During an interview with a prospective employer, Hillary Lyden became speechless when she was asked a common question: “Why should our company choose you?”
The interview, though nerve-racking, is perhaps the most important part of an employer’s selection process of potential employees.
Interviews aim to determine whether the candidate is right for the job and whether the job is right for the candidate.
And for people like third-year art history student Lyden, planning ahead of time can help to ensure success and prevent freezing up in an interview.
“It is important to identify what kind of questions will be asked and to identify what about your background, personality and competencies the organization would find helpful to the position,” Kathy Sims, director of the UCLA Career Center, said.
Students should also have a resume prepared, she said.
Since resumes document all past work, students should review all of their prior accomplishments to be completely familiar with them, said Len Bonilla, who served as a college recruiting manager at Raytheon Company and has recruited at UCLA.
Answering practice questions that may be asked during interviews may also help to ease nerves, Bonilla added.
According to the Career Center Web site, typical questions include, “Did you work while going to school?” “How has your education at UCLA prepared you for your career?” and, as Lyden was asked, “What interests you about our company?”
The best way to prepare is to write out and rehearse details surrounding each item on your resume, according to the site.
UCLA students can also access the Career Center’s Web site to review additional common interview questions.
But employers make their selections based on more than just candidate responses.
“We begin by looking at the resume before we do any interviewing, so that we have an initial picture in our mind about who we are interviewing,” Bonilla said.
After that, the conduct of the prospective employee is most important. The prospective employee’s demeanor is very important ““ communication is important, and one cannot be shy or demure, Bonilla said.
“We usually get a good idea about the person we’re interviewing fairly quickly,” he added.
The job candidates should show enthusiasm in the position to help them to stand out in employers’ minds, according to the Career Center Web site.
Students should also dress appropriately in business attire. For women, this could include a suit or tailored dress, polished pumps and minimal jewelry, according to the site. Men should wear a dark two-piece dress suit, polished dress shoes and solid dark socks.
But the interview process does not end once the person seeking a position walks out of the employer’s door.
“Make sure you have the contact information for the person (who interviewed you),” Sims said. “Then you should write a follow-up letter which, of course, can be in the form of e-mail.”
In the e-mail, highlight a few important points, reiterate any questions that were raised during the interview, and thank the potential employer.
“Keeping these points in mind will be vital this fall, since employment of Bruins is supposed to increase dramatically this year,” Sims said.
Since the economy is coming out of a recession, more students are expected to be hired straight out of college, she said, and more than 100 employers have scheduled individual information sessions with the Career Center this year.
Companies are eager to hire recent college graduates in higher numbers, Sims said, due to a growing portion of the work force retiring.
But that does not mean employers will forgo the interview process to find the most eligible candidates.
“Just because employers want to hire recent graduates does not mean they will take anyone,” Sims said. “They really want to know why they should hire the student.”