Types of Interview
Before we get into the specifics of how to succeed in
interviews, it might help you to read about the different
forms your interview might take. Your first interview is
likely to fall into one of the following six categories:
The Preliminary Screening Interview
In the most common type of first interview, you meet with
a person whose role is to screen applicants and arrange
follow-up interviews with the person who has the authority
to hire. Other times, you may meet directly with the hiring
authority, whose primary focus is to eliminate as many
applicants as possible, leaving only one or two. These
one-on-one interviews are the focus of the techniques
presented here.
The Group or Panel Interview
Although still not as common as the one-on-one interview,
group interviews are gaining popularity. You could be asked
to interview with two or more people involved in the
selection process, or I've even known of situations where a
group of interviewers met with a group of applicants at the
same time. Many of the techniques used here work well in
these settings, too.
The Stress Interview
Some interviewers intentionally try to get you upset.
They want to see how you handle stress, whether you can
accept criticism, or how you react to a tense situation.
They hope to see how you are likely to act in a
high-pressure job.
For example, this type of interviewer might try to upset
you by not accepting something you say as true. "I find it
difficult to believe," this person might say, "that you were
responsible for as large a program as you claim here on your
resume. Why don't you just tell me what you really did?"
Another approach is to quickly fire questions at you, but
not give you time to completely answer, or to interrupt you
mid-sentence with other questions.
We hope you don't run into this sort of interview, but if
you do, be yourself and have a few laughs. The odds are the
interview could turn out fine if you don't the bait and
throw things around the room. If you do get a job offer
following such an interview, you might want to ask yourself
whether you would want to work for such a person or
organization. (If you turn down the job, think of the fun
you could have telling them what you think of their
interviewing techniques.)
The Structured Interview
Employment laws related to hiring practices have
increased the use of a structured interview, particularly in
larger organizations. In this type of interview, the
interviewer has a list of questions to ask all applicants
and a form to fill out to record the responses and
observations. Your experience and skills may be compared to
specific job tasks or criteria. Even if the interview is
highly structured, you will likely have an opportunity to
present what you feel is essential information.
The Reality Interview
Some organizations now use a method commonly called
"reality interviewing." Instead of asking traditional
questions like "What is the best way to handle customer
complaints," the reality interview asks more specific
questions like "Tell me about a situation when you handled a
customer complaint. Be specific in telling me what you did
and what happened as a result." The objective is to get
applicants to present specific things they did in the past
as a way to indicate how they are likely to handle similar
situations in the future. You might be asked very specific
questions like "Your sales efforts resulted in a large order
to an important customer. The order needs to go out right
away to meet the customer's needs, but the accounting
department has put a freeze on this account due to slow
payments in the past. What would you do and why?" These
kinds of questions provide excellent opportunities for
well-prepared job seekers to present the skills and
abilities that are needed for the job they want.
The Disorganized Interview
You will come across many inexperienced employers who
will not do a good job of interviewing you. They may talks
about themselves too much or neglect to ask you meaningful
questions. Many employers are competent managers but poor
interviews, and few have had any formal interview training.
The best way to handle these interviews is to present the
employers with the skills you have to do this job. Gove them
the answers they need to hire you even if they neglect to
asks the right questions.
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