Elevating the in-person interview experience

This article was updated on 1/25/2022.

In the world in which I sit today, as a specialized headhunter, I’m known for saying - “I wish to advocate and compliment the career objective(s) of the administrative individuals I’m blessed to connect with each day.” Having conducted over several hundred hours of 1:1 in-person interviews, since starting Exceptional Admins in 2017, I know the interviewing process can be just as stressful and demanding as the search process. 

As I craft this motivation piece, I hope you discover applicable takeaways that offer that deep breath you’ve been seeking.

Exciting, you've landed the in person interview! They've called you back, and here it is, you get to elevate the piece of paper they started with, the phone interview they had, and crush the in-person interview.

Your Personality fitting culture!

Dress to the nines, regardless if it fits within the company’s culture. Be in the best suit or best outfit you can possibly be in and one that makes you feel confident. I get asked this question a lot, and the piece of advice I always give is, “Wear what makes you feel incredible! Something that gives you that extra edge.” For women, that could look like a dress or a pair of pants and a blouse. For men, that could be a pair of nice khakis and a shirt or a sharp suit. While there’s judgement on your outfit choice, remember you are sharing with them who you are and how you fit within the company dynamic. 

Never sit down! 

Depending on the layout of the office, when you arrive it’s probable that someone may greet you and say, "Someone will be with you shortly." Go over to a chair and put your things down but remain standing! The reason for standing at all times is because it’s a power move that offers a moment for you to release any extra energy built up stemming from either excitement or nerves. The power stand gives off an impression of ‘preparedness’ to the person watching you from reception and/or the employee that greets then escorts you to your interview room. Furthermore, when you arrive to the interview room still remain standing. This displays executive presence, which is a second impression. If you choose to sit down, you’re more inclined to pick up your cell phone, which is the worst thing to be doing when you are waiting for an interview. Use the stand up time to your benefit by observing things around you in the room. For example, Is there a WiFi password in the room? If not, do you see that as an opportunity to elevate the organization with details that you could give attention if in the role?

Prepare! 

I talk about this a lot with candidates and suggest bringing a notepad along with a note connected to the below three parts. 

• Your attributes. 

It never fails! You leave the interview thinking, “Oh, shoot! Was I funny or did I show that I was listening? Did I interrupt? Was I polished? Did I have my shoulders back? Did I give off enough? You go through a long list of questions and concerns. Think in advance four top qualities about yourself and how you want to express them when in person. How do the attributes connect with and to you? Write them down and then once you’ve written them down, you can own them! Study the list and have back up stories connected to each word you’ve chosen. This way, when you go back to the write up you can confidently talk yourself off the ledge, “I gave off all of these attributes and owned my brand. I can’t spend extra time worrying if I was strong enough or not.”

• Your relatable stories. 

It is a struggle when you have no idea what they're going to ask you, and it happens often that you leave an interview thinking, “Oh, I should have told them that story or it would have been more appropriate if I shared that time I did ___.” In an effort to prepare for the unknown, think of several relatable stories. For example, they may ask, “Are you good with systems? Can you use excel?” If your answer is a single statement, “Yes, I can.”, you've unfortunately done a disservice to expressing your full value-add. Your answer should be something along the lines of, “Yes, I've used it to run budgets for parties that range from $100,000 to $250,000. I've used it to track correspondence because we didn't have a CRM system and I wanted to make sure that at any given time, I could tell my executive that, “Mr. Smith replied, on this date.” That is an immediately relatable answer that leaves them thinking, “Oh, we could use those qualities here.” 

• End with showcasing your anticipating skills. 

They always offer at the end, just like with a phone interview, “Do you have any questions for me/us?” If you are blessed to be in front of the executive, your way to approach that power question is with the following: “You’ve offered a lot of insight into the role and needs. I plan to focus on relieving pain points in the first 60- to 90-days by _____________________. Do you believe that is a right starting point to be of great assistance?” This offers an untraditional dialogue in an interview that helps you stand out from others they are also interviewing.

Thanks for reading. I really hope that these tips worked in your favor to land that great job and/or approach interviews in a different fashion. I look forward to sharing more with you soon!

In doing research, I stumbled up on this wonderful video that many of you will find helpful. Enjoy!

Thinking about your future, be sure to check out this episode from the EA Podcast.

Be sure to check out this quick episode where I talk about what not to do in an interview. I share two real stories.