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PREPARING FOR AN INTERVIEW

 

organize your thoughts

 

Interviewers will be interested in four main areas of discussion:  

  • Your skills (what you do well)
  • Your motivations (what interests you, what you think is important in a job)  
  • Your personality (what you are "like")  
  • Your knowledge base (what you've learned about certain things relevant to the job, either in or out of class)

You need to be able to discuss each aspect of your background.  Prior to the interview, it would be a good idea to think about these a little – even make some notes to yourself.   Seeing a Pathways career adviser can definitely help, and they will also have handouts and checklists to help you.  Organizing your thoughts according to the categories above takes a little time, but it can be very exciting and illuminating as you discover what you really have to offer.

 

A very important tip:  always be prepared to give actual behavioral examples of when you demonstrated a skill, or an interest (motivation), or a personal characteristic, or when you utilized your knowledge.  For an employer, the best predictor of future behavior in the organization is your recent past behavior.  So, know your resume.  Tell the truth about what you know your assets to be, and give examples of how those assets have come in handy in the past.

 

GET TO KNOW THE EMPLOYER

 

Prior to the interview, you should research the organization as thoroughly as you can.  This takes time, but you need to do your best.  If you don’t know anything about the organization, when you go into the interview, the employer will think you don’t care – that you are only after them for money.  This is not a good way to begin a relationship. 

 

Try to discover what the organization’s products, services, clientele, location(s), previous and projected growth and future prospects are. You may also uncover problems within the organization – areas in which you could assist, or that might make you reconsider your desire to work for them.  Prior to the interview, try to find out something about:  

  • The type of organization it is -- your most basic question  
  • The products and/or services the organization provides, and to whom 
  • The structures or divisions within the organization  
  • The size of the organization and number of employees  
  • The typical entry-level positions, and typical career paths within the organization  
  • The organization's profit/revenue/sales performance, and/or past history or growth  
  • The organization's competitors within the industry, or (in the case of a non-profit), those organizations doing the same kind of work  
  • The organization's plans or projections for the future  
  • The organization's relationship with its employeers, and its reputation for integrity   
  • Career and professional development within the organization, and training provided  
  • The organization's affiliates and subsidiaries, if it is a larger corporate entity  
  • AND ... Try to know as much about the job you're applying for as possible

This may seem like a lot of information to obtain, but there are various sources that will at least give you a start:

  • The Pathways website.  Check under "Weblinks to career resouces"  
  • Company literature -- annual reports, if they ar a publicly held company; descriptive brochures on products and services; and so forth.  Usually a quick phone call will get you these.  
  • Current magazines such as Fortune and Business Week, and articles in The Wall Street Journal.  Danforth Library staff will be glad to help you locate these.  
  • It's possible to get information on the job you're applying for simply by asking the employer for the job description prior to the interview.  
  • The NEC Career Advisory Network (CAN)  This is a network of over 80 graduates of NEC, in a variety of career fields, who have volunteered to provide career information to you.  Ask a Pathways career advisor for information on how to access CAN.  

Again, prior to the interview, making some notes wouldn’t be a bad idea. 

 

PRACTICE!

 

With a friend, parent, roommate, or with a career advisor at Pathways.  Professionals in Pathways Career Services will conduct mock interviews upon request, allowing you to encounter a “real” interview situation. They will provide constructive feedback and suggest possible areas of improvement for you to consider. To facilitate the evaluation of the mock interview, a videotape of the interview could be made for the two of you to review. This provides you the opportunity to critique and evaluate your interview performance. 

 

GET THE DETAILS

 

Where the interview is to take place, the phone number in case you get lost, and the exact time the interview will take place.  Plan to arrive early.

 

DRESS APPROPRIATELY

 

You can find good, short articles on how to dress (as well as on other aspects of the interviewing process) in the magazine Planning Job Choices, available for free at Pathways Career Services.  Dressing for an interview will depend somewhat on the type of job you’re interviewing for.  A non-profit agency or a school will have a more relaxed dress code than a business.  For instance, in a corporate environment, a suit for men is always appropriate; in a non-profit agency, a tie and jacket (not the same as a suit) will perhaps be more appropriate.  Likewise for women, a business interview will require a suit (pants suit or matching blouse, blazer and skirt), whereas an interview in a school may just require a well-coordinated combination of clothing that reflects professionalism.  

 

When in doubt, err on the side of "over-dressing."  But always, for men:  well-trimmed hair, mustaches adn beards.  For women: use make-up moderately (if you use it at all).  And for all: don't overdo use of jewelry, and no body-jewelry other than the traditional earrings for women; don't forget to shine shoes and clean your fingernails, and no strong perfumes, colognes or aftershaves.