How to manage the interview marathon
30 May 2011
Read by 1866 persons
Your resume caught a recruiter's eye, congratulations! Congratulations? Already? That's premature, because the road ahead is long — it's more like a marathon. To move forward efficiently, Hervé Simonot, Group Sales Director at Mac Allister, recommends working in project mode. And project mode means vision, organization/monitoring, resources and action. Let's check these different points.
Focus on your vision.
Applying for a job is first about seeing yourself in your future job. Recruiters agree that candidates should listen to themselves to assess the consistency of their professional project with the job offer. Before any search, clarifying your expectations allows you to identify the companies you want to apply to and avoid applying to everything. "Choosing a job you like preserves your motivation, renews your desire to impress throughout the recruitment process, hence the importance of identifying the job postings that suit you," points out Vincent Rostaing, founder of Le Cairn 4 IT.
Having passed a number of steps thanks to this preliminary work, you are now interviewing with your potential future manager. Do you already see yourself at the top? Beware of overconfidence. Even if you are in high demand, even if many signs indicate that you are on the path to success, vigilance is essential; your confidence must not blind you.
Review your organization.
The position you are aiming for, its description, the company you are applying to, its recruitment process, the names of your various contacts, their positions, their contact details, the dates of your interviews... All these elements, which are not exhaustive, must be within your field of vision. Nothing better than a monitoring table to record them and see clearly. This will allow you to present yourself at each stage as a candidate who knows what they are talking about. Remember that you are not the only marathon runner in history; the recruiter is one too, and will appreciate your professionalism. Your progress report also allows you to be fully involved in your recruitment; thanks to it, you know when and who to contact; you no longer just wait for a response... which always takes too long for your liking.
By tracing each step, you can analyze your interviews and thus gain the perspective that will help you control your impatience. While this is quite natural, "avoid harassing or criticizing your contacts for not getting back to you," warns Thierry Andrieux, founder of the Humanessence firm.
State of your resources.
You are not at the end of your forty-two kilometers of interviews and you are out of breath? Or rather, you lack inspiration, reciting your arguments without conviction because you are tired of repeating them. "Forget overly marketed speeches, don't try at all costs to fit into boxes," advises Thierry Andrieux. "Get out of the sales logic and move towards a service offering, dare to break the codes to impress your contact," adds Vincent Rostaing. "Establish a balanced relationship with your contact, seek information by asking relevant questions, don't just answer the questions you are asked," recommends Hervé Simonot. It is by defending your project, that is, by arguing wisely, showing that you have understood the stakes of the position and the company's needs, that you will start a proactive candidate dynamic and feel full of resources.
Review of your actions.
It is often said, rightly so, that the candidate is entitled to feedback from each interview. But who said that feedback was one-way? The candidate also has every interest in communicating their own feedback. The thank-you email — which you must absolutely send to your contact after each meeting — is an opportunity to review the interview: reformulate the mission as you have understood it, the context, etc.; reiterate your motivation or inform the recruiter if it has disappeared; when your contact is the person you will be working with, let them know your desire to work with them. While the classics (concise email, font and text body without extravagance, basic courtesy, title allowing the recipient to easily identify what it is about, impeccable syntax) are still relevant, what matters most is the consistency of this letter with your project.
Finally, self-analysis is interesting both hot and cold. It is after a cold reflection that we advise you to send your email.
coaching.monster.fr
Focus on your vision.
Applying for a job is first about seeing yourself in your future job. Recruiters agree that candidates should listen to themselves to assess the consistency of their professional project with the job offer. Before any search, clarifying your expectations allows you to identify the companies you want to apply to and avoid applying to everything. "Choosing a job you like preserves your motivation, renews your desire to impress throughout the recruitment process, hence the importance of identifying the job postings that suit you," points out Vincent Rostaing, founder of Le Cairn 4 IT.
Having passed a number of steps thanks to this preliminary work, you are now interviewing with your potential future manager. Do you already see yourself at the top? Beware of overconfidence. Even if you are in high demand, even if many signs indicate that you are on the path to success, vigilance is essential; your confidence must not blind you.
Review your organization.
The position you are aiming for, its description, the company you are applying to, its recruitment process, the names of your various contacts, their positions, their contact details, the dates of your interviews... All these elements, which are not exhaustive, must be within your field of vision. Nothing better than a monitoring table to record them and see clearly. This will allow you to present yourself at each stage as a candidate who knows what they are talking about. Remember that you are not the only marathon runner in history; the recruiter is one too, and will appreciate your professionalism. Your progress report also allows you to be fully involved in your recruitment; thanks to it, you know when and who to contact; you no longer just wait for a response... which always takes too long for your liking.
By tracing each step, you can analyze your interviews and thus gain the perspective that will help you control your impatience. While this is quite natural, "avoid harassing or criticizing your contacts for not getting back to you," warns Thierry Andrieux, founder of the Humanessence firm.
State of your resources.
You are not at the end of your forty-two kilometers of interviews and you are out of breath? Or rather, you lack inspiration, reciting your arguments without conviction because you are tired of repeating them. "Forget overly marketed speeches, don't try at all costs to fit into boxes," advises Thierry Andrieux. "Get out of the sales logic and move towards a service offering, dare to break the codes to impress your contact," adds Vincent Rostaing. "Establish a balanced relationship with your contact, seek information by asking relevant questions, don't just answer the questions you are asked," recommends Hervé Simonot. It is by defending your project, that is, by arguing wisely, showing that you have understood the stakes of the position and the company's needs, that you will start a proactive candidate dynamic and feel full of resources.
Review of your actions.
It is often said, rightly so, that the candidate is entitled to feedback from each interview. But who said that feedback was one-way? The candidate also has every interest in communicating their own feedback. The thank-you email — which you must absolutely send to your contact after each meeting — is an opportunity to review the interview: reformulate the mission as you have understood it, the context, etc.; reiterate your motivation or inform the recruiter if it has disappeared; when your contact is the person you will be working with, let them know your desire to work with them. While the classics (concise email, font and text body without extravagance, basic courtesy, title allowing the recipient to easily identify what it is about, impeccable syntax) are still relevant, what matters most is the consistency of this letter with your project.
Finally, self-analysis is interesting both hot and cold. It is after a cold reflection that we advise you to send your email.
coaching.monster.fr
