Date: Fri 07-May-1999

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Jobseekers-business-Brown

Full Text:

The Art Of The Job Interview

(with photo)

BY KAAREN VALENTA

Interviewing for a job is a two-way process, especially in today's job market,

according to William N. Brown.

Mr Brown, the owner of WNB Consulting in Redding and former director of

corporate compensation at Pitney Bowes, Inc. in Stamford, will talk about

"What Human Resources Hiring Managers Are Looking For" at the Tuesday, May 11,

meeting of the Newtown Jobseekers Group. The group meets at 7:30 pm in second

floor conference room of the St Rose Parish Center.

"Unless you are a machinist, and they take you out to the equipment and tell

you to use it, an interview is an inexact science," Mr Brown said. "It is full

of subjective and intuitive judgments on both sides."

Most interviewers don't use trick questions but they are looking for

inconsistencies when they talk to a prospective employee, he said.

"If someone writes a resume for you, and you are asked a question about a

specific point, you might not have a quick answer," he said. "If you were a

participant in a project at your former company, but your resume was

structured to make it look like you were the creative designer, you probably

will stumble when you are questioned about it."

"You have to be yourself," he said. "If the resume writer created a person who

is not you, the stress of the interview will bring it out."

Many times the questions might be more general: What do you want as attributes

in your boss? Or what's the worst situation you ever worked in and why?

Sometimes a prospective employee can make a judgment, based on the interview,

of how a company works, Mr Brown said..

"An interview is a two-way process -- you should be trying to find out as much

as possible about the company," he said. "Unfortunately candidates who are

unemployed have a tendency to jump at the first opportunity. More than 50

percent find themselves back in outplacement within 6 to 12 months if they

don't learn enough about the company and whether it would be a good fit."

A member of the Society of Human Resource Management and the American

Compensation Association, Mr Brown also is a member of the Greater Danbury

Chamber of Commerce; president of the Joel Barlow Scholarship Fund; a member

of the board of directors of the Volunteer Society of Greater Danbury; and an

instructor in the HR certification program at Fairfield University.

A graduate of Tufts University with a degree in economics, he consults on a

broad range of compensation and human resource issues.

His program at St Rose also will cover the intricacies of networking.

"Most people find jobs through networking, not through ads in the newspaper,"

Mr Brown said. "There is an art to networking, however. There is a delicate

balance between tactful networking and being a pest."

For most people, networking is not easy to do, he said.

"Unless you were in sales and marketing, what you are doing is essentially

cold calling. The key is not to be asking for a job. The whole idea is to

share with the other person your strategy, your marketing plan, and ask them

to help you identify your key attributes and competencies."

The Jobseekers Support Group is open to anyone who is seeking employment or

considering a career change. The group is free and open to everyone who is

seeking employment or considering a job change. It is facilitated by Bill

Brimmer. For more information, call Mr Brimmer at 270-9885.