A common complaint of interviewers is that many candidates talk too much in interviews. There’s a list of questions the interviewer needs to get through, and there’s only so much time. How can you give concise interview answers while still sharing enough about your skills and accomplishment. Here’s your secret weapon: the expandable interview answer. (Thanks, E.B., for giving my little technique a name!...

“How many people do I have to interview with to get this job?” At some companies the answer is “quite a few,” either one person at a time – a sequential or serial format – or all at once as a panel interview. It’s not like they mean to gang up on you, although that may be how it feels! The usual reason for this kind of process is to enable a better hiring decision incorporatin...

As spring is followed by summer, hopefully your job interviews will be followed by reference checks! Don’t be knocked out of the running by any of the following deadly myths. Myth #1: Employers will only contact the persons you include in your references list. Not true. Many will contact others; it’s neither illegal nor particularly difficult. They can even discover and contact past employers you haven&...

Done well, a post-interview follow-up note does more than just say “thank you.” It helps you get the job. How can an interview follow-up email make that much difference? By reminding them why you’re the right person for the job. Can they have forgotten this so soon, the day after the interview? Sure, especially if they interviewed several people that day. And maybe they weren’t that clear on y...

What to do before accepting the job You’ve run the gauntlet of the job search and come out in one piece. In fact, everything has gone so well that an offer is on the way. All that’s needed is the quick finalization of a few details, and you’ll have the offer in hand. What should you expect to see? The first and most important answer to that question is contained in the question itself. What should yo...

Informational interviews are a great job search networking tactic. You can gain useful industry and company insights. More crucially, you can build relationships that may lead to being referred to hiring managers. How can you keep in touch and continue the relationship (without being perceived as a pest)? Let’s say you had an informational interview with Samantha, who does work similar to yours at a company you&...

Not every interview in your job search is a job interview. Consider the informational interview. An informational interview is a chance to meet briefly with someone in your field and talk about that person’s company, her career, and the industry as a whole. It’s as simple as that. It’s also a crucial facet of a best practice job search. Unlike a job interview, the informational interview lacks a pred...

Researching the company you're interviewing with is a must, and almost all job candidates do it to some degree. However, many candidates don't research thoroughly enough or research the right things. So, below are the most important things to research about a company before an interview, which will ensure that you're as informed as you can be and that you stand out from other applicants. 1. Research the compa...

Maybe you get a “normal” interview, full of questions like “What are your strengths?” or “How do you like to unwind?” Maybe you have to come up with a solution to a hypothetical or real problem. But a standard interview isn’t a given anymore. With so many applicants and with money and time on the line, recruiters and hiring managers have more pressure to “hire right”...

Some of the most common interview questions are about conflict management. For example: “How do you deal with conflict?” “Tell me about a time when you had an issue with a co-worker.' “Tell me about a time when you disagreed with your boss.” “How do you deal with conflicts when working on a team?” There are two reasons why conflict questions like these are so comm...