Interviewing Inadequacies

Job Seeker's Story

Terrence was one of a soon-to-graduate class of MBA students from a top university. He had been invited to the first round of interviews with the senior leadership finance team of a Fortune 500 company. Terrence was excited about this interview because he had heard that the starting salary would be $90,000 with a $10,000 sign-on bonus and relocation expenses paid. As Terrence juggled his last semester classes and projects, he also prepared for the interview by researching the company. When he discovered that the company's MBA recruiting program was a new one, he felt lucky to be included in the first round of interviewees. In fact, he was to be the first interviewee in the schedule rotation.

He was very busy trying to “wrap up” his last semester activities, so Terrance did not get a chance to prepare for the interview as much as he would have liked. However, he thought the company research he had done could be put to good use in the interview. As Terrance answered the interviewing panel's questions, he tried to tie in his skills with the services the company offered. Terrance felt he was doing well when suddenly his pager beeped, and he asked to be excused to make a phone call. He explained he was working on an important project and, because he was critical to the success of the project, he had to immediately respond. Terrence left to make the call from the hallway.

Ten minutes later Terrence returned to the conference room, where the interviewing panel had quietly been gathering up their paperwork in preparation to move on to the next candidate. They decided to resume the interview with Terrence and had gotten through two more questions when Terrence's pager beeped a second time. Again, Terrence asked to be excused, explaining how vital he was to the project. This time he was gone for five minutes. When Terrence returned the interviewers quickly completed the interview, shook his hand, and escorted him out of the conference room.

Immediately following the interview with Terrence the panel called their company's Human Resources Director. They explained that they had decided not to hire Terrence and why, relating the story of Terrence's unprofessional and disrespectful behavior. In fact, the interviewing panel was so disturbed by Terrence, they decided not to hire any student from that particular university's MBA program!

Job Seeker's Stumble

Terrence's lack of good manners and unprofessional behavior, combined with his ego-centric “bragging” about his role on a team project, totally turned off a three-member management team tasked with recruiting new MBA's. Unfortunately, Terrence's behavior made such a bad first impression that it impacted every other student on the interviewers’ schedule negatively: None of them even got the chance to interview. In this case, the results of Terrence's actions had widespread effects, which he did not learn until after the interview.

Job Seeker's New Strategy

Professionalism and good manners are critical in interviews, whether on the phone or in-person, with an individual or in a group. Social conduct that is sensitive to and shows regard for others, rather than ignoring or downgrading others, is the central concept of exhibiting professionalism. In Terrence's case, his non-professional behavior included the subtle message that he and his class projects were “more important” than the interviewers and their time. Review the following tips for guidelines on professional behavior in the interview:

• • Be on Time: Show up at the appointed time, not excessively early and not late.
• • Stay for the Entire Interview: Do not step out to make or take phone calls.
• • Turn Off Your Cell Phone/Pager: Be fully present at the interview.
• • Dress Professionally and Be Clean: Being unkempt, disheveled, dirty, or too informal (for example, rings in tongue, eyebrows, and so on) will make an impression, but not the one needed to get hired by the vast majority of employers.
• • Listen Carefully to the Questions Asked: Do not attempt to multi-task during an interview. You will need your full powers of concentration to evaluate the “question behind the question.” For example, “Why did it take you five years to complete your bachelor's degree program rather than the standard four?” really means, “We are fearful. Is something amiss in your academic or personal life?”
• • Keep Your Ego in Check: Although you do want to talk about your relevant accomplishments to the position for which you are being interviewed, be careful not to brag, exaggerate, or sound arrogant, especially if you were part of a team effort.
• • Hone Your Sensitivity: Be aware of potential “land mines” in the verbal exchange that revolve around political, ethnic, gender, and religious issues. Research and understand the company culture, which the interviewer will likely represent, so you can respond to it appropriately.
• • Respect the Interviewer's Time: Frame succinct and meaningful responses to questions. Avoid jargon and language that is too technical, unless you are interviewing with a technical person. Prepare Context-Challenge-Actions-Results (C-C-A-R) stories for key skills needed in the position and keep editing them for brevity and clarity. You can tell a story with impact in less than 60 seconds!
• • Respect the Interviewer: Show respect first with good manners, and you will engender respect in return. An interview does not have to be a clash of wills or a cross-examination. Instead, it can be a fact-finding mission and persuasive conversation for both the interviewee and the interviewer.
• • Use Clear, Non-Confusing Language:: Tape-record your answers to typical interview questions in your practice sessions and then take note of any distracting verbal mannerisms, such as ummm, like, and you know. Practice eliminating these non-words from your responses.

Showing professionalism in an interview is all about respect for and sensitivity to others. If you cannot demonstrate that in an interview situation, why would any employer believe you would be professional, respectful, and considerate of others in any situation?