Job Interviews!

A change is as good as a rest, so they say, so I’m off for an interview as Team lead for the Labour Market Data Warehousing Team. I haven’t really had that many interviews in the course of my career, as I don’t tend to move around much at all. I’ve worked for only 3 companies in the last ~23 years, only moving around within those companies, so being in the hot seat is something of a novelty.

In the past, however, I have been in a position to do technical interviews , so I think this puts me at an advantage, compared to people who are only ever on the receiving end of the interview process.

As a technical interviewer I’d be looking for a few key things.

• Initial appearance.
  Whilst suits aren’t a necessity , effort however is. If you turn up looking like you’ve just been shovelling manure, don’t expect much sympathy. Smart casual is ok, buy if your position is facing the customer, make sure you have at least one decent suit.
  There’s a well known saying “you never get a second chance to make a first impression”, and this is absolutely true. In the book Thin Slicing, it’s found that we subconsciously form an opinion of a person we’ve just met within the fist ten seconds. Unless you then later become close friends with that person, that opinion doesn’t tend to change. So, take a look at yourself in the mirror, and watch how you behave in those all important first minutes.
• Know your stuff.
  This almost goes without saying. Unless training will be offered you’re better off arriving with all the skills you need well honed. It’s not necessary to know everything, but if you’re going to be quizzed by technical people, you’d better know what you’re talking about. Even if training is offered, arriving self trained will still place you a better position than the competition.
  If you’re in front of your future team members (I always brought in the team members for interviews) then you’d really, really better know your stuff. It’s one thing to be able to bluff your way through a HR driven interview, but prospective team mates, (especially on a tight knit team) are ridiculously unforgiving.
  It’s often the case that as an interviewer, I’d ask questions that didn’t have a direct answer. What I’d be looking for was the ability , and willingness to attack the problem in innovative ways. Remember “I don’t know” is never the right answer.
• Know their stuff
  It always pays to know about the company you’re applying for. Ego stroking your future employer isn’t a bad move! Knowing snippets of business information is a great ice breaker when the conversations first start up.
  “Did you know Blah-Blah Ltd was the largest producer of Widgets last year?”
  “Ah, that’s right, you’ve been the largest for 3 years running now haven’t you..That’s a good record.”
  Don’t appear like a know it all, but knowing the companies business makes you more attractive.
• Counter Objections
  Be ready to counter any objections you think your prospective employer may have about your application. Answer these theoretical objects beforehand, so if they come up in the interview you know how to handle them without being lost for words whilst you think up a possibly unconvincing answer. All interviewers will raise points about you, your skills, or your track record. Have answers ready.
• Be yourself
  After interviewing potential employees for a couple of years, it becomes increasingly easy to spot people that aren’t being genuine. It’s generally not possible to keep something from someone that’s analysing your every move. Eventually either your speech patterns or your body language will give you away, and the interviewer will pickup those fleeting glimpses of someone else sat in the seat.Even if the interviewer isn’t paying attention all the time, eventually they’ll just get the feeling “something wasn’t quite right with this guy” and if they won’t you can be sure any team members in the panel will.

So, a few key points to keep in mind when being interviewed, above all, enjoy the process – you may be about to embark on a journey you’ll remember forever!

An excellent book for brushing up on your interview skills is this by Max Eggert,

Perfect Interview (Perfect series) by Max EggertRead more about this book…

Just remember, the interviewers may have read it too 🙂