Black Collegian Career Center

The purpose of the on-campus interview

The on-campus interview should be viewed as an audition or screening. At this stage, the purpose of the interview is simply to determine which candidates from your campus are considered prospective hires for the recruiting organization. Those who make the first cut will be invited to the next round of interviews that are generally held on site at the company. Most companies will have at least two rounds of interviewing before an offer is extended. But, you have to get past the hurdle of the on-campus interview in order to get into serious contention as a prospective hire. So it’s important that you make the best possible impression you can right now. The success of the interview will depend on how well you present your unique qualifications and experiences. Remember, it is not always the most qualified candidate who gets the offer, it’s generally the person who does the best job of presenting themselves.

The role of the on-campus recruiter is very simple and straightforward: to find the best hiring prospects on your campus; they are looking for the people they think will make the best fit with the company. How they go about making the first cut is pretty straightforward as well. Most recruiters have very similar expectations. Some very generic expectations are:

• Enthusiasm/a genuine interest in the company
• Knowledge of the company and industry
• A good academic record
• Some work experience (summer work, volunteer work or internships)
• Good communication skills

Again, these represent the very minimum expectations a recruiter will have of you. Depending on the particular needs of the company, other things such as computer literacy, team skills, and problem solving ability will also be a factor.

Preparing for the "Yes Pile"

At the end of every recruiter’s day they create a "yes pile" and a "no pile." Obviously, your goal is to make the "yes pile." You prepare for the "yes pile" long before the interview. If you do your homework, your chances will be good. It is important that you are able to clearly articulate your strengths and interests and. the reasons you are the best person for the job. In order to do this effectively, you must have knowledge of self, company and industry. There are no shortcuts to preparation. Those who invest the time will have a clear edge in the interviewing process.

Sometimes the process of self-examination is not as easy as it sounds. That’s why you should start with a visit to your campus Career Center. Here you can get help with a personal assessment that will outline your skills, experience and accomplishments, as well as your interests and personal motivators. The self-assessment is the single most important step in preparing for the on-campus interview. A good self-assessment is the foundation for any successful job search. It will help you prepare a well-crafted resume and give you confidence for the interview itself. Finally, the self-assessment will help you decide which companies and industries are most appealing to you. Once you have determined the industries and organizations that are most appealing to you, focus on these like a laser beam.

It is often tempting to go into the recruiting process as an explorer, trying to find out "what’s out there." Please, resist this temptation, as it is a waste of the recruiter’s time and you may be denying someone who is legitimately interested in the position a chance to interview.

Now that you have a good feel for your goals, interests, and qualifications, you are ready to complete your resume. Look at the resume as a personal marketing tool. A recruiter may only spend 30 seconds or so on your resume, so it must highlight your skills, experience and accomplishments in an effective and convincing manner. The resume must be error free and accurate. Never build up your resume by exaggerating the truth, it will only hurt you in the end.

After you have conducted your self-assessment and have a well-crafted resume, it’s time to align your interests and experience with companies and organizations where there will be a good fit. Discuss your interests and the kinds of companies that are recruiting on campus with a career counselor. The worst thing you can do is to just randomly sign up for companies just to "see what’s out there." Recruiters will generally pick up your lack of real interest and preparation, so target those companies you feel you would genuinely be interested in. Start with a broad list of companies and narrow it down to a number you feel comfortable with.

The next step in the process is to research the company. According to Douglas Cooper (right), director of the Atlanta University Placement Center, "The most common complaint among recruiters about students is their lack of preparedness." Cooper advises students to "conduct comprehensive research on the company you are going to interview with; being knowledgeable typically ensures a smoother interview and impresses recruiters with your interest and preparation." Learn as much as you can about the organization’s products, services, culture, customers, target markets, and plans. Not only will you impress the interviewer, you will also get closer to the "yes pile" by doing your homework. The key here is research. And again, your Career Center can be very helpful in guiding you to good information. Besides the traditional sources such as company literature and information sessions, most companies have excellent websites that provide up to date information that will be most helpful in an interview.

Another effective way to gain information about a company is to arrange an informational interview with someone who works in a similar position. This is where your personal network can be of help. Be sure to alert family, friends and faculty advisers about your career goals. People within this core network can be valuable resources for identifying inside contacts that can help you. Most Career Centers can help you arrange for an informational interview. Alumni in particular can be very helpful by offering insight into the culture and values of an organization, and generally providing information that is hard to get through traditional sources. You should make a point to use this valuable resource throughout your job search. But remember the purpose of the informational interview is to gain important insight about the company, industry and position you are interested in, not to ask for a job. By doing so you may jeopardize a good relationship between the alumni and the Career Center, so the rule of thumb is that an informational interview is for information only.

Now, before you get to the interview itself, there is one last thing you will want to do. Practice interviewing. You now have all the information you need to conduct a successful interview. A practice interview will give you the extra boost of confidence you may need. You can schedule a mock interview with the Career Center. This will prove to be time well spent. Look for flaws in your communication style and overall presentation. Make sure you work on the areas that you are most concerned about. Review the tough questions until you feel a level of comfort with them.

Interviewing Tips

It’s now time for the interview. On most campuses, companies will hold an information session sometime before the actual interview. Make sure you attend this session. Don’t make the mistake of skipping it because you think you have done a stellar job of research. First of all, your attendance is a good indicator of your interest and sincerity; take advantage of everything that will help put you in the "yes pile." You are certain to learn something that your research may not have uncovered. Make sure your interview suit is clean and pressed. As far as attire goes, it still is best to stay on the conservative side, even though many companies are allowing more business casual. Before the interview get plenty of sleep. You don’t want to feel hung over or tired at the interview; it generally will show in your performance.

Most interviews consist of three parts: (1) Rapport building, (2) Information gathering, and (3) Closing. All interviews will start with introductions and a handshake. Be sure to give a good firm handshake. This is true for both men and women. A wimpy dead fish handshake is sure to get you off to a bad start. While the first part of the interview is designed to put you at ease, it is important to stay focused and don’t go off on lengthy tangents. Relax and stay focused. This is your best opportunity to show a little personality and your ability to handle small talk. The rapport building part of the interview is important in establishing the tone of the interview, and while the recruiter is primarily responsible for this, you should do your part to help. For instance, short one-line responses can easily turn a discussion into an interrogation. Not only will this make the recruiter uncomfortable, it will send a signal that you either lack confidence, or are unprepared. During the information gathering part of the interview, it would be good to employ a framework for handling questions that are aimed at uncovering your skills. This is the part of the interview where the recruiter is looking for solid information that will either screen you in or screen you out. So pay close attention to the questions and don’t rush your answers. Douglas Cooper tells his students that they should "be prepared to answer behavioral as well as informational questions. Consider how you would handle different situations you might be faced with professionally and personally."

Let’s take a look at a framework that may help with the interview. Behavioral based interviewing is a method of interviewing grounded in the belief that past behavior is the best indicator of future behavior and performance. The goal of the behavioral interview is to determine if your past behavior is consistent with the skill sets needed for the position for which you are currently interviewing. Nearly a third of the Fortune 500 companies employ some form of behavioral based interviewing; and its popularity is on the upswing. The following questions will give you some idea of behavioral questions an interviewer might ask:

• Tell me about a time when you had to deal with an irate customer or a difficult person.
• What do you think are the ingredients of a good leader, and tell me about a time when you had to employ these ingredients to resolve a problem.

While the STAR technique is designed to help interviewees with the behavior based interview, it can be useful for other interview settings as well. The important thing to remember about your response is that the interviewer is not asking for a hypothetical answer or an opinion. They are searching for demonstrated skills through past behavior. The STAR method will give you the framework you need to provide a good behavioral response. Here is what the STAR response will look like:

S Describe the Situation. Where were you and what were the circumstances?

T What was the Task at hand? What had to be accomplished?

A Explain what Action(s) you took to accomplish the goal.

R What was the outcome or end Result of the situation based on your actions?

By using this method, you will be providing a behavioral response to a behavioral question, and the interviewer will be impressed.

Another popular interview method is the Case Interview. The Case Interview is most popular among management consulting firms and to some degree in the area of finance and investment banking. According to Margaret Brooks, manager of Diversity Recruiting at McKinsey and Company, " The purpose of the Case Interview is threefold: (1) to test your analytical and communication skills; (2) to see how resourceful and creative you can be, and (3) to see how well you perform under pressure." The Case Interview question is usually based on a simulated business situation that requires you to analyze a problem and provide a solution. The question can come from anywhere; your resume (leadership positions you held or work experience); a current situation taken from the business section of the newspaper, or a simulated company or industry problem. No matter what type of question is presented, the goal of the interviewer is to test your analytical and problem solving abilities. "The correct answer is not what we are necessarily looking for, more importantly, we look at how you process information," says Brooks. "Since management-consulting positions are very competitive, you should expect tough questions. Often the recruiter may give you extraneous or incomplete information. What is important here is your ability to recognize this and ask for clarification." The key to being successful in the case based interview is to listen, advises Brooks. "In our business, listening skills are critical to success and case interviewing is a good way to measure this attribute in students."

In summary, the three most important words to remember for a successful interview are preparation, perseverance and patience. The key to being successful in the on-campus interview is to be grounded in a solid personal assessment of who you are and what you have to offer that is valued in the market place. You have what it takes, now package it and strut your stuff. Good luck!

A. Tariq Shakoor is the director of the Career Center at Emory University in Atlanta, GA.