There are a plethora of articles on interviewing as a candidate for a job as well as the client or hiring authority conducting the interview of the candidate. There are entire books on the subject. As to the interview itself, there are many different styles of conducting an interview: open-ended, elaborating and the recent favorite, behavioral. I could pontificate about what you need to do when you interview, but then I would be just like everyone else, giving you their advice, their things to do or say and ultimately, their rules.
Linked-In ran a whole series of how hiring managers interview candidates and while that series was very entertaining, the primary conclusion that could be drawn from the series is that everyone interviews differently. Therefore a logical conclusion would be that interviewing is an art and the more times that you are on an interview, the better you will become at it IF you analyze what you are saying and learn from your mistakes.
From my interviewing experiences as a candidate and a hiring authority, I can unequivocally state that of all interviews which I have been involved since I was 15 (43 years worth), all were similar for about 60% of the questions. Though I had to be concerned with the 60%, the 40% questions pertaining to a specific job, culture, company or situation are why every interview is unique.
The similar questions were the usual:
Tell me about yourself. (Actually a statement)
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
What are your strengths?
Why did you leave your last position?
Why do you want to work here?
All of these questions are important, but once you have answered them a myriad of times, they become second nature and then the challenge is to keep your answers fresh and sincere.
As a candidate, there are certain protocols that must be observed and implemented in the majority of interview scenarios to increase your probability of being the best candidate for the job, but you probably already know these. They have evolved into the lexicon of common sense when it comes to interviewing:
Be on time, preferably about 10 minutes early.
Dress in business attire and groom accordingly.
Watch your posture and give a hearty handshake.
Lean in and make eye contact, making the interviewer break first.
Do your research on the company and confine your business conversation to the opening at hand.
Watch the interviewer’s body language to ensure they are actively engaged.
Ask questions when the time comes.
Listen intently to what the interviewer says and if you do not understand, ask for clarification.
The 40% questions will pertain to each interviewer’s specifics and they are important, but this is where your preparation and experience in a particular field or circumstance should adequately carry you through these questions. This is also where faith is the most important aspect of the interview.
Faith is defined by Dictionary.com as confidence or trust in a person or thing. Confidence in an employment sense is generated by successfully performing a specific skill set in your past. Trust is what is generated when you believe that you could perform the skill set in the future, sometimes referred to as trust in your own ability. When you have faith in yourself, that shows. Not a cockiness or a braggadocio kind of thing, but a self-assurance that emanates from having performed in the past.
Having faith in yourself does not guarantee that you will get the job because of the x-factor: you have no idea who applied for this job or what their abilities are. But a lack of faith all but guarantees that someone else probably will get the job.
Philippians 4:13
