Successful Job Interviews: Managing Your Time, Managing the EmployerWhen considering how to conduct successful job interviews. being aware of the balance of power, the “push and pull” between you and your interviewers is very important. As in any relationship, we must address the issue of power and power balance, both within the interview itself and beyond, with each employer we meet during our job search. While it’s very important to keep your focus on the employer's needs only when it comes to sharing important information about you and your qualifications, there are other aspects of the job search where you need to negotiate up front right from the start to ensure your job interview success. Balancing the Power in Your Interviews: How to Manage the “Push and Pull” Push and pull is a “game” that we all have to play in life. We play it when we date and in our friendships. Professional relationships are no different here. It’s a “push-pull” process, not a passive process for you. Interviewing is not a passive process for us applicants. Rather, the interview is a dynamic, assertive conversation. It’s a time to be active and “on stage,” not just receive and respond. It's best if we take a position of equality towards the interviewer and the employer to ensure successful job interviews. You are neither superior nor inferior to them. It’s almost like pushing back a little but without being pushy. Interviewing is not passive. True, the power is not completely balanced between you until they offer you a job. Before then, you are in the position of persuading them to accept you. But there is much you can do to assert yourself and to not allow them to dominate you. During our networking activities especially, we may unintentionally or inadvertently “push” an employer, such as by attending an informational interview with the intent of finding a job right away rather than building a relationship. Does this sound familiar? Yes, it’s similar to a mistake that so many of us have made at one time or another on first dates! During the interview, our tendency as job searchers is more often to be too passive and let the employer lead and, to some extent, manipulate or take advantage of us. Obviously, this will not result in successful job interviews for us. This is not the employer’s fault – it’s our responsibility as job searchers to “push back” or maintain the balance of power. Let's look into this issue further as it relates to managing your time both before and during a job interview. Successful Job Interviews Tip #1: Negotiate the Best Possible Interview Time for You First, let’s look at some time management concerns relating to the scheduling of successful job interviews. This applies equally to in-person and telephone screening interviews. As is equally true for other relationships in our lives, it’s best if we’re not overly-accommodating in our time or in any other way. Some interview days and times are better than others and it’s totally within your power to negotiate a better deal for you. It’s better to meet with the employer at a time of week and day when they are likely to have more energy to really listen to and take in what you have to say. As I mentioned briefly above, the time of day and week that you attend your interview can make a big difference. Perhaps the worst time would be Friday afternoon, a time when the interview is most likely to feel tired and perhaps even a little burnt out because it’s late in both the day and the time of day. In sharp contrast, Monday morning may be best because people come in to the office on Monday refreshed and open to new ideas and people – interested in their jobs and interested in you! Some people would say that Tuesday or Wednesday mornings are also good – Wednesday being the middle of the week when people are fully engaged in their work. Ask or negotiate for the best possible time available given these general guidelines. Generally speaking, earlier in the day and earlier in the week are preferable to later in the day and later in the week for your best interview results. Don’t arrange an interview on extremely short notice or in such a way that you don’t have time to prepare or will be rushed to get there on time. It’s important that you avoid cramping your schedule, which can result in you feeling stressed out as you rush from somewhere else just to get to your interview just barely in time. If the employer won’t bend or is very closed to negotiating a mutually-convenient time with you, then think twice about accepting a job offer from them. They should at least express concern for your time, even if it’s not possible for them to offer you an alternative. In contrast, a “healthy employer” may well appreciate that you’re able to assert yourself in a balanced way and to negotiate fairly for what you want, just as you can do later regarding salary, benefits and other terms of employment. Look for an employer that’s more flexible and willing to respect your time constraints and preferences. As I explain further elsewhere, “the interview is always right.” In other words, what happens during and relating to the interview is most often an accurate picture of how the employer will treat you once you’re on the job. A client from the financial field recently told me that she’d called and left a voicemail for a prospective employer, stating that left a large chunk of her schedule for the week open for a one-hour screening interview. I quickly wrote back, I’m concerned that you told them that you’re totally free for those days. I suggest it would be best for you to keep yourself busy with your various educational and job search activities, and let employers know that your time is valuable and you’re busy. It would be better to offer them a couple of specific times on those days that you specifically choose to offer them from your busy schedule. So for instance you might say to them, “Right now as it stands I’m available on Monday from 10 am to 1 pm and Tuesday from 3 to 5 pm. I’ll keep these spots open as long as I can but please get back to me as soon as you’re able to. Otherwise, you give “ownership” for your schedule over to them for those two days, and it also makes it look like you are dependent on them and have no other options – which is certainly not the case here." Successful Job Interviews Tip #2: Don’t Arrive Too Early I also want to suggest that for successful job interviews you not arrive too early. This could also be interpreted as a “push” by the employer. People who are good at time management usually arrive to their interviews and other professional meetings on time – a few minutes early, but not late and not too early. Arriving early isn’t much better than arriving late to an interview. The employer could interpret your arriving early as meaning that you’re unconventional, unaware of the time, overcompensating for poor time management. or that you just don’t value your time or have anything else important to do. Successful Job Interviews Tip #3: Asking for More Time Finally, here’s a tip about you to respond if you get stuck answering an interview question. One approach is to make a general statement about the question before diving in to your answer. For instance you might say, slowly, “That’s a very important question...” You might continue, ... And I want to make sure to answer it properly... And then ... “... I’m going to take a minute to think before I answer it.” And if you still need more time, you can ask the interviewer to return to it later, before the end of the interview. Make a note of it though, and make sure that you bring it up later if the interviewer doesn't. She might forget, or interpret your request for more time as a polite way of not answering the question and trying to save face.
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