
• What kinds of problems do you handle the best?
• How do you reduce stress and try to achieve balance in your life?
• How did you handle a request to do something contrary to your moral code or business ethics?
• What was the result the last time you tried to sell your idea to others?
• Why did you apply to our organization and what do you know about us?
• What do you think are advantages/disadvantages of joining our organization?
• What is the most important thing you are looking for in an employer?
• What were some of the common characteristics of your past supervisors?
• What characteristics do you think a person would need to have to work effectively in our company with its policies of staying ahead of the competition?
• What courses did you like best/least? Why?
• What did you learn or gain from your part-time/summer/co-op/internship experiences?
• What are your plans for further studies?
• Why are your grades low?
• How do you spend your spare time?
• If I asked your friends to describe you, what do you think they would say?
• What frustrates you the most?
• When were you last angry at work and what was the outcome?
• How did you handle the time when you had to work with someone you disliked?
• What things could you do to increase your overall effectiveness?
• What was the toughest decision you had to make in the last year? Why was it difficult?
• Why haven’t you found a job yet?
• You don’t seem to have any experience in ___ (e.g., sales, fundraising, bookkeeping), do you?
• Why should I hire you?

To supplement information obtained prior to the interview, you need to ask additional questions during the interview.
The questions, however, should be pertinent to the position and show your enthusiasm and knowledge.
By asking intelligent, well-thought-out questions, you show the employer you are serious about the organization and need more information. It also indicates to the recruiter that you have done your homework.
Examples are:

• Do you have a copy of the detailed job description?
• What do you see as the priorities for someone in this position?
• Would you be able to describe a typical day on the job?
• What would be a typical first-year assignment?
• What training programs do you have available for your employees?
• What level of responsibility could I expect in this position?
• What qualities do you look for in new employees?
• Is there a typical career path for a person in this position?
• How are employees evaluated and promoted?
• What is a realistic timeframe for promotion?
• Does the company have a promotion-from-within policy?
• What are the company's plans for the future?
• What do you see as the greatest threat to the organization?
• What/where are the greatest opportunities for the organization
• How would you describe your organization's management style and working environment?
• What do you like most about your organization?
• Why is this position available? (Is it a new job or where did the former occupant go?)
• I feel confident that I would be able to do your job well, but do you have any doubts about my suitability?

 VERBAL/NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

• Acknowledge introductions with a smile and a firm handshake.
  Maintain good eye contact and smile when appropriate.
  Be enthusiastic and responsive.
  Radiate energy.
  How are you going to demonstrate your enthusiasm if you tend to be a quiet person?
  As you talk about your past and present activities in answer to questions, your passion and energy can be communicated both through the words of your stories and your body language (e.g., sparkling eyes and tone of voice).



• Sit comfortably, without slouching.
  Don't put anything on your lap or in your hands as it will restrict your natural body movement and you may be tempted to "play" with it.
  Keep your clipboard, note pad, briefcase, or portfolio on the floor beside your chair for easy retrieval when necessary.



• Respond to questions specifically and concisely but give sufficient details to enable the interviewer to evaluate your credentials.
  Interviewers become frustrated when they have to listen to long rambling answers.
  Think before you speak. It is quite acceptable to pause before talking in order to organize your thoughts, but think quietly. Avoid verbal fillers such as um, ah, you know, etc., or repeating the question in order to provide thinking time. Use business language. Avoid slang. Speak clearly.



• Prepare in advance to talk about any topic that you are concerned or feel uncomfortable about.
  If there is something that you don’t want an interviewer to inquire about, you can be sure that somehow the interviewer will sense it, and ask.
  Practise your answer out loud often enough to feel confident when saying it. Maintain poise and self control.
  Maybe you need to think about that difficult issue as a learning opportunity which has made you a better person.



• Answer questions truthfully. If you are playing a game in order to get hired, you will be found out once you are on the job.

TYPES OF INTERVIEWS 

ONE-ON-ONE

Except for short-term positions, e.g., co-op, a candidate being seriously considered by a prospective employer will be invited to visit the organization at one of its locations. One purpose is to provide you with an opportunity to meet other staff. The second is to give more people an opportunity to interview you at greater depth to determine whether a good match is developing. The visit can take an entire day, sometimes more. When an organization offers to pay your expenses to travel to the interview, be prudent in submitting costs. Your choice of moderate rather than luxurious accommodation, food, transportation, etc. will reflect your good judgement.

ENDING THE INTERVIEW

When it appears that the interviewer is about to end the interview, there are certain points you should make sure you have covered before you leave the room: 

• Be aware of the interview process yet to come before a candidate is selected for the job (e.g., another interview in same/other location, meetings with other individuals in organization, etc.)
• Ask the interviewer when you can expect to hear about a decision or ask when you should make an inquiry as a follow-up.
• Express your interest in the position and thank the interviewer for interviewing you.
• Ask for a business card or ensure that you have the interviewer's name, title, address so that you can send a thank-you letter (except for job interviews through co-op scheduling). Make sure your letter arrives within 24 hours of the interview.

 EMPLOYER EVALUATION

Employers usually have a formal rating sheet with predetermined areas such as:

• neat and clean overall appearance/poise/communicative skills
• academic/work achievements (learning ability, standards of excellence)
• special skills (technical, languages, creativity, management, analytic, negotiation)
• personal characteristics (team player, enthusiasm, dependability, emotional stability, flexibility)
• self assessment, goals/ambitions
• leisure-time activities, balance in life
• reaction to job/organization
• potential

EVALUATING YOUR PERFORMANCE 

Evaluate how well you did after each interview. Ask yourself:

TIPS

Get a good night’s sleep before your interview. Believe in yourself!

Be punctual. Arrive at least 15 minutes early to allow yourself time to collect your thoughts. Take the opportunity to observe the working environment. Keep your eyes and ears open. Be friendly with everyone.

Try to get the interviewer to describe the position and duties to you early in the interview so that you can relate your background and skills to the particular position. Your responsibility is to convince the employer that you are the best person for the job. Since the interviewer may not draw it out of you, remember the points which are important about your qualifications.
Give descriptive examples or proof whenever you can throughout the interview. Try to paint a visual picture that the employer will remember.
The true stories you tell about yourself will differentiate you from the other 10 to 20 applicants. Radiate genuine enthusiasm.

Watch the interviewer for clues on how the interview is progressing. Is the interviewer's face or body language telling you that your answers are too long, not detailed enough, too boring, etc.? If in doubt, ask the interviewer if more details are needed.
Listen carefully to the question and the way it is phrased. If it can be interpreted in more than one way, and if you are unsure what the interviewer really wants you to discuss, ask for clarification.

If the interviewer becomes silent, look for the reason. Has the person momentarily run out of questions? Is the person testing you to see how comfortable you are with silence? Is the interviewer finding your answers too brief and waiting for you to elaborate more in order to get a better sense of who you are?

If the interviewer outlines a hypothetical situation and asks you what you would do if you found yourself in those circumstances, imagine yourself in that situation.
Give the best answer you can if it is a situation which you have not already experienced and successfully dealt with. In many instances, the interviewer is more interested in finding out how you would react under those circumstances, and in your thinking/analytical process than in your final answer.
In your analysis, think about which are the most important facts. Watch for a "red herring". Do you need to get additional information from someone else in the scenario before you could make a decision? Do you want the interviewer to supply more detail for clarification on a key point?

When the interviewer asks about your weaknesses, choose something work-related, but not so serious as to disqualify you. Briefly mention one, always ending on a positive note.
Show what you have learned from the experience or what you are doing to change. If pressed for more than one weakness, have another one or two ready to discuss.
Also, if asked about any negative employment experience (e.g., being fired, trouble with supervisor), don't criticize past employers.
Briefly acknowledge any difficulty and say what you have learned or discuss the positive outcome of the situation. By looking so carefully at weaknesses or negatives, an employer is trying to determine where you might have problems on the job.
The bottom line for some positions may be: "Let’s hire the candidate who will do the work adequately while having the fewest serious shortcomings".

Except for co-op scheduled interviews, don't inquire about salary, bonuses, benefits in the initial interview. If you are pressed to give a salary expectation, turn it around to the interviewer and ask what the organization would ordinarily pay a person with your credentials.
If you are still pressed, know what salary range would apply to that type of job in that geographic location.
You could try to obtain this information by speaking to people in the field prior to your interview. Good salary information is also available on the Internet.

Practise in a mock interview with another person. Check for quality of information in your answers, and the positive, non-verbal reinforcement of your words. By speaking out loud you can "hear" your answers to ensure you cover the topic well. Don't practise so much though that you lose your spontaneity and your answers sound rehearsed.

If you do not receive a job offer (especially if you felt the "fit" was very good), you may want to contact the interviewer to get feedback on your performance.
It could be (1) they hired someone with better qualifications. Or (2) you didn’t adequately present your qualifications, thereby causing an incorrect assessment of your capability.
If the reason is (1), keep going—you’ll find the right match! If (2), make changes in your next interview!

YOUR RIGHTS IN THE INTERVIEW  

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) publishes a chart that illustrates the type of questions that are appropriate or inappropriate in employment interviews. Following are the categories that have restrictions on what can be legally asked: 

EMPLOYER CONTACT RECORD