Interviews, Interviews, Interviews…
I recently flew from LA to San Francisco for several interviews, and today I would like to share with you my experience. For several weeks I had been planning this trip. Because I have a busy schedule, I was able to go out of town only for one day. I wanted to make it as efficient as possible and that’s why I scheduled four interviews for that one day. It took a lot of planning and figuring out in what order I should schedule the interviews, but after weeks of phone calls, emails and preparations I was ready to go to SF.
Because I don’t want to hurt my chances and because I don’t think it would be appropriate, I will not say what companies I interviewed with. Some of the interviews were for actual positions, but some of them were only informational. As you might already know from your own experience, public relations agencies tend to hire just weeks before they need to fill a position, and that’s why I arranged a meeting even with companies that do not currently have any openings. I wanted to make sure that once they have a position available, they will think of me.
Most of the interviews were structured similarly: I met with someone from HR and with several people with various titles. Most interviews lasted between 1-2 hours. Here are some of the most frequent questions I encountered:
- Why do you want to work for us?
- Why are you interested in public relations?
- Why do you want to work in San Francisco?
- What achievement are you most proud of?
- Do you have any questions for me?
- What do you like about your current internship?
- What are some of the clients you have worked on?
- What are you looking for in a company?
- What industries are you interested in the most and why?
Once I was asked for a salary range.
As you can see, most of the questions were asking me why I did something or why I am interested in something. Companies want to know the reasoning behind your decisions.
Some companies required a phone interview prior to my visit in SF and some asked me for a second round of interviews over the phone.
What helped me:
- Bringing multiple copies of my resume
- Having references and writing samples with me
- Researching the company prior to the interview (Google, Holmes Report, PR Week, etc.)
- Looking up the interviewer on Google and LinkedIn
- Sending out thank you cards after the interview
- Keeping notes for future reference
- Planning everything in advance
- Opening multiple doors (What I mean by this is not to rely purely on the standard way of applying, but reaching to people from the company in other ways. For example I already knew some people from the company or from other offices from PRSA events and other speaking opportunities, I contacted one of the employees through Second Life, and I wrote an email to the GM of a company. I believe that the more doors you can open, the better chance you have in getting hired.)
Please share with me and others your experience with the interview process.
Laura Keller said,
April 30, 2007 at 1:02 am
Hi, Vojta! You’ve made some interesting reflections about starting out in public relations. I know you have worked on many types of accounts, but have you developed a distinct liking for one particular sub-set of PR?
I am not sure it works the same in your field, but I know that can be helpful in journalism.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I am sure others will find them helpful in their job searches.
Heather said,
April 30, 2007 at 10:22 am
You are very prepared for your interviews, but I’ve also found that sometimes they ask you questions that you wouldn’t expect, just to throw you off. Some random questions that I’ve gotten are:
-What do you daydream about when you are sitting in traffic
-What do you like to do for fun
-If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
Good luck with your interviews and keep up the good work with your blogs!
vojta said,
April 30, 2007 at 10:47 am
Hi Laura! Yes, I did narrow down my interests in PR. I am mostly interested in technology and digital entertainment. Narrowing down your interests can be helpful, but it can also hurt you if you do so too early.
For example, I have experience in health care, and because of it, I receive offers for other health care jobs. If I didn’t switch from health care to consumer marketing, it would be more difficult to get jobs outside of that industry.
HR looks at resume and tries to match your skills and experience with a job opportunity. If you have too much experience in a single field, you are likely to be considered mainly for positions in that field.
Be careful and make sure that if you decide to narrow down your interests, you are certain that it is what you want to do.
Fiona Torrance said,
September 3, 2007 at 10:30 am
Vojtech…gosh it’s been ages. Hi! How are you?
I stopped using http://bizblogreview.blogspot.com for quite some time and didn’t see your message. I’ve just got it going again.
You asked about how I gained work through having my blog. Well, first…when I received first place in the Undergraduate Writing Competition for Professional Ethics, iMedia Connection offered me an Editorial Internship which was great!
Then I received calls from a firm called Real Girls Media http://www.realgirlsmedia.com. Not being a US citizen made accepting employment near impossible, so I returned to the England after graduation.
What kinds of projects are you working on now? Keep in touch. I’m going to add you as a link to my new site.
Best,
Fiona Torrance