Practice makes (almost) perfect

Last week's column looked at the preparation needed before a job interview, with a focus on questions about the job description, the job's role in the company and your abilities as they relate to the job.

If you take these questions seriously before every interview, you will discover three or four key messages you want to impart during the session. These points will serve as your agenda for the meeting. Convey these points as many times and in as many ways as possible to give the interviewer absolute clarity about why he or she should hire you.

For example, when applying for a position as an administrative assistant to a busy executive, a candidate might choose these key messages:

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1. I can organize information and processes quickly and clearly.

2. I can handle awkward situations to free my boss for larger tasks.

3. I can learn new software and am comfortable with technology.

Armed with these points, the candidate can concentrate on giving examples, asking pertinent questions and relating stories that illustrate the points better.

But will the candidate actually do this? Only partially, if at all, I have found. It's one of the unavoidable truths of learning a new discipline: You haven't learned it until you can do it almost without thinking. And that requires practice.

When I say "practice," I don't mean "review." To understand the difference, consider sports. If you participate in a sport, you know that you can review training films or envision yourself in the situation a million times, but those efforts can't replace actual play.

Playing without keeping score doesn't count, either. When you hit balls back and forth in tennis, you strengthen several skills. But if you don't keep score, you don't learn things such as pacing, and you don't experience the competitive spur that only a real game can provide.

WORKING STRATEGIES

Amy Lindgren

To further this analogy, remember that elite athletes go to the settings where the competition will occur. Cyclists and runners travel to places where they will race so they can experience the climate, road conditions and length of the course.

How does this concept transfer to interviewing? You need to get as many practice interviews under your belt as possible, if you want to be effective when facing the real thing. Rehearsing answers to questions may seem like practice, but it's the interview equivalent of hitting tennis balls against a wall.

Here are some tips:

1. Find an "interviewer" who will play the role convincingly. The friend of a friend will provide better practice than someone who knows you well. The best person is one who has interviewed candidates professionally or a career counselor who can give strategic feedback.

2. Tape the practice interviews. You don't know what goofy things you're doing with your hands, eyebrows or whatever until the evidence is right there in front of you. Stick a camera in the corner, then ignore it while you conduct the practice interview. When you replay it, concentrate on things you can change (posture, hand gestures) but ignore the things that are just a part of you (jowly cheeks, a lazy eye).

3. Don't just run through the interviews; concentrate on making improvements. Use your key mes-sages until it comes easily. Relate some of your answers to the job so that your responses are relevant to the interviewer. Search for good examples to illustrate your points.

4. Practice in an unfamiliar place. If possible, borrow a meeting room or go to the career strategist's office. This will give you the experience of finding the place and being a little off balance, which is what happens in real interviews.

5. Dress as you would for a real interview. This will help you get comfortable in your interview clothes and ensure that they fit well and are in good condition.

Remember that interviews account for just about all of the grade when it comes to a job search. Why wouldn't you do everything possible to prepare for them?

- Amy Lindgren owns Prototype Career Service, a career consulting firm in St. Paul, Minn. She can be reached at alindgren@prototypecareerservice.com or at 1071 W. Seventh St., St. Paul, MN 55102.