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As the title of the post says, I have the last stage of interviews/assessment with an employer that I am quite interested in. Besides, they fly me in from a neighboring country, so I am guessing that they are seriously considering me.
This is going to be a whole day of intense assessment - interviews, business case studies, presentation event and spending time socializing with the team (over coffee, lunch, reception). Out of all these, I am most worried about meeting the rest of the team members and making sure they like me enough to see me as a potential addition to their team. Not at all easy!
Some of you may think this is pretty straightforward - you fit or not into the organization and there is little you can do to "force" things so relax. I get that - however, I would like to do my best at least not to consciously screw up somewhere!
Any tips/suggestions about how to behave on the day so that by the end of the event I can be satisfied with my performance regardless of the actual outcome?
Any of you been there done that? Would love to learn from your experience!
Been there, done that. Several times and from both sides. They are pretty common at senior manager level in academia.
Here are my thoughts, in no particular order.
They are done so that a wide variety of people can interact with the candidate. This means that the company probably has some level of commitment to a consensus driven approach in the workplace.
Everybody will be providing feedback. Do not take anybody for granted. Be nice to the receptionist, the custodian, that person from another department that you don't know why they are there.
The job probably involves a lot of interaction with people, they are judging your social skills and personality.
You will be asked the same questions a few different ways, by different groups. Be consistent, and don't show any irritation at the repetitive nature of the questions.
Have a few conversational stories ready. Some should be simple conversation starters, such as an amusing story about your visit to the Grand Canyon/NewYork/whatever. Maybe an amusing kid or kitten story. Something to break the ice so that you don't have a bunch of people staring wordlessly at each other.
Have a few work related anecdotes ready too. These should have a point embedded in them. The time you solved a common industry problem. That difficult customer who loves you because....
Take care of your personal comfort. This isn't an iron man marathon, but it is an all day scheduled affair. Go to the bathroom at every opportunity. Stash a granola bar in your bag just in case. Drink just enough coffee to wake you up but not enough to drive you to distraction with your need to goto the bathroom. Bring breath mints.
Turn off your phone. Not just silent, but off entirely. I leave mine in my car to remove the temptation to check Facebook or whatever.
Opinions are divided on alcohol at dinner. Some places are ok with it, others aren't. As a candidate, I always atay away, even if others at the table order first.
Do your research on the company so that you can respond intelligently to people's comments. The more info you know, the more impressed they will be. Obviously you cannot know everything, so try and become conversant in one area, and steer conversations that way. Don't put all your eggs in one basket though. You cannot force the conversation, and if the rest of the group doesn't want to talk about the topic you prepared, you have to be willing to shift.
An example of this might be in the auto industry. Volvo recently announced that they are going to stop producing internal combustion engines, focusing entirely on hybrids and electric. If you were going to interview at Volvo, learn everything you can about that. Their philosophy, market opportunities, etc. be able to do a SWOT analysis on that, and be complementary of their decision and back it up. Certainly you want to focus on something as relevant to the job opening as possible.
I hope that helps. Post any additional questions you may have and I will try to swing back by this thread.
Thank you for your tips! They are great, especially the one about thinking of potential topics to discuss when you are there and there is that awkward silence around...
I guess the reason why I feel so terrified about such events is that being an introvert, I tend to do badly when it comes to small talk and even worse when I must do it with total strangers...I just want to run away from it all.
Any specific suggestions for how to handle the small talk sessions for introverts?
I feel much more comfortable when I talk about my work/sector but talking "on the surface" just does not resonate with me...
immediate fixes for lack of conversational skills are hard. Introverts can and do interact successfully with others, it just takes more effort.
You may hate some of this, but here is what I do to overcome my natural introvert tendencies.
Realize that in an interview setting you are going to be the center of attention. You may not like it, but it is a fact. Trying to downplay that will only work against you.
Every time you walk into a room, be prepared to walk up to somebody, shake their hand, smile, and say, "Hi, I am sun&seafood. How are you doing today?". A really outgoing person will respond and take it from there.
Resist the urge to reply with simple yes/no answers. Give longer answers, and add something to your answer that gives another person something to respond to. A follow up question is usually pretty easy. As a few examples, the first sentence in each statement below is where a shy introvert willed a response. You need to add the second bit as well.
Hi, I am sun&seafood. What is your name and what do you do here?
Yes, it was a long flight. I have never been to this city before, have you ever been to my hometown?
Yes, Mexican food for dinner would be fine. I like all sorts of food, including southern barbecue, Thai and the pierogies my grandmother used to make. What is your favorite type of good?
Conversation is like a tennis game. You have to keep lobbing the ball back and forth.
It is ok to steer it back to work if you like, as this is a job interview, but try to spice up the conversation with a few other things. It's like anything else, a bit of variety helps keep things interesting.
I admit, all this will be a challenge for me but I will try to prepare a few discussion topics in advance. I will also research the co-workers (it's a small organization) and find out more about what they do so that I can think of some customized questions before I show up on the day.
I am aware that this hiring will most likely be based on their general "gut feeling" about who is the right candidate; having said that, I will definitely try to project myself in the best light possible.
I admit, all this will be a challenge for me but I will try to prepare a few discussion topics in advance. I will also research the co-workers (it's a small organization) and find out more about what they do so that I can think of some customized questions before I show up on the day.
I am aware that this hiring will most likely be based on their general "gut feeling" about who is the right candidate; having said that, I will definitely try to project myself in the best light possible.
i disagree.
Although longer interviews do have a subjective personality component, qualifications are important. The successful candidate will have a balance of both. There isn't a solid formula, but as a general rule, the stronger you are in the technical area the weaker you can be on the interactive side. Both portions have minimums of course. If you are technically not up to standards, it won't matter how you get along with people, you aren't getting the job. Conversely, if you are a technical wizard, if you cannot work with people it isn't going to result in a job offer.
Although longer interviews do have a subjective personality component, qualifications are important. The successful candidate will have a balance of both. There isn't a solid formula, but as a general rule, the stronger you are in the technical area the weaker you can be on the interactive side. Both portions have minimums of course. If you are technically not up to standards, it won't matter how you get along with people, you aren't getting the job. Conversely, if you are a technical wizard, if you cannot work with people it isn't going to result in a job offer.
The way I thought of this was that all candidates invited on the day have already been deemed capable to do the job, and thus the final decision will come down to who is most liked by the entire team. Which, btw, puts a lot of pressure on candidates...
It is usually more accurate to say that candidates invited to an interview have met minimum qualifications to do the job. That doesn't mean that they can.
Despite the common wisdom in these forums, interviews aren't solely about personality. People can win or lose jobs based upon their technical answers to questions during an interview.
The most recent interview committee I was a part of interviewed three people. All were technically qualified on paper. After the interviews, we determined that one was really strong in area A, and competent in other areas, a second candidate was really strong in area B, and competent in other areas, and the third candidate had a theoretical knowledge of the position, had worked alongside people who had done the position, had assisted in tasks necessary to the position, but hadn't actually done much of anything that we needed. She really should have been applying one level down and building experience.
Ultimately we chose the qualified candidate with the weaker personality because we value area A over area B.
I could give you dozens of similar stories. Yes, they want to know if they can get along with you so that they can work with you. But technical competence is much more important.
It is usually more accurate to say that candidates invited to an interview have met minimum qualifications to do the job. That doesn't mean that they can.
Despite the common wisdom in these forums, interviews aren't solely about personality. People can win or lose jobs based upon their technical answers to questions during an interview.
The most recent interview committee I was a part of interviewed three people. All were technically qualified on paper. After the interviews, we determined that one was really strong in area A, and competent in other areas, a second candidate was really strong in area B, and competent in other areas, and the third candidate had a theoretical knowledge of the position, had worked alongside people who had done the position, had assisted in tasks necessary to the position, but hadn't actually done much of anything that we needed. She really should have been applying one level down and building experience.
Ultimately we chose the qualified candidate with the weaker personality because we value area A over area B.
I could give you dozens of similar stories. Yes, they want to know if they can get along with you so that they can work with you. But technical competence is much more important.
Wow, I love your example! And thanks for sharing!
I will definitely put more serious effort into my technical preparation then. I still have some time left
Cheers!
Just wanted to update the thread by saying that the all-day stressful interviewing event went great actually and I ended up getting the job offer the next day
In the end, I think it all came down to the "whole package", i.e. skills, personality, enthusiasm and specific experience that this employer wanted. I would also say that circumstances/luck played a big role. On the day, there were other candidates that, in my opinion, were better qualified than me but the employer perceived them as not having the mix they were looking for.
@fishbrains: thank you for the awesome advice!
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