Page 33 - 101 Dynamite Answers to Interview Questions

26 Nail the Job Interview!

One-to-one Interviews

Most interviewees encounter one-to-one, face-to-face interviews. The
applicant and the employer meet, usually at the employer’s office, and sit
down to discuss the position and the applicant’s slulls, knowledge, and
abilities as they relate to the job. At some point, though hopefully late in
the interview, they discuss salary considerations as well as other benefits.
While a screening interview is often conducted by someone in
personnel - after all, screening is one of their major functions - hiring
decisions are usually made by department managers for lower and many
mid-level positions, and by upper management for top-level positions. If
the hiring interview is conducted by someone from the department which
has the position, you can expect the interviewer to ask many specific job-
content questions. If the interviewer is from personnel, the questions will
tend to be more general.

Sequential Interviews

For many positions, especially those beyond entry-level, more than one
interview will be necessary. Sequential interviews are simply a series of
interviews with the decision being made to screen the candidate in or out
after each interview. The candidates who are screened in are called back
for additional interviews. Although each of the sequential interviews is
most frequently a one-to-one interview, you could meet with more than
one interviewer at the same time in any of these sessions. You may meet
with the same person in each interview, but it is more likely you will meet
with new people in subsequent interviews.
When sequential interviews are held, many of the terms of employ-
ment issues such as salary and benefits may not be discussed in the initial
interview. These considerations may be saved until later interviews - after
the pool of candidates has been narrowed and the employer is getting
serious about only a very few candidates. This can work to your advan-
tage, since with each interview you should have the opportunity to find
out more about the position - ask in subsequent interviews some things
you wish you had asked, but forgot, in your initial interview. You also
have a greater chance to demonstrate your qualifications and try to
convince the interviewer(s) that you are the person for the job.