Employment data:

• What you did
• How well you did it
• Salary level
• Reason for leaving or considering change
• Educational data
• Class ranking
• Honors and activities
• Percentage of expenses earned

Personal data:

• Community affairs
• Speaking engagements
• Articles written
• Family, hobbies, interests
• Professional affiliations

Be Prepared to Answer:

"Describe yourself" questions - Pre-planned responses should include:

• Education
• Work credentials
• Accomplishments

Personality questions:

Example: "How do you perform under pressure?" Give "the obvious answer," supported by past or present experiences

Motive questions:

These attempt to determine if you will enjoy the job or fit in, for example:

"Why should you want to work in a firm this size?" or, "What's the ideal situation for you?" Answer in terms of your qualifications for the job: Don't be vague, be specific and be emphatic

Salary questions:

• Tell them what you are presently earning when asked
• Avoid negotiating salary; state you would consider a reasonable offer once all the facts have been gathered
• Discuss with your recruiter how to best negotiate salary for each opportunity

Tough questions:

• Prepare answers in advance and answer them matter-of-factly
• Why do you want to make a change? What are your weaknesses?
• Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
• What kind of firm are you looking for?

Knowledge of the Company:

Know as much as you can about the organization, and be prepared with a list of questions (written is OK). But be careful not to cross examine.

Interest questions:

• the company
• the department
• background of the interviewer

Job satisfaction questions:

• The importance of the work
• Your responsibilities and authority
• Career potential
• Avoid questions on salary, fringe benefits, vacations: these questions will be answered at the appropriate time

Attitude:

• Maintain strong interest throughout the interview; it will be too late to decide you're interested if you've been "just curious" throughout the interview
• Smile, be friendly and relaxed, but never casual; show enthusiasm for the things you see and hear that you like
• Be positive, answering questions in terms of past performance
• Never be negative (or overly positive) about past/present employers

Additional tips:

• Answer questions directly, and be careful not to digress
• Don’t monopolize the conversation; make sure your interviewer has time to respond to your responses.

Conclusion:

• Ask your interviewer "what's the next step"
• Thank your interviewer and express interest again
• Call your associate at Whitaker immediately after interview
• Write a brief thank you note to your interviewer. The Interview Preparation Process answer questions directly, be careful that you don't digress
• Don't monopolize the conversation, give the interviewer opportunities to respond

Goal:

• Your first goal of each job interview is to get an offer. Remember, you can always turn it down. But you can never go back and change a "first impression."
• Strive for every interview to be a "winning interview," that is, find out about the job and convince them you can do the job.