Train like you interview p1 - Military Transition - Military Times EDGE

Marine Gunnery Sgt. Josh Brown sat across the desk from the interviewer, ready to put on his best performance. Things got off to a stuttering start.

“He takes a look at my résumé for all of about eight seconds and doesn’t even make it down to the part of why I am qualified for the job,” Brown said. “I was flabbergasted. This was my masterpiece, I spent six hours working on it.”

Fortunately, it was a trial run — a mock interview designed to help Brown prepare for the real thing. When the real thing came, and the interviewer really did ignore his résumé, Brown was ready to roll with it.

In a job search, as in a combat mission, training is critical. A mock interview can help you hone your skills, exposing you to experiences you will likely encounter in the working world. It’s a chance to try out your game face, to learn what it feels like to be on the hot seat.

There are numerous places to get this practice, usually for free. Recruiters and career coaches offer mock interviews, as do college career counselors. Brown got his through the military’s Transition Assistance Program and American Military University, where he earned a master’s degree in homeland security in 2008.

Full-dress rehearsal

The idea is to mirror the real thing as closely as possible. You’ll wear the suit, be greeted by a secretary, probably fill out some paperwork.

“We went through every stage for it, starting with the receptionist and how you would talk to that person,” Brown said. “If you are a real jerk to the receptionist, that’s the first person the boss is going to talk to about you.”

You might be kept waiting past your appointed time and face an interviewer who would rather talk about basketball than about your job skills.

But when it’s over, you’ll be able to dissect the whole thing with an expert and, sometimes, review a tape of your performance. Yes, interviews are as much about performance as content.

“There is body language, there is eye contact, there is a smile once in a while,” said Bob Berkholz, an officer recruiter with Orion International in Austin, Texas. “[Mock interviews are] an opportunity to learn how to make the interview more of a conversation, and less of a tennis match where we just bounce the questions back and forth.”

The practice will also help you deliver spontaneous answers to out-of-the-blue questions and stay focused on your messaging in a high-pressure situation.

Brown’s practice interviews taught him a valuable lesson: Expect the unexpected.

“Someone would say, ‘That job is not available anymore but we have a job in administration,’ or, ‘We have a job totally outside of your experience,’” he said. “Or they would leave you sitting there for hours ... so you start to get ticked off. And then you have to be ready to go on when they finally call you in.” A mock interviewer might break the basic rules of hiring, asking off-limits questions about age, marital status, health or religion. By encountering these faux pas in the practice setting, a job-seeker will be better prepared to field them in the real world.

Real-world payoff

After Brown left the Marines in May 2009, he landed an interview with Force Protection Solutions, a private-sector security consulting company. Just as in the practice interview, his future boss threw some curveballs.

“He took a look at my résumé for a couple of seconds, and 10 minutes later we’re talking about Duke winning the Final Four and I’m itching to get back to the interview,” he said. “We never got any further in the interview than that and I went home despondent. Thirty days later, they offered me a job.” Now he is an operations chief and special field agent at Force Protection.

“You need to be ready to roll with the punches,” Brown said.

It’s a skill that comes with practice.

“If you were going to give a speech to the graduating class at your alma mater, you would not get up there and wing it,” said Berkholz. “It would be rehearsed, it would be practiced. This is the same thing.”

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Showtime

To make a mock interview worth the effort, treat it like the real thing.

• Have a solid opening statement, a ready response to the “Tell me about yourself” question.

• Dress for success. Use the mock interview as an opportunity to get comfortable in the suit.

• Use this as a chance to learn how to close. Find ways to gain commitment that you will get to the next step in the interviewing process.

Source: Bob Berkholz, Orion International