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Features Column 9 Line please!: Interviewing essentials from A-Z

Dear Cathy,
I'm so frustrated—even after quite a few years of interviewing experience, I still often feel like a deer caught in the headlights when I sit down with a potential employer. Sometimes, I get so nervous I'm totally stumped by questions. I know I have great skills (I'm a development director), do great work, and my resume and cover letter are really strong. But I feel like I get to the interview and fall on my face. Do you have any advice about how to prepare and survive interviews?
—Beth in Houston

Let's face it, interviews can feel like auditions—you often have to wait before being seen, you don't know what you're going to be asked, you don't find out whether or not you got the job until later, and the competition is usually fierce. My acting teachers always told me the best way to increase the chances of getting a part is to prepare as much as you possibly can. Well, I'm going to give you the same advice: prepare, prepare, prepare! There's no way to know exactly what questions you'll be asked, but it's a sure bet that you'll be asked certain kinds of questions and having a relatively clear sense of what you're going to say without giving canned responses can reduce the likelihood of getting the "deer in headlights syndrome" and feeling like saying, "Line please!"

Interview preparation actually begins long before you're even called. Like savvy actors who continue to brush up on technique even when they have no call-backs, savvy job seekers continuously prepare for interviews, even when nothing seems to be on the horizon. But how exactly can you prepare without having ESP? Whether you realize it or not, you're already preparing when you're networking, researching potential organizations, and writing your cover letter and resume. In order to do all of these tasks well, you need to have a good sense of what kind of job you're looking for, what your skill set is, examples of contributions you've previously made in the workplace, and a sense of the "arc" of your career, (where you've been and where you would like to go). Having all of this clarity puts you in good shape to target jobs that are a good fit and to honestly and thoroughly answer a whole slew of common interview questions such as:

• Tell me a little bit about yourself... Achtung! This is a tricky question. You don't want to answer so broadly that you confuse the interviewer. Reflect ahead of time about the specific skills, experiences, and interests you would like to highlight and draw linkages between what you've done and what you can potentially do in a particular organization and position.
• What attracts you most to the position? To the organization? Do your homework and learn as much about the organization as you can. If you're having trouble being specific, it's probably not the right job for you.
• What specific responsibilities in the position are most and least energizing to you? Again specificity is key. You want to show that you know yourself and that you're self-directed. While everyone has some tasks that they prefer less and it's important to know what those are for you, if you find that a major job responsibility makes you cringe, even a little bit, it's probably not the job for you.
• You will also be asked questions directly related to the job's responsibilities. For example, in your case, assuming you're applying for development director type jobs, you'll want to be prepared for questions such as: What's your experience in creating development campaigns? What's your approach to building relationships with potential donors? Given that funding is way down this year, how will you ensure that the organization stays afloat?
• What are your greatest strengths? What areas do you think you need to build skills in? Although you don't need to go into great depth about where you need to grow, it's important to be able to succinctly identify a skill or two that needs development. Consider both your hard/technical skills such as your knowledge of an accounting program, designing brochures, or writing news briefs as well as your soft/communication skills and the attitude that you bring to your work. Nowadays, soft skills often make the difference between a very good and a great candidate. It's not that hard skills don't matter, they do, but employers know that they're easier to learn and also that our world now demands more and more sophisticated communication skills.
• What skills would you like to build in your next position? This isn't the same question as "What skills do you need to build?" This question is really getting at what you want to focus on in your professional development.
• What is your working style? For example, are you someone who works best on your own? Do you prefer collaboration?
• What is your supervisory style? For example, do you prefer to set up formal, regular meetings with supervisees, are you really informal about meetings, or are you somewhere in between?
• What kind of supervisor works best for you? Or that old chestnut, tell me about how you dealt with a really difficult boss? Now, this is not an easy question to answer even though we've all probably had our share of difficult bosses. The interviewer is really trying to find out how you manage yourself and difficult situations. I recommend answering as honestly, but concisely as possible. Include any solutions you developed to deal with that person.
• What are some examples of how you lead a team? Or work effectively on a team? These days, there's no job title or organization type where you're not required to "play" nicely with others.
• Provide an example of how you manage stress or deal with tensions with a colleague. Again, you want to show that you can problem solve, have flexibility in dealing with different kinds of people, and can rebound from difficult situations.
• What kind of organizational culture or working environment do you prefer? Every organization has a vibe and in order for someone to fit in really well, they need to jive with that vibe. It can be helpful to think about what did and didn't work in your last few positions to help clarify this. You may want to consider everything from how often you like to attend staff meetings to the concrete aspects of office culture such as whether you prefer an office with a door or working in an open space with your colleagues. Another consideration is whether you prefer casual or more formal dress. Additionally, the executive director plays a big part in maintaining organizational culture so I recommend thinking about whether you prefer a leader whose presence you can feel on a daily basis, someone who delegates a lot, or someone who gives lots of feedback.
• How did you end up in your last position? How does this position fit into your two- to five-year career plans? With these questions, the interviewer is trying to get a sense of your vision for your career and how what you've done and what you want to be doing is connected to more long-term goals. You don't have to have a precise map of your future, but it's good to be able to articulate some future directions.
  

You've probably heard that organizations are increasingly asking candidates to respond to scenarios that they may encounter on the job. You may think, "How in the heck can I prepare for that? They could ask me anything." Well, there are lots and lots of different scenarios that you might be asked about but they are usually predictable. For example, as a development director, you might be given specific details about a funder (perhaps, they have their heart in the right place, but aren't so easy to deal with) and asked what steps you will take to build your relationship with her or him. Or, perhaps a development event is scheduled to occur in a couple of months, and no sponsors have signed up yet. You might be asked what you would do to ensure sponsorship. Essentially, an interviewer wants to hear more details on your experience and get a sense of how you problem-solve and communicate.

I recommend studying the job responsibilities before you get to the interview and actually developing and answering five to ten potential scenario questions yourself. You don't need to anticipate every possible interview question that was ever asked. The point is to use the preparation process to get to know yourself, your skills and the organization you're applying to as well as you can, not to drive yourself nuts!

More and more, organizations are also asking interviewees to do some kind of practicum during the interview. While this might really feel like an audition, it's actually a great opportunity to demonstrate your strengths and/or assess whether the position is a good fit for you. For example, for a development director position, you might be asked to write a short letter to potential funders. If you're totally flummoxed by what you're asked to do, it's highly unlikely that you would be happy in the job anyway. However, most often, a practicum presents an opportunity for you to shine.

A note on being asked inappropriate, or even illegal questions. Sometimes, interviewers ask things that they shouldn't—usually because they're inexperienced interviewers. Questions about race, sexual orientation, weight, and marital status, to name a few, are illegal. If you find yourself being asked these questions, although it may feel very awkward, it's totally appropriate to politely say that you would like to focus on answering questions directly related to the job. If you're comfortable, you can even politely say that the question is illegal because it is!

A second note on body language. Like it or not, body language conveys more than the actual content of what you say. So try to be mindful of yours, but not too mindful. Over-focusing on it can backfire—you might end up being even more stiff or fidgety. Just do your best to stay focused on listening to the interviewer, make good eye contact and maintain an open posture. As Woody Allen said in "Take the Money and Run," "apt" natural!

Great preparation should help to prevent the "deer in headlights syndrome," but we all have days where we're not at our best. So the question is, what do you do when you are, as you say, stumped? Well, it's good to have a line ready to go that can buy you a few seconds to think or calm down such as, "I need to think about that for a moment," or "Let's see..." or simply take a second to shift in your seat. Even saying, "I'm a bit nervous" is okay. If you've just completely lost your train of thought, you might say, "I'm sorry, I just lost my train of thought, can you please repeat the question?" The point is, you want to be honest, without issuing a mea culpa. Good interviewers know that most people get nervous during interviews and that it's going to take more than one sitting to really get to know someone. So forgive yourself after you blank out and like the acting pro who forgets her lines, but reminds herself, "the show must go on," dive back in and continue.

Really good actors look like they're not acting at all because they're genuinely connected to the character that they're playing. Really good job interviewees simply don't act: you should try to be as real and honest as possible no matter what questions you're given. That's not to say you need to tell your interviewer every last detail about yourself. Instead, use your judgment and be sensitive to your interviewer's style and mood and always remain professional, even when they aren't. In the end, faking it even a little bit and taking a job that's not really a good match for you, ultimately, is a bad use of your energy and time and leaves you farther from your dream "role," not closer.

At the same time that you should be honest, an interview is not a casual conversation so you should also try to be relatively brief and stay on topic. While you don't want to assume a part at an interview, if you tend to be verbose, try your best not to go on and on. In my experience, there's a high correlation between verbosity and off-topicosity. It's really important to listen carefully and fully to the questions that you're asked. Generally, a response that's more than a minute and half to two minutes is approaching the danger zone. That may seem like a short amount of time, but interviews are ultimately about building a relationship so you need to leave room for dialogue to emerge.

In good relationships, both parties can see things from the other's perspective. And this is certainly true for interviews. I suggest thinking about what information you would want to know about a candidate and remind yourself that interviewers are people too! And I'm not just saying that because I do lots of interviews. Many people, whether they are interviewing or being interviewed, have some trepidation beforehand. This is especially the case at the beginning: you're both not sure what to expect and you both need something. In your case, you need a job, which is a pretty big need, but interviewers need an employee and very often they feel a good deal of pressure to find someone great and to do so yesterday.

It's almost impossible to know exactly what kind of interview or interviewer you're going to get. Uncertainty can be tough to deal with, but knowing ahead of time that you just can't know what to expect often can make the situation easier to manage. Further, if you've done really solid preparation then you should be prepared for almost anything. In my humble opinion, a good interviewer should create an open and inviting atmosphere, but some interviewers still believe in "boot camp interviewing," and intentionally create a stressful situation to see how candidates will respond. Or sometimes, an interviewer is actually interviewers: organizations may have two or three staff members doing interviews so that they can get more perspectives from one sitting. This format is actually to an interviewee's advantage as you get to see how staff interact with each other and learn more about the organization's culture. Other times, a great interviewer might be having a bad day and might be short with you or unfocused. In any case, more and more, interviewers are calling candidates to see if it's worth their time and effort to bring them in for an official interview so it's important to always be clear about what positions you've applied for and why you've applied for them.

The few hours before an interview are crucial. Just as many actors do vocal exercises or simply sit quietly before they leave to go on an audition, it's important to figure out what activities are centering and calming for you. For some people that might mean exercising the morning of an interview; for others, it may mean, at least eight hours of sleep the night before. The last half hour before your "debut" may be even more crucial. Try to stop yourself from "disaster planning" and focus on thinking about what you have to offer, what jazzes you about the position and the organization. Remind yourself that the interview is just another step in the process of building the relationship with a potential employer. And while interviewing isn't a totally mutual process, good interviewers will understand that it's not just an opportunity for them to figure out whether you are a good fit for the position and the organization, but it's also an opportunity for you to figure out whether the position and the organization are a good fit for you.

A note of caution here: asking two to four questions (ones that can't be answered by the organization's website or publicity material) is very appropriate and even preferable because it shows your interest and engagement, but whatever you do, don't interview your interviewer! When you do that, you are, in effect, putting her or him on the spot, and maybe even on the defensive, which is the absolute last thing you want to do. You might have had a really good interview up until that point, but with a few off-putting questions, you could lose your "audience" and be put in the no call-backs pile. Ineffective questions include:

Can you tell me what you find most impressive about my materials?
Can you tell me what you find least impressive about my materials?

These are good questions for friends or job coaches, but not for an interviewer.

Will you be calling me back for a second interview?

It is appropriate to ask what the general next steps will be, although a good interviewer will tell you that just as the interview is coming to a close, so I would give them the chance.

I'm a big proponent of putting a position's salary and benefits right in the job announcement, but a large percentage of my colleagues out there in nonprofit land don't include this information in the posting. If that's the case, I don't generally recommend inquiring about the salary and benefits in the first interview. It's probably not going to help you build your relationship with a potential employer. Money is a delicate topic even among friends, let alone with people you don't know well. Instead, I suggest holding off until, at least, the second interview when you have more of a connection and have more context to discuss a potentially touchy topic.

Speaking of second rounds, most often, hiring processes consist of two to three rounds of interviews, which provide both the interviewer and the interviewee with more opportunities to get to know each other.

People often ask me what they should wear to an interview. Well, there is no magic interview suit (whoever invents that will make a mint!). You certainly should wear professional cloths, but the specific level of dressiness depends upon the position and the organization. You also don't want to dress in a way that is drastically different from your usual style just as you don't want to communicate in an unnatural way. I'm speaking from experience: I still haven't lived down an outfit I wore ten years ago with an employer who later became a friend and who still jokes that I looked like I was applying to be a librarian not a youth worker! The bottom line is that you don't want to look miscast.

As far as following up on an interview, it's a good idea to send a genuine thank you letter, if you're still interested. I suggest a few sentences about what really excites you about the position and how you would like to contribute, if given the opportunity. It's particularly great if you can add something that you didn't say in your interview. A caution, I don't recommend following up to see if your thank you note has been received and trying to find out what the status of your application is. This can really come across as pushy, and once again, may put your potential employer on the spot, whereas what you really want is for them to see you as in demand not as demanding!

No method is fool-proof, but I guarantee if you do solid preparation and acknowledge that you've done the best you can and you can't control the outcome, you will very likely be satisfied with your "performance." Indeed, you'll likely feel that you didn't perform at all, you just shared your expertise and experience. Oftentimes, we are our own harshest "directors." So take a deep breath and remember you're already a star!

Interviewing plays such a critical role in the job search process, I'd like to invite readers to send in additional interview stories of two hundred words or less with examples of difficult questions, interviewers, and interviews or really great questions, interviewers, and interviews. In next month's column, I'll tackle the toughees and share the goodies—there is no doubt that the more you unpack the interview experience, the easier it is to do. Pretty soon, you might even see that, in many ways, you're the one writing the script.