Interviewing and Following Up

Interviewing and Following Up
Overview
• Chapter 14 increase your interviewing effectiveness and
confidence by explaining the purposes and kinds of interviews
and how to prepare for them. You will learn how to project a
professional image throughout the interview process. You will
also pick up tips for responding to recruiters’ favorite questions
and learn how to cope with illegal questions and salary matters
Chapter Objectives
• Explain the purposes and types of job

interviews, including screening, one-on-one,
panel, group, sequential, stress, and online
interviews.
• Describe what to do before an interview,
including ensuring professional phone
techniques, researching the target company,
rehearsing success stories, cleaning up digital
dirt, and fighting fear.
3
Chapter Objectives
• Describe what to do during an interview, including
controlling nonverbal messages and answering typical
interview questions.
• Describe what to do after an interview, including
thanking the interviewer, contacting references, and
writing follow-up messages.
• Prepare additional employment documents such as
applications, rejection follow-up messages, acceptance
messages, and resignation letters.
4
Contents
• Purposes and Types of Employment Interviews
• Before the Interview
• During the Interview
• After the Interview
• Preparing Additional Employment Documents
Job Interviewing Can Be
Intimidating and Scary.
But you can reduce your

anxieties and expect to
ace an interview by:
• Learning what
to expect
• Preparing thoroughly
©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Ch. 14 / Slide 3
© falara/Fotolia
Goals of the Job Applicant
• To convince the employer

of your potential
• To learn more about the
job and the company
• To expand on the information
in your résumé
• To decide whether this
is a good place to work
© denis_pc/Fotolia
Goals of the Recruiter
• To assess the candidate's abilities in relation

to the position requirements
• To discuss the candidate’s
training, experience, and
qualifications in detail
• To see what drives and
motivates the candidate
• To decide whether the candidate
would be a good fit in the
organization
© denis_pc/Fotolia
Two Types of
Employment Interviews
Screening Hiring / Placement

Goal: Goal:
To weed out To evaluate
unqualified candidate
candidates
Types: Types:
Telephone (most One-on-one, panel,
often), online, job group, sequential,
fairs stress, online, video
Anatomy of the Job
Interview Process
Know the Interviewing Sequence
• Expect a telephone screening interview.
• If successful, expect the hiring interview.
• Be prepared to answer questions in one-
on-one, panel, group, or video interview.
Research the Target Company

• Study the company’s history, mission,
goals, size, and management structure.
• Know its strengths and weaknesses.
• Try to connect with someone in the
company.
©2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Ch. 14 / Slide
© denis_pc /Fotolia 10
Anatomy of the Job
Interview Process
Prepare Thoroughly
• Rehearse detailed but brief success stories.
• Practice stories that illustrate dealing with a
crisis, handling tough situations, juggling
priorities, and working on a team.
• Clean up your online presence.
Look Sharp, Be Sharp
• Suit up! Dress professionally to feel confident.
• Be ready for questions that gauge your interest,
explore your experience, and reveal your skills.
• Practice using the STAR method to answer
behavioral questions.
Anatomy of the Job
Interview Process
End Positively
• Summarize your strongest qualifications.
• Show enthusiasm; say that you want the
job!
• Ask what happens next.
Follow Up
• Send a note thanking the interviewer.
• Contact your references.
• Check in with the interviewer if you hear
nothing after five days.
Before the Interview
Ensuring Professional Phone Behavior
 Make sure your voice mail greeting
is concise and professional.
 Tell family members or roommates
how to answer.
 Don’t answer cell calls unless you
are prepared to talk.
 Use voice mail to screen calls so
that you are organized and ready
for the conversation.
© Andrey/Fotolia
Making the First Conversation Impressive
 Keep a list near the phone of
positions applied for.
 Treat any call like an interview: be
professional, businesslike, enthusiastic.
 Before you hang up, confirm the
date, time, and address of your
interview.
 Verify the spelling of the caller’s
name.
 Have your résumé, reference list,
calendar, and notepad handy.
© Andrey/Fotolia
Researching the Target Company
 Search the company’s website, news sources,
trade journals, and industry directories.
 Learn about the company’s history, mission,
goals, size, locations, number of employees.
 Learn about its customers, competitors,
culture, and reputation in the community.
 Check the company’s social media presence;
read updates, responses, and other posts.
 Try to connect with someone currently
employed.
Prepare and Practice
 Rehearse success stories.
 Clean up any digital dirt.
 Remove questionable
content.
 Be selective about your list
of friends.
 Set up a professional social
networking page or a personal
website.
© denis_pc /Fotolia
Traveling to and Arriving at Your Interview
 Allow plenty of time to groom
and dress.
 Arrive 5 or 10 minutes early.
 Don’t smoke, eat anything
smelly, or load up on perfume.
 Be courteous and
congenial to everyone.
 Greet the interviewer confidently;
be at ease and unrushed.
Fighting Fear
 Prepare thoroughly. Those who
wing it suffer the worst butterflies.
 Practice answering questions
in mock interviews.
 Look sharp to feel confident!
 Breathe deeply.
 Remember that an interview is a
two-way street.
© helen cingisiz/Fotolia
During the Interview
Sending Positive Nonverbal Messages and

Acting Professionally
• Control your body movements.
• Exhibit good posture.
• Practice appropriate
eye contact.
• Use gestures effectively.
• Smile enough and listen attentively.
Sending Positive Nonverbal Messages and

Acting Professionally
• Turn off all electronic devices.
• Don’t chew gum.
• Sound enthusiastic,
interested, sincere.
• Avoid empty words: um,
• uh, like, basically.
• Be confident but not cocky.
Questions to Get Acquainted
Tell me I have completed a

about degree with a major in .
yourself. Recently I worked for as a
. Before that I worked for
as a . My strengths
are (interpersonal) and
(technical).
© Iadam/Fotolia
Questions to Get Acquainted
What are your

greatest Do you prefer
strengths? to work by
yourself or with
others? Why?
© Iadam/Fotolia
Questions to Gauge Your Interest
Why are you

interested in
this position?
Why do you
want to work What do you
here? know about our
company?
© Iadam/Fotolia
Questions About Your Experience
and Accomplishments
Describe the most

Why should we hire rewarding
you when we have experience of your
applicants with career so far.
more experience or
better credentials?
Why did
you leave
your last
position?
© Iadam/Fotolia
Questions About the Future
Where do you How will you keep

expect to be current with what
in five (or ten) is happening in
years from your profession?
now?
How do you
think you can
contribute to this
company?
© Iadam/Fotolia
Challenging Questions
How would your What is your

former (or current) greatest
supervisor describe weakness?
you as an employee?
Describe your
ideal work
environment.
© Iadam/Fotolia
Situational Behavioral
Question Question
If you were aware Describe a time

that a coworker when you solved
was falsifying data, a difficult
what would you problem.
do?
© Iadam/Fotolia
Using the STAR Technique to Answer
Behavioral Interview Questions
Situation Task Action Results

Briefly explain Describe the What did you Explain the
the background problem. What do? How? results: savings,
and context needed to be What skills or greater
of a situation. done? Why? tools did efficiency.
What happened? you use? Try to
When? Where? quantify.
Illegal and Inappropriate Questions
What is your How old are

marital you? What is
your date of Do you
status? Are have any
you married? birth?
disabilities?
How could you respond

to illegal questions?
© Iadam/Fotolia
Asking Your Own Questions
What training
programs are
available?
What will my Who would be
duties be? my immediate
supervisor?
© Iadam/Fotolia
Ending Positively
• Summarize your strongest
qualifications.
• Show enthusiasm for
obtaining this position.
• Ask what action will follow.
• Thank the interviewer.
• Ask for the interviewer’s business card.
Most Outrageous
Interview Behavior
Provided detailed Hugged hiring Ate all the candy

listing of how manager at end from the candy
previous employer of interview. bowl while trying
angered the to answer
candidate. questions.
Source: Based on CareerBuilder survey of more than 2,400 hiring managers. Retrievedfrom
http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?id=pr614&sd=1%2F12%2F2011&ed=12%2F31%2F2011
© Yury Shchipakin/Fotolia, © abf/Fotolia, © adritha84/Fotolia
Most Outrageous
Interview Behavior
Blew her nose and Threw his beer Had a friend come
lined up the used can in the in and ask “HOW
tissues on the outside trashcan MUCH LONGER?”
table in front of before coming
her. into office.
Source: Based on CareerBuilder survey of more than 2,400 hiring managers. Retrievedfrom
http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?id=pr614&sd=1%2F12%2F2011&ed=12%2F31%2F2011
© solgas/Fotolia, © Scanrail/Fotolia, © Yury Shchipakin/Fotolia
After the Interview
Write a thank-you message

to each interviewer.
Contact your references.
Follow up with a call if you

hear nothing after five
days.
© Andrey/Fotolia, © denis_pc/Fotolia, © mostafa fawzy/Fotolia
Preparing Additional
Employment Documents
Keep a digital record or card listing
Applicatio your vital data so that you can fill in
n forms applications accurately.
Applicatio Consider sending a follow-up message

n or if your résumé or application generates
résumé no response within a reasonable time.
follow-up
Rejection Consider a follow-up message if you
follow-up didn’t get the job.
Preparing Additional
Employment Documents
Acceptan If you do get the job, send a message

ce confirming details of the offer.
message
Job If you must turn down a job offer, show
rejection professionalism by writing a sincere
message message.
Resignatio When leaving a job, send a tactful and

gracious message documenting your
n message resignation.
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Interviewing and Following Up

• Explain the purposes and types of job

But you can reduce your

• To convince the employer

• To assess the candidate's abilities in relation

Screening Hiring / Placement

Research the Target Company

Sending Positive Nonverbal Messages and

Sending Positive Nonverbal Messages and

Tell me I have completed a

What are your

Why are you

Describe the most

Where do you How will you keep

How would your What is your

If you were aware Describe a time

Situation Task Action Results

What is your How old are

How could you respond

Provided detailed Hugged hiring Ate all the candy

Write a thank-you message

Contact your references.

Follow up with a call if you

Applicatio Consider sending a follow-up message

Acceptan If you do get the job, send a message

Resignatio When leaving a job, send a tactful and

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