Would you consider yourself a job interview expert? If not, you can breathe a sigh of relief as not many of your competitors would either. What makes an expert? You’ve read about preparing for the job interview by doing your research, reviewing the company’s website, memorizing their mission statement, knowing their business model and who their target audience is. The real question is…do you know the big picture?
When you get called in for the job interview, your primary objective is to advance the sale (this is a sales transaction) and earn the job offer. Your competitors are most likely conducting the same research exercise as you. The majority of candidates focus their attention on the job itself. Sounds logical, yet the ideal candidate will go a step further. Let’s say for example, that you are applying for a warehouse supervisor position in a distribution center. You review the website and you have a general understanding of the geographical area that this center serves. You drive by and you have an idea of how big the facility is. You know from the job description what software system they are using, the primary functions of the position, etc. You have worked in a distribution center before and you know how to manage employees, how to schedule efficiently, work with a union (if necessary), etc. Yet, what you probably do not know are answers to questions like:
- What is the current volume of product that is shipped out?
- Is this volume trending higher, lower, or about the same as last year? How about the last five years?
- What is the forecast for the next 12 months? Next three years?
- How does this position/department relate to the rest of the distribution center?
- Which departments interact with this position the most frequently? What is this current relationship, and how can we improve it?
The point is that the best candidate will ask these questions at the job interview to understand the bigger picture of how this position affects the rest of the organization. Asking these questions will shed light on potential challenges, which will allow you to begin thinking of positive solutions that will ultimately lead to improving the functionality of the whole center.
Just asking questions about the position proves to be shortsighted. Even if you are applying for an entry level position, you will impress your audience by approaching the job interview from the perspective that you are there to help lay the foundation for overall company success. Every position has a role in this. From customer service (which is critical to developing/retaining customers), to product fulfillment, (which ultimately has a role in meeting/exceeding the customer’s expectations), every single person has a big picture responsibility.
