5 Interview Tips from the Master

I think a lot of my friend and fellow-fellow (at VeraSage) Christopher Marston. I've talked to Chris many times, emailed with him more, and read his blog since its inception (he's not quite that much of a smart-ass in real-life, by the way). He's brilliant and worth listening to.

I finally met Chris in person last October when VeraSage Institute held our first ever meeting of the minds in Las Vegas. Over a lovely Indian dinner with his Exemplary team, I learned what they have done to improve the interview process from the employer standpoint, driven partly out of boredom of interviewing several hundred attorneys and screening out many times that number.   

Can you imagine how bored you would become interviewing that many people? Asking, and answering, the same ol' questions over and over...

So, they started to spice it up. They got really good at identifying, from the letter, from the call to bring the person in, from the first impression, and from the interviews themselves, how to decide who was worthy of serious consideration and who was a dud.

I won't give away their true personality detection techniques (they are GOOD!) in case their candidates happen to see this blog when they do their research (but if you call them, maybe they'll share some tips with you).

Fascinated, I asked Chris' colleagues Jessica, Kim and Steven, what their own interviews were like. What Chris (and the team) put each, in turn, through (OMG, the stories are amazing!) and the challenges they faced, actually intensely attracted each of them to pursue their career at Exemplar. Hmmm.

Without necessarily trying to, they illustrated for me that the interview is very much a two-way sales process!  For a great long-term fit, it really should be, shouldn't it?

All this to preface that Chris's recent post: "5 Interviewing Tips Never to Forget" is not to be taken lightly. His post is as useful to the interviewER as the interviewEE. Enjoy and think about how these tips can help you spot the character and charisma you really want to bring into your firms.

And if you are a job candidate looking for your next great career move, heed his words!