Acing the Interview Process: Steps That Keep You in the "Yes" Pile

Congratulations – your hard work has paid off and you have secured an interview. The interview is extremely critical to your job search process as it is the one that employers and recruiters use to make their final decision. Despite the growing discomfort in today's job market, there is still only one game plan that will get you the job.

Preparing For The Interview:

Entering an interview armed with a wealth of information on the company coupled with a solid understanding of how you can make a valuable contribution, automatically put you ahead of the game in your job search.

• Fully exhaust the Internet resources to research the company's reputation, financial status, and recent developments. Reach out to your professional network for anyone who may have the inside scoop and review annual reports and industry trade magazines to get all the facts.
• Review your resume again and familiarize yourself with the key points that you want to get across during the interview. It is very beneficial to create your mini career success stories ahead of time – make sure that you choose examples that demonstrate how your qualifications are the right fit with the company's needs.
• Practice and rehearse your responses to standard interview questions like: Tell me about yourself, describe your top accomplishments, why should we hire you, etc.
• Conduct dress rehearsal to make sure that your suit or business attire fits right, check your portfolio to make sure you have additional copies of your resume, and you can even do a road trip ahead of time to interview location to assess commuting time.

Managing The Interview Process:

Throughout your face-to-face interview process, you want to make sure that you are consistently promoting yourself as the solutions for the company by clearly defining your personal brand, unique value proposition, and concise success stories in the Challenge-Action-Results format.

• Limit your responses to about 2-3 minutes and if you have practiced with a trusted colleague, your level of nervous talk or rambling will be significantly reduced.
• Listen carefully to the interviewer questions, statements, and comments to get a deeper understanding of the company and whether its corporate environment is the right fit for you. Remember it needs to be a two-way match.
• Don't be afraid to ask the interviewer to repeat a question for clarity and take your time giving the correct response not just any answer.
• Make sure that you ask specific questions about the company and the position requirements before forming an opinion. Lean towards enhancing your career, not simply getting a job. Questions that you should consider include: Is this a new position or am I replacing someone, how would you describe the work environment, what are the growth or promotional opportunities, tell me about your experience with the company.
• Always ask the interviewer about the next steps – you should always walk away from an interview know how to manage your expectations.

After The Interview:

It seems like a simple, common-sense gesture, but so many jobseekers overlook it (only 5% of executive job candidates actually say thanks) – a thank you note or email sent within 48 hours of the interview. A highly effective thank-you note should mention highlights of the interview conversation and reiterate your interest in the position.

• Do more than say "thank you", use the follow up letter to address any questions that you feel you didn't answer well during the interview or use the letter to provide additional information that you may have neglected to discuss at the time.
• Evaluate your own interview performance – consider questions like what were your feeling going into the interview, were you uncomfortable during the process, was this interview easier or harder interview compared to your last one, what would you do differently in the next interview.
• Keep your job search going and accept other job interviews; you should never cease your job search activities until you have been offered and you have accepted a job. No matter how well the interview went, never take that as a sign to slow down your overall job search efforts.

Abby M. Locke of Premier Writing Solutions (www.premierwriting.com) is an executive career marketing strategist who partners with senior-level professionals and C-level executives to achieve personal success through cutting-edge, brand-focused career communications and innovative personal marketing/job search services. Her distinctive resume samples have been published in Top Notch Executive Resumes, Nail the Resume! Great Tips for Creating Dynamite Resumes, Same-Day Resume, Quick Resume and Cover Letter Book, 30-Minute Resume Makeover, Happy About My Resume, Sales and Marketing Resumes for $100,000 Careers, and Directory of Professional Resume Writers.