Archinect - News

3 ways to rehearse for your job interview

2020-11-12T13:02:00-05:00

Job interviews are a crucial part of the hiring process. Usually, it means your application was well received, and so now, it's time for both parties to get to know each other in a deeper way. But, how does one prepare for the interview? Surprisingly, I've found that many people do not prepare beforehand, simply winging it, and hoping things go well. I've written on the importance of researching the employer and on some of the intricacies of interviews, so here I'll focus on some ideas that I think aren't typically offered.

Previously on Archinect: Archinect Tips: Employment Edition

Research the people you will be meeting with

Yes, researching the firm is important, but researching the specific people you will be meeting with is just as important, perhaps even more so. In Tools of the Job Hunt: Understanding the Employer, I wrote:

"Say you’re meeting with the design principal and the managing principal of a prospective firm. Do you approach each of them the same way? They are two di...

Tackling the remote job interview in an age of virtual communication

2020-07-29T10:00:00-04:00

Firms are still hiring, which means people are still interviewing. But what has the remote job interview process been like for professionals? How does a remote interview differ from an in-person interview? And what implications do job seekers and firms feel this new way of conducting the hiring process brings to the profession? We reached out and asked the Archinect community to weigh in on some of these questions and have also discovered some interesting insights from experts.

Virtual interaction calls for new skills

Perhaps one of the more obvious changes in our remote work era is the nature of virtual interaction with people. Devoid of the nonverbal subtleties of in-person communication, exchanging over a computer screen can offer a broad range of experiences that are favored by some and resented by others. robhaw, a member of the Archinect community, has had a few remote interviews that, due to their virtual nature, have taken some time to adapt to, robhaw writes:

I've had a fe...

Interview tip: What to wear

2019-10-24T14:01:00-04:00

A common question when preparing for an interview is on what to wear. A tie? A blazer? Is a dress okay or pants? Are sneakers too casual?How does one determine what's appropriate and what's over the top?

First, it's important to understand that dress is only one factor when it comes to making a first impression. There's also your personality, grooming, how you talk, your body language, your portfolio and resume. It's a long list of things that contribute to another person's overall perception of you. Remember the interview scene in The Pursuit of Happiness? Chris Gardner (portrayed by Will Smith) shows up to his interview in dirty clothes that he had been painting in. The executives are visibly disturbed by his appearance, but in the end his reputation and his personality win them over. These made a greater impact to their impression of him than his lack of appropriate attire.

Nevertheless, when it comes to clothes, it's never universal. Every place of work is unique. What do the p...

6 important tips on following up after a job interview

2019-09-11T13:30:00-04:00

You've just walked out of a job interview and you're feeling pretty good about how things went. You prepared beforehand, researched the firm, had solid answers to their questions, and even posed some good questions of your own. As you drive off you take a deep sigh of relief, you've done all you can, now it's just a waiting game.

One might think this is true, but a crucial step still remains—the follow-up. Following through with a thank you email after an interview is a powerful display of professionalism, gratitude, and class. But, how should one go about crafting this message to a prospective employer?

Here are some things to consider:

Send the initial thank you promptly - It's a good idea to send your initial thank you email on the same day of the interview or the following morning.
Keep it brief - Chances are the people who interviewed you are very busy. If you send over a long email, the likelihood of it being read is a lot lower. Keep your message brief and to the point.
Be spe...

Answering "So, tell me about yourself" in an interview

2019-08-12T19:00:00-04:00

Nailing the “Tell me about yourself” question starts with realizing that your interviewer already knows your job history thanks to your resume. Performing a monologue based on your LinkedIn page is pointless, yet job applicants do it all the time. Remember that interviews are more about making strong matches than proving qualifications. If you weren’t qualified, you wouldn’t be in the room.

We've all had this question in our job hunt. And it can sometimes be a perplexing one to answer. Presentation coach, Joel Schwartzberg, identifies this feeling in a recent article. "Receiving such an open invitation invites more perils than opportunities because you’re given no framework for your response—just a blank, clue-free canvas. Your mind may have myriad internal considerations," he writes. Things like, "should I tell my life story? Should I run through my job history? Should I share my hobbies and favorite movies? Or, should I talk about my last job or boss?"

It can be tough, but Schwartzberg recommends that we "be more than our bio," that the essence of answering this question lies in aligning ourselves with the needs of the employer. That we should research the company beforehand and have a good understanding of what they're looking for. "Pick a story from your professional life that illustrates you filling that particular need in another job, preferably one in which the ...