Frequently, the transition occurs when the interviewer offers you a seat. If you sense that you have completed the social amenities and the interviewer still hasn't offered you a seat, three things may be happening: He or she is uncomfortable, unfamiliar with the process, or wants to see whether you will take the initiative.
In any case, remain cordial. To learn where the interview will be conducted, observe where the interviewer sits. Does the interviewer return to the desk or move over to an area that has a sofa and chairs?
Once the interviewer begins to sit down, if you have not been offered a seat, immediately ask: "Would you mind if I sit over here?" Seat yourself in the most comfortable chair available.
Environmental Assessment - If the transition does not occur and you both sense that you are frozen in time with nothing to say, you might try a technique I call environmental assessment, which means nothing more than "look around you." As you walk into the office, try to spot anything that expresses the interviewer's personality. It might be a photograph, a certificate, or an award. Look at it purposefully and say something like, "That's interesting. It must have some special significance to you. Can you tell me about it?"
One job seeker told me that before an interview with the president of a firm, he learned that he would be lucky if the meeting lasted five minutes. The president had been described as being "tough to get through to." In the first minute of the interview, the candidate experienced what he had been told. The president received him coolly and contributed little toward a feeling of comfort. The candidate seized the reins, looked at an unusual object on the president's bookshelf and said: "How interesting. I'll bet there's a story behind that." He paused, Silence. Then the interviewer smiled and began to tell the story behind the piece.
The ice was broken, and the interview lasted nearly an hour. The president confessed that he often tested new people to see how they would react to stress with clients. Thanks to environmental assessment, the candidate had passed the test and was offered the job. He didn't take it.
Environmental assessment can be used in other ways to help you learn more about situations.
The Generous Offer
Here we're talking not about salary, but about such matters as being asked if you would like coffee, a cigarette, a drink, and so on. If you want to say no, do so. Don't elaborate; just say "No, thank you" Anything more could damage the rapport you need to build.
If you want to indulge, be careful about what you say. You may find yourself being tested to see whether you are a loner, to see whether you are insensitive to circumstances, or for some other reason. The best response would be, "Only if you're having one." The interviewer may then respond by saying, "No, but why don't you go ahead." If so, your answer should be an unqualified "No, thank you." If silence follows, which it might, you may need to move the interview forward yourself. Instead of selling, begin by asking. You might phrase your next line this way: "Perhaps you could tell me a bit more about the position." Then pause. It's the interviewer's turn now.
The Time Line
The business aspect of your interview has officially begun. This part generally takes two-thirds or more of the time the interviewer plans to allot to you, and the final part of the interview takes at most 20 percent of the time (and frequently less).
If saying hello ran three minutes, you can anticipate that you may have about twenty minutes to conduct your business before you begin to say goodbye. This is consistent with the fact that preliminary interviews average about thirty minutes. Don't use the length of the interview as a barometer of success, however. Short interviews can be just as productive as long ones, and the converse is also true. Knowing how much time it took to get started, though, will tell you something about how long the interview will last.
In an employment interview, the average question takes about twenty to thirty seconds to ask and about thirty seconds to answer. The narrative portions of the interview (such as describing the position) generally run about two to three minutes at a clip, and both the interviewer and the candidate will have at least one narrative segment. The point? Interview time goes by rapidly, and you will be unable to probe any topic in depth. If you have only 20 minutes for business discussion, if you remove six minutes for narrative portions, and if each question and its answer take approximately one minute, you and the interviewer will have time for only fourteen questions and responses before you find yourselves making moves toward closure or departure. You are looking at fourteen questions, the answers to which may decide a career. How each of you uses the time to showcase your offerings and to learn everything you need to arrive at the best possible decision becomes critical. Keep in mind that you will have to stay on track and not allow your responses to drift from the point in question. It is never to your advantage to say too much.
