Archive for the ‘Interviews’ Category

Silence. Precious silence.

I couldn’t agree more.

You have to read The #1 Job Interviewing Skill from Punk Rock HR. It explains exactly why what you don’t say is more important than what you do say.

I wish I’d written this…

Silence is your secret weapon.

Check it out here.

Well, if you read the Freakonomics column on the New York Times site, it appears that it does.

According to their article If It’s Raining, You Might Want to Reschedule That Interview, you might be better off interviewing when the weather is nice:

Overall, those interviewed on rainy days received about a 1 percent lower score than those interviewed on sunny days.

This makes sense if you think about it. People are often in a better mood when it is a bright sunny day, so I can see how a dim, rainy day could have a negative impact on an interview.

Regardless, you won’t actually be able to reschedule your interview on account of the weather (unless there is a freak blizzard), but at least it is something to be aware of.

There’s a great article posted on Charity Village that details everything you need to know about Informational Interviews. It covers what an Informational Interview is, what you should ask, and why you should even bother.

The thing that stood out most to me was the following piece of advice:

You are not going in and asking for a job; you are only asking for information about their job and their industry.

This couldn’t be more true. If you treat this as a normal interview and wait to be asked questions, you will be shown the door in a hurry. You cannot force a company to interview you under the guise of an Informational Interview. So be prepared and have questions that you would like the answers to.

This type of experience may not land you a job (though it could), but it gives you a valuable contact to add to your network and may open doors in the future.

I just finished reading an interview of Claudyne Wilder on Bostonia called What Not to Do at the Job Interview. Now I don’t need to share another article about the “Do’s” and “Don’ts” of interviewing, but she touched on one specific point that I thought was extremely important.

In her words:

What’s the most common faux pas students make on their very first interviews?

In school you’re trained to say a lot. You get good grades when you say a lot. But in business it’s the opposite — you’re considered a better communicator when you say less, when you get to the point and then be quiet. You don’t get points for talking on and on in business the way you do in class. The interviewer’s saying to himself, would I want to talk to this person every day?

This is a lesson that took me three years to learn. When I graduated from school and landed my first job, I would write HUGE emails. They would be long and verbose and I’m (now) sure they put everyone to sleep. Since then I’ve learned the importance of brevity.

Unfortunately, the tired old axiom “time is money” holds true. Everyone is on the clock in the modern work world and each person you meet is going to be on some form of deadline. This means that the sooner you can get your point across the better.

I recognize that it’s extremely hard to switch gears when you graduate, but be considerate of other people’s time. It will go a long way towards fast-tracking your career.