Internship Application Mania 2 - The Interview

After telling you how a get, and then promptly blow, a phone interview in my last post, I was notified via e-mail that I somehow made it to the last and final round of interviews with said company. Hmm?! I swear I didn’t have a dossier detailing all of the interviewer’s deep dark secrets, so your guess as to why I was given a second chance are as good as mine. Regardless, I was determined to really nail the interview this time. Here’s how I did it:

Research:

• Know the climate in the industry: Read AdAge or AdWeek and pay attention in class.
• Know the company: Googling for news about the company will give you an idea of the who their clients are, what awards they’ve won, what research they’ve publicized recently.

Preparation:

Behavioral Interviews: Most employers are using the behavioral interview technique, but don’t worry, it’s not as scary as it sounds. Behavioral interviews differ from traditional interviews in that they ask you questions about your past performance rather than hypothetical situations. There are three things you need to prepare for this type of interview:

• Know what traits the interviewer might be looking for. I found a post in The Princeton Review that said, “recruiters seek hires with ’strong verbal and written communication skills, strong math and analytical skills, and a passion for work in the media industry.’”
• Know possible questions: I found this website online extremely helpful because it also groups the questions by the traits the interviewer is really asking about.
• Have 6-8 stories about your past performance ready to go. Also, if you can’t weave each and every line on your resume into a story, then you probably should take it off.

The Interview:

• Location: Be in a quiet place where you will not be disturbed.
• Don’t drink coffee beforehand, and have a glass of water handy.
• Have your resume and any other information you need in front of you, but DO NOT answer questions by reading them from a piece of paper. The interviewer will be able to tell.
• Speak with a slow calm cadence.

That’s it. That’s how I nailed, yes I do say NAILED, my final phone interview with this company. Now I just have to wait the agonizing three or four weeks to hear back from them. Although regardless of what happens, I really feel like I couldn’t have presented myself any better. Booyah!

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Tags: behavioral interviews, career advice, internships, interview advice

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