Best Advice for Interviewing Strategy

I love the philosophy behind this post on Ask The Headhunter.  It truly is the best interviewing advice ever.  It is written for employers, kinda, yet clearly explains the logic behind what the employer is or should be thinking! 

What it says is "Think of the interview as your first day of work!" And then goes on to say:

In the interview, you should expect (or hope) to hear the most compelling questionthat any candidate can ask: “Would you like me to show how your company will profit from hiring me?” (Yah, it’s no surprise. It’s the same question you’re asking, if you behave like your own job matters, and that hiring great people matters is a manager’s #1 job.) The candidate should be prepared to do the job in the interview. That means walking up to the whiteboard and outlining the steps he or she would take to solve your company’s problems. The numbers might be off, but the candidate should be able to defend them intelligently.

In order for you to be able to show how you would solve the company's problems, you will have to learn what they are. They won't have them listed on their website, which mean you will have to talk to a lot of people and do some research. 

If you really think about it, many companies have the same sort of problems: doing more with less, making money, saving money, improving customer service, etc.  So it doesn't matter what kind of job you do, you will always be fixing a problem, otherwise the company wouldn't be hiring.

Before your next interview, prepare for it as if you were starting your first day of work, sleeves rolled up and ready to go!

Comments

[mike lally]

This is really the only question that needs to be asked during an interview. The interesting part for me, and I recognize this just may be me...is that I would say 90% of the time this hasn't been asked. Again...for me.

Then the question becomes, SHOULD the interviewee ask it. What if it alienates the person doing he interviewing? Which it will...because it is the smartest question. Did you really want to work for them anyway?