Some Job Hunting & Interviewing Tips

[Elessar78]

I have a question...

I think the weakest part of my interviews are always right at the end when the interviewer wants me to ask questions... What is the best way to go through this part? I don't quite know what the interviewers would like best. I try to be genuine as a rule, but a lot of times I just can't think of anything to ask cause I generally do a good bit of research into the organization anyway, and general questions about work environment seem to be dead ends. How important is this part? Should I have some scripted Q's ahead of time? Should I just ask about their specific experience and try to get the interviewer to talk about himself?

Good question. Really you're trying to find a "home" and not just a paycheck (hopefully). So ask questions that will determine if it will be a good fit for your personality and you also want to find out what they hope to get out of this hire.

Like Ren said, and I asked this at my last interview: "What will a successful hire accomplish?" Or "How do you define success for this position?" You have to know the desired end result to see if you're walking into a no-win situation. If it seems to be on the table, ask about the previous person in the position. What they would like to be carried over and what can be improved.

Working for a good boss is very critical to me. How many of us hate our boss? Ask them what their management/leadership style is like? See how they respond as much as what they say. Ask questions that will define the corporate culture: late hours regularly? lots of travel? weekends required? Is there anything about this job that keeps you up at night? Seems silly but there are some jobs that can't be left at the office. Will they let you work from home or leave early if your kid is sick (if that's important to you).

[TK]

Let me say this much.

If you come in off the street/on your lunch break/whatever to even ask me if we're hiring, dress like you're at least somewhat professional.

Don't come in your jeans down & your underwear sticking out.

Don't come in wearing an untucked, sweaty tshirt.

Don't come in wearing a hat. Especially if it's backwards, sideways, has the price tag still stuck under the bill.

Don't come in with a shirt half tucked in &/or half unbuttoned.

Don't come in without having shaved your face.

Don't come in with food in hand.

Don't come in wearing bedroom/house shoes.

Don't come in with bed head.

Don't come in & interrupt if you see myself or my employees with a guest.

Don't come in if you can't string together coherent sentences.

Don't come in you just want to open the door to yell out "Yall hiring?"

Don't come in cold without knowing at least ONE thing about the company. We have a website. It's even on the windows of the showroom. Sit your dumbass in your car for ten minutes & look us up on your phone. Don't have a smartphone? There's a Verizon store right next door. Go there. Use one of their demo iPads to do your research.

Common sense goes a long ways. Show you have it, you'll get further along instead of blown off & round filed.

[Prosperity]

another question for the hiring folks...

Have you kept track (mental or otherwise) of the benefits of your methodology. Basically, do you have reason to believe that your methodology finds good people, any surprisingly good or bad hires? Have you ever tried to improve it by asking different questions, holding the meeting somewhere else, googling your interviewee, etc?

If it wasn't covered in the interview, I always ask what their goal for this position is. I want to know if they want someone who's going to grow and move up in the organization.

I sometimes also ask what their favorite part of their job is. I feel like that can be really telling of organizational culture. You could also ask (if it hasn't already come up) why they're hiring someone. This could also be telling.

I like this idea

Good question. Really you're trying to find a "home" and not just a paycheck (hopefully). So ask questions that will determine if it will be a good fit for your personality and you also want to find out what they hope to get out of this hire.

Like Ren said, and I asked this at my last interview: "What will a successful hire accomplish?" Or "How do you define success for this position?" You have to know the desired end result to see if you're walking into a no-win situation. If it seems to be on the table, ask about the previous person in the position. What they would like to be carried over and what can be improved.

Working for a good boss is very critical to me. How many of us hate our boss? Ask them what their management/leadership style is like? See how they respond as much as what they say. Ask questions that will define the corporate culture: late hours regularly? lots of travel? weekends required? Is there anything about this job that keeps you up at night? Seems silly but there are some jobs that can't be left at the office. Will they let you work from home or leave early if your kid is sick (if that's important to you).

As far as asking them their management style... how specifically do you mean? I don't know much about different management styles... I guess it would come down to close supervision v. deferential independence, head coach v. guy that wants to be everyone's friend... that sort of thing?

Thanks guys... this has been helpful... and FWIW the job I that I did end up taking this summer was one of the most structured interviews I had... Basically, the interview was a series of questions designed to get me to think critically, and quickly, and to express my answer succinctly... The first series of Q's I had 3 minutes to respond to, and I was supposed to respond in a few sentences. The next series I had a minute to answer and could only use one sentence. The last series I had 30 seconds and one to three word answers... It was stressful, but I got an offer right at the end of the interview... Other places I've interviewed (equally competitive, or slightly less competitive versions of the same exact job for different organizations) were much different, and were more just relaxing conversations. I'm guessing the first sort of interview is more of an exception than a norm, while the second is probably standard right?

[Cassow]

3. When asked what your salary requirements or expectations are, do not dodge the question. Answer it. Don't be cute. If you truly are open to any offer, tell them your salary history and that you would consider any offer.

I think this is terrible advice. You lose your leverage in the negotiation by telling them what salary you will accept. If you say "I'd really like to make 50K", and they were willing to pay 75K for the position, guess how much you'll get?

Instead you should turn the question around and get them to throw out the first number. When asked about your requirements, restate your qualifications briefly and ask what they are willing to offer. For example:

What are your salary requirements?

Well, for someone with 5 years XYZ experience with ABC clearance, I'd like to know what you would offer for the position?...

They toss out a number and you work off of that. You can typically expect to go at least 10% higher than the first number they throw out. So even if what they offer first sounds great, you can almost always do a little better.

Your advice may make things easier on the employer or person conducting the interview, but its not good advice for the interviewee.

[Corcaigh]

I tend not to be too much of a freak about dress. But, many are.

I resent the "freak" characterization. If I want them to show up dressed like Shirley Temple and give me three verses of "On the good ship Lollipop", they'd better be word-perfect.

[Mickalino]

Let me say this much.

If you come in off the street/on your lunch break/whatever to even ask me if we're hiring, dress like you're at least somewhat professional.

Sooooooo ? Is E.S. hiring ?

[TheDoyler23]

Let me say this much.

Don't come in your jeans down & your underwear sticking out.

Don't come in wearing a hat. Especially if it's backwards, sideways, has the price tag still stuck under the bill.

Don't come in with a shirt half tucked in &/or half unbuttoned.

Don't come in without having shaved your face.

Don't come in with food in hand.

Don't come in wearing bedroom/house shoes.

Don't come in you just want to open the door to yell out "Yall hiring?"

Way back when I worked in retail, this was called the "****head" test.

If you approached job developing like a ****head, (Drug reference tee shirt, reeking of smoke, unshaven, wearing sweatpants and sandals, etc), you probably didn't really want a job. Or didn't have the foresight to think about what you're doing and prepare.

[Elessar78]

another question for the hiring folks...

Have you kept track (mental or otherwise) of the benefits of your methodology. Basically, do you have reason to believe that your methodology finds good people, any surprisingly good or bad hires? Have you ever tried to improve it by asking different questions, holding the meeting somewhere else, googling your interviewee, etc?

I like this idea

As far as asking them their management style... how specifically do you mean? I don't know much about different management styles... I guess it would come down to close supervision v. deferential independence, head coach v. guy that wants to be everyone's friend... that sort of thing?

Thanks guys... this has been helpful... and FWIW the job I that I did end up taking this summer was one of the most structured interviews I had... Basically, the interview was a series of questions designed to get me to think critically, and quickly, and to express my answer succinctly... The first series of Q's I had 3 minutes to respond to, and I was supposed to respond in a few sentences. The next series I had a minute to answer and could only use one sentence. The last series I had 30 seconds and one to three word answers... It was stressful, but I got an offer right at the end of the interview... Other places I've interviewed (equally competitive, or slightly less competitive versions of the same exact job for different organizations) were much different, and were more just relaxing conversations. I'm guessing the first sort of interview is more of an exception than a norm, while the second is probably standard right?

To your first post, I do try to research the people I'm interviewing with. Usually, there is a cursory phone interview-I try to find out who will be interviewing me, first and last names and title. Then I do a bit of digging on the internet or through word of mouth.If I have time, I go drive by their offices. Maybe a bit stalker-ish but if you're used to working in Georgetown do you think you can survive the dullness of Rockville, MD? Plus you can get a vibe for a company just by the kind of office space they are willing to pay for and the location. It clues you into how much overhead they have, can be a good thing or a bad thing. To me, a nice space can show that they are top notch in every way or they have too much overhead and are not cost conscious enough. But you get the idea.

As far as their management style, keep it broad and you should know the answer you are looking for. You should know what type of leadership style works best for you. Most bosses will by default say they are "hands off" but the good ones have sense of who they are and will give you a more specific answer. For example, I actually found that I like working for detail oriented bosses and bosses who have a vision of what they want. On the flip side, I've found that I don't like "hands off" bosses, it seems to turn out that they are poor leaders. The detail oriented and vision bosses become hands off once you earn their trust.

Another good question to ask is what their vision for the company/department is and what steps they have taken to make that vision a reality. To me, it shows that they are striving to become more profitable, make things better. If the company is like Google, then it's perfectly fair for them to say that they want to maintain the status quo--but they need to articulate that. Status quo managers are frustrating to work for because they are just trying to hold onto their piece instead of moving up (and taking you up with them as well).

[Elessar78]

If they ask you for your biggest weakness, don't say "I am a workaholic and it sometimes tends to get in the way of my own awesomeness."

In all seriousness, if you get asked your "biggest weakness" describe a fault of yours and how you have or are taking steps to fix it. No one is perfect but the important thing is to demonstrate self awareness and the ability to solve problems, even if it's yourself that needs fixing.

"In college I used to miss out on A's because of minor errors with my work, but after having my work get docked points for these minor errors I started paying more attention to the details. Now it's become a part of my personality inside and outside of work."

"I used to be chronically late to work or social appointments, so I made it a focus in my life to be earlier. I changed my habits so that I'm ready to leave the house an hour before I actually need to leave. That way I can review that I have everything and am prepared for traffic delays and I'm much more relaxed when I get to my destination. I can focus on my work and prepare beforehand for meetings. I try to be 15 minutes early to everything."

Just some sample responses and frame the response as something in the distant past. You don't want to leave them with the idea that you're currently still sloppy with your work or still chronically late.

[zoony]

Two years ago I was interviewing with a company, and it was the first time I'd sat on the other side of the table since 1999. I went thru a phone interview with the recruiter, which was pretty standard. Then, I did a phone interview with their human resources manager. Again, pretty standard. A few tough questions, not any I hadn't prepared for though.

Then, I did a phone interview with the hiring manager, followed by a face-to-face panel interview with the hiring manager, one of his peers, and the national ops manager. That's when the interview got hairy. Every single question they asked revolved around telling them about a time I messed up. This was a 2 hour interview... they didn't ask me one question about my strengths or what I was proudest of or what I could bring to the table... question after question about specific times that I ****ed up.

I started off by attempting to turn each negative into a positive, and they interrupted me right off the bat to tell me that the only way I was allowed to answer each question was to (a)identify the specific situation that occured ( what I did to mess it up and © what the result was.

I was then flipped a week later to a teleconference with the VP, similar questions. Except this interview was only 30 minutes.

They actually did end up making an offer but we couldn't settle on the issue of them purchasing my house. With the way the housing market was at the time I was determined to not take a bath, and they were pretty determined to not pay for my house, though they were offering a pretty nice relo pacakage.

Looking back on it though I think I was pretty turned off by their interview. I get stress interviews and I think they can be helpful, but I also think at some point you need to start asking the candidates about what they can bring to the table and what they're good at. I can't imagine not wanting to know that at some point, as a hiring manager.

This was one of the largest corporations in America, btw.

...

---------- Post added April-25th-2011 at 11:04 AM ----------

another question for the hiring folks...

Have you kept track (mental or otherwise) of the benefits of your methodology. Basically, do you have reason to believe that your methodology finds good people, any surprisingly good or bad hires? Have you ever tried to improve it by asking different questions, holding the meeting somewhere else, googling your interviewee, etc?

You have to be careful, imo, about profiling successful candidates. Because quite frankly, success comes in dozens of different personality types, age ranges, situations, etc.

But what do I think the underlying theme of any successful hire? Passion. A passion to succeed and a passion to do a great job. At the end of the day most of the rest is noise that can cloud a good decision. Might be a little different for very technical jobs, of course. But that's what I look for most of all.

I like this idea

How is performance for this position measured? What are the expectations of this position? That's 2 questions that should be asked in every interview.

Also, don't be afraid to ask the interviewers about their personal experiences with the company. Why do they like working for company x? Can they tell you about their career path? What advice would they offer someone starting out in this position?

Also, can they describe what the company culture is? I think that's an important one.

As far as asking them their management style... how specifically do you mean?

I think an interviewer would ask the same question.

[Elessar78]

I think an interviewer would ask the same question.

Perhaps rephrase to "can you describe how you manage through a project?" or "how have you managed employees in (this given) situation."

[mcsluggo]

my weakness is.. that i want to punch interviewers that ask "please describe any weaknesses you have, and what yo uare doing to address them?"

seriously... what are you EVER going to get out of this question>? the BEST outcome is a pre canned load of steaming poop along the lines of (I work too hard)

[jnhay]

For the interviewers here, do you have no problem with just breaking off contact with an applicant once you've filled the position, or some other circumstance occurred? Twice now I've had a hiring manager just never call back after they've given the clear indication that they would. I don't care if you reject me, I'm fine with that, but why say "I'll e-mail you and set up a time for you to meet with x & y managers. I think you clearly fit the position." and then disappear?

my weakness is.. that i want to punch interviewers that ask "please describe any weaknesses you have, and what yo uare doing to address them?"

seriously... what are you EVER going to get out of this question>? the BEST outcome is a pre canned load of steaming poop along the lines of (I work too hard)

I agree, but can imagine that it still weeds out dummies.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

If it wasn't covered in the interview, I always ask what their goal for this position is. I want to know if they want someone who's going to grow and move up in the organization.

I sometimes also ask what their favorite part of their job is. I feel like that can be really telling of organizational culture. You could also ask (if it hasn't already come up) why they're hiring someone. This could also be telling.

I'd also use this time to ask how they measure performance, what their review cycle is, how you will receive feedback (formally, informally, at standard intervals, etc.), what the opportunities look like in terms of promotions, etc.

---------- Post added April-25th-2011 at 01:50 PM ----------

my weakness is.. that i want to punch interviewers that ask "please describe any weaknesses you have, and what yo uare doing to address them?"

seriously... what are you EVER going to get out of this question>? the BEST outcome is a pre canned load of steaming poop along the lines of (I work too hard)

Not true...the BEST outcome is that you weed out the people who throw up a red flag. I know someone who answered that he had "a very bad temper and didn't handle adversity well." If you're the person looking to staff that position, that's a GREAT outcome in that it informed you not to hire that individual.

[deejaydana]

I've sat on both sides of the interview table and what I can attest to is it's (interviewing) an incredibly imperfect science. Hires I've made that I had some minor reservations about ended up being great workers and some that I thought were rock solid brought their personal issues to work daily and were woeful employees. On the other side of the coin I think we as prospective job hunters can be sold a bill of goods ("you'll make this, blah, blah, blah") only to find out that the job was not entirely what was advertised. Whatyahgonna do?

[Kosher Ham]

Leave early. It's ok to be early, it is not okay to late.

[just654]

I have a question....

I have a pretty good job right making pretty good money. I am really just starting out, I have been out of college about 3 years now. I see that some of the tips include a cover letter. Is a cover letter really that important? I feel like I get more hits and interviews when I don't have cover letter. In fact the 2 jobs that I have gotten out of college in my field, I did not have a cover letter for.

[China]

I'm surprised nobody said show up in flip flops and shorts, prop your feet on the interviewer's desk and let the air blow on your junk.

[Elessar78]

I have a question....

I have a pretty good job right making pretty good money. I am really just starting out, I have been out of college about 3 years now. I see that some of the tips include a cover letter. Is a cover letter really that important? I feel like I get more hits and interviews when I don't have cover letter. In fact the 2 jobs that I have gotten out of college in my field, I did not have a cover letter for.

Depends, if writing isn't your forte and you go online and look up sample cover letters and just change the details to fit you, then a cover letter may be a strike against you. HR people sense that right away. However if you're applying for a job that is not directly in line with your qualifications (career change) or you're aiming higher than your experience then a cover letter gives you a chance to sell yourself. Seems like you'd have a good resume with a lot of the "right things" employers want to see, so that gets your foot in the door. You gotta remember that there are sometimes hundreds of applicants for your job. An HR person screening will probably read the first few sentences or first paragraph so if that's not a hit, then they won't even go to the resume where the "right things" may be. HR Depts also use software to filter electronic submissions and those basically use keywords. IF that's the case, I'm pretty sure you can get your resume on the shortlist by dropping the buzz words you think they're looking for.

---------- Post added April-27th-2011 at 08:19 AM ----------

For the interviewers here, do you have no problem with just breaking off contact with an applicant once you've filled the position, or some other circumstance occurred? Twice now I've had a hiring manager just never call back after they've given the clear indication that they would. I don't care if you reject me, I'm fine with that, but why say "I'll e-mail you and set up a time for you to meet with x & y managers. I think you clearly fit the position." and then disappear?

I agree, but can imagine that it still weeds out dummies.

I once interviewed for a position and walked out convinced I nailed it. But they called back a week later, I thought I had it, and they said they were REALLY impressed with my interview and they didn't feel right just sending me a form letter. So that was nice. It was a bit of a change in career for me and they went with someone with direct experience in the field.

---------- Post added April-27th-2011 at 08:31 AM ----------

my weakness is.. that i want to punch interviewers that ask "please describe any weaknesses you have, and what yo uare doing to address them?"

seriously... what are you EVER going to get out of this question>? the BEST outcome is a pre canned load of steaming poop along the lines of (I work too hard)

I already posted my thoughts on how to respond to this question, but it's not so much the answer but they're also looking at your preparation. EVERYONE should know that's a possible question, so it's reasonable to expect it and it shows you are mindful and know how the game is played. Interviews are artificial situations, I don't think they can really tell if you can do the job or not, just provides a platform on which the employer can build an educated guess about you. It's a choreographed dance. "Be yourself." Is only good advice if you're normally pretty good talking about yourself and putting on a facade. By facade I don't mean fake, I mean be mindful of facial expression, what you're doing with your hands, controlling influencies like "ums" and "ahs," the right amount of eye contact, clothing choices (what color, what kind of knot to use with your tie, shoes shined?). Be a better version of yourself." Is more like it.

Like someone said above, great interviews turned out to be lousy workers who go on internet message boards all day. But in some way, the lousy worker got the job he/she wanted.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Good stuff, zoony.

As a recruiter, it drives me nuts when people send in a Word formatted resume that's just simply titled "resume" or "resume2011" or "ITresume."

It's not going to help someone land a job or not...but if you're sending a resume into a recruiter or an HR person, format the document as "JoeyButtafuoco_NETdeveloper" or something similar. After getting a ton of resumes each day with that are titled "resume" it's easier to find the ones I want on my already messy desktop if someones got their name on the file name

EDIT: While it won't necessarily help land a job or not, I've come across resumes on my desktop or in folders somewhere on my computer with a persons name as the file name. More than once it's been someone I wasn't able to get a hold of a month or two ago or someone who I spoke to but didn't have any relevant positions for at the time. And more than once I was reminded of them simply by seeing their file name, calling them up and getting them an interview.

[zoony]

Good stuff, zoony.

As a recruiter, it drives me nuts when people send in a Word formatted resume that's just simply titled "resume" or "resume2011" or "ITresume."

It's not going to help someone land a job or not...but if you're sending a resume into a recruiter or an HR person, format the document as "JoeyButtafuoco_NETdeveloper" or something similar. After getting a ton of resumes each day with that are titled "resume" it's easier to find the ones I want on my already messy desktop if someones got their name on the file name

That's a good one Spiff, one I should have put in my OP. I see it a lot too

[PleaseBlitz]

Zoony, you forgot "be on-time, if not early." It's totally obvious, but you would be shocked by how many people **** that one up.

---------- Post added April-27th-2011 at 08:59 AM ----------

I'm surprised nobody said show up in flip flops and shorts, prop your feet on the interviewer's desk and let the air blow on your junk.

I got here too late. :laugh:

[MattFancy]

Ok so I'm going through resumes at work right now and here's another NO-NO. For the love of God, do NOT put interests on your resume. I don't care that you enjoy spending time with your grandchildren, reading, dogs, walking, tv, and country music :doh:

[Spaceman Spiff]

That's a good one Spiff, one I should have put in my OP. I see it a lot too

Ok so I'm going through resumes at work right now and here's another NO-NO. For the love of God, do NOT put interests on your resume. I don't care that you enjoy spending time with your grandchildren, reading, dogs, walking, tv, and country music :doh:

It drives me nuts when someone applies to the positions available who has absolutely NO relevant job experience. NONE.

I'm looking for people who are good in IT. I don't care if you drove a ****ing forklift for 5 years. Unless you were writing extremely clean code on your smoke breaks, go away.

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Can you overdress for an interview?

I have one tomorrow. It would literally be almost an 100% pay raise over what I make now, plus I'll be spending about 1/10th of what I spend now on gas. So yeah, pretty big day for me tomorrow. My brother has been working there for a few months now. For his interview he just wore some slacks and a dress shirt. No tie or jacket. Should I follow his example or should I dress it up and wear a nice suit?