When you are invited to interview, the employer has decided you likely have the minimum skills required for the job, and now they want to find out more about you. Think about what they might want to know and what questions they could ask. You will need to come up with your elevator speech. Imagine you happen to get into an elevator with the CEO of a company you want to work for. You have about one minute to get them interested in you. Practice this elevator speech to prepare for your interview.
Your college’s career center likely gives practice interviews, and some even have alumni/ae conduct the interviews themselves. Make sure your answers are no less than 20 seconds (or you will appear to lack communication skills) and no longer than 2 minutes (or you will appear too self-involved). Talk half the time and listen for the other half. Ask for more details about the job and company.
Remember: the employer is not interested in what they can do for you; they want to know what you can do for them. As I said before, this is when you should do some research into the company. Find out what they are trying to accomplish and what challenges they face. It could be that they want to make more sales, or it could be that they lack organization. Whatever the case may be, you can use your research in the interview. Show a detailed understanding of the company and let them know how your skills fit their needs. Essentially, to manage a company is to confront a series of problems every day. If you show your potential employer you can help solve their problems, you will be golden.
Job interviews are for both you and the employer to see if you are a good fit with the organization. However, the probability of each of you figuring this out in one or two interviews is very low. There are even researchers who say that face-to-face job interviews are useless in gaining any information that will tell the potential employer whether you will be a good employee or not. That is why you need to do a lot of research about the organization (and possibly even about the person who will be interviewing you) ahead of time.
Show Them You Will Be an Engaged Employee
But that’s not all! Here’s the secret sauce that will almost certainly get you a job offer: signal that you will be an engaged employee. Every employer wants engaged employees, workers who are committed to the goals and values of the organization. The Gallup Organization has built a large consulting practice around measuring employee engagement. In a 2015 telephone survey of 80,000 workers who worked for American organizations, Gallup found that:
- The percentage of U.S. workers in 2015 who Gallup considered “engaged” in their jobs averaged 32%.
- The majority (50.8%) of employees were “not engaged.”
- Another 17.2% were “actively disengaged.”
- The previous year’s averages are largely on par with the prior year’s averages and reflect little improvement in employee engagement over the past year.
- The percentage of engaged employees has been essentially flat since Gallup began taking the survey in the year 2000.
The biennial Gallup Employee Engagement Survey in 2017 showed the number of engaged employees essentially constant at 33% vs. 32% in the 2015 survey. What employer would want to hire another “not engaged employee?” Yet American organizations are stuck with the vast majority of their workers being “not engaged” or “actively disengaged.”
Do your research and show the potential employer that you are familiar with the company’s values. Almost every organization has a mission statement and code of ethics on their website. Prepare a short (but sincere sounding) speech that shows you understand and identify with the company’s goals and values.
Recent evidence shows that signaling you will be a committed employee will give you a good chance of getting hired over a somewhat more qualified competitor for the job. In a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, “Afraid You’re ‘Too’ Qualified for a Job? Here’s What You Can Do”, Heidi Mitchell (2019) reports on the work of Oliver Hahl, assistant professor of organizational theory and strategy at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University. In Hahl’s study, hiring managers were given the resumes of both highly qualified and just sufficiently qualified candidates. They were told that the candidates’ commitment level to the organization had been assessed and they were determined to be either “neutral” or “committed.”
In the case of two “neutral” candidates, where there was no mention of loyalty to the company, the less qualified candidate was more likely to be hired. When asked for a justification, Hahl reports that hiring managers stated their belief that the more qualified “neutral” candidate might not stay and would be difficult to manage. Among candidates who were deemed to be “committed,” the highly qualified applicants were more likely to be hired. However, if hiring managers were provided with a “neutral” candidate and a “committed” candidate, the “committed” employee had a more than 50% chance of being hired over a more qualified candidate. And when given two equally qualified candidates, the “committed” one is more likely to be hired. Hahl concludes, “Managers are concerned with selecting not just the highest-ability candidate but the one who is both capable and committed.”(Mitchell, 2019).
Always Send a Thank-You Note
Job hunters send out lots of resumes but often receive no response, which is rude on the part of employers. You, the applicant, should respond to each rejection letter or email and ask if the employer knows of any other job openings or employers that could use your talents.
Also, after every interview, always send a thank-you note. For job seekers, it is not just a common courtesy but an important competitive advantage. It will help you stand out, and it gives you the opportunity to emphasize two or three things you want them to remember about you. At the same time, if you misstated something or did not represent yourself well, the thank you note gives you a chance to clear things up. Even if it is obvious from the interview you are not going to be hired, you can use the note to ask if they can let you know of any other organizations that could use your skills. I guarantee your courtesy will be rewarded.