The Four P's of Interviewing

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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 organisation 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."