Tufts interviewing essentials
The three Rs of job interviewing
1. Research
Do your homework. Use all your resources to learn more about the employer and the position for which you’re interviewing. Go to the organization’s website, but don’t stop there. Get a 360-degree perspective on the employer by researching a variety of resources, such as the Vault online library (check with your career services center) of media sources and professional organizations. Develop an understanding of the organization’s mission, culture, and challenges.
Learn as much as you can in advance about the nature and format of the interview. Will you meet with a single individual from the human resources department, the hiring manager, and/or potential co-workers? Will there be casework involved (typical of consulting or technical interviews)? The better your preparation, the better your performance.
2. Reflect
What happens before your interview will help determine its outcome. Now that your research has given you more information about an employer, you’ll have a better understanding of where you might fit in the organization and, most important, how you can contribute to the organization’s goals. Reflection is the phase where you develop answers to the following questions that are certain to be asked at some point in an interview: Why are you interested in this organization? This field? This specific position? And, the query that candidates most often find challenging: “Why YOU?”
If you’ve done your homework – and you’re sincere about your interest in the position – you’ll be prepared to answer these questions and differentiate yourself from your competition. As you do your research, consider the fundamental goals of interviewing (below). Reflect on these goals and consider how your research will support you in achieving them:
Your Interviewing Goals:
- Sell yourself by describing skills and experience that match the job
- Get information about the position and organization
- Determine whether the position is right for you.
Employer’s Interviewing Goals:
- Determine whether the candidate can do the job
- Assess the candidate’s “fit” with the team/organization
- Sell the organization and position.
3. Rehearse
Develop a script to answer the questions commonly asked by employers. Somewhere between your brain and your mouth, the most articulate responses can become garbled. Don’t wait until your interview, when the stakes are high, to discover this! Practice, practice, and practice! Develop scripts to respond to typical interview questions and practice OUT LOUD. Do it alone, with a trusted friend, or a career counselor from your school’s career services center. Attend an interviewing workshop and sign up for a video interview so you can observe yourself on tape. And finally, don’t postpone the practice until you’ve been notified about an interview. You may not be able to get an appointment and even if you do, you may not have the time to improve, based on a counselor’s feedback.
