Every impression may count. And the very last impression an interviewer has may outweigh everything else. So, before you allow an interview to end, summarize why you want the job, why you are qualified, and what, in particular, you can offer their company.
Then, take some action. If the interviewer hasn't told you about the gist of the interview process and/or where you stand, ask him or her. Will you be setting other people that day? If so, ask for some background on anyone else with whom you'll be interviewing. If there are no other meetings that day, what's the next step? When can you expect to hear from them about coming back?
Ask for a business card. This will make sure you get the person's name and title right when you write your follow up letter. You can staple it to the company file for easy reference as you continue networking. When you return home, file all the business cards, copies of correspondence, and notes from the interview(s) with each company in the appropriate files. Finally, but most importantly, ask yourself which firms you really want to work for and which you are no longer interested in. This will quickly determine how far you want the process at each to develop before you politely tell them to stop considering you for the job.
Immediately send a thank you letter to each executive you met. These should, of course, be neatly typed business letters, not handwritten notes (unless you are most friendly, indeed, with the interviewer and want to stress the "informal'' nature of your note). If you are still interested in pursuing a position at their company, tell them in no uncertain terms. Reiterate why you feel you're the best candidate and tell each of the executives when you hope (expect?) to hear from them.
On the Eighth Day God Created Interviewers
New style of interview called the "situational interview," or low fidelity simulation, asks prospective employees what they would do in hypothetical situations, presenting illustrations that are important in the job opening. Recent research is encouraging employers to use this type of interview approach, because studies show that what people say they would do is pretty much what they will do when the real life situation arises. Source: Working Woman.
Though most interviews will follow a relatively standard format, there will undoubtedly be a wide disparity in the skills of the interviewers you meet Many of these executives (with the exception of the Personnel staff) will most likely not have extensive interviewing experience, have limited knowledge of interviewing techniques, use them infrequently, be hurried by the other duties, or not even view your interview as critically important.
Rather than studying standardized test results or utilizing professional evaluation skills developed over many years of practice, these nonprofessionals react intuitively their initial (first five minutes) impressions are often the lasting and over riding factors they remember. So you must sell yourself fast
The best way to do this is to try to achieve a comfort level with your interviewer. Isn't establishing rapport through words, gestures, appearance common interests, etc. what you try to do in any social situation? It's just trying to know one another better. Against this backdrop, the questions and answers will flow in a more natural way.
The Set Sequence
Irrespective of the competence levels of the interviewer, you can anticipate an interview sequence roughly as follows:
- Greetings
- Social niceties (small talk)
- Purpose of meeting gets get down to business
- Broad questions/answers
- Specific questions/ answers
- In depth discussion of company, job, and opportunity
- Summarizing information given &and received. Possible salary probe (this should only be brought up at a second info review)
- Summary/indication as to next steps
Be forewarned, however. This sequence is not written in stone, find some interviewers will deliberately not follow it. Some interviewers will try to confuse you by asking off the wall questions, while others are just eccentric by nature. Be prepared for anything once the interview has started.
What to Do First
Start by setting up a calendar on which you can enter and track all your scheduled appointments. When you schedule an interview with a company, ask them how much time you should allow for the appointment. Some require all new applicants to fill out numerous forms and/or complete a battery of intelligence or psychological tests all before the first interview. If you've only allowed an hour for the interview and scheduled another at a nearby firm 10 minutes later the first time you confront a three hour test series will effectively destroy any schedule.
Some companies, especially if the first interview is very positive, like to keep applicants around to talk to other executives. This process may be planned or, in a lot of cases, a spontaneous decision by an interviewer who likes you and wants you to meet some other key decision makers. Other companies will tend to schedule such a series of second interviews on a separate day. Find out, if you can, how the company you're planning to visit generally operates. Otherwise, a schedule that's too tight will fall apart in no time at all, especially if you've traveled to another city to interview with a number of firms in a short period of time.
If you need to travel out of state to interview with a company, be sure to ask if they will be paying some or all of your travel expenses. (If s generally expected that you'll be paying your own way to firms within your home state.) If they don't offer and you don't ask presume you're paying the freight
Even if the company agrees to reimburse you, make sure you have enough money to pay all the expenses yourself. While some may reimburse you immediately, the majority of firms may take from a week to a month to send you an expense check.
