Good Grief!!
For the past several weeks I have been on the search committee of a new position on campus. It is one I considered applying for myself, until I realized that I would end up going insane and killing everyone I would have to work with. So I joined the search committee instead!
This is my second time on the other side of the interview table, and I have several words of advice to anyone who might be applying for a job in the future:
1. PROOFREAD YOUR RESUME. Then do it again. Then have a friend do it. I could not believe how many resumes we received with typos and grammatical errors. One resume had several bullet points, with one outlining the applicant's organizational skills and attention to detail... and then the same line was listed again! The candidate needed to brush up on those "attention to detail" skills a bit more before applying.
2. If you get yourself an interview, do some homework. Interviewers are very impressed by a candidate who demonstrates even a little knowledge of the company or institution where they are interviewing, and those who are interested enough to check out the website or ask some questions.
3. During the interview, do not indicate that your true passion lies elsewhere! Interviewers want to hear that this job is EXACTLY what you've been looking for your whole life. Even if that's not true, it's good to highlight the areas of the job that DO fit in with your passions. Don't make it sound like you want this job just to pay the bills or just for the money, because I can guarantee that there's someone else who wants it a lot more than that.
4. Give specific answers to questions. Don't respond to an interviewer's inquiry with generalist responses that shed no light on you or your experience. If you relate an element of the job to an example of something you've done in the past, interviewers are more likely to trust your skills.
5. After the interview, send a thank you. Whether it's an email or an actual card, this makes a huge impression on the interviewers. It shows follow up and thoughtfulness. One of the other members on the search committee told me that in other searches he's been on, they would not make an offer to someone who did not send some kind of thank you.
It was very interesting being on the committee, because I gained a lot of insight about the criteria people use to judge candidates.
This is my second time on the other side of the interview table, and I have several words of advice to anyone who might be applying for a job in the future:
1. PROOFREAD YOUR RESUME. Then do it again. Then have a friend do it. I could not believe how many resumes we received with typos and grammatical errors. One resume had several bullet points, with one outlining the applicant's organizational skills and attention to detail... and then the same line was listed again! The candidate needed to brush up on those "attention to detail" skills a bit more before applying.
2. If you get yourself an interview, do some homework. Interviewers are very impressed by a candidate who demonstrates even a little knowledge of the company or institution where they are interviewing, and those who are interested enough to check out the website or ask some questions.
3. During the interview, do not indicate that your true passion lies elsewhere! Interviewers want to hear that this job is EXACTLY what you've been looking for your whole life. Even if that's not true, it's good to highlight the areas of the job that DO fit in with your passions. Don't make it sound like you want this job just to pay the bills or just for the money, because I can guarantee that there's someone else who wants it a lot more than that.
4. Give specific answers to questions. Don't respond to an interviewer's inquiry with generalist responses that shed no light on you or your experience. If you relate an element of the job to an example of something you've done in the past, interviewers are more likely to trust your skills.
5. After the interview, send a thank you. Whether it's an email or an actual card, this makes a huge impression on the interviewers. It shows follow up and thoughtfulness. One of the other members on the search committee told me that in other searches he's been on, they would not make an offer to someone who did not send some kind of thank you.
It was very interesting being on the committee, because I gained a lot of insight about the criteria people use to judge candidates.