Written by mayur | 01 August 2009
Posted in Interview and Job

When you interview for job, your success depends on how well you understand what the interviewer wants and hopes to learn from the interview.

One way to think of it is that the interviewer goes into the interview with an employee-shaped template in his or her mind.

He’s got an ideal version of the candidate that he or she would like to hire and a minimally required version of the candidate. He or she recognizes that the candidates will fall somewhere between the ideal and the minimum, and seeks to find those which are as close to ideal as possible. If you know how the interviewer creates that ideal template of the candidate, then you will better be able to represent yourself as that when you go into the interview.

Before you interview for job, do the research and questioning that will allow you to know what an ideal job candidate would look like. The answer, you will find, is not that difficult to deduce. In short, that ideal candidate is the candidate who can perform the needed tasks immediately, has the attributes necessary to perform the additional needed tasks of that position in the future, and fits productively into the corporate culture.

All of these elements – required tasks of present and future, valued attributes and personal fit – can be learned through research. This research should encompass both published material and the informal, socially transmitted information such as input from friends who are familiar with the target company.

How to Interview for a Job Continued...

Since you know more or less what the interviewer is looking for in the interview for job, you should be able to predict with certainty what questions he or she will ask. Namely, he or she is going to ask you the questions which will reveal whether you possess the desired elements of the ideal employee. You will be quizzed to discover your ability to do the required tasks, to reveal the desired characteristics, and if how you would fit into the new corporate environment. Now your interview strategy is simple. Prepare for the questions you know you will receive in a way that will convincingly demonstrate that you are the kind of candidate the interviewer wants.

Your interview for job answers should be structured in a way that convinces the interviewer on all these points. A productive preparation exercise is to say all the things that you know the interviewer is looking for, such as “I am great working with details,” and imagine that the interviewer would respond by saying “prove it.” Though it’s unlikely that the interviewer will blatantly state it in that way, the stories and examples which you would provide as proof are exactly the kinds of responses which will best persuade the interviewer. As a general rule, examples and stories which parallel or mirror the realities of the target job are the most convincing to the interviewer. These stories create a vivid image of you performing in the target position.

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