Are you prepared for your interviews? I just did mock interviews for some kids at my daughter’s high school and it made me wonder if people are doing this type of exercise for their own interviews. I have done this for people over the phone to give them the practice of answering questions. If you can do it in with someone in person, that is even better, but even interviewing someone over the phone allows you to give them feedback and allows them to be more prepared. If you would like more information on mock interviewing here is an article by Alison Doyle. It provides some great advice, sample questions and things to think about to prepare.
As the interviewer, you don’t have to know everything about the job they are interviewing for, but if they can give you the job description and their resume, it is helpful. It is less about the questions that you ask, but more about the perception that the interviewee is creating. Are they confident? Answering questions using examples and sharing information in a way that makes sense? What are they trying to get across to the interviewer? Did you get that from them during the interview? Did they ask you questions that were relevant and showed that they wanted the job?
As the interviewee, you should leverage this opportunity. It just helps you to say your answers out loud and prepare what you will say. Think about being concise and getting your point across with examples that demonstrate that you can deliver what they need. Think about ways to promote the things that you have done, your strengths, opportunity areas, etc. Depending on the level of the role, you need to prepare more than less. You could have multiple interviews in a day and you need to be mentally prepared.
It may feel like a bit awkward to interview with someone you know, but if they can help you improve, then it is worth it. Take the feedback that they provide and adjust where needed. You are judged from the moment you walk into the room, so doing everything that you can to prepare is good.
Are you looking for a career change? The power of a mastermind is there to help you move forward with the help and support of a group. Would you like to hear more about the Powerful Leadership Mastermind group that is just getting started? We have a few spots left for the group which meets every other week on Tuesday mornings.
The group is led by me and my partner (and cousin) Kim who are both ICF Certified Coaches. We are offering an introductory rate to join and we are looking for people who are motivated to make a change in their personal or professional lives. If you would like to learn more about it and join the group you can click on this link: Powerful Leadership Mastermind or reach out to me.