An interview is like a performance; rehearsal is a must! Interviewing is always the road to landing a great job and should never be used for practice. Whether this is your first interview, or you’ve been on several interviews in your career, you want to empower every interview with study, research and preparation. Practice is a part of your interview preparation because it will help you to conduct yourself confidently and with poise.
To empower your interview, you need to acquaint yourself with the job description. The job description’s sole purpose is to set forth the skills and requirements necessary to perform the job well. So, it’s paramount to place laser focus on its every detail. To ensure success you should apply to those positions where you have at least 85% of the job requirements listed on the job description. Be sure to pay careful to such words as “preferred” versus “required.” “Required” means required and there is very little wiggle room. “Preferred” is as it says, it’s preferred. Since you’re probably competing against other candidates, the successful candidate is the one who best fits the description.
A few ideas to consider for your preparation include:
1. Invest time to gain insight about the company. Understand what they make, where they do business, who their competitors are, etc.
2. Figure out how the job and the company go together.
3. From this deep dive of the company, you need to accurately perceive where your position will be in the company and why it exists.
4. Use LinkedIn to learn about your interviewers. You may discover that you share the same alma mater, or at one point previously worked at the same company. These could be nice talking points as you begin the interview process.
5. Make an interview template by printing out the job description. Then I would suggest that you write down next to each bullet point the following type of information: your experiences, successful projects and the metrics that align with each bullet point. These are your answers to all interview questions pertaining to qualifications.
6. Rehearse and memorize your customized template and make it come alive!
This template is your guide through each interview step including a phone interview, WebEx interview, on site interview or combinations of all three.
Most of all, relax and be yourself. Good luck!
With a career spanning over 25 years, Lisa Chubinsky, CPC, CTS is a Partner with Philadelphia based New River Search LLC. She is a veteran Recruiter, Industry Speaker and expert in the areas of Contingency and Retained Searches, as well as Contracting. During the search process, Lisa works directly with senior leadership. Her clients include companies of all sizes including large Global Corporations and Mid-Market PE Portfolio companies
Lisa Chubinsky
New River Search LLC
215-366-3411
LisaC@NewRiverSearch.com
With a career spanning over 25 years, Lisa Chubinsky, CPC, CTS is a Partner with Philadelphia based New River Search LLC. She is a veteran Recruiter, Industry Speaker and expert in the areas of Contingency and Retained Searches, as well as Contracting. During the search process, Lisa works directly with senior leadership. Her clients include companies of all sizes including large Global Corporations and Mid-Market PE Portfolio companies.