Interview Q&A

Interview Q&AAnne McKinney answers some commonly asked questions about the interviewing process of job hunting.

What are some of the biggest interview mistakes?

Research tells us that “lack of experience” in the field is frequently the last reason why candidates are not offered jobs. Job hunters should realize that the interview is an opportunity to show their curiosity and personal warmth as well as their enthusiasm for and curiosity about the job. Don’t be passive in the interview, waiting for the interviewer to “do all the work.” Show initiative and ask questions that reveal your intellect and curiosity; ask pertinent questions that show you care about what the interviewer is really looking for. Don’t forget to show your personal warmth; in a way, the interview is a “personality contest” among other things. The interviewer is trying to identify the person who would be “the best” or “the nicest” to work with. Interview research shows that “those who smile at interviews are perceived of as more intelligent than those who do not smile.” Perhaps intuitively, interviewers know that an interview is stressful, so if the jobhunter is a relaxed and smiling individual, the inference is that he/she must be comfortable with the job requirements while seeming pleasant and agreeable. Go into an interview with the goal of really trying to find out what the organization is looking for, and also go into the interview intent on showing off the most congenial aspects of your personality so that you will appear to be someone whom customers and co-workers would want to work with.

What are some ways people can overhaul their resume?

Remember that a resume is designed to reveal, or hint at, what you can do for the company or organization. The typical business resume is one or two pages and is accompanied by a one-page cover letter that specifically tells the reader why you are writing to him. Obviously a resume is merely an edited version of yourself, so choose carefully what you put on your resume in order to show the skills and accomplishments that the potential employer will find useful and relevant. Most people are very good judges of their own resumes. So be honest: look at your resume and decide for yourself: Is it a limp, boring “laundry list” which would make good bedtime reading for an insomniac, or does it communicate aggressively in such a fashion that the only obvious next step after reading it is to want to dial your number or e-mail you in order to talk with you and perhaps meet you. Remember, that’s the goal of your resume: to motivate the reader to want to meet you. But first the reader has to be aroused to dial your number, or e-mail you, or write you. We’ve heard a lot about how “every vote counts.” Well, on a resume, every word counts. Present the duties, achievements, licenses, affiliations, and other facts about you that will motivate the reader to want to meet you. (Forget the unimportant or “old” stuff; for example, no one cares if we won the third grade spelling bee.)

Are creatively designed resumes, such as those printed on colored paper or on paper with designs on them, a good or bad idea?

The more artistic the field, the more creative can be the design and even paper color. Remember some practical things, though. Pick a font that middle-aged eyes can read easily. It’s not wise to go below a 10 point font, and lots of people prefer 11 point or 12 point. Remember, too, that colored paper doesn’t lend itself to being copied easily without machine adjustments, so if the recipient wants to make a copy of your resume “to show someone else,” a colored paper will not reproduce well. A nice cheerful ivory colored paper is a businesslike shade which reproduces well. You don't need to spend lots of money on paper with watermarks, etc. Busy readers don’t hold paper up to the light to see if the stationery has watermarks. Don’t get so carried away with paper color and weight that you neglect to proofread the words on your resume. It’s much more important to appear literate and attentive to detail than “fancy” in font or paper selection.

What are some ways to judge your resume? What questions should a person should ask themselves in order to rate the effectiveness of their resume?

Here’s one key question to ask as you review your own resume: Are your major strengths, skills, and accomplishments presented? Remember that the resume is going to serve as “the script” for the interview you are hoping to land, so be sure you put on the resume the things you want to be asked about. For example, how about this for a bullet:
• On my own initiative, designed a database which improved customer satisfaction and inventory turnover while decreasing communication costs.
The above is just an example of an accomplishment which should arouse any employer’s interest. Remember that it is likely that you will be asked about whatever you put on your resume, so put short, anecdotal statements which you are hoping to be asked about!
Although you certainly don’t want to misrepresent anything on your resume, you don’t need to reveal everything about yourself, either. For example, if you resigned from a former job because of a personality clash with the boss, don’t volunteer this information on your resume. Never put anything on the resume that will encourage the employer to screen you out!

The chronological resume is the most common type of resume. If you wish to stand out, should you use a different format? Which one and why?

PREP's research has found that the chronological resume is the best format for most people, most of the time. However, because you can show only the “year dates”--for example: Account Executive. XYZ Company, Warsaw, NY (2005-present)--you can omit a job which you held for only a couple of months. Remember that your goal is to make the person who reads your resume say, “Wow, I want to meet this person.” Choosing the right words to put on your resume is much more important than trying to “reinvent the wheel” and find a new format. Employers like the chronological format because they can see what you’re doing now, what you did previously, and what you did before that, without having to “connect the dots” and “study” your resume. Remember that the reader is probably spending a few seconds deciding whether to meet you or not. The interviewer may quickly decide to meet you because of the strength of your resume, but even then he may decide that he doesn’t need to read the resume carefully and in-depth until the interview day arrives. You have only a few seconds to make a great first impression, but the resume will sit on a table later on, between you and the interviewer, and the accomplishments you show will influence the salary negotiation process. So the resume has two important jobs to do: (1) it needs to blow the door open and (2) it needs to facilitate the optimum discussion of salary from your point of view.

What are scannable resumes? Are they important, how are they done?

We see scannable resumes being experimented with by various government agencies. It’s usually important to use a font that is 12-point if your resume is going to be scanned. There are no universal guidelines for scannable resumes. Some guidelines request no underlining, no bold, and no capitalization, and other guidelines strictly focus on “key words” which will be picked up by the technology scanning the resumes. Read carefully the guidelines for each resume which is requested in scannable format.

What are electronic resumes? How are they different from scannable ones?

Electronic resumes can mean different things to different organizations. Some organizations provide a datasheet by which you provide information, which in turn will be utilized to transform your information into an electronic resume used for internal purposes within that organization. That electronic resume is specific for that particular organization. Headhunters often have guidelines for their resumes, too, because they are trying to get a uniform appearance. The resume you create in Microsoft Word or other software and make “hard copies” of can be transformed into an electronic resume (often called a “soft copy” by the recipient), and your resume can be e-mailed for the recipient to download. Your internet provider might compress or “zip” the file, so that your receiver needs some sort of “unzip” software. If you decide to put your resume onto a particular company's website--for example, H&R Block or Merck--you can usually "cut and paste" from the final resume you have stored on your computer.

Some people are independent work-at-home professionals who are seeking clients, not 9-to-5 jobs. When designing a resume, what tips would you have for them? And how would their resumes be different than that of regular jobhunters?

The main purpose of a resume is to clarify exactly how you can help the organization and what services you feel you can provide. The resume should be a place to show off your honors, achievements, and strengths. The objective of resume could possibly be phrased like this:
OBJECTIVE I want to contribute to an organization that can use a creative accounting professional who
offers a proven ability to reduce costs and improve profitability through applying my strong computer operations skills and in-depth experience with multiple industries.

Notice that the Objective above does not reveal that the individual would prefer at-home work or work as an independent subcontractor. You could identify even in the Objective that you are seeking at-home work only, but sometimes an employer--after he/she meets you--will consider changing a job normally done full-time into a job done outside the office. The cover letter is also an appropriate place to let the reader know that you are open to freelance work and positions as an independent subcontractor. In other words, you could present yourself on your resume so that you appeal to employers who want a full-time or freelance or part-time employee, since your goal is to “blow the maximum number of doors open.” You might want to have two different versions of the cover letter--one version that clearly indicates that you are seeking assignments as a “stringer” or freelancer, and another version that does not indicate your narrow preference for part-time or freelance work.

Companies downsizing might be seeking ways in which to reduce their payroll costs and benefits, so they might look favorably on resumes from people who want to work from home. When sending your cover letter and resume, you might provide a couple of written letters of reference from satisfied companies who have used you on a part-time or “stringer” basis. It is always important to get your resume and cover letter to the right person who will be making the decision about your employment. When in doubt, send your resume and cover letter to the president of the organization. He or she won’t be threatened if you are proposing “a new system,” and the president will surely know to whom he/she should direct your resume within the organization. If you are offering services that can save the company money and time, the individuals in the highest positions in the organization will listen!