Interviewing Tips

At Snelling Staffing Services in Nashville, Tennessee, every member of our office wants you to succeed in finding the best fit for your next job. Before you face your next interview, read through our tips and contact us with tips of your own, to submit an application for one of our job listings, or with any questions!

Turn the Interview Into a Conversation

This is difficult for many candidates to accomplish; how to answer questions and incorporating a question into a response. Simple example:

“Mr. Doe, are you willing to travel?”

“Yes I am. Can you please give me an idea of the extent and kind of travel involved in MY position?”

The candidate gets valuable information to factor into a decision beyond a generic percentage of travel figure and by personalizing the question forces the interview into visualizing him/her on the job.

Using Assumptive Interviewing Techniques

Personalize the interview whenever and wherever possible. Never discuss job responsibilities or job duties. Use phrases like:

“What will I be doing for you on a day-to-day basis?”

“Who will I report to?”

“Who will be reporting to me?”

There seems no question as to whether the candidate will get the job because the interviewer is visualizing the candidate on the job in order to answer these questions.

The Salary Question

Many candidates have a very difficult time answering questions about expected income. A few will even bring up the subject of pay and benefits during interviews. The latter is easy to correct, but responding to the salary issue can be difficult.

“What salary are you expecting? Or what kind of income do you want?”

“Money is important to me Mr./Ms. Employer, but it isn’t my primary goal. I’m more interested in the people I will be working with on a day-to-day basis and the kind of long-term opportunities here at ABC Co. But since you brought it up, what kind of salary RANGE did you have in mind?”

If the employer names a salary range the stock response would be:

“When you decide I am the person for you, I am sure we can come to an agreement in that range.”

If forced to name figures, the candidate should respond with a salary range of his/her own and add:

“How does that fit into the range you had in mind?”

OR

“My recruiter told me your salary range and that fits into what salary range that I am seeking.”

Blue Sky Questions

What we call blue sky questions (generally asked by Human Resource interviewers) can cause candidates problems because they are forced to deal with abstract ideas rather than skills and facts. A question like ‘What are your long-term goals?’ can be tricky because many candidates think in terms or job titles and answer, ‘I want to be an Operations Manager some day.’

There are no pat answers here, but try to give the reasons for asking the question a self-assessment. One can’t hope to become a better person without knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses. Candidates need to think of traits they may have noticed in themselves that they are trying to change, i.e. too bold, impetuous, impatient, etc.

Ask For the Job

When an interview closes, ask for the job. Most employers close an interview with:

“Do you have any further questions at this time?”

The best response should be something along the following lines:

“Thanks for your time. I’m sure that I’ll think of questions I should have asked, after I leave. However, based on our conversation, I want you to know that I am very interested in this position. I’m confident I can more than meet your expectations. How do you see me fitting into your team?”

OR

“Do you have any question about my ability to handle the work?”