Opinion

Career Advice: How to Prepare if you Score an Interview

When you've made it to the playoffs, don't forget the fundamentals of the game

By Jeff Combs, Alta Associates

You must do this so you understand the opportunity better and more importantly, so you know what questions to ask. Interviews are two sided. The company is assessing you and you are assessing the company. Asking the right questions accomplishes two things. Youll learn more about the role and the organization but you also get to demonstrate your perceptiveness and critical thinking skills.

There is also usually a quiz involved and candidates who aren't prepared for it often get shot down in the first HR interview. For example, I once had a candidate interview for a security architect role with a major credit card company. This was a very strong candidate who, despite my coaching, believed that his experience would translate to any environment regardless of industry. He was wrong. When the HR executive asked him what he knew about the company he answered "I know I have one of your cards in my wallet." The HR exec was not amused by the candidate's glib answer and lack of knowledge. The interview ended and my candidate went down in flames.

Conclusion

I recognize that to many, this stuff may seem obvious. It's not exactly Complex Event Processing. Unfortunately, my associates and I have found that many candidates forget, don't care or don't know and they end up paying the price. As recruiters it's our job to align the right people with the right opportunities. This is how we earn a living so it's in our best interest to position candidates for success. However, we can only do so much. Like an athletic coach it's our job to pick the players, help them hone their skills and get them to the big game. Once we're there, it's up to the players to take the ball and run with it. By paying attention to fundamentals like responsiveness, communications and preparation you'll be less likely to fumble at crunch time.

Jeff Combs is Practice Lead, Security and IT Risk Recruiting at Alta Associates.

• Email
• Print
• Comments
• Digg This
• SlashDot

• How to Invest in Your IT Security Career During Tough Times
• Make Yourself a Dream Security Job Candidate
• The Security Recruiter Directory - UPDATED
• 10 Tough Job Interview Questions, and How to Answer Them