Looking for a job? Well, one of the most terrifying experiences about looking for a job is interviewing, but I have been on the other side of that. I mean, I have interviewed over 25,000 people in my recruiting career, many of them on the telephone, many of them in-person, many of them ranging from 15 minutes to -- can you imagine this, 3 hour interviews with spouse? So I have learned a few things that I like to pass on to you that I hope that you will find helpful.
The very first thing is, do your homework. How many people have showed up? They didn't really know what my company did, they didn't know anything about the job, even though we had it posted online or they knew somebody who worked there. But do your homework. In fact, you can even prove that you have done your homework. Go to the website, print out the About Us page -- well let me just rewind.
You go to Goggle, put in the name of the company, go to their website, go to the About Us page, print that page out, read it, mark it up. Then go to the Jobs or Career page. Find the things that are of interest to you, print it out, mark it up, read it through and be ready and put that in the folder as the name of the company on the folder. So when you walk in, you are not only are prepared, you look prepared.
Now, speaking of going in, first of all, show up early. Second of all, show up early. Thirdly, show up early. You want to be there at least 15 minutes ahead. Because if you are late for whatever reason, it doesn't matter what the reason is, that says to the interviewer, don't care, not good work out there, just -- it is what it is and one of the principles is, you never get a second chance to make a good, first impression.
So you really want to show up early, obviously you've checked yourself out in a restroom before you go in to the interview so that your hair is in place and your shoes are dusted and you look put together. You want to be smiling. You want to be standing when they come out to get you, it just makes a whole another impression if you are coming out of some stuffy chair versus standing there ready to go.
So, now you are actually sitting in front of somebody and you are talking to him about the job that they have. Don't beat him at about asking questions about what is the job and what are you trying to accomplish to the job. In fact, that's probably the most important question that you will have of them, is what did they want to get accomplished to the job because we get a picture of that.
If you can get an understanding of what results they want, then you can immediately go to your inventory of experience and stories and education and skills and line that up with what it is they want done. So, let's say you had a great interchange and you have done that thing where you have two ears and only one mouth, so your listening is much if not more than talking. You're, of course, never negative in the interview, even they ask you, tell me about your last job, whether you were used, abused and refused. And you say, well that was just really a tough time and it has brought me to a place where I can interview at a great place like this.
So turn it off from negative to positive and then if you really like what they have to say and you can see yourself contributing, ask for the order. Tell them, I love what I have heard. I would really be interested in possibly working here. What's the next step? When will I hear back from you? Can I follow up with an email? I really appreciate your time. Thank you, I am interesting in working with, whatever the name of the company is.
Then after you leave, it's not over. Send an email that day and then also that day with a handwritten note. Okay, so maybe you are going to have to type it out because your handwriting is as bad as mine, but send them a personal note saying, thank you, I look forward to the next step. Then after a week or two, whatever time frame they give you, follow up.
So that's the interview at Interviewing, just a few tips. Good luck! I look forward to seeing you possibly in an interview one day.
