Job Interview Advice To Help You Land That Job

This is a guest post from Ron Haynes, editor of The Wisdom Journal and author of a new eBook, The Inner View of Your Interview, exposing the motivations behind today’s top 100 job interview questions. Ron has been interviewing people for various positions for over two decades and uses his new eBook to give job seekers an insider’s peek into the mind of an interviewer.

When you’re a student just starting your career, it can be tempting to accept almost any half-way decent position that comes your way. Even though you’re eager to begin earning a paycheck and begin paying back those student loans, I believe it’s critical for new graduates to know what they want in a company and a career. That’s where research comes in.

When you take the time to thoroughly research an industry in general and a company in particular, you stand a much better chance of knowing WHY you want to work there beyond the obvious. Chances are very good that at some point in a job interview you’ll be asked Question #7 (found on page 22 of the eBook):

Question 7: Why do you want to work at our company?

You better know why because this question tests whether you’ve done any homework about the firm. It’s time to read the chairman’s letter to shareholders, read the annual report, and use Google or Yahoo! Finance to dig up anything interesting. If you haven’t taken a few minutes to do these simple things, you lose. If you have, you win big. Your interviewer is looking for candidates that are engaged, connected, and at least somewhat absorbed with the company and its mission. If you’ve taken the time to truly investigate the company, your research WILL show through.

WORST ANSWER: Anything to do with pay, or a stammering, stuttering answer that is really vague, or an answer that focuses only on yourself and your ambitions.

BEST ANSWER: Good answers could include work/life balance, the stellar reputation of the company, the desire to be part of a great tradition, the company’s history of innovation, or any one of a host of other positive (but true) things you’ve learned about the company. Use your personal network or your research skills to uncover something great about the company, and then weave that story into your answer.

Example: “I know that this company allows the use its private jet to fly cancer patients to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital when those children need a flight to Memphis. That impressed me. I want to work for a company that values people and uses its resources to make someone’s life better.”

Or

“You value creativity and innovation. I’ve heard that researchers are encouraged to spend at least two hours each day trying to uncover ways to improve your existing product line. I want to work for a company that doesn’t box people in and that stimulates and appreciates creativity in its employees.”

This question is your opportunity to hit a home-run, thanks to the in-depth research you’ve done before the interview. The best sources for researching your target company: annual reports, the corporate newsletter, contacts you know at the company or its suppliers, advertisements, articles about the company in the trade press, Google, and your personal or professional network.

If your interviewer asks this question, he or she will be highly impressed if your answer reveals something interesting about the company that other candidates haven’t mentioned. Make it your goal to know that one thing the other job candidates don’t!

If you’d like to read more about how to prepare for your next job interview, check out The Inner View of Your Interview today and read the motivations behind and the best answers to the other 99 questions!

(photo credit: bisgovuk)