The interview process is stereotyped as an interrogation in which the interviewer hammers away at the interviewee with a relentless stream of questions. This is utter nonsense. Sure, some interviewers may unfold like this. But the truly great interview - whether on the phone or in person - is a process of mutual exploration and identification in which each side serves as both questioner and respondent.

The Goals of Each Side

Both parties come to an interview with their own agenda:

Preparing Your "Q"'s

To really impress your interviewer, you must come to the interview prepared with incisive questions. That means you have to do some homework. Before showing up, you should have an idea of how you can add value to the organization. You should be ready to demonstrate your flexibility, adaptability and credibility and impress the interviewer that you are quick to learn.

Preparation in itself is something that will help your candidacy. You want to let the interviewer know that you've conducted research on the firm, are familiar with its operations and marketing efforts and understand the competitive landscape. And consider not just the firm but the person who will be interviewing you. If you know who will be interviewing you, Google the person and gather information on his or her background and career path.

Some Recommended "Q"'s

Here are a series of questions that I recommend my clients consider asking during an interview:

The Work & Workplace

What to ask the Prospective Boss

Ethics

One Last Question:

What else do you need to know about me to help you make this decision?

Conclusion

Remember, that an interview is not an interrogation. Concentrating all your efforts on answering questions isn't enough to make the decisive impression-regardless of how impressive your answers are. If you leave that interview without having served up questions of your own, you're probably not going to get the job. Interviewees must ask questions as well as answer them. Anything less is a recipe for disappointing expectations.

Wishing you career success,
Lauryn Franzoni
ExecuNet
www.execunet.com

SAFETYXCHANGE CONTEST

Interview Embarrassments

What's the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you during a job interview? Send your responses to glennd@bongarde.com. I'm going to assume that you will not want us to use your name and company. So if you do want us to mention you by name, you'll need to say so in your note.

We'll announce the First, Second and Third Place winners next Friday. Good luck, everybody.

SAXCIES™ PROFILE

William Brabitz of The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing , 2008 Recipient of the Henshaw Award for Corporate Leadership in Safety.

Winner of the Henshaw Award for Corporate Leadership in Safety: U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Category: Henshaw Award

Criteria: The John Henshaw Saxcie™ is awarded to an organization that demonstrates superior leadership in workplace health and safety by integrating health and safety into its essential business mission, using safety to define and measure business success and exhibiting vision, commitment, transparency and employee engagement to achieve sustainable health and safety performance.

The Winner: The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP).

Profile: The BEP is a money making operation. Literally. These are the folks who manufacture U.S. currency as well as other important documents such as passports, White House invitations and Medal of Honor Certificates. BEP integrates a number of sophisticated crafts and operations including ink making, engraving, plate making, offset and intaglio printing, product inspection, packaging and shipping and storage. Highlights of the BEP safety program:

Communication: BEP management has come up with more than a dozen ways to communicate to employees and their unions with regard to safety, from bulletin boards to the Bureau's own TV network, "Bureau News Network." Safety is also part of the retinue of each Directorate Point of Contact, or liaison officer.

Management Commitment: All companies measure lost workdays. If you want to know how truly committed a company is to safety, you need to see what happens to these data. More specifically, you need to ask whether these data go to the upper layers of management. At BEP, the goal of reducing lost workdays through the implementation of specific management systems is an integral part of the CFO Performance and Accountability Report.

Accountability/Audits: Health and safety is a criterion used to evaluate the performance of all employees. Senior management is also held accountable and must submit publicly available reports on strategic plans, commitments and progress toward safety goals.

Employee Involvement: BEP actively encourages employees to participate in health and safety initiatives both individually and through the Bureau's Joint Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Committee. Safety is also an ever present item on the agenda of the Joint Labor Council made up of the 17 unions that represent BEP employees in collective bargaining. Ad Hoc Problem Solving Teams are established to respond to workers' safety concerns.

Training/Technology: Safety training at BEP combines state of the art web-based online programs with good old fashioned face-to-face training sessions. The online training elements are tracked via use of a training matrix tailored to the particular duties of each employee. Once a course is completed, the employee receives a certificate of completion. In FY 2007, 1,556 BEP employees completed OSHA required and best practices safety training using the Bureau's "On Line Training Network."

Off-the-Job Safety: Like any progressive organization, BEP recognizes that health and safety concerns don't end when workers complete their shifts. BEP has come up with some ingenious ways to promote off the job safety including allowing workers to take their PPE home and hosting Open Houses and Health and Safety Fairs for workers and their families.

Winners of the Henshaw award are committed to safety not because the law requires it or the unions demand it but because they recognize that such commitment is at the heart of business and human performance. The BEP is a perfect embodiment of this value.

The SafetyXChange would like to humbly suggest that the Bureau take the five-page essay it submitted describing its safety performance and engrave it, print it out and distribute it to other companies as mandatory reading.

Congratulations to BEP for representing the highest ideals of workplace safety and receiving this well deserved Saxcie™ Award!

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