re: Wanted: Your Best Interview Tips/Strategies

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This works for your future supervisor but can go horribly wrong with some HR flunkie that doesn't know the industry. If you stump them with some beautifully crafted question you will make them look dumb.

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Good advice, but if the job is as great as op makes it out to be, he will not be talking to an HR rep. Or at least at some point in a second interview he won't be.

Thanks!

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Don't talk too much

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That's actually a good point. Will try to find the happy medium.

well Bob, when's the last time you talked to Kramer? Tell him to tell Jerry for me, next time he's walking down 48th street and he sees me twirling my umbrella, he better walk the other way. He wants to take credit for the twirl, then i'll twirl this umbrella right up his arse.

In all seriousness, I think there's two ways you can approach an interview. Be yourself, and if that's what they are looking for then great. Or, be what they want you to be to get the job, and maybe say things you know they want to hear but you don't truly believe.

I recently tried being honest and told an interviewer that I likely wouldn't be interested in moving to Houston down the road b/c my kids just started school and I'd rather they grow up going to the same school their whole life. He said if I had intentions of moving up, i'd likely have to move to Houston. I said, things change and maybe in 5 years i'll think differently and i'd cross that bridge when we get there. Up to that point interview was going great and I felt like they were really interested in me. That conversation pretty much ended the interview and I never heard back from them again, even though they said they'd get to me regardless if there would be an offer or not.

I could have just lied and said, "sure, I have no problem moving to Houston if the job dictates that". I'd probably have a new job right now had I said that.

Have a PowerPoint presentation outlining the company, yourself, skills and goals. 30, 60, 90 day action plans.

Have copies of your presentation along with resume and cover letter in binders. If it's a panel interview bring extra copies.

"After concluding the interview, after the hand shakes, etc, when leaving the room stop, turn around, and say “There’s one more thing you need to know about me.”

Then pull out a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce, down the entire bottle, slam it onto the ground and say “I can handle the heat.” Nod confidently, leave the room.

Boom.



I was nervous as a bitch-arse during the interview, but I was determined to follow through with the plan.

Well it didn’t pan out like I thought it would. It was only a small bottle of hot sauce, I figured it would be no big deal to actually do.

So I started exactly as described above. I was leaving, I turned around, not with as much swagger as I’d imagined, and I declared “There’s one more thing you need to know about me.”

I pulled out the hot sauce bottle, almost dropped it, and started to open the bottle. In my head it was all one quick confident motion, but instead I fumbled around and had a tough time getting it open. It felt like a nightmarish eternity but was probably only about 20 seconds. Enough time for one of the interviewers to ask me what I was doing.

I didn’t answer directly. Instead, after I got the bottle open, I repeated “There’s one more thing you need to know about me.” (But stuttering.)

Then I guzzled down the entire bottle of hot sauce. I instantly regretted it. I immediately started to gag and loudly cough, I was crying involuntarily. Tears streaming down my face. I was sweating like a terrible fool.

I desperately tried to say “I can handle the heat” but just kept coughing before I could get anything out.

The interviewers were all standing up looking at me in horror and confusion.

I threw up all over the floor. It hurt as much on the way out as it did on the way in.

After I finished throwing up I could not look at the interviewers. I hoarsely mumbled an apology and started to stumble as quickly as possible out the door.

I didn’t get the job."

Be prepared to answer questions about your experience, specifically when you have had to deal with difficult people or circumstances. Explain how you handled the situations in a professional manner and kept projects moving forward.

Get professional resume envelopes and paper, it shows you pay attention to detail and sets you apart from the guys who printed a resume on white paper. Bring a notepad to make a note of who you talk to while there, and the things they tell you.

After the interview write a short (no more than 1 page) thank you note, print on nice paper and send. The note should include something from the interview to show you were paying attention and remember what they said. Things about the culture of the company, or specifics about the job that would be exciting to you are possibilities.

Good luck!

Remember that the interviewers do not want you to just re-hash your resume, they already know what's on your resume. That being said, make sure that YOU know everything that's on your resume and are able to expand on it if asked. There's nothing worse than being asked about something you provided on your resume and not being able to expand on it and/or relate the experience into something useful for the job.