Yesterday, I helped interviewer 4 candidates for an upper level financial management position at my organization. The evaluation panel consisted of 3 people: the Executive Director, the head of the Board of Trustees, and me. After 7 hours of torture, and one possible candidate, I have some tips for future interviewees:
1. Please spell check your cover letter and resume. If I am editing while reviewing your materials, I am clearly distracted from appreciating the contents.
2. Please come on time. 30 minutes late for a casual dinner? Fine. For an interview? Forget the job and go home. I know you did not tell your boss you were looking for a job, but can’t you make up a funeral or a bank errand and get here on time?
3. On the flip side, please do not come 3 hours early. This seems over eager and desperate.
4. Please dress for an interview. I know that folks here are poor. But, if you want to be in charge of millions of dollars, you have to look like you don’t immediately need money for work clothes. Wearing a pink striped shirt, red tie, and jacket made for someone 100kg larger than you will not inspire confidence from our donors.
5. Please do your homework. If you are asked what you know about the organization, please do more than read the Mission Statement off the wall in front of you. Please at least peruse the website. Please do not say, “I don’t know much.”
6. Please limit the length of your answers; be concise. This is especially important when the interviewer says, “please tell me briefly……”. The 15 minute regurgitation, verbatim, of your resume is not appreciated.
7. Please speak up. There are only 4 of us in the room, seated around a small table. If I cannot hear you, I will make up what you are saying, and you will not like it.
8. Please know the job you are interviewing for. When you give lengthy examples of your experience in agriculture and church organizing as the reason we should hire you as our finance manager, you are not doing yourself a favor.
9. Please refrain from drawing repeated attention to your distance education MBA from Somalia. I think I can print out that same certificate myself.
10. And, when someone asks you for your salary requirements, it is not advisable to say, “the higher the better.”
Hee, hee.
ReplyDeleteOne of the best one's I ever got was a response to "How do you deal with conflict in the workplace?" Response - "That's why I quit my last job." Though a close second would be the guy who told us he spoke French pretty well and then refused to speak any.