ECS
Interview Preparation
Engineering Career Services
University of Wisconsin-Madison
ECS
NOTE: ECS Interviews
• Two types of interviews through ECS
– Career Connection interviews
•
Employers create their own scheduled on students they
meet at Career Connection
– Campus interviews AFTER Career Connection
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Sign-up occurs through your myECS account
ECS
NOTE: MyECS Sign-up
• All sign-ups begin promptly at 7 AM on your
MyECS account
• Preplan your priority sign-up requests and
sign-ups
• View interview listings from the Datebook
(Recruiting Calendar) and Job Postings
features daily
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Interviewing Preparation
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Be Proactive in your Approach
• Interviews don’t happen
to you
– you play an active role
• View it as a business
meeting
• Be able to answer, “Why
are you interviewing
with us today?”
– If you can’t, you shouldn’t
be there!!!
ECS
Prior to Each Interview
Know the specific employer’s needs
Assess your skills & qualifications
Anticipate the topics & questions
Develop 3-5 themes about which you will NOT
leave the interview without discussing
• Practice responses – yes, out-loud!
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– Do not, however, memorize responses!!
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Know the Employer’s Needs
• Review MyECS job
posting for the
employer
• Research the
employer website
• Highlight key words
and phrases
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Anticipate Employer Perspective
• Can I do the job?
– Am I a qualified candidate for this employer? Why?
– Resumes, papers and documents support the “can’s”
• Will I do the job?
– The interview itself provides evidence about the
“will’s”
• Examples of motivation, ability to listen, present and
persuade, integrity, maturity, team player, leader, ethics
and values
ECS
Anticipate Topics
– Achievement-oriented
– Analytical problemsolving
– Flexibility
– Communication
– Leadership
– Innovative/creative
– Technical expertise
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Organization
Ability to prioritize
Work standard
Ethical judgment
Integrity
Team player
Ability to motivate
ECS
Anticipate Questions
• ECS Job Search Guide, pages 50 – 68
Proper interview attitude
25 worst interview mistakes
Typical interview questions
Questions for you to ask recruiters
Behavioral interviews, Case interviews and
Brainteaser interviews
• Telephone interviews
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Prepare Responses
• Think about the employer’s perspective
• Develop responses based on specific examples
• Use structured responses - STAR method
• Situation – Task – Action – Result
• Summarize response with “what I learned from
this experience…”
ECS
Anticipate Topics & Questions
• TIPS:
– Make each response personal to you
– An answer that is generic or hypothetical is NOT a
good response
– Use all of your resume when using examples
• Do not only use your internship or one work experience
– Examples of things that did not go well, or were
difficult are good to use, but stress what you
learned
ECS
Develop 3 -5 Themes
• Be determined that you not leave the interview
without emphasizing your 3 – 5 themes or
strengths
– Help the employer clearly see what differentiates
you
– Use to form a good summary statement for the
interview close
ECS
Bring a Portfolio
Resumes
List of references
Unofficial transcripts
Lists of
Publications/Presenta
tions
• Notes
• Binder of Visuals
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Practice Responding to
Questions
• It’s not… the best
prepared student
who gets the job, but
the… student who is
best prepared at
getting the job.
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Practice Out loud!
• Become adept at telling the story behind your
experiences and skill development
• Never provide a simple yes or no response
• Past behaviors are the best indicators of future
behavior
– Work related
– Academic related
– Community related
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Take responsibility
• Leave nothing for assumption
– Explicitly make your qualifications and interests
clear to the employer
• 30 - 60 minutes is a very short time to discuss
all that is important about your qualifications
• Be present in the interview by listening
carefully to the questions
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Successfully Close the Interview
• Ask questions
• Summarize your
themes and strengths
• Thank the recruiter
• Ask what the next step
will be
• Restate your interest
in the job
• Obtain a business card
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More Tips: Appearance
• Body language, eye
contact, posture,
handshake, smile
• Welcoming
• Confident, not
arrogant
Aim between being frightened
and overly confident
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More Tips: Vocal
• Vocal pitch, volume,
speed, and tone
• Particularly for a
phone interview
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General Tips: Communication
• For brief interactions,
what is remembered:
– 7%, is verbal (what you say)
– 55% of communication is
visual (body language, eye
contact)
– 38% is vocal (pitch, speed,
volume, tone of voice)
Business Week Feb 07
ECS
Professional Dress
• Suit or jacket with
pants or skirt
• Collared shirts
• Tie for men
• Dark socks and
professional shoes
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Professional Dress & Grooming
• Fresh hair cut
• No facial hair, unless
nicely trimmed
• Hair held back, away
from face
• Minimal make-up and
jewelry
• No cologne
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Professional Dress
• Jacket buttoned
when standing,
unbuttoned when
seated
• Always leave bottom
button unbuttoned
• Stilettos are not
appropriate!
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Business Casual
• No suit jacket
• Perhaps no tie
• Otherwise, very
similar to business
dress
• Ironed khaki’s or
pants or skirt
• Collared shirt
• What is NOT business
casual:
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Jeans
Flip flops
T-shirts
Wrinkled anything!
Tank tops and
spaghetti straps
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Feedback from Recruiters
• Improve handshake
• Make eye contact
when responding to
questions
• Be confident, but
not arrogant
• Know what my
company does
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Feedback from Recruiters
• Don’t be too
mechanical
• Be genuine; show me
your personality
• Relax
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After each Interview
• Assess yourself
• Send a thank you
email with 48-hours
• Prepare for your next
interview
• Follow-up every 2
weeks until you
receive an answer
ECS
Questions?