1. Interviewing
Jena Mahne, MS
Career Counselor
Barnard Career Development
jmahne@barnard.edu

2. Interview Tips and Etiquette
 “Interview Mode”
 Research
 Preparation
 Presentation
 Questions
 Final Statement
 Following Up

3. Interview Mode
 You should be in “interview mode” as soon as you send your
resume and cover letter out!
 All representations of yourself that are accessible must be
professional
 Voice mail greeting
 Email address
 Social media
 Search yourself on the internet to see what comes up

4. Research Tips
 Company
 Learn about the company’s history, specialties, areas of service, and
what makes them unique
 company website
 LinkedIn
 YouTube
 glassdoor.com
 media coverage
 Position
 Familiarize yourself with the job description and review the job’s
standard description on O*NET.
 Interviewer(s) and format
 Ask for the details in advance!
 Look up the people you will be interviewing with on the company’s
website and LinkedIn to familiarize yourself with their role and
background.

5. Preparation Tips
 Choose what to wear in advance, making sure it both looks and feels good
 Rule of thumb is to dress a step above the everyday norm for the company/organization/industry
 Keep accessories and colors simple
 Make sure clothes are ironed and neat looking
 Make sure pants are not too tight or low rise or skirts are too short
 Don’t wear excessive cologne/perfume
 Make sure what you wear is not distracting
 Bring a portfolio or a nice folder
 For them: copies of your resume and references, projects, supervisor reviews, etc
 Bring paper and pen to take notes
Practice, practice, practicePractice, practice, practice

6. Preparation Tips cont.
 Plan your route to arrive early to the area, but wait to check in
at actual location until 10-15 minutes prior to interview time
 Accept water so you can take a sip as you gather your
thoughts to answer a difficult question, or if you just feel
nervous in general
 Ask for clarification if you are unsure what the interviewer is asking
 Asking for a minute trick

7. Presentation Tips
 Regardless of the field, you should always present in an
interview as
 Eager
 Energetic
 Interested
 Show the above qualities by
 Being knowledgeable about the company and
position
 Expressing and explaining your excitement and
enthusiasm
 Be ready to discuss ideas you may have to bring to
the job or team

8. Body Language
Firm handshake
Good eye contact
Sit up straight, lean in at times as you answer
Minimize “tics”, both verbal and physical
Be mindful of talking speed and cadence

9. 2 fundamental questions
Your potential employer wants to know:
 Can you do the job?
 Will you be a good fit in our work
environment?
(You want to know this too!)
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10. Can you do the job?
You have the most control over answering this
question
 Strategy: continue making the case you started in
your cover letter and resume, giving clear examples
of times when you have demonstrated success
performing key aspects of the job
Story telling
 Being able to provide concrete examples in the
form of a story is more memorable and convincing
10

11. Will you be a good fit?
 You have somewhat less control over
the outcome to this question--it’s more
subjective
 Strategy: present your best self
confident
comfortable
enthusiastic
articulate
11

12. 3 Things About You
 What 3 things do you most want the interviewer(s)
to know about you by the time you walk out the
door?
 Brainstorm your key qualities as they relate to this
job
 narrow down to 3
 develop 2-3 examples from your work and/or volunteer
experiences that demonstrate each of these 3 qualities
12

13. 5 COMMON INTERVIEW
QUESTIONS
Tell me about yourself.
Why do you want to work for our organization?
What are your greatest strengths?
What is your greatest weakness?
Behavioral Questions: Tell us about a time when...

14. “Tell us about yourself”
In other words…
“Walk us through the highlights of your resume”
DO:
Highlight recent education and relevant work
history and activities
Use one or two of your three key points as a
focus
2-3 min
DON’T:
Go through your whole resume or life story
Feel bound to follow chronological or reverse
chronological order
30 second Elevator Pitch

15. “Why do you want to work for
our organization?”
In other words…
“What do you know about us?”
This is your opportunity to demonstrate your
understanding of the company/organization
overall mission
place within the industry
reputation and work atmosphere
End your answer with your desire to bring your
skills and experience to their
mission/company/team

16. “What are your greatest
strengths?”
In other words…
What makes you a good match for this job/Why
should we hire you?
Work in 2-3 of your key points
Remember the job description
 Give additional examples of the strengths you
focused on in your cover letter
 Focus on one or two points mentioned in the job
description that you didn’t fit into your cover
letter

17. “What is your greatest
weakness?”In other words…
“Are you self-aware, and can you change your behavior as
needed?”
 Make sure to Avoid clichés
 Choose something that wouldn’t be a huge part of the new job
Change the language to “challenge”, and use the past
tense
 “In my first management position, delegating tasks was a real challenge for
me….”
Discuss how you became aware of the problem (self-
analysis, feedback from boss?) and how you worked to fix it
(be specific!)
 “I talked it through with my manager, and we agreed that weekly check-ins with
each of my direct reports would assure me that the work was getting done.”

18. “Tell us about a time when...”
In other words…
“How well do you handle problems and obstacles?”
These are often referred to as behavioral or situational questions
Work in one or more of your key points
Prepare 3-5 examples about times you successfully handled
problems
 Tell me about a time you had to make an important decision.
 Tell me about a time you had to work on a team project.
 Tell me about a time you showed leadership.
 Tell me about a time you worked with a challenging client.
 Tell me about a time something did not go according to plan.
 Describe your problem solving approach.

19. BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEWING
Situation
 Briefly describe the circumstances.
Obstacle
 What was the specific problem or task?
Action
 What you did specifically do to resolve the problem.
Result
 Outcomes, what was learned, what was changed because of this
experience.

20. Behavioral Questions
“Give me an example of a time that you had to
work with a difficult person”
Situation: “Working in teams for a class project, we turned in
an assignment late because my teammate had not finished
her part in time for me to finish mine.”
Obstacle: “I had a teammate who had a different working
style than me. She did things at the last minute, where I liked
to complete things early.”
Action: “I scheduled a meeting with this teammate, and we
decided we would make timelines together and follow
them.”
Results: “With this new timeline, we were able to compromise.
I realized I did not have to do things so early, and my
teammate adhered to an earlier deadline. Our next project
was turned in on time.”

21. Other Challenging Questions
Avoid being thrown for a loop by thinking about the following
questions ahead of time:
 What types of tasks do you dislike?
 What salary are you looking for?
 Can you explain this gap in your
employment history?
 Examples of Illegal Questions: Are
you married? Do you have children?
How old are you?

22. Asking Questions
 Always ask questions!
 Short Reflection on each answer
 Standard questions
 What do you love about your job?
 What is a typical week like?
 Can you clarify OR tell me more about the responsibilities (x) of the job?
 Can you describe your ideal employee OR what characteristics are you looking for in ______?
 How will my position be evaluated?
 What upcoming projects would I be working on?
 Deeper questions
 If I were to be offered the position, what would you like to see me accomplish within the first 3 months
of my employment?
 Tell me about some recent successes of the company OR what are your short and long term goals?
 What is the overall structure of the company and how does your department fit into that structure?
 What are the strengths in you company? What do you see as your biggest challenge?
 I noticed in Time Magazine that your company was rated #1 in innovation. Congratulations! What do
you think is a the strongest contributor to that?
 Organic questions that arise during the interview
 “You mentioned staff retreats. How often do these occur, and what is the usual format?”
 Wrap up question:
 What are the next steps?
 Is there a time frame?

23. Final Statement
• Summarize your 2-3 assets and how you will
benefit the company
• Reconnect your values and passion
• State that you are interested in and excited
about the position

24. Thank you notes
 Send notes within 24 hours of the interview
 Highlight and elaborate on interview topics
 Confirm your current interest and excitement about the position
 Withdraw applicaion
 Send notes to everyone you met at the interview
 Obtain business cards while there, or call the office afterwards to
confirm correct names, spelling, and titles
 Email versus snail mail
 Email has become accepted and you should definitely use it if the
timetable is tight
 Handwritten notes do stand out – have prepared ahead of time.

25. Sample Thank You Email
Dear Ms. Williams,
It was wonderful to speak with you this morning regarding the Education Assistant
position at the Museum of the Moving Image. The job seems to be an excellent
match for my skills and interest.
The hands-on approach to education that you described confirmed my desire to
work with you. In addition to my energy and enthusiasm for education, I will bring
to the position strong writing skills and curriculum development experience.
I appreciate the time you took to interview me and I am very interested in and
excited about the Education Assistant position. Please do not hesitate the contact
me with any additional questions. I look forward to hearing from you regarding this
opportunity.
Sincerely,
Amy Smith
(555) 555-5555
LinkeIn: linkedin.com/in/amysmith

26. Contact References
• Inform your references that you
interviewed with ________ and they
should expect a call/email.
• Give them a list of 3 things to say
• Make it easy for them
• Align with interview

27. Following Up
 At the end of the interview, ask about their time frame for
making a decision
 If you don’t hear back from them within that time frame, call or
email to check in

28. ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
 Tip sheets on interviewing
 Barnard.edu/cd > students> tip sheets>interviewing
 Interview Preparation with myself or another
counselor in the office
 Brainstorming and refining answers to common interview
questions
 Mock interviews

29. Questions?