Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Interview Tips
Interview Tips
TIPS
Key to Successful Interviewing
Preparation
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Questions
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Know where you are on your career path and how the employer fits in. Having a clear idea of what
you want to do and how you plan on getting there conveys confidence and drive. Scattered interests
and vague plans, on the other hand, send the wrong signals.
Be honest with yourself and the interviewer. You dont want to talk your way into the wrong position.
PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!!! (And do it before your interviews.)
Be prepared for questions you hope they wont ask (e.g., resume gap, previous unrelated experience.)
Be matter of fact in your responses, not defensive.
Even if youre being interviewed for a summer position, know that the company is thinking about you
long term.
Post-Interview Suggestions
ALWAYS send a thank-you letter reiterating why you are a good fit for the position. Ask follow-up
questions or highlight something you failed to mention during the interview.
If alumni or references have championed you for the job, let them know whether you are going to
accept or decline the job before you tell the recruiter.
If you decline a job, make sure the reason you give is framed in a way to consider the recruiters egos
and reflects your professionalism. (Bad answer: I really only want the job for a year. Better
answer: This was a very difficult decision, but I have decided to accept another offer.)
Preparation
Prepare for job interviews as you would for an examination and you may be able to enjoy
them as you would an interesting conversation with colleagues. Conversely, if you go into
an interview without adequate preparation, the experience could feel like an exam for
which you overslept! Spend time reflecting on your own goals, your strengths and skills, so
that you can discuss them succinctly. Learn about the employers organization and current
needs so that you understand how and where you would fit.
OCS recommends a number of resources to help you prepare for interviews:
Organization web sites and career-related sites, such as Vault.com and Wetfeet.com
Newspaper and magazine web sites, e.g. the New York Times, Wall Street Journal,
Financial Times, Washington Post, Economist. A keyword search can quickly give you a
review of recent coverage of many organizations of interest to Fletcher students
OCS referrals and alumni contacts - always check the Mentor Guide
Preparation
Researching Yourself
You know best how to reflect on your own goals and strengths. In the past, Fletcher
students have recommended a number of tools that they have found useful. Some have
enjoyed the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI), a self-assessment tool that helps you think
about personality type and work, or Career Leader, an on-line service that offers you
guidance in analyzing the type of organization and function you would enjoy. While the
answers will likely reflect what you already know about yourself, they can help you think
about how to present this information to an employer concisely.
To use the MBTI, make an appointment with OCS. To view Career Leader go to Services for
Students on the OCS homepage.
Another simple and very helpful exercise to prepare for an interview, recommended by an
alum, is to create a matrix, listing your skills on one axis and the employers requirements
on the other to see where they match.
Etiquette
A punctual, well-dressed and well-groomed candidate is off to a good start.
Always plan to arrive a little early and allow ample time for travel. Dress codes vary
according to organization, but always be conservative in your choice. A clean, pressed
business suit for men and a business suit or dress for women is most appropriate. Hair
should be neatly cut, beards trimmed. Jewelry, scent, cologne and aftershave should be
kept to a minimum.
Questions
What kind of questions should you expect? This can be the hardest question to answer. In
the course of your job search you may meet calm and skilled interviewers and others who
seem as nervous as you may be. In some organizations interviewers will use a standard
schedule of questions, and will be rating candidates on a standardized scale. At other
organizations, a committee with no pre-assigned questions may interview you. Interviews
also differ by sector. The good news is that, whatever the skills of those who interview
you, your own careful preparation will be rewarded. Your enthusiasm and thoughtful
answers will make the tired or bored interviewer sit up, and help the nervous interviewer
relax and listen.
In Get Hired (see OCS library), Paul Green identifies four types of interview styles: GutFeel, Conversational, Trait and Behavioral. Most human resources departments use
behavioral interviewing in the belief that the best way to predict someones actions in the
future is to know how they did something in the past. However, if you are interviewed by
other people in the organization, they may rely on one or more of the other interviewing
styles (see the book for details).
The best preparation for any of the styles is preparation for a behavioral interview where
you give examples of how you solved problems in the past. Many of the sample questions
on the next page are behavioral.
Typical Questions
On the following page, OCS offers a list of questions that are commonly-asked. Read them
through, and consider how many of them are open-ended. Open-ended questions give a
well-prepared candidate the opportunity to tell the interviewer just what makes them an
outstanding candidate. As you prepare answers, remember that you will stand out from
the other candidates if you can describe specific situations, your actions and the results
that highlight your selling points. Any candidate can claim to be well organized and detail
oriented. The candidate who says, My boss claims that the reason my favorite candies
are M&Ms is because I can color code them will prove the point and be remembered.
Interviewers will often ask whether you have had a negative experience, or what you
consider your weaknesses. A good answer will always be brief, keep the description of the
downside to a minimum, avoid gratuitous criticism of others, and end on an upbeat note.
Questions
Be Specific
Many people give vague and general answers to behavorial questions. Give specifics of the
issue, how you dealt with it, and be ready to give more than one example.
Be Concise
However good you are at thinking on your feet, in the pressure of a job interview it can
be easy to ramble if you are caught by surprise, wasting precious interview minutes, so
practice your answers aloud and time yourself.
Afterwards...
After an interview, always sit down and make some notes on how it went. If there were
questions that surprised you, or that you wish you had answered differently, write them
down now, and when you are relaxed, go back to your notes and prepare the answer you
would like to give next time.
Follow-Up
Send thank you notes, which may be typed or handwritten, if your writing is legible. A
note by-email is acceptable, but should be as formal as a note on paper. Address the
reader as Dear ___, not Hi,___ Keep the letter brief, thank the interviewer for their
time, and indicate your continued interest.
For past student
feedback on job
interviews, see the
Last Will and
Testament from the
Class of 2000
binder in OCS.
Donts
Dont ask for a job! It is considered bad manners and puts the person you are meeting
with in an embarrassing position.
Dos
Do send a thank you letter after the interview thanking the person for his/her time and
the help he/she gave you.
------The following page contains sample letters/emails requesting for informational interviews.
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SAMPLE 1
Dear ---------(Fletcher alumnus/a):
I will graduate from Fletcher in 2003 with fields of study in International Negotiation and Conflict
Resolution and International Environmental Policy. I am very interested in learning more about your
work on policy issues in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Would you have twenty minutes to spare for an informational interview at your convenience in the next
week?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
John Albert
SAMPLE II
Dear Ms. Smith:
A good friend of mine, Matthew O'Connell, recently suggested that I contact you. I am contemplating
making a career shift toward interior design and am at a stage currently where I am exploring the field
in general as well as the various options that may lie within it for full- and part-time opportunities down
the road.
To gain practical exposure, I have begun taking design related classes at the Boston Architectural Center.
The research I'm undertaking currently will hopefully lead me to an educated decision about whether to
undertake a more concentrated program of study there.
Matt speaks of you highly, and your experience in both commercial and residential design would
certainly allow me to gain valuable insight into comparing opportunities on both sides. Might it be
possible to arrange an informational interview with you at some point this spring? Please kindly let me
know your availability and what sort of arrangement would work best for you.
Sincerely,
Marianne Fremont
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What to Expect
Candidates should be prepared to answer all the standard interview questions, and also prepare for three
types of questions which are used in assessing candidates in the consulting industry; brain teasers,
estimating problems, and business problems. You may certainly take notes, and work out the numbers on
paper. Round all your figures so you can work quickly!
Business Problems
The third type of question, a business problem, can be more challenging to prepare. Typically, an
interviewer will describe a current or past case, and ask for your advice to the client. This is an
opportunity for you to analyze the issues by asking lots of questions, as you work your way to a bottomline recommendation. Obviously, you cannot prepare the answer in advance, but you can prepare
yourself in two ways. First, spend time reading about business in such periodicals as The Economist, Wall
Street Journal, and the New York Times so that you are well-versed in current issues. Second, (this is a
recommendation from a young management consultant), take some time every week to think about local
businesses you frequent: dry cleaner, supermarket, photocopying store. Analyze the business in terms of
market, costs, competition, and capabilities. With this kind of regular practice in disaggregating problems,
you will feel much more comfortable in discussing business problems in your interviews.
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