Interview Skills
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
1
Agenda P r e p ar at i on , an d t h e E l e v at or -P i t c h C om p e t e n c y -b as e d I n t e r v i e w s B e h av or i al Q u e s t i on s S T A R
r e s p on s e
Q u e s t i on s t o as k
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
2 of 19
2
B e P r ep ar ed A g ood i n t e r v i e w e r w i l l p r e p ar e w i t h s p e c i fi c q u e s t i on s for e ac h c an d i d at e . Y ou s h ou l d p r e p ar e an s w e r s . C om m on “t ou g h ” q u e s t i on s : What does my company do? Who ar e ou r competitor s?
T el l me ab ou t the j ob you ar e appl ying f or . Why did you appl y to this position?
Why shou l d w e hir e you ?
H av e e x am p l e s of s u c c e s s an d ac h i e v e m e n t r e ad y t o g o w h e n as k e d B e P as s i on at e !
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
3 of 19
3
E l ev at o r -P it c h – w h en t o u s e it
H av e y ou r 2-3 m i n u t e “e l e v at or p i t c h ” r e ad y .
U s e t h e e l e v at or -p i t c h i f: 1. t h e i n t e r v i e w e r as k s y ou t o “t e l l m e ab ou t y ou r s e l f” or
2. i f t h e i n t e r v i e w e r h as n ’t r e ad y ou r C V an d y ou h av e t o i n t r od u c e y ou r s e l f at t h e b e g i n n i n g of t h e m e e tin g
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
4 of 19
4
E l ev at o r -p it c h – w h at it s h o u l d c o m p r is e
N am e , an d w h e r e y ou ’r e fr om
E d u c at i on al b ac k g r ou n d ( fr om t e r t i ar y l e v e l ) – u n i v e r s i t y / s u b j e c t s / p ar t or fu l l t i m e s t u d y / g r ad u at i on d at e
W or k e x p e r i e n c e – d u r i n g or aft e r u n i v e r s i t y ; e m p l oy e r , t y p e of b u s i n e s s / i n d u s t r y ; y ou r r e s p on s i b i l i t i e s ; e n v i r on m e n t ( t e am w or k , w or k al on e ) H ob b i e s / i n t e r e s t s ( r e ad i n g , t e n n i s , c h ar i t y w or k e t c )
S t r e n g t h s , s k i l l s ( i n c l u d e s oft s k i l l s , l an g u ag e s s p ok e n , t e c h n i c al s k i l l s / t r ai n i n g ) C ar e e r g oal s ( s h or t an d l on g t e r m )
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
5 of 19
5
W h at is a C o m p et enc y ? T h e w or d competency r e fe r s t o t h e s k i l l s t h at ar e n e c e s s ar y t o ac h i e v e s u c c e s s i n a j ob . E x am p l e s of c om p e t e n c i e s r e q u i r e d i n m an y j ob s ar e :
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
6 of 19
6
L eader s h ip E s t ab l i s h e d a v i s i on S e c u r e d r e s ou r c e s A l i g n e d an d m ot i v at e d t e am M an ag e d c on fl i c t c on s t r u c t i v e l y
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
7 of 19
7
Anal y t ic al T h ink ing O r g an i z e d t h e i s s u e U s e d m u l t i p l e , r e l e v an t d at a s ou r c e s D i s p l ay e d fl e x i b i l i t y w i t h n e w D re w
i n for m at i on
s ou n d c on c l u s i on s
S u p p or t e d c on c l u s i on s
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
8 of 19
8
C o m m it m ent S h ow e d p as s i on T ook ow n e r s h i p W or k e d t h r ou g h t ou g h s i t u at i on s F ol l ow e d t h r ou g h on b i g an d s m al l p r oj e c t s
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
9 of 19
9
C o m m u nic at io n W as c l e ar , c on c i s e , d i r e c t L is te n e d A d ap t e d t o d i ffe r e n t au d i e n c e s C on fi d e n t
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
10 of 19
10
C o m p et enc y -B as ed I nt er v iew A l l ow s y ou t o s h ow
y ou r s t u ff
L e v e l s t h e p l ay i n g fi e l d ( e x p e r i e n c e , b ac k g r ou n d ) P l ac e s e m p h as i s on s k i l l s , n ot t e c h n i c al u n d e r s t an d i n g
Serves as a good predictor of future success
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
11 of 19
11
H o w
ar e c o m p et enc ies t es t ed?
I n t e r v i e w e r s p r ob e for c om p e t e n c i e s w i t h t h e b e h av or i al q u e s t i on . T h e b e h av or i al q u e s t i on r e q u i r e s y ou , t h e c an d i d at e , t o r e c al l an d d e s c r i b e a s p e c i fi c s i t u at i on i n w h i c h y ou d e m on s t r at e d ( or fai l e d t o d e m on s t r at e ) t h e r e q u i r e d s k ill.
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
12 of 19
12
B eh av o r ial Q u es t io ns A b ehav or ial q u estion is l ook ing f or inf or mation ab ou t:
Situation or Task Ac Re
: d e tail s of a sp e c if ic tim e or e v e nt
tion: th e ac tions y ou took sul t: th e outc om e of th e situation
We cal l this the STAR r esponse. easy to do.
E asy to r ememb er ; not so
A b ehav or ial q u estion is not l ook ing f or : Y our op inion
W h at y ou “th ink ” y ou w oul d d o in a situation
Y our asse ssm e nt of y our ow n stre ng th s and w e ak ne sse s
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
13 of 19
13
Preparing for a Competency Based Interview
E x am p l e s of B eh a v i or B a s ed I nter v i ew ar e :
g i v e m e an e x am p l e of w h e n w or k i n g i n a t e am m or e e ffe c t i v e t h an w or k i n g b y y ou r s e l f
t e l l m e ab ou t a t i m e t h at y ou m ad e a m i s t ak e , an d h ow y ou fi x e d i t
t e l l m e ab ou t a t i m e t h at y ou w an t e d t o d o s om e t h i n g t h at n o-on e e l s e w as k e e n t o t r y ; h ow d i d y ou i n fl u e n c e t h e m ? d i d y ou s u c c e e d ?
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
Q u es ti ons w as
14 of 19
14
e. g. C o m p et enc y : C u s t o m er O r ient at io n Q u estion: T el l me ab ou t a time w hen you f el t ef f ectiv e in deal ing w ith a cu stomer . H ow and w hen did you commu nicate you r f inding s to the cu stomer ? What w as the r esu l t? Situation/Task: I recently completed my thesis and presented my f inding s to the academic rev iew b oard. A c tions: • I ask ed my adv isor f or the b ack g rou nd of the b oard memb ers and saw that tw o had a specializ ation in the topic of my thesis so I k new to ex pect a lot of challeng ing q u estions. • I made su re that I had dou b le check ed all of my data and k new my sou rces b ef ore the rev iew meeting so I w as ab le to answ er ev en the most ob scu re q u estions. • A lso my adv isor had mentioned that there w as one memb er of the b oard w ho had prob lems w ith his sig ht so I made su re that all of my docu ments w ere printed in a larg er f ont to mak e them easier to read. R e sul t: T he b oard w ere impressed b y my preparation, and I w as conf ident in answ ering their q u estions.
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
15 of 19
15
Beyond the “s u c c es s f a c tor s ” E n e r g y / P as s i on for J ob F le x ib ility V e r s at i l i t y C om m u n i t y S p i r i t F oc u s
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
16 of 19
16
W h at to ask th e Interviewer 1. C an y ou t e l l m e w h e n y ou j oi n e d [ c om p an y ] , an d w h y ?
2. W h at h as b e e n t h e m os t e x c i t i n g m om e n t of y ou r c ar e e r ?
3. W h e r e d o y ou t h i n k t h e b u s i n e s s i s g oi n g i n t h e n e x t 3-5 y e ar s ?
4 . W h at ar e y ou r t h ou g h t s on t h e r e c e n t an n ou n c e m e n t b y [ x x x c om p an y ] t o m e r g e w i t h [ y y y c om p an y ] ?
5 . W h at t r ai n i n g & d e v e l op m e n t d oe s [ c om p an y ] offe r t o i t s n e w e m p l oy e e s ?
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
17 of 19
17
W h at N O T to ask th e Interviewer
H ow
H ow
m u c h w i l l t h e j ob p ay m e ? m u c h h ol i d ay w i l l I g e t ?
A r e t h e h ou r s l on g ?
H ow to Cl ose “I’v e r e a l l y e n j o y e d t h i s m e e t i n g , a n d a m v e r y e x c i t e d t o c o n tin u e w ith th is o p p o r tu n ity . C a n y o u a d v is e w h a t th e n e x t s te p s a re ? ”
I f y ou h av e t h e c on t ac t d e t ai l s for t h e i n t e r v i e w e r ( s ) , m ak e s u r e y ou s e n d an e m ai l 1-2 d ay s l at e r , t h an k i n g t h e m for t h e i r t i m e , an d r e -s t at i n g y ou r e n t h u s i as m . G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
18 of 19
18
G r a d u a t e R e c r u itm e n t N e tR e a d y 5 /2 0 0 7
©2 0 0 6 C is c o S y s te m s , In c . A ll r ig h ts r e s e r v e d .
C is c o C o n fid e n tia l
19 of 19
19