acing your interview webinar

8/4/2019 Acing Your Interview Webinar

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Matthew Temple and Karie DavisKellogg Alumni Career Services

March 9, 2010

Acing Your Interview


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Agenda

Managing the interview - creating an agenda Interview preparation researching the company and position Developing Your Sell Sheet Sample interview questions Negative-based interview questions Questions to ask, including The Best Interview Question Ever Closing the Interview

Avoiding common mistakes and maintaining your energy Managing the phone interview or video conference Resources


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Create your

INTERVIEW

AGENDA

PREPARATION

Informational Interviewing Networking Pitch Resume Sell Sheet

JOB DESCRIPTION

Company details Desired qualifications

Responsibilities Your company research

Why you?


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Interview Preparation

Research, Research, Research! Build a one page industry/company overview

Link their needs to your skills

Write out questions ahead of time

Conduct store visits to see displays

Try their products

Interview customers

Informational interviews with alumni or otherpeople in your network


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Interview Preparation

What to Research Industry Trends Company Background and Recent News Products and Market Share Customers, Channels and Partners Competitors SWOT Analysis of Company

Financial Overview share price, market cap, growth


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Resources To Consider

IndustryResearch

S&P Industry

Surveys Mintel Forrester

Research Vault &

WetFeet Guides

CompanyResearch

Hoovers

Factiva DataMonitor

Reports Capital IQ

ThomsonOneBanker

AdditionalResources

CareerBeam

Job ProcessMaterials

AlumniDirectory

IndustrySpecificResources


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Build a Bridgebetween what they are looking for and your experiences

Skills andExperiencesRequired for

the Job

Your RelevantExperiences to

Highlight

Interview Formats


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Universal Skills

Leadership Communications Team Orientation

Analytical Skills Initiative Problem-Solving Multi-Tasking


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Use the SAR Method: Create a Sell Sheet toHighlight Outcomes and Results

Situation Action Result


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Sell Sheet

DealNegotiation

Market EntryStrategy

Analytical Teamwork Leadership

Story 1 SituationActionResult

SituationActionResult



SituationActionResult


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Types of Results to Highlight

Increased (sales, profit) Decreased (costs, inefficiencies) Provided solutions Increased value Streamlined processes Presented to senior management Delivered on early/under budget Elected, Awarded Promoted Early


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Standard Interview Questions

Tell me about yourself. Take me through your resume. Why are you interested in this job? What do you see as the key success factors for this job? What would former managers/reports/clients say about

you? Describe a situation where you had to overcome obstacles

to reach a goal. What are your three greatest strengths? Why should we hire you?


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Negative-Based Questions

What is your greatest weakness? Tell me about a bad decision you made and how you

corrected it. Tell me about a time you had to resolve a conflict. Tell me about working for a boss you didnt like. Tell me about a risk you took that didnt work out as well

as youd hoped. What happened? Tell me about a time when you dropped the ball. What

happened and how did you rectify the situation?


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Asking Questions to Differentiate Yourself

Come prepared with more than you think youll need Demonstrate your interest in the job and the company Ask questions that show youve done your research:

I understand youre expanding into the organics market and just landed Whole Foods as a customer. What other storesare you targeting?

My research shows a trend among RE firms to address LEEDrequirements. How is your company dealing with thistrend?

** THE BEST INTERVIEW QUESTION EVER **


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Closing the Interview

Thank the interviewer Reiterate why you are the best candidate Briefly tell the interviewer how youre going to hit the

ground running Ask about next steps


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Avoiding Common Mistakes

Using we instead of I Vague, hypothetical, or rambling answers Poor listening skills jumping in too quickly Not focusing on the result of the story/example Not addressing the question youve been asked

Maintaining Your Energy Make sure you know the schedule Dont hesitate to ask for water or bio breaks Its a marathon get a good nights sleep beforehand


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Telephone and Video Interviews

How are they different? How to prepare? What should you have in front

of you?


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Kellogg Alumni Career Services Resourceshttps://auth.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Alum/Careers/interviewing_resources.aspx

Sample Interview Questions CareerBeam Interview Stream Dress Guidelines Telephone Tipsheet Links to articles, including: Are

You Ready For the UnexpectedInterview?, How to Beat theStress Interview and FiveSticky Interview Tactics

Virtual and in person AlumniJob Search Groups And much, much more!
https://auth.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Alum/Careers/interviewing_resources.aspxhttps://auth.kellogg.northwestern.edu/Alum/Careers/interviewing_resources.aspx


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Upcoming Alumni Career Services Events

https://kelloggalumni.northwestern.edu/events/ Career Relaunch Forum Irvine, CA 3/11/10 Speed Networking Night Tel Aviv 3/17/10 Speed Networking Night Wheaton, IL 3/18/10 Alumni Job Search Groups Evanston 3/30/10 contact

[email protected] Clean Tech Panel San Francisco 4/1/10 Speed Networking Night Miami 4/6/10 Career/Life Balance San Francisco 4/15/10 Career Relaunch Forum Evanston 4/22/10
https://kelloggalumni.northwestern.edu/events/https://kelloggalumni.northwestern.edu/events/

acing your interview webinar

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