I have a friend who is excellent at job interviews. She doesn't get nervous and aces every interview she attends. This is because said friend is really, really good at talking about herself.In fact, it's her favorite conversation topic (Which makes her a great interviewer, but not so great a friend).
For the rest of us, it's not nearly so easy. One of the first advice I got when job searching was to call executives in the field I'm trying to enter and set up information interviews. Most times, the executive you're meeting with has no job available currently. Ostensibly, the entire point of the interview is to gather information about the company and see what sort of skills the hiring directors are looking for. But underneath the surface, there's a lot of other things going on.
For instance, most times, job hunters don't really care all that much about the executive's previous accomplishments -- even though that's sort of a mandatory question to ask. What they really want to know is: "Do you like me?" AND "If you do, do you know of a job opening somewhere?" But you can't just ask this straight out, you have to go through all the requisite questions first: "Tell me how you got started in the field/ What's your biggest challenge?" I have a friend who likens this whole experience the dating game. As he explains it: "You have to put on this great face. Show how charming and witty you are. Show your interest in them. But the whole time, what you're really wondering is 'Am I going to get laid?'" (It should be said that this friend is kind of a womanizer).
I haven't become that cynical yet. And I have met some really cool people during these informational meetings -- some of whom have become mentors and friends.
But it's true that when preparing for the interview and coming up with lists of insightful, intelligent questions sure to wow the executive, the end goal is pretty hard to hide.
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