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Recruitment Solutions

面接の達人になるHow to handle interviews effectively

How to handle interviews effectively

Making a success of job interviews is crucial. Yet many people walk into the interview unpracticed and

unprepared. They fail the interview not because they lack experience and qualifications for the job, but because

they haven’t presented themselves effectively.

Remember: however qualified you are for a position, the company conducting the interview will be meeting lots

of other people very much like you.

The interview is your best opportunity in the hiring process to present yourself to an employer. Handled well, it will

increase your chances of getting an offer, and ultimately will affect how favorable that offer is. But securing an offer is

only one side of the story. Based on the interview, how do you decide whether the role is really the right one for you?

We’ll look at the interview from both sides of the table to get a clearer idea of how to handle it effectively.

The hiring manager usually has just a couple of meetings with each candidate

on which to base an important hiring decision. For him to offer the role to you,

he needs to be confident not only of your abilities and experience, but also that

you share the same goals and values.

The hiring manager will base

his decision on a number of

factors, including assumptions

he makes from your resume

and from meeting you in per-

son, from the answers you

give to questions in the inter-

view, and from his impression

of you as a person. It’s up to

you to make all these things

work in your favor.

What is the hiring manager looking for?

It’s important to recognize – though often overlooked – that the deci-

sion to hire is as much a subjective assessment as an objective one: in

addition to weighing your abilities and experience, the hiring manager

will be trying to decide how much he likes you, how much he wants to

work with you and how confident he is in his decision to hire.

Also worth remembering is that while the hiring manager is probably

anxious to fill the position, any new hire is a substantial risk. An ill-

judged decision is likely to be expensive and can reflect badly on him.

When you appreciate how much is going on in the hiring manager’s

mind, you’ll realize that the easier you make it for him, the more likely

you’ll be offered the role.

By the end of the interview, he should feel confident that:

■ You want the job

■ You have the skills and ability to do the job well

■ You have the right personality

■ He wants to work with you

If he’s confident of these four points, you should have a very

good chance of getting to the next stage or to an offer.

How does the hiring manager decide?

The decision to hire is as much a suggestive assessment as it is an objective one.

Technical questions will always

be relevant to your background

and are simply designed to test

your knowledge.

The hiring manager will already have a good idea of your

experience from your resume, but he will naturally add to

this knowledge with some assumptions of his own. These

assumptions may or may not be accurate.

Let’s take the example of a candidate who worked at a large

institution before moving to a small start-up business. The

start-up failed and the candidate is now looking for a new

position. Depending on his own experience, the

hiring manager may see your experience in two

very different ways.

He could see the decision as a calculated risk that

didn’t pay off, but value the courage and determina-

tion that would have been required. He may also

Every hiring manager will want to know why you joined and left companies; each answer will predict your future actions.

appreciate that the candidate has learned about how

two very different cultures work.

Alternatively, he could see the decision as unwise

from the start and as evidence of the candidate’s

poor judgement.

You won’t know how the hir ing manager has

subjectively assessed your resume until you ask

what he thinks of your background, what he likes

about it and what concerns him. It’s important to

uncover the assumptions he’s made and to put right

the inaccurate ones.

Past performance is the most reliable

indicator of future capabilities, so many

managers will use evidence-based ques-

tions to identify not only knowledge and

skills, but also character. For example,

if communication skills are important in

the role, you may be asked to describe a

situation in which there were problems

of communication, and explain how you

resolved them. Your answer will show

the hiring manager how you thought

through the problem and how well you

understood the dynamics involved.

Technical questions

Assumptions based on your resume and the hiring manager’s own experience

Evidence-based questions

In many interviews, questions designed to reveal

your motivations are the most important ones

to get right. A good manager must understand

the emotional connection of each member of

his team – the aspects of work they enjoy, how

they want to develop their career and their

Silicon Valley companies and financial firms have a reputation for

posing academic challenges to test intelligence – questions such

as ‘Why are manholes round?’ or ‘How do you weigh a jumbo jet

without the aid of scales?’ In reality, many of these puzzles have

become so generic that you can pre-read them on dedicated websites.

Hiring managers who use riddles and puzzles have different motives.

Some genuinely believe that a correct answer will indicate the

intelligence of the candidate. Others purely want to see how a

candidate will analyze a problem to reach an answer. If you discuss

the problem through with the interviewer and pose intelligent

questions you will demonstrate your problem-solving abilities, even if

you come to an alternative or incorrect solution.

Riddles and puzzles

Motivational questions

Every hiring manager will want to

know why you made key decisions

to join and leave companies, and

each answer will be used to predict

your future actions. Explain your

decisions concisely and objectively.

Most importantly, never give nega-

tive reasons for leaving previous

jobs. Explain each move to show a

considered career progression.

Historical questions

expectations for work-life balance –

in order to balance the goals of each

individual and those of the company.

Be clear about what your plans are

in order to manage the employer’s

expectations from the start and prevent

potential misunderstandings.

Putting questions to the hiring manager is a new experience for some, but it is an extremely effective technique.

If the hiring manager sees that you’re already

thinking about the challenges his business

is facing and that you’re interested in the

business itself, it will make him significantly

more conf ident that you’re motivated to

take the job. Questions about the volume

of business, the seasonal f low, the relative

strengths of their business model and their

competitive advantage in particular markets

will give you valuable insight into how the

company sees itself. Assessing how long the

team has been together, their budget and

their perspective of future challenges are

important for you to judge whether their

goals are realistic.

Ask everyone present at the inter-

view as many relevant questions

as you comfortably can. Then ask

many of the same questions to any

other members of the team you

meet. Inconsistent or contradictory

answers across a team are always

a cause for concern. Be persistent

but not aggressive.

Questions are a powerful tool that will help

you separate good opportunities from bad.

Intelligent questioning will also mark you

out as an above-average candidate by dem-

onstrating preparation and forethought, and

an understanding of the obstacles and op-

portunities that the new role

holds. Often, the more control

you take of the conversation,

the more you will impress the

hiring manager, and the easier

will be his decision to hire.

What do you need to know?

What questions should you ask and to whom?

Build your questions around the employer’s business

10

Putting questions to the hiring manager in

an interview is a new experience for some

people, but it’s an extremely effective

technique. Just don’t take it too far. Some

excel lent candidates with impressive

backgrounds walk into interviews with an

attitude of “Why should I work for you?”

This is not the way to impress the hiring

manager, and if he suspects you would

join his team with the same attitude he

is likely to pass you over, however good

Anyone who has been in business for any

time has heard wild claims about future

prospects for growth or potential deals that

are just around the corner. We’ve all been

involved in businesses or projects that have

finished late and over budget, just as many

others have come in on time and within

budget. Through the interview process,

you can assess whether the team has the

resources, vision and dedication to bring

their goals to fruition. Listen to everyone

you can inside and outside the business.

Interviews are short and each person involved can

leave the meeting with quite different impressions. If

you want the job you have to ensure that the hiring

manager is left with no doubts. Ask a question like:

“From our discussion today, is there anything that you

feel is preventing you from offering me this position?”

If he’s unsure about your knowledge in a particular

area, you can tell him more about your experience

in that area. Your aim is to make sure that the hiring

manager leaves the room with their expectations met.

And you will leave

knowing whether

you’ve secured the

next meeting.

your resume.

Keep a balance. Be polite and

friendly, be inquisitive and collect

the information you need.

Remember you need to impress

Nobody can see the future, but you can form an opinion

If you want the job, close the meeting

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