As a rule, the system works like this; the company involved contacts the school; they then arrange to come to the campus to interview prospective candidates; students are notified of the impending visit and they schedule interviews with the representatives of the various corporations.
Preparing for the interview
Preparing for an interview with the college recruiter is not much different from preparing for any other interview. You must prepare in advance by finding out as much as possible about the corporation, memorize answers to commonly asked questions, and dress in a professional manner. However, this situation involves some special considerations.
First, the college employment recruiter usually has a very basic mission. He or she is to find the "best" college graduates for the organization. But what is "best" is often a question of individual, subjective evaluation based on confusing criteria. For example, the recruiter frequently has very little specific information about the job involved. As a rule, he or she is asked to recruit candidates on the basis of broad qualifications such as a college degree in accounting, alb+ average, an outgoing personality, leadership ability, interest in research, etc. Now, there is no way that a recruiter can determine much from a single interview, particularly when the criteria are so broad and so subjective. Although, it is easy enough to check up on a person's recorded and official back-ground, how does a person determine leadership ability in a single interview?
The fact that a person is president of an organization may only mean that the person is politically astute. Research is clear in this area. Leadership and political ability do not go hand in hand. Politicians are generally popular with those with whom they work. Leaders, on the other hand, are generally unpopular with those that they lead because they have to make difficult choices that don't coincide with each of their constituents wishes. They are, however, respected. So, even the fact that an individual has held office in a prominent organization does not mean that the candy-date is a leader.
It is even more difficult to determine whether a person has an "outgoing personality." The best the recruiter can hope to do is make a very subjective judgment about what he or she sees in the candidate. If the candidate seems sure of him or herself, for example, because he or she has a firm handshake and speaks without hesitation, the candidate may be viewed as "outgoing." If the candidate is assertive and speaks his or her mind, he or she may be perceived as "outgoing." The recruiter can only judge this and other traits on the basis of your behavior.
The college employment recruiter faces a second special problem. The students that he or she interviews have no employment track record. Or, if they do, the jobs that they have had while going to school seldom relate to the position for which they are being interviewed. Somehow, the recruiter must decide whether the candidate will be able to perform the job effectively and efficiently. The only way he or she can really do this is by guessing!
These factors put you in the driver's seat because most of what the interviewer knows about you is controlled by you. In preparation then, first, ask the placement office at your school what they think the company is looking for.
Believe it or not, the typical university placement office can answer these questions. The problem is simply that most students don't know enough to ask them. Obviously, they can be of significant value in preparing your response to the interview.
Assuming the worst scenario, that the placement office can't or won't answer the above questions, there are other ways to find out the answers in order to prepare appropriate responses.
One suggestion is to make sure that you are one of the last people to be interviewed. The reason for this is that you can contact your fellow students who have already been interviewed and ask them what you can expect. Normally, they will be glad to tell you what you need to know.
Another suggestion is to contact alumni who presently or formerly worked for the company. Either the placement office or the alumni office of the university should have the names of people that you can contact.
Finally, if you have tried everything else, you can always call the recruiter before the interview and ask some of the questions. It takes nerve and a lot of self confidence to do this, but you must get the information. The point is that you can't effectively prepare for the interview if you don't have any information. At the very least, you can always follow the general advice offered earlier in the book.
