How to Succeed in an Interview

First of all a little background about myself, I am currently a full-time faculty member for the School of Accounting.  However, in the past I have gained knowledge about interviewing through years in finance and accounting functions in the corporate world.  I also learned a lot while working as an external recruiter because part of my job was to prepare others for interviews.

One of my favorite things about Sundays is reading the New York Times and one of my favorite columns to read is Corner Office in the Business section.  You may be familiar with this column.  A CEO of a corporation is interviewed about their leadership style and other tips.  Last Sunday's interview was with the CEO of VMware, Paul Mariz.  Towards the end of the interview, the CEO is always asked, how do you hire?  I've gained so many insights through reading the answer to just that one question from CEO after CEO every Sunday.  One of the interesting elements of these answers is how similar they are across the board.  Therefore, I wanted to share some of similar concepts that were noticed:

• Companies are looking for people who have the intellectual capability to do the job.
• They are looking for insight into how a person handles tough situations - how a person handles failure is as important as how they handle success.  In fact, maybe more so.
• Employers are hoping to get a sense of who you are - not just your resume or who you are as an employee, buy who you are as a person, as a friend - who you are deep down.
• They want to hire people who are passionate about their work, their career, and the industry they are in.
• Companies want to hire people who are articulate, communicative, and ultimately have the potential to lead.

Essentially the question, how do you hire, is the mirror of this topic, how to succeed in an interview.  If you know how someone hires, this provides insight on how to successfully interview with them.  Therefore, not only would I recommend reading that column, but also leverage it to gain a perspective on interviewing success.

In the next blog, I will provide more in-depth tips about how to succeed in an interview.

Lisa Slater