If you have faithfully followed the advice in this book, those "sorry, we've filled that position" letters will be few and far between. What you will get is plenty of invitations to come in for an interview. There are several different types of interviews which you might encounter. Knowing how these interviews work and why an agency might opt to use one type rather than another will help you gear your oral presentation to the type of interview you might face.
One-on-one interview
This is the most typical kind of interview format. You will meet with the person who does the hiring. This is generally the agency president or owner. While you may have an opportunity to meet members of the department you will be working in-and their reaction to you will certainly carry some weight - the final decision rests entirely with your interviewer.
Smaller agencies in particular use this style of interview, because it is most efficient-for the interviewer and you. You will not have to worry about impressing a lot of people. And your interviewer will not have to be concerned with other people's opinions of you.
The stepladder interview
This process begins with the department head who will be your supervisor. If the agency is very large, it may begin with a personnel director and then move up to the department head. If you do well in the first interview, you will be invited back for a second interview with one or more members of the management team who oversee the department. If you fare well in that arena, you will be brought in to meet with the agency principals or owners. The larger the agency, the more levels you will have to pass through before a final vote is taken.
This type of interview might take place during a single morning, or it could stretch out over several days or weeks. It all depends on how many people you will have to meet with, when these people are available, and how many other candidates they have to interview. While this system is not as efficient as the one-on-one interview, it does get all of the people who will have to work with you involved in evaluating your ability to contribute to the agency. If there is a problem between you and a key person at the agency, in either personal chemistry, philosophy, or working style, chances are that it will be sensed during one of these stepladder interviews.
To prepare for a stepladder interview, remember that you will need to adapt your answers and comments to the particular concerns of the person(s) you are meeting with. For example, when you meet with the department head, you will be predominantly interested in the concerns and needs of that person and that department. When you are talking with management, address their concerns. Be sure to answer each person's questions fully and completely, even though you may have said exactly the same thing to someone else in the agency the day before. Do not assume that these people have shared what you said with each other.
Group or committee interviews
Even though this interview format is fairly rare, it does happen. You may be asked to come in for an interview with a hiring group or committee. It will most often take place in a conference room at a large table in which you will meet with these other people-usually the same people you would meet during a stepladder interview, only here you see them all together.
Some agencies like to use the group structure because it is efficient in that it brings all of the appropriate people together to meet with you at one time. It is also an excellent way to see how you react to a group of different individuals with varying concerns and attitudes. This is probably the best way to see how you would perform during a group meeting with a client and their staff or during an agency presentation to a client presentation committee. Since presentations are the way agencies get 60 percent of their business, it may be important for your interviewers to know ahead of time how well you would stand up during the pressure of a group encounter if the position you are being considered for involves participation in presentations.
You need to remember to make eye contact with each member of the group as you speak. Some people make the mistake of picking one person and addressing everything they say to that person.
The callback interview
If your one-on-one meeting with an agency owner was successful, but there were other applicants after you who were equally impressive, you may be called back for a second interview. During this time you may be asked questions that were raised when the agency head met with one of these other people. Or you may be asked more in-depth questions.
