When preparing my clients for interviews, I often get to see the job description relevant to the interview. Usually, I caution my clients to take that job description with a grain of salt. I’ve learned through the years by working for major companies that the bigger the company, the bigger the mess. Of course I say that with sarcasm, but there’s a lot of truth in it.
Typically, job descriptions are documents that a human resources department requires on file for reference purposes. They have no practical use except during the hiring process or at the time of yearly employee evaluations should there be disputes. Once a position opens, the job description becomes the focal point for recruiting. However, sometimes the description on file has not been updated and made pertinent to the current position.
At times job descriptions are outright misleading! Evidence of this occurred when I interviewed with Honeywell. Truthfully, I was reluctant to apply for the position as advertised in the New York Times. It was two titles below my level but a 15-minute drive from my house. Since I was unhappy with my employer at the time, I was motivated to make a change. Evidently, my resume was so impressive that I was selected for an interview. However, during that interview, I learned they were looking for someone with my background and accomplishments and not what they advertised in the ad I answered. Turned out that I spent the best 15 years of my career with Honeywell.
So, what’s a candidate to do to be best prepared for an interview? The answer to the question is, learn the skills of (1) sleuthing by researching the company through networking contacts and (2) asking the interviewer questions whose answers reveal the key issues on the interviewer’s mind. The job description may disclose some of those issues, but many more of them may be buried among the details. The reason is easy to understand: Job descriptions are usually written by people in human resources, so how much can those workers understand the core needs of the position? Human resources most often uses standard-language descriptions that are overly generalized, such as, “Looking for a highly motivated self-starter with strong organizational and leadership skills. Must be an excellent communicator, with . . . ” The same goes for recruiters--unless they have a long-standing relationship with the company.
The conclusion is that the candidate should attempt to surface the true needs of the hiring manager as soon as possible at the start of the interview. One way of doing so is by asking the interviewer a question such as, “I understand what you’re saying, but I wonder whether you could tell me what the hired candidate would be doing during, say, the first six weeks on the job?” Any pertinent paraphrase of that question will get a reply that tells you what is important to the interviewer. After all, during the initial period on the job, a newly hired person would focus on what the boss needs done. Right?
Alex Freund is the founder of Landing Expert–Career Coaching. His Web site includes a current--and comprehensive--list of job search networking groups in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and the city of New York, and the site is visited by thousands of people every month. Landing Expert is a premier career-coaching service with the objective of preparing job seekers for interviews. Alex’s clients are gaining knowledge, receiving marketing material, and acquiring the know-how to beat the competition.
Alex can be reached at:
609-333-8866
