I don't think I have just ever just had a phone interview and got a job. Most of them were 6-8 hour interviews.
At least they had the "courtesy" to send the email. I interviewed for a position in September... in fact, had phone interviews with six people over the course of two days. Interviews seemed to go well, in fact, one of the people even asked me for references. Sent out the thank you notes. I then followed up with the hiring manager, mentioning the reference request (she told me their HR is only allowed to ask for and contact references, btw). She said she would follow up with me in a week. That was the end of September. Haven't heard anything since. I followed up with the hiring manager a week ago. No response. I have had this happen so often I struggle with whether I will even follow up on interviews anymore, since it is increasingly apparent that *if* a company intends to hire you they will offer the job there and then, and all the follow up is wasted effort. Worse... I am not even applying for other positions... not because I think I had this one in hand, but because it just seems like wasted effort. Instead, I will wait until companies seem to be serious about hiring and hopefully by that time my approach will become more positive again...
update: she called about 40 mins late but she seemed nice. she was like tell me about yourself and i will tell you about the position after. discussed the role/hours etc. asked if i had any questions. i was like so when can i come and meet you. she said so we have a couple of people we are talking to on the phone and mr. x (guy from HR) will call you to give you an appt to get you in here. ?
Good luck on getting a face to face interview. The fact that you actually were motivated enough to ask about getting a face to face may have been the little thing that put you over the edge, believe it or not. A little bit of advice (other than the normal "wear a dark conservative suit type): Once you knock them dead with your awesome knowledge...once you have asked in depth and intersting questions back to the interviewer...when it is all over...ASK for an offer. "Mr. So and So, it has been great talking to you and I am very excited at the opportunity to work for Company XYZ. I just want to let you know that I would appreciate an offer from your company and would enjoy the opportunity to work with you. Would it be possible to know the time frame in which you plan to make an offer to canidates?" Even in tough economic times companies are still having a hard time finding motivated and interested candidates. Many people are so desperate for a job they forget to be excited about the job itself and to make it clear to the hiring company that they are truly interested in the work and the opportunity. I have personally seen people get offers just because it was clear that they were excited and motivated. For a little bit of expectation setting: in my company, HR will usually conduct 5-7 phone interviews with potential candidates. They will then usually send me the top 3 for face to face interviews. If I feel like none of the 3 candidates fits the bill, we then start going through the rest. Another thing for those of you that have unemployed gaps on a resume: I will often question why someone has big gaps on a resume in front of me. There are several factors as well. If the person is coming from a part of the country or from a company that has struggled I am more likely to understand unemployed down time. Some red flags, however, are multiple unemployed gaps in a short amount of time. Being unemployed in a part of the country that is not as hard hit or coming from a company that let them go when the company itself wasn't really doing big lay offs. Thos are red flags. It comes to the theory that even struggling companies USUALLY don't lay off or fire their top people...however, it can happen that good people DO get let go, so I keep an open mind. One thing that REALLY helps me in gaps, is if they are "filled". It an show motivation. For example, when I was hiring for an entry SQL coder, one of the candidates had been let go from a big tech company during one of their many layoffs. He had a 5 month gap in his resume from a large corporation, however, in that 5 months he had been motivated enough to learn a new coding language on his own, and had actually started a small web business on the side that was producing a little bit of revenue. At that point, I didn't even consider him "unemployed". A big red flag for me when reviewing candidates is during their gaps in employment, they can give me no story or reason to believe they did anything other than sit around for 6-12 months and spam their resumes to jobs on careerbuilder or monster in the HR black hole.
thanks supermac! i am hoping she doesn't drill me more at the onsite interview. i really want this job.
Just be prepared, relax, and tell the truth. Frame your answers to show delivery of value to your former employers. Research the company so you know what they do and any news headlines they have made recently (don't bring up anything negative, however). Also, when they give you a chance to ask a question, ask a well thought out question about the company itself, that shows that you have done your homework but will allow the interviewer to go more in depth about the company and the job.
There are many interview threads in the past, here is a copy and paste of some of the good advice. The first copy/paste is from ryan17wagner, but I have seen this exact same packet myself: Here is from my interview pakcet this past April: DO research the company. DO examine sales books in order to brush up on your sales techniques. DO arrive 10-15 minutes before an interview. DO bring a copy of your resume. DO prepare a copy of references. DO bring a pen and notebook to takes notes before, during and after the interview. DO prepare questions to ask during the interview. DO greet everyone in the office with a smile and hello. DO fill out all applications neatly and completely. DO greet the interviewer with a smile and by his/her surname. DO give a firm handshake. DO make direct eye contact. DO psyche yourself up! It’s O.K. if you are nervous or a little frightened. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. DON’T be unprepared for the interview. You’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression. DURING THE INTERVIEW DO be yourself. People can tell when you are faking it. DO have a positive attitude. Life is good! DO be confident. You are the kind of employee this employer needs. DO represent yourself honestly. DO maintain direct eye contact. DO sit up straight. DO use FEB selling to answer employer’s questions. DO ask questions about the position, company and the interviewer. DON’T ask questions about salary, commission, bonuses, vacations or anything else the company can do for you. Wait until you’ve gotten the job offer. DON’T get too comfortable. Remain professional and on guard. DON’T ever say anything negative. Be careful when talking about past and present employers. AFTER THE INTERVIEW DO jot down notes to help you remember the highlights of the interview (questions, your impressions, your performance). This will help you in the future interviews and writing thank you letters. DO call your Culver Account Executive to provide feedback on the interview. DO fax, email or drop off a thank you letter with-in 24 hours. SALES PROCESS Build Rapport Probe for needs (open vs. closed ended questions) Sell to needs (FEB) Overcome objections Close FEB SELL YOURSELF During the interview it is essential that you SELL YOURSELF. Feature-Example-Benefit Selling, also known as FEB selling, is a fabulous way to do this! FEB selling teaches you to effectively sell yourself by using personal examples. FEATURE: a fact that sets you apart from other people. EXAMPLE: a specific, personal example that supports your fact. BENEFIT: how your fact and example benefit the employer. For example: Feature- strong work ethic Example- while attending college full-time, I worked 40 hours a week to finance my education. Benefit- I’m used to working hard in order to achieve positive results. By using the examples above, we come up with this statement: I have a strong work ethic. For example, while attending college full-time I worked 40 hours a week to finance my education. What this means for XYZ Company is that I’m used to working hard in order to achieve positive results. Below are some additional features many employers look for in their candidates. Examine your background and complete the advantage and benefit. FEATURE EXAMPLE BENEFIT Aggressive Goal Oriented Motivated Resilient Persistent QUESTIONS COMMONLY ASKED Most of us make two mistakes when we are being questioned in an interview. First, we fail to listen to the question. We proceed to answer a question that was not asked or to give out a lot of superfluous information. Second, we attempt to answer questions without preparation. Not even the most skilled debater can answer questions off the cuff without damaging his or her chances of success. Bottom line…BE PREPARED! Tell me about yourself. What is your greatest strength? What is your biggest weakness? What are you looking for in a position? What do you know about our company? Why do you want to work for us? Why do you want to work in this industry? Why do you want sales? What motivates you? Why should we hire you? What sets you apart from others? What qualities do you think a top sales representative possesses? Why are you leaving your current company? Past companies? Where else are you interviewing? What is your biggest achievement? What is your biggest failure? What did you learn from it? Why did you select your college or university? What motivated you to choose your major? What are your goals over the next 3 years? 5 years? 10 years? What do you see yourself doing in 5 years? What position do you see yourself in? How much money do you want to make this year? 3 years? 5 years? In your current or past positions, what features did you like the most? Least? What would be your ideal job? If you had your choice of companies, where would you go? How do you define success? What do you think it takes to be successful in our company? How do you spend your spare time? What books have you read recently? Will you relocate? Does relocation bother you? Do you have a problem with commuting to work? How do you think those that know you describe you? Give an example of a time you had a conflict with a co-worker and how you handled it. Did you every work for a manager you didn’t care for? What did you do about it? Describe the relationship that should exist between a supervisor and sub-ordinates. Give me a specific example of a time when you dealt with a disgruntled customer. Tell me about an important goal you set for yourself in the past and how you achieved it. Give me an example of a particular difficult time you had to be persuasive in order to get your ideas across. Tell me about a time when you worked really hard for something over a period of time and did not get it? SITUATIONAL QUESTIONS RAPPORT BUILDING: A demonstrated ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with customers. An individual that communicates with others building trust and credibility. Please describe a time when you had to build rapport with a customer or co-worker in a particularly difficult situation. Follow-up Questions: Who was the customer or co-worker? When did you do this? Why was it particularly difficult for you? What did you do to build rapport? What were the results? Can you tell me about a specific time that was important for you to build trust and credibility with another person? How did you do that? Follow-up Questions: Who was the person you needed to build trust and credibility with? Why was that so important? What did you do to attain that? What was the outcome? SALES APTITUDE/PERSUASIVENESS: A demonstrated ability to persuade others to take action in a specific direction. Please give me an example of a particularly difficult time when you had to be persuasive in order to get your ideas across. Follow-up Questions: What was the situation? Why was it difficult? What were you trying to accomplish? What specific steps did you take to be persuasive? Please give me an example of a time when you were having difficulty closing a customer on your product or service. Follow-up Questions: Who was the customer? When was this? Why was it difficult? What did you do to close the sale? Did you make the sale? PRO-ACTIVE/SELF-RELIANT: A demonstrated ability to take action, being responsible for ones own success and failure. Take action to influence events and achieve specific goals. Demonstrates a willingness to originate actions. Please tell me about an important goal you set for yourself in the past and how you achieved it. Follow-up Questions: Why was the goal important to you? What steps did you take to achieve it? What obstacles did you encounter along the way? How did you overcome them? What was the result? Follow-up Questions: Did you initiate any new procedures or systems? How did you go about getting them improved? Are they still being used? How did they increase your effectiveness? RESILIENCE: A demonstrated ability to stick with a goal or desired result when faced with rejection or opposition. Maintain a positive attitude and work through obstacles. Tell me about a time when you worked really hard for something over a period of time and did not get it. Follow-up Questions: What was your goal? What effort did you put forth to get it? What obstacles were in the way? What obstacles get in your way of you doing your job at work? What do you do to overcome them? Follow-up Questions: How do you handle the obstacles? Have you suggested doing anything differently? Do these obstacles still exist? COMMUNICATION SKILLS: A demonstrated ability to present information in a clear, concise, well organized fashion. The ability to listen for an individuals needs and desires and identify hidden objections. Can you give me a specific example of a time when you dealt with a disgruntled customer? Follow-up Questions: Who was the customer? When did it happen? What were the circumstances? What was the result? Tell me about a time when you had a conflict or disagreement with someone at work. How did you handle it? Follow-up Questions: Who was the conflict with? What was it in regard to? How did you approach the person to resolve it? Also: Worst interview question ever: "What are your weaknesses?" It is absolutely a meaningless question, yet gets asked in 75% of interviews. Be prepared for it. The top answers that they have always heard are always a backhand way to make you look good in no particular order: 1. I work TOO hard 2. I'm a perfectionist. Be prepared with a good answer to this question, that doesn't make you look crappy, but something they perhaps haven't heard before. And no, "No tolerance for stupid interview questions" is NOT a good answer. Even though the interviewer is stupid for asking the question, you don't want to make them FEEL stupid for asking the question. The next worst interview question is "What are your strengths?" Again, meaningless question that is a crutch for almost all interviewers. Excellent interviewers will almost NEVER ask this question. Top answers in no particular order: 1. I'm a team player! 2. I'm a great communicator! Come up with something orginal for this stupid question, and then back it up with specific examples. GREAT interview question: "Why do you want to work for company X?" Well, for money and benefits, duh. This is a question that often gets asked and the answers are almost always bland and generic. To pursue career opportunites, to expand horizons...Bleh. Come up with something specific about the comapany and why you think it would be great to work there. This is your opportunity to show you are knowledgeable about the company and the industry. "Well company X has shown they are a leader in the field of widget production with their release of widget 2.0 upgrades and marketing to overseas widget comsumers and I've always wanted to learn more about the fasicinating world of widgets. I believe my expereince in whatsits will translate well to the production of widgets. An example would be blah blah blah." Show knowlege of the company and show knowledge of the job you are applying for. Sounds excited, but not desperate. Have confidence in your abilities, but don't be arrogant. Strike the balance. EDIT: Also, get one of those nice leather portfolio folders, that you can have a legal pad, pen and extra printed resumes in. Its neat and professional. You can take notes, and be prepared to provide additional copies of your resume. Also tuck in there notes about who you are meeting, phone numbers just in case, and seperate reference sheets in case you are asked for additional references. Not a bad idea to also tuck in there some well thought out examples of projects you've worked on or specific accomplishments. Don't present them unless asked, but they actually make well prepared backups. One more: Your goal from the moment you sit down should be to answer questions in a way that promote discussion and to change the interview from a question and answer session to an actual conversation. If you can steer it this way naturally, you'll often hit a home run. Make sure to research the company and to know what they make, what their products are, etc. Know the stock price and financials as well, sometimes it comes up. Also come up with some good questions to ask back, examples: 1. Why is this position open? 2. How often has this position been filled in the past 5 ¬ 10 years? 3. What are the primary reasons given when past employees have left this position? 4. Why did the person who most recently held this position leave? 5. What would you like do differently by the next person who holds this position? 6. What are some of the objectives you would like accomplished in this job? 7. What objectives is most pressing? What would you like accomplish in the next 2 to 3 months? After the interview, thank them for their time, express your interest and you can even mention that your goal is to get an offer to work for them. You can also ask what the next steps are, if any, and when a decision might be made (when will you hear from them). If they offer to contact you, you can politely ask them when you should expect to be contacted. As soon as you get home write individualized thank you notes to each of your interviewers. Email is good, handwritten and mailed is better and set you apart. Follow up with a phone call within a week of when the interviewer said they would contact you (if they failed to do so). Of all the job interviews and offers I've gotten, I've never actually been contacted by the time table that I've been given and have pretty much always had to follow up on my own whether I got the job or not. Topics to avoid if possible: What you currently make and what your current benefits are if any. Also try to avoid salary if at all possible, especially if they want a number. "My goal is to find a challenging position to grow my career while benefitting (insert company name), and compensation/benefits are secondary to that goal. I believe my skillset is competitive within the market and we would be able to find a common compensation package that would be beneficially to both (company) and me." Or some junk like that. AVOID as hard as possible at throwing out a number during an interview, because once you do, you are stuck to it in later negotiations, and throwing one out too high as a bargaining chip can only price yourself out. Sometimes its hard, and they will insist. This will be when you'll have to know your market value. Giving a range is almost pointless as they will almost always think to the low end, but if you present a range, make sure to present a range (fairly wide) with the caveat that the range depends on the total compensation package (bonuses, stock, 401K, vacation.) So if you get backed into a corner, have a range, but keep it nebulous and maintain the phrase TOTAL COMPENSATION PACKAGE or something like it. Now I'm rambling...don't do that in an interview.
the HR person asked me about my schedule for this week yesterday to schedule an onsite interview...but hasn't responded back after I emailed him. how long do I wait before I call HR?
I see you received word back already, but my experience has been that it does take a while to line up the interviews since the HR person has to coordinate different people's calendars. I was rude to not wish you luck in your interviews. There was a lot of good and positive advice on interviewing on this thread... good luck and knock them dead!
oh no worries. thanks to everyone for the good advice so far. my interview is tomorrow with the director and the manager. i am feeling an onslaught of questions coming my way as neither HR or the manager when she phone interviewed me yesterday didn't ask any of those behavioral or situation based questions.
My addition to the advice given to you already... research the company so you can better communicate the value you would bring to the company and so you can be better prepared with questions. I normally create a "plan" that would be required if I were hired by the company. It forces me to do my research about the company, the products, the competitors, and the key issues that I would hope to address if I were hired. In the most most recent in-person interviews I traveled to San Diego in June, and I was surprised when I arrived to find the agenda for the day was changed and I was to present to the interview group for the first hour. I had my laptop and the "plan" I created (in PPT format) so I was able to present that to the group. I was feeling pretty good... having my laptop and that presentation ready to present, thinking it wasn't too likely anyone else was that prepared. Unfortunately... I didn't get the job anyway...
Sorry to pile onto this thread but I graduated from Texas A&M in May with a BBA in Marketing and am having a real hard time finding any entry-level opportunities. Do you all have any advise on where to look for jobs because working through the school career center and recruiting firms has yet to yield me a great amount of interviews. Thanks.
To the OP...one word of advice, when asking questions about the company, try to focus your questions on the specific group you're being considered for... i.e. ask whether the group/position utilizes metrics to track performance, etc... The interviewer will likely have more to say about the specifics of the group than the company as a whole. Good Luck and stay positive!! I just recently went through the process for my second time post college and it was much better this time around due to experience.
