Article by: Jon Harvill CPC
APICS Atlanta Career Center Director
Article appeared in the September 2009 APICS Atlanta Newsletter

I have conducted my job search campaign, participated in the telephone interview and now I am invited to an on-sight interview with the company of my dreams. In fact, it is the perfect job to use all of my experience and skills and I feel I can solve some major problems for the company and make them a lot of money in the process, all the while doing something I really enjoy doing.

I have read a book on interviewing, called Knock ‘em Dead, by Martin Yate and I have listened to pointers from my recruiter. Now let’s put together the interview that will show everyone that I am the right person for this job.

What do we know about the job? I was given a job description by my recruiter. I also did my research before the telephone interview, to know as much as I could about any problems the company may be facing. I am familiar with the industry and I even called a couple of the company’s employees I know from our professional association. They filled me in on what they knew about the position and the interviewers. In fact, one of them may have put in a good word for me to help me get this interview. I will send her a thank you note and follow up with another conversation before the interviews.

I know that at the interview stage I need to be goal oriented and have only one primary objective, and that is to receive a job offer. As I ask and answer questions during the interview, each of my statements must pass the test, “Does this move me toward receiving an offer?” If it does not, it might not be the right time for that response or question. This will prevent me from asking any self-serving questions or asking questions purely to gather information. Once I have the offer, then I can get all the answers that I will need to make my decision. At this point my questions should be to guide the interview toward my strengths or to show my interest, with care to avoid embarrassing the interviewer or being judgmental.

Here I am talking about receiving the offer, when I know I still have a few obstacles ahead of me.

I know that first impressions are important so I want my conservatively tailored business suit to be crisp. I have always been told that my posture and body movements properly show my high energy level and even my enthusiasm, but my recruiter encouraged me to still focus my attention to these details of body language during the first ten seconds I spend with each person on the interview visit. Sometimes I tend to be too serious so I really need to remember to smile, particularly during those first ten seconds. The handshake needs to be firm but not uncomfortable and use good eye contact. Polished shoes – checked. Dark coordinated sox – checked. Fresh haircut and preferably clean shaven – checked. I remember that corny comment the recruiter made, “The only way sporting a beard is not a negative for the interviewee is when the interviewer also has a beard, and, in this instance, the recruiter does not think she does.” ☺ I think I am ready to give that extra attention that will result in good first impressions.

I have reviewed my resume to know exactly what it says and to be able to give examples and more detail about every claim and situation it mentions. The same goes for the job description. I have written out and rehearsed examples of accomplishments to match each specification and job requirement and other significant personal accomplishments I may use to show what I can accomplish for this company.

The recruiter told me how to prepare for what he called Behavioral Interview Questions, where the interviewer may ask, “Give me an example of when you did so-and-so.” I have put these accomplishments in the S.T.A.R. format – “S” and “T” are for the Situation or Task. “A” is for the Action we took and “R” is for the Results we attained, with the results carried out to the actual dollars to the bottom line, when possible.

Another big improvement I have made in my interviewing skills is to present my accomplishments with quantitative measurements, i.e. “I reduced inventory by $2,000,000 by improving inventory accuracy with cycle counting and saved an additional $350,000 a year in inventory carrying costs.” If I had known the power of using accomplishments when I originally wrote my resume, it would have been totally different from the hum-drum resume I have used in the past. I am taking copies of this new resume with me to the interview. I will also leave a list of significant lean six sigma results with each interviewer just to help them remember me from the pack of candidates they will be seeing.

My recruiter stressed that I should pointedly let the interviewer know I want the job, before I leave the interview. That sounds like a little thing but I can see where it could make the difference in receiving the offer or being one step behind someone else who did let them know.

I feel I am prepared to knock ‘um dead during this interview. The next article I write will be to describe how this new employer has really benefited from hiring me.

Jon Harvill CPC, APICS Career Center Director, can be contacted at 770 952-0009,  
jharvill@psa-recruit.com or visit their website at professionalsearchatlanta.com.