Part 1 — The Telephone Screen
Part 2 — The Face-to-Face Interview
Part 3 — The Scientific Presentation
Part 4 — The Offer Stage
In addition to being a strong technical fit for the position you are interviewing for, hiring managers are evaluating you in three main areas during a face-to-face interview:
1st — Your appearance
2nd — Your attitude
3rd — Your preparedness
Appearance
The golden rule regarding your appearance is, wear a suit and dress as conservatively as possible. If you are a struggling post doc with no extra money to spare, do not be afraid to check out the consignment stores. The suit does not need to be fancy or expensive, it simply needs to fit you well and be clean. This rule applies even if the company is casual or business casual. No one will ever fault you for wearing a suit.
Interviewees should never wear cologne or perfume as it can be very distracting and, to some, even repulsing. If you are a smoker, do not smoke in the clothes you will be wearing or within several hours of the interview's start time. Certainly avoid smoking throughout the day as well. In today's day and age of health consciousness, most people frown upon smoking, so don't put yourself at a disadvantage unnecessarily.
In the end, remember that if you look sharp, you will feel sharp. A professional appearance will allow you to act more self-confidently.
Attitude
Your attitude throughout the interview process is incredibly important. Think of an interview as something like a six-hour play where you have landed the lead role. This is the opening night, so although you have rehearsed for the show, you haven't had any live practice, and, as with all opening nights, the critics are in the front row waiting to write about how you performed. You are on display all day, so you are going to need to keep your energy and your momentum up.
The first sign of a person's personality or attitude is his or her face, so make sure you are smiling. The more you smile, the better. Remember, even a fake smile is better than no smile at all. Additionally, remember that people, including myself, do judge others on their handshakes, so be sure to use a firm one.
At the end of each of your meetings, tell the interviewer how excited you are about the company and the position. I often ask candidates if they said this, and many admit they forget. This is unfortunate. I have worked with hiring managers who have passed on candidates simply because they didn't think the candidate was interested, so if you always tell them that you are, they cannot be mistaken.
Exude humility. Arrogance at any stage in your career is ignorance. Some of the most successful scientists I know are humble and gracious. Let your accomplishments speak for themselves. Conversely, don't be a shrinking violet either. No matter what the position is, whether a management role or not, interviewers are looking for candidates who can lead. Throughout the day, try and work in examples of where you have led others.
Never ever speak negatively about your current or former colleagues or companies. Additionally, always try to turn your negative experiences into positive experiences.
Preparedness
The final key to face-to-face interviewing is being well prepared by "doing your homework." Most candidates don't bother to look into the backgrounds of the interviewers on the agenda, and this is a real opportunity lost. In bio-pharma, almost everyone has published something, so candidates can always easily find out information related to their interviewer's research interests. Get the agenda and search those names on PubMed or a related database, and see if you can scan through the papers they have published. Familiarize yourself with at least one thing about each person you will be meeting and be sure to mention that fact in your interview. If you do this, you will truly stand out.
Read through your CV and be sure you can give examples of all the work you have done that you list. Different people gravitate towards different skills, so you need to be prepared and speak about all of it. To that end, don't put an experience on your CV unless you can back it up in person. Never pad your resume; it will make for a very uncomfortable face-to-face interview.
Hiring managers are looking for leadership skills even at the more junior levels of the organization. Be sure to discuss and have prepared at least one project where you exhibited strong technical skills, and also one project where you led or mentored others. Feel free to repeat those stories throughout the day if they are relevant.
Finally, understand that you will need to impress everyone you meet, regardless of who they are or at what level they are within the organization. Everyone on that interview team has a voice.
If you are interested in learning more interviewing techniques, please visit www.megandriscoll.com, where you can buy "I Would Consider Any Reasonable Offer", the only guide devoted exclusively to interviewing in the bio-pharma industry.
