They’re ready! It’s time for your kid to start adulting, and that means getting a job and starting their career. But wait! Has anyone taught your kid how to prepare for an interview?
Well here’s what Papa says: Whether you are going for your very first interview, or if you have several years of experience, interview preparation is not that difficult. You can help teach your kids these 5 easy tips below to increase their chances of landing that job!
- Dress for success!
- Research the company!
- Take additional copies of your resume!
- Every question is a test!
- Every response should be a S/TAR!
With over 20 years of professional experience, I’ve had the opportunity to sit on both ends of the interview table dozens of times. When I facilitate an interview, it is pretty obvious when the candidate has never had guidance on what to expect during the process. If your kid has landed an interview that means the company believes your kid has what it takes on their resume. Now they want to find out if they would be a good cultural fit. Preparing for an interview is a lost skill set, and so many of my friends and colleagues have neglected to pass these skills on to the next generation. It isn’t that hard, and you can do it!
Dress for success!
Please, for the love of all things holy, teach your kid to wear business formal attire to an interview. Even if it’s a Zoom call, put on that dress shirt, slacks, tie, and coat. If they don’t have any of these clothes, it’s perfectly fine to hit the thrift store (yes, my favorite suit is a fancy Italian suit I scored at the thrift store for $2.50). Interviewers want to see that the candidate is serious. I have interviewed people that showed up dressed in torn jeans and a t-shirt, and first impressions are hard to change.
Research the company!
Just about every company nowadays has a website. Go through their entire website to better understand what the company is about. Even better, if it is publicly traded, go read the articles posted about them on finance.google.com or finance.yahoo.com. When an interviewer asks your kid why they chose to apply to their company they will be able to show that they took the initiative to find out more about the company on their own – which the interviewer will truly appreciate. I have interviewed several people that had no idea what my company did – even though it was part of the company name!
Take additional copies of your resume!
This one bit me in the backside once. I showed up to an interview with the expectations that the hiring manager had looked at my resume. Big mistake. I remember the day well – it was a summer morning in north Georgia, so it was hot in my cheap Italian thrift-store suit. I arrived early, was escorted to the conference room, and provided with a coffee. Mmm… Coffee… I thought the interview started well, and then the hiring manager asked to see my resume. All the color drained from my face and I had to own up and say “You’ll have to forgive me, I didn’t bring any with me.” I wanted to show that I could take ownership of my mistakes and ask forgiveness, but what I wanted to say was “uh, did you not get the email with my resume from the hiring recruiter?” Anyhow, I found out afterward that this cost me the job. Maybe I should have told that manager what I was really thinking. Oh well – learn from my fail.
Every question is a test!
It might seem innocuous at first, but the biggest question candidates fail is the very first one. The dreaded “Tell me about yourself” question. Interviewers don’t want to hear about the traumatic time they scraped their knees in elementary school. Teach your kid to keep their response to less than a minute providing a synopsis of their experiences that qualify them for the job. If it’s the first job of their career, teach your kid to talk about the training they received and the topics they excelled at. If they’re seasoned professionals, make sure they talk about the previous jobs that gave them the experience to excel in this new role.
Every response is a S/TAR!
Interviewers are looking for candidates to demonstrate competencies that will point to successfully fulfilling the role. No matter how they phrase the question, a response should always be a S/TAR:
- Situation or Task related to the topic of the question
- Actions taken
- Results of those actions
For example, your kid may be asked another common question such as “Tell me about your biggest weakness.” The interviewer doesn’t want a one-word answer such as “cake” or “gaming”. This, like every single other question, is a test (remember question 4 above?). The interviewer is looking for transparency. Here is an example response: “I have trouble asking for help. I remember a time when….. (Situation/Task) So what I did was… (Action) When it was all said and done… (Result).” Teach your kid to use this formula to answer every question and they will surely leave a good impression with the interviewer.
These 5 tips are so simple yet no one teaches them anymore. Teach your kids to practice these tips in everyday life – especially responding to questions with S/TAR responses. Understanding these strategies alone will help them shine in an interview. What did you wish you knew before that first embarrassing interview?
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