I recently spoke to client who was very frustrated by her last interview. She had done everything she could on her part - researched the company, learned about its business challenges and prepared career success stories to support her strengths.
However, her interview did not go smoothly because the person she met was not properly prepared and subjected her to a myriad of generic, "career-book" interview questions that only merited the usual scripted responses.
I can certainly understand her frustration. How do you handle those situations effectively, turn around the interview and still leave a strong impression in the employer's eyes?
1) Provide a targeted 30-second pitch
Make sure your "tell me about yourself" response is tailored for the position. An executive in the non-profit world could start off by saying, "Well, as my resume shows, I have bring a solid background and wealth of experience in non-profit management. Throughout my career, I have been successful in helping non-profit organizations overcome fund development challenges and increase their fundraising efforts by more than 50%"
2) Focus on your career success stories
If you are asked a question like "What is the greatest strength that you bring to the position?" Use the opportunity to show that you understand the company's challenges and the solutions required for the situation.
Pull out one of your career success stories that directly address an issue that the company is facing - and of course, you would know that because you did your research, right?
3) Gently encourage interviewer to examine your resume
Certainly I don't expect you to push pause in the interview and wait for the person to read your resume, however, as you respond to questions, why not say "As my resume shows"; "As you can see from my resume"; As I have outlined or listed in the first page of my resume"; As you would notice on page two of my resume"
If he/she is completely unprepared, there are still key pieces of information he/she can get from quick glances at your resume - after all, professional resumes are read in less than 30 seconds.
4) Ask direct questions around a recent press release or media piece
Now, I have to emphasize that you should try your best to bring up a positive event in the company's history - if the CEO got recently let go for embezzling, well, that might be ackward to discuss in an interview:)
This strategy allows you to show that you are interested and that you closely follow the company's progress and new developments. Again, I would recommend linking one of your career success stories to a recent event.
5) Help the interviewer to get to know more about you
Ask questions like:
"Is there anything else that I can tell you about my background and experience that would be helpful?"
"What skills and strengths are need to be present in this position?" (then follow up a career success story that demonstrates those strengths)
"Based on what I have told you so far, is there anything else I could do to improve my candidacy?"
Related posts:
Executive interview mistakes that might surprise you
Using STARS - Acing behavioral interviews
