Six Tips for Preparing for an Interview Part II

Hi there!  Welcome to the second part of this series about basic interview tips.   As I described in the first article I think that sometimes people gloss over the basics because they already know them.  I can tell you from experience that many people either don’t or they forget them.  If you’re just joining us the first part can be read here:

Six Tips for Preparing for an Interview Part I

Here are tips 4 – 6:

4.  Dress the Part!

This is something that people surprisingly mess up all of the time.  There are many people that give all sorts of advice about dressing to match the people in the office and so on.  Here is the deal.  WEAR A SUIT!  The reason that you dress up for an interview is not to look impressive.  It is a sign of respect.  To this day I have never heard of someone losing out on a job because they were overdressed. 

If you are in a position where you absolutely can’t wear a suit - like it would draw attention to your current employer.  Call the interviewer beforehand and ask for permission to wear your regular work attire.  When you do this you are still accomplishing your goal.  Giving them respect and acknowledging proper protocol.

5.  Know Where the Interview Is!

Back in the old days when people prepared for an interview they would pull out a map and drive to the interview the night before to make sure that they could get there on time.  Nowadays in our sophisticated world of GPS we make the assumption that our smartphones will magically get us where we need to be on time. 

I’d like to introduce you to Finagle’s Law.  Finagle’s law states “Anything that can go wrong, will—at the worst possible moment.”  Being late is a cardinal sin in a job search.  Calling to tell them that you are running late can minimize the damage but you will look bad.  The best bet is to use your GPS to drive to the interview site the night before and call it good.

6.  Send a Thank You Note

We have evolved into a digital age where manners are secondary.  Emily Post would be horrified with how we handle our affairs.  In this day and age it is customary to send a thank you email that instantaneously gets delivered to the interviewer in a generic and antiseptic manner.  Sending an actual letter in the mail – using handwriting and a stamp – will set you apart.  An added bonus is that the mail takes so long that it will serve as a positive reminder of your awesome interview a couple of days later when they are getting ready to make a decision.  However, please remember that you need to send both the email and the letter.  Unfortunately, because virtually no-one else uses the mail anymore you will look bad if you don’t send an immediate email too.

Happy interviewing out there!!

If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them below or to email me at sthompson@insurance-csg.com

Please check out some of my other articles below:

The Six Biggest Challenges Faced by Insurance Producers

How Insurance Producers Can Use Social Networking to Increase Sales

Four Skills that Every Account Manager Needs to Succeed

Bad Customer Service Experiences

Four Keys to a Great Reference

Three Things that Account Managers Should Do

Six Tips For Preparing For An Interview Part I

Hi All! This week I thought I’d go back to basics and cover some things that we all think we know.  Before I start sounding like the adults in a Peanuts cartoon – please listen.  This stuff is really important.  The basics in an interview are what set the winners apart from the losers.  The reason:  If you can’t do the simple stuff right an employer will assume that you can’t do the important more complex stuff – like breathing….

So below are six tips for preparing for an interview.   Getting these right will not get you the job.  However, getting  these wrong will cost you the job!

1.  Check out Social Networking

Many interviewers look at people’s social networking to get a feel for them before an interview.  I have no doubt that this practice will increase.  Honestly, I think that you should be way ahead of the curve and have already taken all of those pictures down when you decided to look for a new job but if you haven’t yet.  

Your future employer does not want to know how fun
you were in college...

Make sure you do so before the interview.  Also – do a quick Google search of your name.  Make sure that there isn’t another person with your name out there writing horrible things.  If there is you can’t do anything about it but you can be aware of it and be prepared to deal with it. 

2.  Research the Company

This is one place where people really stumble.  Nothing ends an interview more quickly than admitting that you don’t know anything about the company.  It is not acceptable to say I meant to research you but I was too busy.  With this in mind you need to know what the interviewer is looking for.  They don’t want a ten minute report about all of the information that you found – they work there…

Organizations simply want to know that you took the time to do some research.  A good way to handle this is to make sure that you know about the company and its product.  From there look for something that interests you and answer their question with a question.

Example:

Interviewer:  So what do you know about the company?

Interviewee:  I have to say I was really impressed with your website.  You guys look like a top notch insurance agency.  I noticed that XYZ company placed a strong emphasis on your support of XYZ charity.  Why do you guys do that?

Boom!  You just nailed it.  You answered the question.  You made the interviewer happy because they get to do what everyone likes most – talk about yourself.  AND you can move on to the real point of the interview – why you are so awesome.

3.  Research the Interviewer

In most cases you will know the name of the person that you are interviewing.  In this day and age there is really no excuse to take this information and do some cyber-stalking.  Look up these people on LinkedIn and Facebook.  See if there are any common interests.  Find out where they went to college.  Find out if there is anything that you can use to your advantage. 

Use Care.  Don't look like this guy!

However, please heed my warnings.  You should keep the following things in mind:

• It is only acceptable to acknowledge that you looked them up on LinkedIn or on their company website.  Don’t say that you looked them up on Facebook – this can weird them out.
• Only use the information if you are given an in – don’t start the conversation by saying – I noticed you went to XYZ State University – did you like it there
• Find a way to get the interviewer talking about themselves – people like this

Tips 4 – 6 can be found here:

Six Tips For Preparing for an Interview Part II

Please feel free to check out some of my other articles below:

The Six Biggest Challenges Faced by Insurance Producers

How Insurance Producers Can Use Social Networking to Increase Sales

Four Skills that Every Account Manager Needs to Succeed

Bad Customer Service Experiences

Four Keys to a Great Reference

Three Things that Account Managers Should Do

As always please feel free to comment below or to send me an email at sthompson@insurance-csg.com.  

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Senior Employee Benefits Producer
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