The 4 P''s of Interviewing
Deloitte''s Global Director of Recruitment Offers Advice for Job Seekers
If you wanted to pick someone''s brain about interviewing， Kent Kirch''s would be a good one to pick. He''s been involved in recruitment and candidate selection for 25 years and reckons he''s interviewed about 3，000 candidates. He''s now the global director of recruitment for Deloitte， which hires thousands of people every year.
Expert Advice
Kirch divides interviewing into four buckets —— the four P''s of interviewing：
1. Preparation.
2. Practice.
3. Personal presentation.
4. Pertinent questions.
Preparation
"It''s really frustrating for an interviewer to have someone that they''re talking to who really doesn''t know the company or the position they''re applying for，" laments Kirch， who is confounded by candidates who don''t do the bare-bones research before the interview. He estimates roughly one out of five prospects commits this crime.
Candidates should have "looked at the Web site， read the [company''s] brochure， talked to people who''ve worked there —— that''s kind of baseline homework，" he says. "If you haven''t done that， it can really make it uncomfortable in the interview， because either you''re not going to understand what the interviewer''s talking about， or you''re going to ask some dumb questions."
"Another thing is not really preparing for the interview itself." Applicants should "sit down and think， what are they going to ask me when I''m in that interview？'' With a little bit of asking around， you can find out things like， do they use behavior-based questions， do they use case-based questions， do they use a really unstructured conversational interview？"
Finding people to talk to within the organization can yield a lot of information. Kirch also says it''s perfectly acceptable to ask some questions when setting the interview up， including：
·Who will I be talking to？
·Any suggestions on how to prepare？
·Should I expect a particular type of interview format？
"You have nothing to lose by asking，" says Kirch. "It shows that a candidate is interested in what''s going to happen. They''re interested in you as an employer and they''re inquisitive， and in most cases， that''s going to be a very positive thing."
Practice
Candidates can often anticipate the kinds of questions -？if not the exact ones —— they''ll be asked during interviews， particularly if they''ve done their due diligence. Once you''ve determined the probable questions， Kirch advises practicing in front of someone.
"They always talk about preparing yourself —— looking in the mirror and answering the question，" Kirch says. "It''s much more difficult to give your answer to a live person and ask them what they thought of your answer than to look yourself in the mirror and do it."
Personal Presentation
Dressing appropriately is sometimes lost on recent graduates， says Kirch， adding that many times young people will show up wearing a coat when a suit would be more fitting. "Or even if they do come with the right tie or suit， sometimes it''s that they''re not well-presented，" he says "They''re wrinkled， or they''re wearing white pants in January. It could be a lot of different things that are easy to fix， but it just doesn''t help them when they''re up against a lot of competition for a position." Again， doing your homework should reveal the appropriate attire.
Be sure to cover all the standard interviewing etiquette points as well. "Even the basics —— like a good handshake， not being nervous， smiling —— because they don''t see the real you if you''re uptight，" Kirch explains. "And basic eye contact； a lot of people put a lot of weight into eye contact. Maintaining that is really important."
Pertinent Questions
Kirch says it''s profoundly disappointing in interviews to "get to the end and say， do you have any questions I can answer for you？'' and they say， no， I think you answered them all，'' and that''s the end of it. It''s just really disappointing and reflects negatively on the candidate."
Include developing a tough question in your preparation to finish things off. "For me， I just love it when someone asks a really difficult question —— something that takes some guts to ask， asking really well-thought-out questions that show you know the business that that interviewer is in，" says Kirch. "You know their company to some extent， and you''ve thought about your question. It all goes back to preparation， and it tells the interviewer you thought about this interview before you walked in the door."
面试的四个关键
——德勤的全球招募理事给求职者的意见
如果你想参考别人关于面试的经验和成果， 找Kent Kirch是一个很好的选择。他从事了二十五年的招募新员工和挑选候选者的工作， 面试过大约 3，000多的候选人。他现在是德勤的全球招聘理事，每年雇用成千上万的人。
专家意见
Kirch把面试分成了四个阶段——即面试的四个关键
1.准备阶段（Preparation）
2.练习阶段（Practice）
3.个人展示（Personal presentation）
4.相关提问（Pertinent questions）
准备阶段
“对于一个面试官来说，如果面试者并不清楚自己申请的公司或者职位，那真令人受挫。”Kirch说道。面试前不对所应聘的公司和职位做彻底研究的人会让面试官反感。他粗略地估计过，近两成的应聘者会犯这种错误。
面试者应该“事先访问过相关网站，阅读过（公司的）小册子，与在那里工作过的人谈谈—这些是最基本的准备工作。”
“如果没有以上准备，你会在面试中感到不自在。要么你会不明白面试官在说些什么，要么会问一些愚蠢的问题。”
“还有一件事并不是为面试本身做准备的。”应聘者应该“坐下来想一想，面试时，他们会问我什么？稍微打听一下，你就会有所发现，他们可能会问行为问题，可能会问事例问题，或者只是随意的对话。”
与公司内部人员交谈将会获益匪浅。 安排面试时，对方完全会接受你提出的下列问题：
·我将和谁谈话？
·关于如何准备有何建议？
·我是否会遇到特别形式的面试？
Kirch说：“这种询问不会给你造成任何损失。" 这表明应聘者正对将要发生的事情感兴趣。 作为雇主，他们也会对你有兴趣，他们是好追根究底的；绝大多数情况下，那是件有益的事。”
练习阶段
应聘者是可以预料到面试中可能提出的问题的，特别是如果求职者已经做出了充分的准备。一旦你已经预测到了大概的问题，Kirch建议要在朋友面前进行练习。
“人们总强调要做好准备—要对着镜子回答问题”，Kirch 指出，“与一个真实的人进行交流，并询问他们对你的回答有什么看法，这比对着镜子自己练习要难的多。”
个人展示
刚毕业的大学毕业生有时着装并不得体。很多时候，明明穿套装会更合适，而年轻人会穿着一件夹克。 “即使他们面试时穿了西服，并打了领带， 效果也不一定很好。”Kirch说， “衣服是皱的，或者在一月份还穿白色西裤。许多东西都很容易准备，但是当他们面临一个职位有大量的竞争者的时候，那都没有什么帮助了。” 再一次强调，做好准备，也包括得体的装束。
必须掌握全部的面试礼节标准。“即使最基本的——如规范的握手，毋需提心吊胆，并且要面带微笑——这样如果你的心情很焦躁，他们也不会看出来。”Kirch解释到，“还有眼神交流，许多人比较在意这点。保持目光接触是非常重要的。”
相关提问
面试接近尾声时，如果遇到以下的情况，谁都会感到十分失望。
面试官：“你还有什么问题要我回答的？”
应聘者：“哦，没有了。我想你已经全部回答完了。”
这就面试的结尾。这样的回答实在是很让面试官失望。
在临近结束的时候，要进一步提出一个尖锐的问题。Kirch说，“对于我来讲，我非常喜欢那些会提出难题的人，这些问题是需要有胆量来询问的；考虑周到的询问可以真实地反映出你是否真的了解那个行业。面试官也会更进一步的确认，你在某种程度上了解他们的公司；并且你认真地考虑过你要问的问题。一切都在于准备阶段。好的提问传达给面试官的信息就是你在走进这扇门之前已经仔细考虑过了这次面试。”
