So far, so good. Your foot's in the door. Your resume has been favorably received. The phone rings. They want you to come in for an interview. You can assume at this juncture that the factual material presented in the resume concerning your experience and technical knowledge meets the parameters the employer has set for filling the job.
Now, you may assume, all you have to do is impress the interviewer during the interview and the job is yours.
Easier said than done, and the reason is that too many people now go into "automatic pilot." They assume that all they have to do is show up, be pleasant and courteous, answer a few questions, and pick a starting date. That belief goes hand in hand with previous attitudes. If there is any stage in the job-seeking process that demands thought and preparation in advance, it is getting ready for the interview.
First of all, it's time to do research on the company. The interview, especially the initial one, will give you one shot at impressing the interviewer, not only with who you are and how you handle yourself, but with how interested you are, as evidenced by what you know about the company and the people in it. By having some direct knowledge of the way the company works, you've got a head start in landing the job.
Go to the library and start researching as far in advance of the interview date as possible. Don't wait until the last minute; in fact, leaving anything until the last minute while pursuing a job is a mistake.
Make notes as you read. Try to find examples of things the company has done and plans for the future that directly relate to some aspect of your background and interests. In effect, you're beginning to write the interview script, which is an important part of the process.
It may seem surprising that I'm suggesting that you "write the script." You probably assume that the conduct of the interview will be determined solely by the interviewer and the company. But that won't be true if you've taken the time and trouble to write the script yourself, and to help determine the direction in which it will go. In fact, preparing for and going through a job interview has all the trappings of a theatrical production.
There is the script, the director of the play (interview), and the acting out of the script. Each of those elements is capable of being brought under your control, and to fail to take advantage of this is to lose the winning edge.
I can hear objections from data processors who see absolutely no reason to prepare for an interview other than to have their hardware and software credentials in order. True, pursuing a career in data processing is 180 degrees from preparing to go on the job-interview "stage." If you've spent your educational and employment days in front of a terminal or sitting in a mainframe room, you probably have the sort of technical knowledge and skills required for the data-processing job you are going after. A few years ago, that might have been sufficient to get that job.
Not any longer. Here's why.
Because so many talented young men and women have prepared themselves technically for a career in data processing, it's automatically expected that the level of technical knowledge and skills is high. Certain minimum requirements are set for a job, and only those people whose background reflects them will be called in for interviews. The problem is that there could be many candidates for the same job, each with technical skills comparable to yours.
The fact is that no matter how technically oriented the interviewer might be, he or she is a human being, responding to intangible factors in each person interviewed. It is your performance during the interview that will form the basis for a positive or negative reaction. The interviewer - according to our Burke studies-will respond not so much to your experience, qualifications, education, and data-processing knowledge as to your personality - how you present yourself during the interview.
Again, it is assumed that you have enough knowledge of the particular DP systems that will be utilized on the job. That's a given these days, and if you really want the job - be it your first or your fifth - you had better accept the need to prepare for your performance when the interview rolls around.
