DO YOUR HOMEWORK Interviewtips

When Sonja Parker interviews a candidate, she expects that the job

seeker will have done a reasonable amount of research into the company.

Before you interview with Parker, VP of Integrated Design in Ann

Arbor, Michigan, you will receive a folder with general information on

the company, a detailed job overview, and an application. During the

preliminary telephone interview, Parker always asks:

What do you know about us? Have you reviewed the packet I sent, or

have you poked around on our Web site?

If the candidate hedges, Parker questions whether she should invite

the candidate in for a job interview. If the candidate answers yes,

Parker asks:

What is your impression of what we do?

“I want to see if the candidate can articulate the information about our

company and the job,” she says. Her reasons for asking are twofold.

First, she wants some feedback on how effectively the company’s recruiting

materials are working. But even more importantly, she believes

that a candidate who has taken the time to thoroughly study the recruiting

materials demonstrates real interest in the job, while one who has

not is a poor risk.

“If you want to work at Integrated Design, I insist that you demonstrate

at least a basic understanding of what the company does,” she says. The best way to demonstrate that is to ask Parker informed questions

I’ve scanned your Web site and the materials you sent me. I understand

that Integrated Design specializes in employee data integration. As a

service business, has the recent economic downturn changed the weight

of the build-versus-buy calculation that every customer must evaluate?

Such a question tells Parker that the candidate not only researched the

company’s mission but has a mature understanding of the challenges of

a service company. On the other hand, Parker experiences a visceral

turn-off for applicants who show no evidence they looked at the recruitment

information packet she sent about the company. She also has

no use for applicants who expect her to repeat all the information contained

in the information packet. Such applicants—they hardly rise to

the status of candidates—are too unmotivated to get Parker’s attention.

“If candidates ask no questions at all, especially after I sent them an information

packet of recruitment materials, I know they are cruising,” agrees

Bob Conlin, VP of marketing at Incentive Systems in Bedford, Massachusetts.

“If a candidate tells me she is considering committing the next phase

of her career to Incentive Systems, I want to know she is thinking hard

about the opportunity. I expect to hear some very probing questions.”

One of the strongest candidates in Conlin’s experience was prepared

not only with great questions, but with a portfolio of materials the candidate

could point to during the interview. The candidate for a senior

marketing position had copies of Incentive Systems’ company’s data

sheets and full-page ads and those of its competitors. Using these materials,

the candidate asked informed questions about the merits of specific

marketing campaigns on behalf of specific products. “As soon as

he pulled out the portfolio, I said to myself, ‘This is my guy!’” Conlin

recalls.

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