When you go for a job interview, you might often wish you had some background information about the person talking to you, some idea of what’s on his or her mind.
Well, there are some general assumptions about the person interviewing you to keep in mind. They may not be true all of the time, but often enough that you should remember them.
The first thing to remember is that the hiring manager may not be all that well prepared for the interview. There are a number of reasons for this. He or she has probably had to look over a lot of resumes, conduct many interviews, and do these things while continuing with meetings and other job duties.
Your interviewer, in fact, may not even have your resume handy at the time of the interview. So, it is always a good idea to bring a few extra along. And you need to make sure you are very familiar with what is in your resume. When is the last time you looked at it? You should be able to summarize your accomplishments and experience in about 30
seconds.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you are being evaluated on how you look and that your appearance is making a very strong impression on the hiring manager. So it is important that you are well groomed and well dressed.
The interviewer is also going to write you off pretty quickly if you give clichés for answers. So, in response to a question about your greatest weakness, you want to avoid the standard responses: I work too hard, or I’m too conscientious. You won’t get any points for honesty with these answers.
You need to think about these questions before the interview, so that you can give an honest, forthright answer – one that many others have not also given – but also one that does not harm your reputation in the process.
Also, interviewers may try to throw you off your stride to see how you handle stress and unexpected situations. They may, for example, come up with a question out of left field, one that may have little relevance to the job, just to see how you handle it. If that is the
case, you want to walk them through your analysis, so they can see how you think.
And finally, remember that they may be trying to impress you as much as you are trying to impress them. The interviewer may want to show you that his or her company is the right place for you. So, in your questions, you should give the interviewer the opportunity talk about the company and his or her experience there.
We’re experts at the art of the interview. After all, we interview dozens of candidates a week here at the Opti Staffing Group. That said, we can help you master the art of “taming” your interviewer. If you life in Portland, Anchorage, Seattle, Tacoma, Lake Oswego, or Chicago, contact one of our recruiters today!