by Warren H. Thompson

Created on: September 01, 2009

The Compleat Interview

If you have ever interviewed someone for the purpose of hiring them, then it is easier when the tables are turned and you are looking to be hired. If you have never hired someone, take a second to imagine someone walking into your office looking to be hired, and what you would focus on. Think of what would impress you and remain with you after the job seeker has left the room.

Impressions
Recent studies have confirmed the necessity for proper dress, eye contact and posture during the interview, especially the first impressions. There are hundreds of articles on this topic so I won't go into details here. Here are a couple of tips, however.

When you first get to the lobby, ask the receptionist for the restroom. This not only prevents later issues of having to go to the bathroom in the middle of an interview, but more importantly allows a quick check in the mirror to find those wild hair or clothes management issues - rather than finding them after the interview (I hate that).

There is an interview technique where the interviewee (you) is asked what you liked most or least about a prior job, a prior project, or even a prior manager. This is a trap in that there is no criticism of a prior job that you can utter that does not sound like sour grapes. Your previous manager could have been the worst manager in the world and gotten fired, but you saying so just makes you sound like a whiner, a risk. So look at your resume and think what you would answer if asked what you liked least about it, and make it sound positive: "I didn't like that I was working only on small projects and wanted to work on the more advanced issues."

A second-interview technique is to load you with interviews, talking to a more than a half dozen people over a full day. This is no stress on them as any interviewer only has to be present for less than an hour, but after a few hours you will be dizzy and tired. If you live close by, when making arrangements with HR see if you can divide the interviews into two half-days. This will be much to your advantage as you will be fresher and more presentable for the second half.

Knowledge
It is assumed that you have some knowledge of the required job skills, but to stand out, you need knowledge of the company's product/service and the hiring company itself (is it private or public?). You could easily be coming up against someone looking for the same job who used to work in the exact same product line for the competition. Using the

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