Interviewing Skills

I had an interview recently, and I have a few more coming up because I'm looking for a new challenge and to take the next step in my career. When I sat down to write this post, I was just going to write up my interview to get my own thoughts out to review them, but then I realized that it's highly possible that some people who will read this don't have the interview skills that I do, so I thought I'd write down my thought process, what I do during an interview, and so forth. Strap in, this is going to take a bit.

Since we're going to be talking about how I act during an interview and what I do when I go to one, I'm going to have to explain why I do what I do. So, let's start out with the most basic rule for interviewing:

Rule #1: Information Is The Most Important Thing

When I find a job that I'm interested in, or when a recruiter contacts me and sends me a job description, there are two things I do when I read about it:

1. Look to see if I'm really interested in applying for the position
2. Scouring what I'm reading for every little piece of information I can glean from it.

Right off the top of my head without looking at anything, I want: The name of the company, the official job title, the skills they're looking for, the name of the organization I'll be working with (i.e. who the contract is with), and how closely my skills match everything on the job description. Then, I take everything that isn't standard or descriptive text and I go look it up on the Internet. If I'm contacted by a recruiter, then I might get even more information. Getting the name of the person you're interviewing with is, usually, a gold mine. The more you know about the company and what you're interviewing for, the bigger the advantage you have when you go for the interview. In other words...

Rule #2: Do Your Homework

For the interview I did recently, I had three different interviews: I had the pre-screen with the recruiter, I had the phone interview, and then I had the in-person interview. I did the pre-screen without doing much beyond looking at the job description they sent me because it was very basic and I wanted more information. Once that was done and I found out what else I was going to deal with, for both the phone interview and the in-person interview, I read the company's website. When I state "I read the company's website", I mean I spent at least an hour going through the company website reading everything I can click on. Please note I did that for the phone interview and for the in-person interview. Why? Rule #1. Also, the second time I went through the website, I paid attention to different parts of the site than I did during my first read through it. I do this sort of thing because I want an advantage when I interview with a company. They've had time to review my resume and they have a general idea of what I've done and who I might be. That means that in order to stand on equal footing with them, I have to know, at minimum, what the company does and how it presents itself. But, studying the company allows me to do something more important.

Rule #3: Always Remember YOU Are Interviewing THEM Too

Interviewing is never a one-way street. I don't care if a company offers me a boatload of cash and great benefits if the building I'm interviewing in has bare white walls and the employees look like they'd rather drink antifreeze than be at work. Take the time to really think about what kind of company you want to work for. Do you care about what kind of dress code there is at the office? Does the amount you have to travel matter? There are a number of questions to consider, so really sit down and think about it. If you honestly don't know, ask someone for help. If nothing else, there are books in the library about figuring this sort of thing out or you could ask a friend (Hi, howya doin?) to be a sounding board. Always keep in mind that working for a certain company is a choice. If you really aren't interested, go look somewhere else. However, there's one aspect of interviewing a company that's very important where the three rules above help out tremendously.

Rule #4: Always Ask Them Questions

By studying the company that you're interviewing, you can write down questions to ask the person that's interviewing you. Usually, but not always, an interviewer will say something like, "Do you have any questions for me?". A lot of people either ask generic questions or don't ask any questions at all. That is a HORRIBLE mistake. The entire point of an interview is to showcase yourself and your skills. One of the biggest, most important things to do during an interview is to show that you're interested in the position and the company. The easiest, fastball-down-the-middle way to show that is to ask detailed questions about the position and the company. Where do you get that information?

The company website. ;)

During the phone interview with the company I'm waiting to hear from, I asked a question about training. There are two reasons I did that:

1. Because I honestly wanted to know more about it and why the company was so focused on it.
2. Because a large part of their "About Our Company" section on their website talked about training.

So, I asked something similar to, "I read on your website that your company focuses on training. It mentioned [Example A] and [Example B]. Can you talk a bit about why training is so important to your company?"

This tells the interviewer that: a) I read their website, b) I paid attention to what I was reading, c) I took the time to really go through their website, and d) I want to know more about the company. I will guarantee that 75-90% of the people they interview don't ask about training during the phone interview. What that does is it makes me stand out and makes me look awesome. Which are two of my main goals during an interview.

Now, let's talk about my in-person interview. Generally, I want to be well-rested and get a decent to good night's sleep. Unfortunately, my kids prevented that from happening, but I didn't let that slow me down. ;) When I gathered everything to get ready to go to work, here's what I had with me for the interview:

A leather binder (inside: four copies of my resume (one for each interviewer and another one just in case), a pen, and a pad of paper (which had my written questions on it)), a bottle of water (I was going to be there for two hours, I knew I'd be talking a lot, and I didn't know if they'd offer me any), and snack bars (five of them: one for me during the interview, one for each of my interviewers, and one for the ride home because I usually eat a snack and someone else might be hungry).

Originally, I was going to leave at 1:30pm for the 2:45pm start time, but I left at 1pm instead. Why?

Rule #5: Take Your Time

There is never any rush to get to an interview unless you put yourself in that situation. I didn't know how long it was going to take me to drive to the Metro, find a parking space, ride public transportation, and walk to the building. Instead of my original hour to get from Point A to Point B, I gave myself an hour and a half. That way, I didn't feel like I was rushing. That's very important. It's much better to show up for an interview relaxed and calm instead of running to the building because you only have five minutes before you're supposed to be there. Having the extra time also allowed me to put on my tie and suit jacket at the Metro station without rushing. There's a reason why I "geared up" there, but I'll get to that in a minute.

I arrived at my stop, stepped off the train, and took the escalator up to the street level. I marveled at how different the area looked (mainly because two large buildings were gone due to the Metro station expanding). I arrived at 2pm, so I had 45 minutes to kill. Most people would be bothered or upset with this situation, but not me. I took the time to walk around the area to see what was there. Why?

Because if I'm working somewhere I want to know what restaurants and other shops are within walking distance. That's information and it will affect my decision to work somewhere just as much as how long the train ride took for me to arrive at my destination.

I also headed up to the radio station that I used to work. I started working there two days after I graduated from college. I wondered how much the place had changed in 11 years, and (at least for the public facing part of the station) not much had. They even had the same coasters in the "board room" at the front of the station. I left a note for my former boss with one of my business cards (Yet again another reason to carry them with me at all times!), and headed out. Around 2:30pm, I headed for the building where I had my interview. Before I started walking towards the building, I made sure that I looked the way I wanted to present myself.

Rule #6: You Are Always, ALWAYS Being Watched

As soon as I'm in sight of a location where I'm interviewing (and yes, that does include me driving up to the building) I want to put my best professional foot forward. I have read reports that companies will have people watching from the windows to see how I act in the parking lot. (Which is why I put on my suit jacket and tie back at my car.) The company that's interviewing me will possibly talk to every security guard, receptionist, and everyone else that I interact with from the moment I appear to the last moment that I leave. Why? That gives them information about me. Would a company want to hire an experienced person that acts arrogant towards a receptionist? Perhaps, but his attitude can hurt his chances to get hired. They'll notice. Count on it.

As I approached the lobby, I reminded myself to take everything in and always pay attention. I wanted to gather as much information about this place and the company as possible.

Rule #7: Observe Everything

The easiest, and one of the most effective, ways to get information is to keep your eyes open, pay attention, and observe everything you can. I'll provide as much detail as I can about my interview, so there's an understanding about what I mean here. In other words, stay focused and when "nothing is happening", keep paying attention. Remember Rule #6.

I walked through one of the revolving doors (neato!) at the front of the building and entered the main lobby. The color scheme was gray. Dark stone floors and walls gave way to accents of shiny metal and glass. It had a very futuristic feel to it. Behind a large desk were two security guards. I stepped behind a pillar, took off my cold weather gear, and opened my coat. I settled my shoulders, and approached the security desk.

"Hello, Ma'am," I said. "I'm here for an interview at 2:45pm."

The guard said that someone would be down to escort me soon. So, I had about ten minutes to kill. I walked over to one of the low, stone benches that were in front of the large windows at the front of the building and took a seat. Then, I called Allison to let her know I had arrived. The first thing I whispered into my phone when her voicemail beeped was, "Greetings from the Mothership." After I left Allison a message, I turned off my phone and put it in my pocket.

The lobby looked and felt like a set from a 1970s sci-fi TV show. Seriously. It was rather stark and the only reason it had color was because the day was fairly sunny and the light filtered in through the windows. Two large, fake trees were adorned with gold and red ornaments and both trees had boxes of various sizes placed underneath them with the same gold and red color scheme. In a smaller environment, they'd look garish and out of place. But, in the lobby, they were a nice touch of color. After I finished looking at the trees, I took a look around the lobby itself.

The first thing I noticed were the twin security cameras under dark globes of glass. Two security guards and two cameras? Hmmm. Why would they have those? They're a security measure, for sure, but those cameras can also be used to watch people who are waiting in the lobby. Like me. Hello, Rule #6.

As I looked around the lobby, I consciously made the mental decision to relax. I did that partly because I wanted to keep my cool, but also because I took a look at the other people waiting in the lobby. It was pretty obvious who was waiting for an interview. A lot of the other interviewees fidgeted physically, walked around a bit, or were looking at their phones. I, on the other hand, was calmly waiting and paying attention. That means I'm different from everyone else who's there for an interview. Making a point to show that is important to me when I go to an interview.

As I was waiting, I looked at the people entering and leaving the building. Most of them were in dress casual clothing, which is a good thing to note. That's the dress code in this building and some companies won't tell you that up front. The other thing I noticed is that the security guards verified the badges of everyone entering the building and then the employees had to badge through an electronic security point before they could enter the elevators. Security is apparently very important to this company. That's another good to know.

After a few minutes, a younger guy in nondescript clothing with a walkie-talkie on his hip showed up, badged us through to the elevators and took us to the 10th floor. There, we met our contact for the interviews (who was wearing dress casual clothing) and the receptionists gave us all our visitor's badges. I went last to get my badge because a) I was one of the last people out of the elevator, b) that allowed me to look around the room (decorated relatively tastefully), and c) allowed me to observe the receptionists. When it was my turn, I was one of the only people to say "please" when I talked to them. I also talked to the receptionists about my hair. *chuckles* Apparently, one of them has some serious frizz issues. I thanked them both for my badge and we were escorted to a conference room for the company presentation that happened before our three interviews.

The hallways were brightly lit and the walls looked like they were made of wood. There was space for everyone, even though we had a fairly large group, and the design of the place made things seem open and wide. The conference room we went into had a glass door. Some conference rooms we passed had mostly glass walls. That added to the feeling of space in the place and prevented the building from feeling crowded or "closed in". I entered the conference room and, because I was one of the last people in, I ended up near the back of the room. Excellent. I grabbed the center seat at the bottom of the U-shaped table. That allowed me to see everyone else at the table easily. I looked around the room and noticed that one of the walls was painted a nice shade of blue. That's generally done to relax people. Interesting. Another woman came in the room and introduced herself. She offered drinks if anyone wanted them (a lot of places don't do that) and she talked for a bit about the information that would be presented. She set up the Powerpoint presentation and said that the person who was supposed to present the information was running late (apparently the building he was at had a fire drill and they locked down the garage so he couldn't get to his car. Ooops!). She stepped out and we sat there for a little while.

That's when I noticed the security camera. Yes, they had a security camera under one of the same dark globes that they had downstairs. Gee, why would they have that there? Everyone sitting at the table, except for me and three other people, pulled out their phones and started tapping away.

Rule #8: Turn Off Your Friggin' Phone

This situation absolutely boggled my mind and it shows you how much most people consider what happens during interviews. Part of the reason, if not the whole reason, they had us wait was to observe us in the room (Hello, Rule #6!). If you think it wasn't noted that I was one of the only people who didn't immediately pull out a phone, I have a bridge to sell you for a cheap price. It's also entirely possible the guy who showed up late was already in the building before we arrived. I'll never know, but that's important to point out.

The presentation was relatively informative about the company and it provided some information about how the company works, their ideology, and so on. Never ever check out for one of these presentations. Not only are they looking for that behavior, but they also give you a boatload of information. I took a few notes and wrote down some questions. They had a short Q&A session after the presentation. There was a slight pause when the guy asked if there were any questions, so I raised my hand and broke the ice. I did that on purpose because it made me the center of attention and, again, it made me stand out. A couple of other people asked questions, but I think the number of people who asked questions maxed out at five or six. There were roughly 20 people in the room. Work to make them remember you. This situation was a great opportunity to do that. Note how many people acted on it.

After the Q&A session, they passed out our interview assignments and broke us up into smaller groups to get led to our interview rooms. It took a bit for my group to find all of our interview rooms, but I didn't mind because that allowed me to walk around the building to see how it was set up. On the inside of the building are a bunch of offices and conference rooms which are separated by quasi-maze-like hallways. The room numbering is tricky which is why it took a bit for all of the people in my group to find our rooms. All of the conference rooms and offices have at least one glass wall. This becomes important later on, so keep it in mind. The walls, carpet, and floors were fairly colorful and the ambiance was pretty relaxed. On the outside of the building were open workstation areas with low walls. There were no nameplates anywhere and it looked like the employees who were working had set up wherever they wanted to sit. There were large windows along the walls to let a lot of light in which was very nice. We passed a kitchen area which was wide open to the rest of the office except for a small island table in front of it. There was a sink, a coffee machine in a fitted nook (which looked like a Flavia machine. Boooooooo! Their coffee SUCKS!) and a stainless steel fridge which fit into another nook in the wall. Overall, the feeling in the main areas of the office were open and inviting. Good stuff.

I was led to my interview room and I asked where I should sit because there were two sets of chairs. I was told to sit in the chairs facing away from the door (that's important) and that someone would see me soon. So, to recap, I'm sitting in an office with a glass wall which is directly behind me. (Yup, Rule #6 again.)

The office I was given was clean, but it had very obviously been used by people in the past. On the wall on my left, dry erase whiteboards were built into the wall and some old marker was still on one of the boards even though someone tried to erase it. The lighting was indirect (which I thought was interesting), but there were lights underneath the shelving on my right which were set over the desk. The desk curved into the middle of the room, but it didn't crowd the office or make it feel small at all. It was interesting to me that they put me in a room that didn't look 100% neat and tidy. There were some things on the desk (a small placard and some office supplies) and the room obviously wasn't brand new. Some companies will hold interviews in conference rooms or in rooms that are well-kept. I wonder why this company didn't. I'm honestly not sure.

The first guy who came into the room said, "I'm not an interviewer, I'm just dropping off your resume." He introduced himself, offered me a handshake, and wished me luck. This interaction is interesting for two reasons.

1. The guy was relaxed and friendly while being professional at the same time. A lot of places don't encourage that and it was the second time I'd run into people who were relaxed and friendly at this company.
2. This is another opportunity for the company to have someone interact with me. He didn't knock on the door or announce his presence. None of the people who entered the room did, honestly. So, all of them were able to see what I was doing and if I was paying attention when they entered the room.

After he left, I went back to waiting and looking around the room until my first interview started. The guy who blew into the room for my first interview apologized for being late. He was tall, wore a dark suit, was agitated, and a was bit professionally gruff. He also had a handshake the strength of a dead fish. Ugh. He was very brisk and he grilled me about every job that I had for the past seven years except for my current job. He asked very technical questions (which was the point of his interview) and when he was done with his questions, he noted the time and left without offering to let me ask any questions.

When he left, the guy who led my second interview entered the room. He was very warm, friendly, and he was wearing a turban and was dressed professionally, but more casually than the first guy. We had a back-and-forth discussion about consulting, my skills, my experiences, and a lengthy Q&A session. He made it very clear that the people who "worked eight or nine hours and then go home" are treated very differently than "the people who get the job done". He also spoke about how person-centric the company is and was impressed with some of my questions. I really, really liked talking to this guy a lot.

My third interview was with a very petite, professionally dressed woman wearing glasses. This, by the way, was the Partner of the company. (Translation: She's one of the Head Honchos.) I spoke with her about the culture of the company and this interview was to see if I would be a good fit for the company. She was very professional (that was my immediate reaction to her and wrote that down at the top of the page for this interview). She opened herself up enough to talk about the company and to answer my questions, then she would shut down and lock up once she was done speaking. She gave off an impression that she didn't like talking to new people very much. Her speech wasn't halting, but it was a very different experience from the previous interview. Another thing she did was she'd interrupt me from time to time. That definitely kept me on my toes, that's for sure. We talked about career path, what position I saw myself entering the company, and about different aspects of the company. She definitely didn't expect me to ask her to describe what my first few days at the company would be like if I was hired. It was interesting to talk to her about career paths because she asked me which one I wanted and I originally picked the Manager/Partner path until she mentioned the word "aggressive" to describe that career path and talked about "time-specific benchmarks" and "revenue criteria". She was surprised that I changed my mind and I talked to her about getting my feet under me in the company in an arena where I know what I'm doing before I go off and take on new experiences. I remember telling her, "There are times when leaping off of the proverbial cliff with both feet is a good idea and I've done that. But, I get the feeling this isn't one of those times for me. That seems like setting myself up to fail and that's the last thing I want to do."

After the last interview was finished, she escorted me to the lobby where I left the building, put on my cold weather gear and went home.

There were some parts of the interview that annoyed me (like the fact that I kept starting a sentence, pausing, and then finishing it which drives me crazy) and the fact that I took a bit of time to think of questions to ask in the two interviews, but I don't think taking the time to ask questions was a bad thing because the questions I asked were things that they didn't expect (or at least it seemed that way). One important thing to note, that [info]wyera pointed out to me, is the different personalities that I interacted with during the interview. It's entirely possible that the first guy wasn't really late. It's possible the Partner is more comfortable talking to people (she almost is required to be based on her position) and I doubt she interrupts people when they're speaking as often as she did during our interview. Stranger things have happened though. In other words, don't always believe how people act during an interview. How someone deals with different situations and different people provides the company with more information. In other words, that's something else they do on purpose.

Overall, I think the interview went really well. If anyone wants to ask me any questions about my interview, any part of the process I went through, how I prepare, or anything else, let me know.