Interview Techniques: The Words Out of Your Mouth Can Lose the Job for You

Yesterday I put a blog post on collegefinder.globalscholar.com that began this way after the headline “Using Appropriate Language During a College Application Interview”:

The three words “like” and “you know” (along with the annoying “um” and “well”) used liberally throughout your conversations may not bother your friends. Yet be assured that a person interviewing you will note the immature and/or annoying language. Other words that bother interviewers include dude, hey, stuff, whatever. And, of course, you should use proper English and not street or slang or colloquial English.

In an email exchange with one of the CollegeFinder people this is what I received:

That post also applies well to interviews! You wouldn’t believe how many just out of college students we interview here who use the words or worse!

Okay, now you’ve heard this warning directly from the mouth of an employer (as opposed to my harping on this subject). And if you take these words to heart, you could have a giant advantage over other job candidates.

If you’re not aware of how you speak (whether you continually use the words “like” and “you know” and whether you use slang), record yourself practicing an interview with a friend. Then listen to the recording.

If the above warning applies to you, take two immediate steps to correct these problems. First, try consciously even when speaking to friends to use proper English and NOT to constantly use the words “like” and “you know.”

Second, practice answering interview questions with a friend over and over again until you eliminate the problems. Record each practice interview to check your own progress.

Any questions about what might or might not be appropriate to say? Leave questions in the comments section below.

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Internship or Job Interviews: Do Not Assume That You Know Best

Interviewing for an internship or job in a different region of the U.S. than where you live or go to college? Be prepared to “go with the flow” when you bump up against unexpected regional differences.

Recently I had over for dinner new neighbors who have just moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles. Now I’ve lived in different parts of the country: I grew up and went to undergraduate college in the Midwest, lived in Munich when my husband was stationed there with the U.S. Army, and lived for eight years in Philadelphia before moving to Los Angeles.

Yet, I admit, I was surprised at the pronouncements made by the New Jersey couple --sweeping statement about things that just weren’t true out here. And this reminded me of the first time I interviewed for an M.B.A. position in LA:

I was just finishing my M.B.A. at Wharton and ARCO flew me out here for an interview. Although it was only March, I knew it was warm in LA. So for the interview I bought a purple linen spring suit at a department store in Philadelphia.

And I wore that purple linen suit to my job interview at ARCO in LA. Only the other professionals at ARCO were wearing dark-colored clothes because LA does have seasons. No one was yet wearing spring/summer clothes.

Did I feel foolish that I had made an assumption rather than checking with someone who would have known what the correct professional attire would be for LA in March!

If you are flying across country or even going to an interview at a company in your hometown whose on-the-job culture you don’t know – find out ahead of time what the expectations and situation are.

And if, in the interview, the interviewer says something that isn’t true in your region or in your knowledge base, don’t immediately jump to “correct” the interviewer. Listen to what he or she says. You may just learn something that helps you get the internship or the job.

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Interview Etiquette: When Does the Interview Actually Begin?

When interviewing for internships or jobs, it’s important to remember that everything you do from the moment you arrive at an interview location may be observed and noted.

This could be something as unexpected as the parking attendant noticing how dirty your car is to the receptionist noticing whether you read the company annual report or sit staring at the wall while waiting in the reception area.

Three quick to-dos before entering the interview location:

· Discard your chewing gum or Starbucks coffee container

· Pop a breath freshener in your mouth and then discard before speaking to anyone

· Turn off your cell phone (and that means completely off – do NOT leave it on vibrator to distract you while you are being interviewed)

When you enter the location, treat everyone from receptionist to CEO with the same courtesy and respect. (Please and thank you go a long way.)

This is both the correct way to act towards others and you may be saving yourself. Who knows if the temporary receptionist is actually the daughter of the CEO? And guess into whose ear she pours the information on how rudely you acted?

Without becoming paranoid, picture Big Brother watching you from the moment you arrive at the interview location. This will guide you NOT to say silly things to the other people waiting in the reception area or to pester the receptionist as to when you will be called into the interview.

And remember to smile – people like to see a pleasant face!

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Good Interview Techniques Cross Over to Good Essay and Speech Writing

I’ve been listening to a teleseminar led by Carole Martin – “The Interview Coach.” I particularly admire her motto for interviews: “Leave your modesty at the door and bring your heart to the interview.”

I listened to Carole Martin coach a woman – let’s call her Dorothy – who is a principal of a small K-12 school and is interviewing for a position of a principal of a large high school. Dorothy would give her answers to Martin’s questions, and then Martin would demonstrate better answers to the questions.

And here’s what I was struck with that I had never before considered: The rules of good interviewing are the same as good essay writing and good speech writing. SPECIFICS, SPECIFICS, SPECIFICS. Paint a word picture in the mind of the interviewer, reader or listener.

For example, Dorothy said she is a people person. Then Martin said at least two sentences that used specific words to describe how Dorothy was a people person. The words Martin used created in my mind concrete images rather than the generalizations that Dorothy had used.

Aha! I thought. When I go on and on in my blogs about painting pictures in your college application essays, for example, I’m actually teaching skills that will be very helpful in interviews, whether those interviews are for college admission, an internship or a job.

Here’s my suggestion: For the next week, when you ask people specific questions about themselves, note how they answer. Do they give generalized answers or very specific ones that you can actually visualize? See which answers hold your interest the most.

Then stand in front of a mirror and play both roles: Ask yourself questions and answer those questions. Try to use as concrete language as possible and give very specific examples to illustrate your meaning.

You can find Carole Martin at www.interviewfitnesstraining.com. And you should definitely check out her site if you have any interest in working for the FBI. She coaches candidates for the FBI, and in her teleseminar she gave an example of the generalizations FBI candidates give to the question “Why do you want to work for the FBI?” and then an example of a much more specific answer. I was definitely impressed.

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Proper Etiquette for Young People at Job Interviews and at Work

On a visit to Chicago I had the opportunity to read the Chicago Tribune’s “Ask Amy” March 16th column in which Amy Dickinson addresses the problems of a small deli owner who can’t hire good help.

The deli owner’s complaints: “People show up wearing short tops baring their midriff, and rings in their noses, eyebrows, lips and bellybuttons. They often have very poor hygiene.” His complaints also included the taking and making of personal calls at work or checking cellphones every 10 minutes.

Then on March 17^th The Wall Street Journal had a careers article by Carol Hymowitz entitled “Executives Teach Inmates How to Be Employees.” The article described how Mark Goldsmith, a former executive at Revlon and Shiseido, in 2005 launched nonprofit Getting Out and Staying Out (GOSO) that works with 275 young inmates in upstate New York prisons and 150 at Rikers Island prison in New York City.

This nonprofit was launched after Goldsmith volunteered at the Rikers high school for inmates. And Goldsmith continues to work with these young inmates on preparing them for getting careers – not just jobs – after they are released from prison.

Considering the two articles, I thought how Goldsmith’s ideas need to be heard by all young people throughout the country as well as the young prison inmates with whom Goldsmith and other executives work.

According to the Journal article, Goldsmith says that the three most important things to say at a job interview are: “I’m never late. I work very had. I never get sick.”

Here’s the part of the Goldsmith story that most excited me, something that I talk about in FLIPPING BURGERS – making your own luck:

Goldsmith encouraged Larry “to talk directly to the hiring manager when he applied for a job at Target. When Larry wasn’t selected from a crowd of other applications, he stuck around until the manager noticed him and invited him to his office. Within an hour, he had a job.”

Larry told Goldsmith: “I got lucky.”

Goldsmith’s reply: “You made your luck.”

How can you make your luck in your next job interview?