This is
an excerpt from an interview with Harry
West, chief executive of Continuum, an innovation design consulting
firm, was conducted by Adam Bryant
and appeared in the New York Times on January 29, 2012 .
Harry West attributes his
leadership style to being the eldest of six kid because as West
says, "… you are surrounded by other people all the time and you’re
constantly communicating in a way that perhaps you aren’t if you’re in a
smaller family."
West's
viewpoint is less about birth order and more about the similarities between family
and workplace dynamics and why fit is so critical to a successful job search. It
is why you will interview with several people in the organization and why you
will likely have two interviews or more with the hiring manager.
When you
learn interviewing best practices it's not difficult to impress in the first
meeting. You've practiced your answers
to tell me about yourself, what is your greatest strength and weakness,
where you want to be in five years questions.
However, by the second or third meeting if the hiring manager doesn’t have a
good gut feeling about your fit for the job and the company, you will not get
the job offer. Even if you only meet once with the hiring manager, everyone who
has interviewed you will get together to discuss their interview with you.
A marathoner trains to go the distance and you should be doing the same. You've
put in a lot of time and work to get the interview so before going on an
interview do a deep dive. In addition to knowing about the job and what is
required to succeed, being armed with an arsenal of information can give you an
edge over your competition. You will be able to answer questions about the
employer if asked, it will enable you to ask intelligent questions when you are
given the opportunity, and you will be to communicate your value, what you are
looking to do and why this is the right opportunity for you and why you are the
right fit them.
Before
you interview, learn at the very least the following.
- The company's short- and long-term goals
- Have there been recent layoffs
- The backgrounds of the people you will be interviewing with and of the leadership team
- Are training and other development programs offered
- Understand the company mission, vision and culture
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