Meeting Preperation

It is essential to spend time anticipating the questions that you will likely be asked during an interview.  Study for the interview as you would study for an exam.

It is imperative to focus special attention on the subject matter that is likely to be covered on that exam.

Begin by reviewing your resume as though you were an uninvolved third party.

What jumps out as being of interest or of concern to an interviewer?   Is there a lot of job movement on the resume that needs explaining?  Will the interviewer wonder why someone who lives in

Oakville

is applying for a position in

Newmarket

?  Does the mostly sales and marketing based resume mention enough of the operations experience that is required for the role?  Study the resume as if you were hiring for the position and do not assume it will make sense to someone who does not own that resume.

The observations from the general look of the resume are usually the icebreaker questions in an interview so answer these questions in good fashion and you will be getting the interview off to a decent start.  

After reviewing the aesthetic parts of the resume that are likely to provoke questions, it is now time to get to focus on "the meat" of the interview questions, and these will likely be directly related to the job vacancy.

In order to prepare for this part of the meeting, it is best to closely review the job description.  I suggest thinking of three specific examples of successes achieved for each point mentioned in the job description.  Reviewing these successes before hand will always help with communicating them during the meeting and it will continue to allow the interview to run smoothly.  I am still amazed at how many people decide to just "wing" an interview because they are just too busy in their job.  If the role is one of interest, this approach is unacceptable as the competition for this role will certainly be preparing for the interview. 

If you find during your meeting preparation that the resume appears to understate your skills in relevant areas, you should consider altering the bullet point successes on the resume.

This practice will again allow you to better prepare for the meeting and also help you better recite your successes.  In addition to these benefits, it will also allow you the opportunity to leave a hard copy for the company.  Now more than ever, additional colleagues are being asked their opinion on candidate hires and a more job relevant resume will better represent you to the additional people at the office who were unable to attend the interview.

Farewell,

Mike