The key to great interviewing is to have a solid answer to every question your interviewer asks and then to ask poignant questions at the end of the interview, right?  WRONG.

Many young professionals inevitably have suboptimal interviewers because they approach the interview process from the wrong angle.  A good interview is based on a strong offensive game plan, not the ability to defensively field questions.

The first step in your offensive interview plan should be to find out as much about the position you are applying for as possible.  What are the job responsibilities, what makes someone in the position successful? Talk with people from the company beforehand if possible.  Another offensive strategy is to ask your interviewer this early on in the interview itself, get their answer of what traits they are looking for, and find a way to incorporate the traits they are looking for into your answers to their questions.

After you have done your background check on the company, the job and the interviewer (if possible), map out what you want to communicate to the hiring manager.  List out all the characteristics, skills and experiences you want to make sure to reference in your answers to their questions. Make sure they fit. Even though your experience doing portfolio analysis for a financial advisor is solid, you may want to key in on other experiences and traits if you are applying for a marketing position. Some important traits to always make sure to reference are: your leadership abilities (make them see you are a leader in all that you get involved in) and your flexibility (to be successful in almost any company you need to be able to adapt. Interviewers understand the importance of this and always want to see this in candidates they hire).

During the interview, as you are asked questions, make sure to reference experiences that help highlight the traits you wanted to communicate. Note: it may be hard to fit in all the characteristics from your plan into your answers. NEVER FEAR! The best kept secret in an interview is to take control when the interviewer gives you the floor to ask questions. Instead of delving into a generic set of questions say something like, “before I go into the questions I have there are a couple of experiences that I was not able to address in the answers to your questions. Let me briefly talk with you about them.” Then you can mention the traits off your list that you didn’t address yet. This will ensure you communicate everything you wanted to the interviewer.

Sounds like a great plan right? But wait, you are probably thinking, “how am I supposed to remember all of these traits I want to mention and supporting stories?  I will get them all mixed up!” Don’t worry there is an easy solution for that.  Always bring a pad of paper in your portfolio folder to the interview (along with a few freshly printed copies of your resume, of course).  Beforehand, write down all the items you want to address during the interviewer in bullet points (on in whatever form works for you), then at the beginning of the interview ask the interviewer if it is ok that you take notes.  This not only (1) allows you to reference your notes as you talk, but it does so while (2) making the interviewer think you are very engaged in the interviewer and extremely interested in the position.

Interviewers are not as hard as having to reprogram all your phone numbers back in your cell phone (for those who have every lost theirs before), but the results WILL be MUCH BETTER if you remember to be on the offensive during your interviewers.

That being said, have you gone on a job interview recently and purposely or accidentally trashed a former employer? If the answer is yes, there is a good chance you are still job hunting.

While your feelings may be justified, they need to stay bottled up during the interview process so that you don’t get one strike against you before you even get out of the meeting.

Let’s face it, a potential employer doesn’t want you going on and on about how a former employer did this or that to you. In many cases, complaining about your former company will lead you to a short interview with the prospective employer.

Been Down This Road Before

Speaking from personal experience, I was laid off years ago via an email after a five-and-a-half year run with a company. To put it lightly, it stung and came across as a classless way to let someone go who had devoted much time and effort to helping the company succeed.

That being said, I was asked a number of times on different interviews about how I left the company and always found it best to be honest. While I did not bad-mouth my former employer, I did explain how I was laid off and in a mature manner.

For those interview prospects who wonder whether or not it is a good idea to speak honestly about their former employers when interviewing, keep these things in mind:

• While Mom and Dad always told you that honesty is the best policy, there are some instances where less is better. If you’re asked about why you are no longer with your most recent employer, simply be as upfront as possible without saying negative things about the company. For instance, you can say that the company was trimming staff and you were one of the cuts. You can also note that a new manager came on board and wanted to take the department in a different direction. Lastly, you can point out that you voluntarily left after coming to the conclusion that you wanted to take your career in a new direction. Whatever the case, the last thing you want to do is say that the company was terrible to work for, you didn’t like your co-workers, and so on;
• You can come across as negative. If you start going off on a former employer during your interview, the prospective employer may find you a bad fit with that alone for their company. As many employers know, it costs money to continuously be bringing in new people and training over and over again. Companies want to find someone who is positive, will fit in nicely with the staff already on hand, and will essentially be low maintenance. If you come across as a complainer, chances are you will never get past that initial interview;
• You might be a short hire – As noted above, companies do not want a revolving door in their offices. While more and more people change jobs on a regular basis in today’s day and age, a prospective employer doesn’t want to hire someone who may only be there for the short haul;
• You may badmouth this employer next – If you go off on a former employer, what’s to say you won’t do the same if this company hires you and you leave them? Most companies are concerned about their images and don’t want to risk hiring someone who may speak ill of them now or down the road;
• You could be perceived as not that intelligent – You can be the brightest person in the world when it comes to education, but ranting about one or more former employers will be perceived by most folks as not being too bright. Putting a more positive spin on a negative situation will show you to be better educated, more mature and someone who can deal with adversity.

The bottom line is we’re all different personalities, both on the job and in our private lives.

When you stop and think about it, interviewing for a new job is both exciting and stressful; why add more stress to the situation by being negative during the interview?

Dave Thomas writes extensively for B2B lead generation online resource Resource Nation that provides expert advice on purchasing and outsourcing decisions for small business owners and entrepreneurs. He is an expert writer on items like credit card processing companies and is based in San Diego, California.

1.      Writing skills.

Unfortunately for us, our educational system has failed us in many ways, but perhaps the most glaring failure has been turning out graduates who are unable to write well. If you feel insecure about your own writing skills, don’t fear—it’s never too late to learn to write well. Perhaps the easiest way to become a more adept writer is to starting reading more often. Read whatever interests you, but push yourself, too. Instead of breezing through a copy of Twilight, read a book about an important current event or cultural phenomenon. If you still have it, revisit an old style guide from college. And most importantly, practice!

2.      Speaking skills.

Although some people are more naturally talented at speaking in public than others, confident communicators are made, not born.  If you feel as though you are lacking in the verbal communications department, then there is something you can do about it! Join your local Toastmasters, a professional organization in which members practice their public speaking skills in a non-threatening, fun environment.

3.      Advanced computer and technical skills.

A recent Chronicle of Higher Education article cites a study demonstrating digital natives—Gen Y’ers who are adept at using technology simply because they’ve grown up surrounded by it—are largely a myth. The author of the article notes that most college graduates can use the Internet for entertainment purposes, but when it comes to using technology effectively, we land a little bit short. Picking up these skills, of course, is simply a matter of consciously teaching yourself. Go beyond Microsoft Office and Google by learning the ins and outs of other tools and skills like HTML, Adobe design tools, and SEO.

4.      Initiative

If Gen Y critics are at least somewhat right, then we’ve probably had our hands held by our parents for most of our lives. Employers seek graduates who are willing to speak up and start something new without being given explicit instructions. The best employees are those who go beyond their immediate job description. While there’s no specific “method” to improving your ability to take initiative, there are certain steps you can take. If you feel that the way something is done at work can be done differently in a more efficient way, let your supervisor know! Don’t be shy to bring potentially good ideas to the table, and don’t be afraid to take risks.

Being aware about what potential or current employers really want from college grads is the essential key to success in the work place. Don’t let Gen Y nay-sayers prove themselves right!

By-line:

This guest post is contributed by Angelita Williams, who writes on the topics of online courses.  She welcomes your comments at her email Id: angelita.williams7 @gmail.com.

The next chapter of the interview process, after the physical interview is over, can be just as important as the interview itself, even if it seems insignificant: the follow-up.  Generally people think companies mechanically pick the candidate who is best qualified on paper, never straying from some hiring formula that the HR department cooked up.  This is partly true; companies do seek out the best candidate, but they also want to be impressed by the resourcefulness and dedication of potential employees.

This means that the system can be manipulated.

Show the company that you are serious about the position by following up after your interview, and they are more likely to bend the rules to hire you, even if there is a more highly qualified candidate. 

However, there are some rules to following up.  You don’t want to sound desperate or creepy by calling every day or every hour to “follow up”; that is called stalking.  To get an idea of what your interview follow up strategy should look like, review this follow-up timeline:

1 Hour After Interview

Send a handwritten “Thank You” note expressing your gratitude for their time.  Also, try to recall anything funny, touching, or significant that came up in the interview and include that as well.  Be friendly, and show your potential employer how thoughtful you are, how closely you pay attention, and how much of a people person you are.  (But don’t be gushy or fake; they will see right through that.)

There is nothing like getting a letter in the mail.  Even today with all the many kinds of instantaneous communication, nothing shows real appreciation like a handwritten note.  It is authentic, paradoxically novel, and pleasantly surprising, and it will help you manipulate the system.

24 Hours After Interview

Send an email reiterating your appreciation for the interview opportunity.  This email should be professional and concise.  Everybody knows how to email, and a lot of people will, so don’t waste your employer’s time.  At this point in the timeline, you are finishing planting the seed you started to sow with the card.

72 Hours+ After Interview

Mix up your contact strategy with a phone call and one more email, but be sure to space them apart.  You want to reinforce the idea that you are very interested in the position, and that you aren’t just reactively sitting back waiting for them to make a decision.  You want to tip the scale in your favor, and well-timed, polite, and persistent communication will help do that.

If you follow this timeline, you can rest easy knowing that you have planted a seed in the minds of your potential employers.  After that, you wait for the harvest, which is now likelier to be bountiful. 

Byline:

This is a guest post by Kimberly Wilson. Kimberly is from accredited online colleges, she writes on topics including career, education, student life, college life, home improvement, time management etc.

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.

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.

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.

Everything seems straightforward

I think we’ve touched on everything

I think I’m good

The interview is an opportunity for employers to get to know you, but it is just as much as of an opportunity for you to get to know them! That is why it is so vital to ask questions! And face it, you likely have some burning questions – whether they be about the position, the company or the person you are interviewing with. If you do have any concerns or reservations, or need to clarify things, this is your opportunity!

I recently had the pleasure of chatting with a few HR reps and asked them what kinds of questions are good to ask. My favorite was this:

What drives you to come to work each day? What pushes you day in and day out?

And also,

What has the organization done to keep you excited about work?  How has the culture impacted your experience?

Key Takeaway: When asked if you have any questions at the end of an interview…BE SURE TO ASK!

Remember employers are interviewing you, but you are also interviewing them! So fire away with questions. It may be your only chance!

If you fall into this category, check out Too shy to job hunt? It has some great tips for nervous and shy job hunters.

Some of my favorites…

How would you sell me eggnog in Florida in the summer?

If both a taxi and a limo were priced the exact same, which one would you choose?

Tell me how you would determine how many house painters there are in the United States?

These are great questions for making you think. More often than not, the most imporatant thing is not the “correct” answer, but how you arrive at your answer. Think you have what it takes? Check out the rest of the questions here.