Career Forum

Arriving for an interview having not prepared in advance is like walking into a meeting or event with no advance planning—it’s unlikely that the end-result will be a positive experience!

While a move like that could cost you your job, lack of preparation for an interview is a surefire way to keep your career from launching forward. According to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and most economists, the expectation is that it could take at least four years before we see complete restoration of the 8.4 million jobs wiped out by the recent recession. With an extremely competitive job market, it’s critical to put yourself at the top of the prospect list. Assuming you’ve created a resume that piques the interest of potential employers, your next step is to develop an interview strategy that results in job offers.

• Research the Potential Employer
  Understanding your audience is one of the keys to success with a well-executed meeting. With job interviews, it’s important to research your prospective employer. In addition to learning about their products and services, you want to do the following:
• Find out about the prospective employer’s position in the marketplace. Are they looking at acquiring any of their competition, or the reverse, or creating any strategic alliances? If you’re interviewing with a publicly traded company, be sure to check their stock and read the industry analyst reports.
• Use social networking to get an inside perspective. On LinkedIn, if you identify someone on a second tier who works for the company or organization, ask for an introduction from a first level connection that you have in common. If you’re on MeCo or the MIM List, ask people to contact you offline with their insights about the prospective employer.
• Read press releases about the prospective employer’s meeting and trade show schedule on their website. Determine if you have any ideas that could improve or enhance these programs.

Act Like a Gymnast
Interviewing is like being a gymnast walking a balance beam. You must navigate the fine line between talking and listening.

• Don’t talk more than 50 percent of the time. Speaking too much can appear as nervousness or impatience, or an attempt to mask a lack of knowledge.
• Avoid sabotaging yourself by appearing “over qualified.” Provide some insight into your strategic capabilities without giving away too much information, especially in the first interview.
• Make sure you listen to the question. Don’t try to anticipate what information the interviewer is seeking. Cutting off someone projects impatience.
• “It’s in our best interest to answer questions honestly instead of saying what we think the employer will want to hear,” says Dee Kring, CAE, CMP, director of continuing education at the Florida Engineering Society. “After all, we need to make sure it’s a place that we want to work.”

Be Prepared
The saying “don’t start out on the wrong foot” should be the mantra for everyone who’s interviewing for a job. Everything about that first meeting is important, including your appearance, your level of confidence, as well as the time you arrive for the interview.

“Make sure you know how to get there [to the interview], where to park or what public transportation to take, and get yourself there on time! There’s nothing worse than being late for an interview,” says Devon Shaw, conference manager at USENIX Association.

• “Practice your responses aloud to hear how they sound versus just going through things in your head,” Shaw says. You’ll project confidence in your capabilities if you’re comfortable with your responses.
• Prepare your own set of questions. “It shows that it’s a two-way conversation where both parties are trying to gauge if the relationship is a good fit,” says Leanne Calderwood, CMP, manager, global accounts for Helms Briscoe. If the interviewer doesn’t address these areas, be sure to ask whether you will be working with a team of people or on your own. Ask whether there will there be opportunities for training or professional development.
• Read the job posting and requirements multiple times, so you can identify how your particular experience relates to the position.

In addition, here are some things to avoid doing during interviews:

• Taking full credit for every accomplishment. This makes it appear that you’re not a team player.
• Speaking in a passive voice. This projects an inability to take charge.
• Saying negative things about your current or past employer or co-workers. This is seen as being negative or disloyal.
• Asking about salary during the first interview. This communicates impatience with the interview process.

Review these tips the next time you receive an invitation for a job interview so you can create a successful interviewing strategy.

Sheryl Sookman Schelter, CMP, is principal of The MeetingConnection, an executive placement company that works with corporations, associations and third-party meeting management companies nationwide to fill full-time positions, short-term and on-site assignments for meeting planners. Sookman Schelter is a sought-after speaker on career- and employment-related issues. She has also published a book on career strategies and resume design titled Who’s In Charge of Your Career? Creating a Strategy for Success, available on www.amazon.com. You can contact her at 415.892.1394 or via e-mail at sheryl@themeetingconnection.com. The MeetingConnection.