The Almighty Interview

As seen in the March All Access Internships Newsletter - my best interviewing tips!

As interviewing season quickly approaches, we at All Access Internships want to help prepare you as best as we can. Whether you are interviewing for a coveted dietetic internship or a new job in this tight market, it's all about preparation. Do your homework to make sure you don't fall through the cracks! I have been through some pretty intense interview processes over the years - including one that I completely bombed my senior year in high school. I guess I thought the review committee was kidding when they told me to read the morning paper every day for a few weeks before the interview and to be prepared to address current events. Needless to say, I didn't know answers to half of their questions and I left completely embarrassed. I have grown up a lot over the past four years and I now know that this all could have been avoided if I had only been prepared. Here are a few of my own tips that will give you an edge in any interviewing process:

• Dress your best for a phone interview and don't forget to smile. You will feel more confident and sound a lot more personable. Make sure to have your resume and other necessary documents readily accessible so that you can refer to them as needed.

• Do you know what STAR stands for? Behavioral interviewing is HOT, and if you don't know the meaning of this acronym you need to brush up on your interviewing techniques. Interviewers are looking for you to describe a situation or task, explain what action you took to accomplish it, and the result of your action.

• Generic answers won't serve you well in an interview. If someone asks you what type of leader you are, make sure that you have a specific example to back it up. Sure - it's great to say that you believe in participatory leadership but HOW did you exemplify this in your student organization, work setting, etc?

• Finish a thought completely and then stop talking. Sometimes we have a tendency to end our answers by filling the impending silence with awkward mannerisms. Interview as if you are writing a sentence - don't try and ease out of the response with a "sooooo, yeah". Be decisive with your answer and don't ramble!

• Be prepared for the ever-popular "tell me about yourself" question. Have a strong answer ready - memorize it even. A few sentences will do, but this is your first impression so make it count.

• Strengths and weaknesses. We all have them, and the interviewers want to know what they are. This is another response to prepare in advance. It is generally a lot easier to identify strengths than it is weaknesses. Make your answers UNIQUE. I have been on the other end of the interviewing process and can't count how many times I have heard "I am a
procrastinator" and "I tend to get over-involved" as answers to the weakness questions. Make yourself stand out by identifying a weakness that can be put in a more positive light. Just search the web and you will find tons of ideas to get you going. But DON'T use someone else's answer; this is just to get you thinking. Being true to yourself is what matters most.

Best of luck to you all,
Katie