Thursday 19 April 2012

Interview Tips Part 1 - Find Out What The Company Values



OK forget the above picture! Although it did make me giggle!

Recently I have had the pleasure of going through a few interview processes in order to get my career back on track. Although the interview process can be unpleasant, essentially you are selling yourself and to some that can be uncomfortable, it is definitely a challenge. If you like a challenge, to break the norm once in a while, then going through a round of interviews should help you out!

One thing I would stress is to not take the interview process lightly. Research the company that you are going to interview with. A solution that really worked for me was to find what the company values, and then think about how you would fit in with those values. A classic example are the Amazon Values. This tells you exactly what the company is looking for in all candidates. Pretty much well every company, that has an on-line presence, will have a similar page to the one at Amazon.

If the company you are interviewing with is actually serious about these values, then most of the questions that they will ask you should be able to be mapped back to them. So print out the values. See if you agree with them. If you don't, then you have to ask yourself why are you going to go for an interview with the company. It's a pretty safe bet that you won't enjoy your time there, if you are offered a job, as you disagree with the values that the company aspires to!

If you do agree with the values, then write down how you have met them and more importantly how you have lived them in previous roles, or indeed in your day to day life. If in your past roles you have not had the chance to aspire to the values, then write down how you would! Then read what you have written a couple of times to see if you actually believe in what you have said. Again if you don't then you have to think to yourself, would you enjoy your time with the company you are interviewing with.

If the company is serious about the values, that it is openly promoting, then most of the interview questions that you are asked should be directly mappable back to the values that you have studied. As you have highlighted how you have managed to aspire to these you invariably have a coherent and simple answer to provide in an interview. By studying what values a company aspires to, and determining if you believe in them, you are essentially able to find out the types of questions you might have to answer and you are then able to find the best situation, you have previously been involved in, that demonstrates how you personally aspire to that value.

If in the interview you don't get questions that relate to the published company values, then in my opinion you have to ask yourself whether that company is actually serious about them. Are their published values simply lip service that attention is never paid to. If you feel this is the case, then you again have to ask yourself whether you would be comfortable working in an environment like that. 

OK just because in a single interview you are not asked about anything that maps to the company values doesn't mean that the entire company doesn't aspire to them. You are typically interviewed by members of the team that you are going to work with though, so it might be an indication that the particular team doesn't aspire to them. Remember an interview is not a one way process. Sure you are going there to sell yourself, however the company that you are interviewing with should also be selling itself to you as well. If you don't get a great feel through the interview process, again you need to ask yourself, would you feel comfortable working there. 

Interviewing is not necessarily an easy or comfortable process. If you are not a natural sales person, then going out and selling yourself is not a trivial thing. It can be a very hard slog! Knowing, and understanding, the values of the company that you are interviewing with will at least help you know if you would be comfortable working there. It should also give you an insight into the questions that should be asked in the interview process. If questions are not asked in the interview, that can be mapped to promoted company values, then this should provide an indication as to whether the published core values are simply lip service, or actually aspired to. All great personal indicators to highlight if you would feel comfortable working in a company.

Next up STAR answers to questions ..... but this is another blog coming soon!


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