office of career development e xecuting s uccessful i nterviews ross career counseling office of...

Office of Career Development

EXECUTING SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEWS

Ross Career CounselingOffice of Career Development


Role of the Interview

Interview

Resume

Networking

Job

• Your resume and networking will combine to help you secure an interview.

• Being smart isn’t good enough.

• You must display ‘Fit’, which includes intangible factors such as passion, knowledge, and appearance.


Before the Interview

• Check your wardrobe!– Clothes should be business formal – suits in dark

colors– Clothes should be well-fitting

• Grooming– Haircut– Shave– Manicure– Deodorant, breath mint, etc.


Company Research

• It is VITAL to have in-depth knowledge about the company, industry, function and your fit with all three prior to the interview

• Research!– Know all the details of the job description– Know recent news about the company– Know industry trends

• Kresge Library Resources– OneSource– When in doubt, ask a librarian!


HAPPINESS ADVANTAGE

• Happiness fuels success, not the other way around

• If you can find a way to get your brain to become positive, your success rate will increase

• Prime yourself with positive emotions before an interview


First Impressions

• Manage your first impression. The first 30 seconds is critical.

– Be well dressed and groomed

– Smile and exude positive energy

– Handle the initial small talk well

• Psychologically, the interviewer may spend the rest of the session trying to justify the first impression.


First Impression?


Activity

• Need a volunteer– Go into the hallway– Wait for a knock– Enter the room and introduce yourself

• Feedback– What did you think? Good first impression?


Small Talk

Most interviews usually begin with small talk. Small talk is important to establish rapport with the interviewer.

•The recruiter will try to engage you with a question, “How are you?”

•Answer in a conversational manner. Your answer should not be too short or too long, but provide enough information to keep the conversation going.

•Avoid controversial topics. Stick to the tried and true.

•Small talk usually lasts 2 to 5 minutes.


Small Talk - Activity

• Turn to the person to your right and make small talk for the next 2 minutes.

• What topics did you discuss?


Non-Verbal (During the Interview)

• “Likeability” is very important.

• Adapt to the style of the interviewer.

• Erect posture.

• Hands under control.

• Good eye contact.

• Modulate voice.

• Be aware of accent.


Fit / BackgroundYour Goal: To establish that you have maturely thought

through your career and have found a match between your skills and this job.

• Questions will mainly probe your background and your motivations and reasoning for life decisions:

– “Tell me about yourself.”

– “Why are you getting an MBA?”

– “Why logistics?”

– “Why our project?”


Tell Me About Yourself…To answer fit / background questions, develop a 2 to 3

minute story about yourself.

Elements of your story:

(NOTE: Everything in this presentation serves to be an example rather than a formula. Use your own creativity and judgment to adapt to your own situation.)

College Job 1 Job 2 MBA JobCareer Goal

1.5-2 min 30 sec -1 min 30 sec


Fit / BackgroundPart 1: Pre-MBA

• College and reason for college focus

• First job and why

• Transferable skills from jobs (link to current function)

• Positive reasons for transitions




Fit / BackgroundPart 2: MBA

• MBA: Why MBA? Potentially, why PT-MBA?

• MBA: Intent of education.

• Career: What are your goals?




Fit / BackgroundPart 3: Job

• Give 3 personal and well-researched reasons of why you want to work in this job for this company

• Research (through reading and networking) is a very effective way to display your interest/commitment!




Personal Odyssey - Activity• Form groups of 2 and practice your “Personal Odyssey”

CollegeCareer

MBA & Beyond


Situational / BehavioralYour Goal: To show through examples the 2 or 3 ways

that you are exceptional.

• Questions will focus on specific skills, attributes and experiences.

– “Are you a team player?”

– “Tell me about a time when you failed at something.”

– “Do you do well in ambiguous situations?”

– “Who is someone you admire and why?”

– “What is your greatest achievement?”


Situational / BehavioralSome themes to develop examples around:

- Leadership - Teamwork - Perseverance

- Creativity - Reliability - Communication

- Quantitative - Under Pressure - Problem Solving

- Weakness - Failure - Ethical Dilemma

• There are many more. Look at the skills your function and industry values.

• Remember to identify your exceptional traits and make sure they are conveyed during this portion of the interview.


Preparing for Behavioral Answers


Activity

• Write down one story in which you used strategic thinking– What other skills did you use?– What other themes arose?


Situational / Behavioral• USE EXAMPLES.

• If you answered the question in less than 1 minute, you did not answer the question well.

• Format of typical answers:

– Framework: “I define leadership as…”

– Example: “When I was leading a project at…”

• Context

• Action

• Result

– Takeaway: “I feel I have the leadership attributes for…”


~2 MINUTE RESPONSE, CAN START WITH THE PUNCHLINE (GRAB THE RECRUITER'S ATTENTION WITH THE POINT YOU WANT TO MAKE)

CONTEXT BE BRIEF, AND REMOVE TECHNICAL DETAILS•For example, while at (Org) , I/my team was (Task at hand, Your role). •It was challenging because (Complicating factors). •We/I needed to (Topic) or (Consequence/What was at stake).

ACTION 4-6 TANGIBLE STEPS TO DEMONSTRATE YOUR PROCESS •SAMPLE ACTIONS:

– I set up a meeting with X to discover why…– I stepped back to consider… and realized that…– I created an idea which would…– I developed relationships with X to…– I tested the idea by…– I fostered buy-in by…

RESULT DISCUSS MULTIPLE RESULTS TO SHOW IMPACT•In the end, we were able to (Resolution/Outcome – Quantified if possible).

– This contributed to (Ripple effect, Macro outcome)– My (Stakeholder) said (Interpersonal result or Accolade)

•This taught me (Takeaway/Learning/Personal Growth) that I will use in (Function/Industry/Org).

20% or 25-35 sec

60% or 1:15-1:45

20% or 25-35 sec

BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW RESPONSE: CAR METHOD


Using your Story

• Using the story you’ve written down, answer this question in C-A-R format:

.

Tell me about a time you used strategic thinking to find a solution to an on-going problem at your organization.


Behavioral Question Practice

• In your group, practice answers to the following questions:

– What are your top three strengths?– What is your biggest weakness?– Tell me about a time when you failed.


NEGATIVE QUESTIONS• Failure, Mistake (2-3 min)

– 50% Mini-CAR– 50% Learning

• State what you will do differently in future• Cite any active development (classes, coaching, etc.)• Provide 20 second example of when you encountered a

similar situation (opportunity for this weakness) later on, and your improved result

• Weakness (30-40 sec)– Be honest, but not too honest (can’t be a dealbreaker)– Contextualize it (“I’m a horrible public speaker…” v. “I

get nervous when presenting to boardrooms”)– Discuss how you are overcoming it


Questions for the Interviewer

• Questions specific to the job• Questions about mentorship accessibility• Questions about the firm

– SWOT• Questions about the industry


Closing the Interview• Before you leave:

• Cover any critical topics you wanted to say but didn’t address during the interview.

• Get the contact info for the interviewer.

• Ask about next steps.

• Express your enthusiasm for the position.

• Follow up with a thank you email to each interviewer the day after the interview.

• A written thank you note can also be nice, but only use in conjunction with an e-mail


Additional Resources

• OCD Career Resources: Career Tracker, especially Step 4

• OCD Multimedia Resources (with tabs for Guides, PowerPoints, Videos and Podcasts)

• OCD MBA Resume Guide

• Kresge Library Resources for industry and company research

• Mock Interviews with OCD Career Counselors


QUESTIONS?

office of career development e xecuting s uccessful i nterviews ross career counseling office of...

Documents

interview slide

mbajob career goal

min30 sec slide

mba mba

job description

fit background questions

interview research

initial small talk