Interviewing Tips

• Resist being side-tracked by your lack of job experience
• Consider examples from volunteering, participating in clubs or groups or your experiences in college class team projects
• Focus on your ability to motivate others in those situations
• Be ready to speak in positive terms about your team achievements

You've probably already heard that recruiters have been moving away from the traditional interview style of "tell me about yourself" to something called Behavioral Interviewing. This is nothing more than a way to gain insight into your potential future performance based on past performance. In other words, asking you to "tell stories" about how you've handled yourself in given situations can serve as an indicator of how you might respond in your new role at the company, build communication, and resolve daily challenges.

The Behavioral Interview requires that you tell each of your stories in a step-by-step order known as the S.T.A.R. format—Situation or Task, Action and Result. Situation or Task demands you begin by describing a situation from your past (work-related or not) and giving specific detail so that the context is clear to the interviewer. Keeping the focus exclusively on you, Action asks you to then explain exactly what you did in that situation. Finally, Result is stating the outcome and your analysis of what you accomplished or learned as a result.

• Write down up to 10 project topics from your past
• Describe how you accomplished something positive in each
• Organize them in the S.T.A.R. format
• Review the stories in terms of effects on other project participants
• Practice in a "mock interview" with a friend or someone in campus career services

• Describe a situation where your communication skills convinced team members to see things your way.
• Give an example how thinking on your feet turned around a bad situation.
• Tell in some detail how you coped with stress in a particular instance.
• Think back to an example of how you went "above and beyond" to get things done.
• Describe an occasion when you received tough feedback and how you dealt with it.

• Review potential employer literature for sought-after skills and company cultural "hints"
• Speak to anyone you may know connected with the company
• Research the person who will be interviewing you
• Recall how you functioned as a leader in your stories
• Remember the interviewer is rooting for you to succeed

• Listening carefully to the questions – ask for clarification
• Be specific to each outcome – numbers are better than generalities
• Be aware of body language
• Enjoy being the center of attention

• Thank them for their time
• Ask about "next steps"
• Inquire when it's okay to "follow up"
• Sending a thank you e-mail or handwritten note is appropriate