6 Interview Lessons from the 2008 Presidential Race: Part 1

It is impossible to watch the current Democratic and Republican presidential debates here in America and not think about some job interview Do's and Don'ts. Of course, most of us could not withstand these "interviews from hell," but we can at least learn something as we watch from the sidelines.

Here are some of the interview do's we have seen in this presidential race between Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Rudi Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Barack Obama, Bill Richardson, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.

Interview Do's

1. Do talk about prior job accomplishments where you worked with a team to reach a successful outcome. Just be clear that you were a part of a team and that you didn't do everything by yourself. It's not believable.

2. Do speak to outstanding job outcomes in clear and concise terms. Avoid the urge to over sell prior job "accomplishments". This is especially true if these prior job outcomes are easily verified. Especially, if when closely scrutinized, they might yield less than flattering results.

3. Do bring your personality into the job interview. Hiring managers are not looking for robots. They are looking for real people to do real work. They are turned off by energy, animation or a sense of humor, only if done in excess. Interviewers appreciate real people who let their positive persona shine through in the interview.

4. Do answer the specific job related questions asked. Sometimes a long preamble and set up for the answer will have your audience, the hiring manager, fading away, zoning out or thinking you aren't truly listening. It's even more disappointing when the answer gives no good indication of how you will ultimately perform on the job.

5. Do own your failures. There is nothing as unimpressive as someone in a job interview who cannot or will not speak to any lessons learned from prior career missteps, especially if asked directly. You do not need to dwell on job or career failures in the interview, but you need to acknowledge them and speak to lessons learned at least. It comes across as disingenuous if you don't.

6. Do speak to transferable job skills. No two careers are identical. People go in different directions, work in different roles and therefore have different stories to tell. The key is to focus on your transferability of job skills from one situation to the next.

Part 2 of this article will address the interview don'ts from the presidential campaign.

SOURCE:
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/Careers/10/25/cb.weird.interview/index.html