Interviewing 101

As we get closer to the end of the year, that means several of you are interviewing a lot right now.  Probably an interview every week, if not, more. Interviewing is a very important skill and here are some tips to help you succeed.

Many people do not know that selling themselves in an interview is very important.   Selling products, including yourself,  is a very important part of the world and it takes a special person to be able to do it.  Sales is all about knowing the right things to say.  Knowing what your audience wants to hear.  Sales can be the difference between you getting the job and falling flat on your face in an interview.

I was listening to someone banter about their job and heard them say a very smart thing about sales.  The person was explaining that the store she worked at was very low in the percentage of people wanting to give out their emails to the store.  She thought about how they typically asked the people for the emails.  “Can I have your email address please?”  This person went on to say that people often would not give out their email address because they did not want all of that junk mail they would be getting.  The worker said they should change the question to, “can you confirm your email address please?”  The number of people that would give out their email addresses increased drastically.  This is a great example of how sales can impact your daily life, including your chances of getting a job.

As you can probably see, selling yourself to an employer is very important.  How you answer questions and present your resume can either make an employer rave about you or turn you away.

The first thing you need to do is know your audience.  Find out who you are interviewing for.  This is also where company research can be very important.  Looking up what the company strives to do in the future may give you a great view of what the employer who is interviewing you is all about.  For instance, if the company is all about organics, the person interviewing from the company probably is into organics as well.

I have heard stories of several people looking over this very important subject of researching the company and then failing miserably in the interview.  Employers want to know you are interested in their company and that you are a good fit.  An interview is also a way for you to get a feel for the company and if you would be a good fit for the company.  The best way to satisfy both needs is to come prepared to the interview.

A great way to do this is just look them up on the internet.  Find out what they are trying to do.  Get associated with their mission and some of their products.  Perhaps find something that the company and you are interested in.  This can provide a talking point in the interview for you and the interviewer.

If you know someone in the company you should talk to them.  These people would be able to tell you what they like about the company and possibly more about the company.  It would be a way for you to get “inside information” about how the company works and treats its employees.

Things to find out about the company include key people in the organization, company size, locations, structure of the company, competitors, and the company history.  You should also try to find out who is interviewing you and maybe some information about their projects in the company. 

When you find what the company is passionate about look that up as well.  The company may be a seed or fertilizer company and may be looking at the possible advantages with precision agriculture.  Or your company may be a biofuels company that primarily uses corn for its biofuels, but wants to look into other alternatives.  Maybe you are interviewing for a company that is on the forefront of biotechnology.  These are just examples of topics a company could be interested in and examples of topics you should understand when going into an interview.

Before going to an interview you may also want to find recent newspaper clippings or articles the company is in.  This will give you a good understanding of the news-worthy things the company has done lately.  This will also get you more acquainted with the company.

Creating questions for the interviewer is also very essential for an interview.  You not only should give the employer some information about yourself, but you should also get some information about the company and the job opportunity to take home with you.  You should come prepared with questions like, “what are the working conditions like, are they fast-paced or slower?”  These are very important questions that will help you to decide whether  you would be a good fit for the company.

You should also make sure you stand for the same things the company stands for.  A big part of being able to sell yourself is you believing it as well.  If you do not believe in organics, but are interviewing for an organic company, why are you there?  It is not the right job for you and they will be able to tell that straight from your interview.

As far as selling yourself in your resume, don’t sell the things that you can do, (like shovel snow) but instead sell your skills.  Employers do not want to know that you can shovel snow, but rather want to know about the fact that you used your ingenuity to create a new snow plowing attachment to put on your 4-wheeler and used your business sense to build up a profitable business in your local neighborhood.  This example is just like selling someone a copy machine without telling them how to use it.

You should always make sure you are making your resume pertain to the position you are applying for.  Sell yourself with the experiences that really matter to the employer, not with the experiences that are irrelevant.  You can always make your resume smaller and make it pertain to the position at hand.  You wouldn’t sell a florist a shovel telling them it is good for digging a big hole, but rather it is good for digging a hole for flowers.

The most important thing when it comes to selling yourself is giving the employer reassurance they will make money off of you.  Don’t explain to them what you hope to gain in this experience, but rather how your experiences can make their company better.  Tell them about how your design skills can get them more customers, not about how you hope that you can get more design experience from working here.  A sales representative wouldn’t sell an ice cream cone to you by saying he hopes to eat it after you buy it, but would rather sell the ice cream cone to you by telling you how good it tastes.