Impressing a Hiring Manager: 101

Job interviews are tough. No interview will be identical to another. The questions can be odd and seem irrelevant at times. Anxiety levels are high; after all, you’re being judged on everything. Everything from your walking speed and body language, to your communication, and tone of voice and ability to get a long with others is being scrutinized. None of this is taught in school. If someone in your life is looking for a new role, here is the 101 on nailing a job interview (from someone who interviews dozens of people a week).

Understand the hiring managers motives.

• Impress and be friendly to candidates to create a warm, welcoming environment.
• Learn if a person is capable of the job, how much training they will need, and if they will stick around for the long term.
• Suss out someone’s true nature by asking a myriad of questions. The answers to those questions are a proxy for someone’s ability to do good work.
• Protect the business from hiring someone that will cause more harm than good. Hourly wage workers cost $6,000 on average to hire. Salaried employees cost tens of thousands to hire. Businesses want to know they are hiring someone that will stick around.

Control what you can

• Be 6-10 minutes early for the interview. Plan accordingly.
• Dress appropriately for the job. No hats, sunglasses, ripped or stained clothes, etc. Smelling like smoke is noticeable as well (and not a protected class).
• Bring a resume with, just in case. Indeed, Zip recruiter and other sites change the formatting of all resumes.
• Be respectful. Don’t interrupt someone when they are talking. Put the cell phone on silent and do not engage with it during the interview.

Be prepared

• Practice answering common questions, e.g. “tell me about yourself” and “give me an example of a time you went above and beyond.”
• Focus on building rapport. Eye contact, firm hand shakes, using the hiring managers name, and good body language all contribute to building rapport.
• Anticipate the duties of the job and focus your communication on how you can do the work. If totally unsure, find someone online with the same job title in a similar industry and ask them what they spend their time on.
• Smile. People like to see other people smiling.

Amat Victoria Curam – Victory Loves Preparation.