r/PublicRelations • u/Coloredgemstone1316 • 6d ago
Interview Tips
As someone who's been interviewing and hiring at an agency for nearly 20 years, I'm so frustrated at the lack of interviewing savvy that 99 percent of candidates have. Guys - it's a tough job market! You need to show up! I'm going to give you a few tips and I'm happy to answer any questions.
- Do not read from a script when the interviewer asks you for your "elevator pitch" or to tell you about yourself. It's so obvious. We are communicators and that gives me no confidence in your ability to communicate. I know you are nervous but you have to try and speak concisely and conversationally.
- Speaking of the elevator pitch, this is meant to be a quick summary, not a time to recite your whole resume. i.e. I've been in the PR industry for about 5 years, in both agency and in house settings, dabbling in tech and consumer before finding my passion in healthcare. I'm currently working on five clients and my specialty is media relations. I also a huge news junkie!
- Do some research on the company, and just as important, the person you are interviewing. Ask them tailored questions. Looked at their Linkedin profiles! I've interviewed countless people just this year and only one person looked me up and I'm part of the leadership team and I'm considered a successful thought leader in the industry. You need to know that going into the interview.
- Ask some really strong, specific questions that aren't the same for every company. The best questions I've gotten this year have been from entry level candidates. Use the questions not just to learn more, but to show you've done your homework on the company.
Hope this helps at least one person out there.
6
7
u/Late_Split_5288 6d ago
Good advice. On the LinkedIn thing, there's a golden question laid out right there for any candidate: "I see you used to work at XXXXXXX, what drew you to [current company]?" It shows you've noticed and it will, in a very postive way, put the interviewer off guard and reveal something about the company you're interviewing to join.
Also, have a pen and pad with you. Absolutely no problem to have your questions in front of you and a pen and paper won't fail to load or run out of battery.
1
u/Vegetable_Tourist243 6d ago
love this! and it helps the interviewee have a better picture of the company culture
1
u/Coloredgemstone1316 6d ago
Old PR people have egos. I know I do. We like to know that people have taken the time to learn about us and it's so easy to do! And totally agree on the notes!
2
5
u/The_Gloomy_Publicist 6d ago
As someone who does hiring too, I agree with pretty much all of this. The difference between someone who prepared for an interview and someone who memorized an interview answer is usually pretty obvious within the first few minutes.
The research point is especially important. You don't need to stalk the interviewer, but knowing who you're talking to and what the company actually does gives you so much more to work with. The strongest questions I've gotten weren't generic, they were clearly based on something the candidate had actually looked into.
And yes, please don't recite your resume when I ask you to tell me about yourself. I already have it. Give me the 30-second version of who you are, what you do well, and why you're interested. We're all human and interviews are nerve-racking, but conversational is wayy better than perfectly rehearsed every time
1
u/Coloredgemstone1316 6d ago
I've literally had to stop people from rambling by politely stopping them and saying I'd like to ask you some questions now.
5
u/Queasy_Ad1949 6d ago
This is really helpful as a recent grad!! I dont think people understand how hard is it to secure a job
5
u/Impressive_Swan_2527 6d ago
Research on the company is so key. I remember years ago I was hiring a social media coordinator and the amount of candidates who had not even looked at our social media pages. One woman was like "Are you guys on Facebook?" Ma'am, how do you not know which channels we're on?!
3
4
u/treblclef20 6d ago
Agree - the regurgitation of the resume is a waste of everyone's time and doesn't make you look good. Also, it is worth noting that myself and so many of my peers care a lot about what questions you ask. When people ask me generic questions, I am super unimpressed. Also if you ask only 1 or 2, I'm kind of flabbergasted. This is your chance to figure out what job you're getting into. You should have plenty of questions and very specific ones.
2
3
u/itwalkedonmypillow8 6d ago
I’m not in a direct hiring capacity, but have served on hiring committees and sat in on interviews, and amen to your point that you have to be comfortable talking off-cuff at least a little.
One applicant totally stalled out on a softball (something like “name 1 strength and 1 weakness”) and didn’t even try to spin something. Just “I’ll have to think about that and get back to you.”
1
u/Ok_Bandicoot1693 6d ago
😭 I have a decent work experience spanning 12 years. I am looking for job in PR/MarCom/Corporate communications in Bengaluru. Not finding introductory calls coming through. I have always all the steps you mention and got through interviews too. Please help if you have any leads!
1
u/Coloredgemstone1316 6d ago
I would make sure that your resume is optimized for the HR tools people are using now to sort resumes!
1
1
u/pink_candy16 6d ago
What would be some specific examples of really good, non-generic questions? Or what questions have you been asked that you liked?
6
u/Coloredgemstone1316 6d ago
What do you think makes XX agency a great place to work. There's been a lot of volatility for large agencies lately - have you avoided that and how? I read about your x client win in PRWeek and I'd love to hear more about your process for winning that. I've read about your career journey and I'd love to hear how you wound up at XX agency and why it it's a good fit for you(I'm sort of being intentionally vague with that one). Anyway, things like that.
1
1
u/Humble-Yam168 6d ago
Other things that are important: dress nicely and professionally for an interview even if it’s a virtual one.
Send a thank you note after the interview! If you can’t get access to their email address, send it on LinkedIn. A lot of people don’t do this and when people do it, it really helps you stand out.
When the interviewer asks “do you have any questions” - I’d reiterate that it’s so important to make sure they are smart and tailored to the job. The questions you ask will judge whether you care about the position/the specific company.
2
u/Coloredgemstone1316 5d ago
All great points. I can't believe how many people show up on Zoom wearing a casual t shirt.
1
u/Technical_Fudge5208 5d ago
This does feel a bit out of touch with what’s currently happening in the market, ngl. But that’s probably tinged by just how often I see hiring managers bitching. Considering 99.9% of companies hiring will def not do even an iota of that effort for candidates?
ESP in this industry, layoffs have been pretty common. Then you apply to 300 jobs, none of which are actually real. When you do get an interview, the person either doesn’t know the role so they ask shitty questions that just set you up for failure because you can’t speak to your strengths as they apply to the role, and all the prep that you are insisting people do doesn’t matter. Then they ghost you for weeks, don’t provide feedback, then end up in a hiring freeze, hiring someone internally or telling you you’re not a good fit based on experience you definitely have that they didn’t give you the chance to talk about because, again, they didn’t ask relevant questions.
Obvi shit resumes are one thing, as well as blatantly terrible and genuinely noticeably unprepared interviewees. But I’m so sorry, I am not doing deep research into a company when the person interviewing probably doesn’t even know it at that level and I’m not going to hear back anyway. Putting in that effort and then not even getting a bare minimum effort from TA and then getting ghosted is completely demoralizing. People are just trying to provide for themselves and their families, don’t ask me why I specifically want to work for tech startup 1/83939307. A paycheck. It’s for a paycheck.
This post feels like it’s maybe relevant for new grads, but for anyone that’s actually been a practitioner for a while and has experience and is still struggling in this shit market, its borderline insulting. People are really going through it at the moment and hiring managers are a way bigger problem than the candidate pool, I guarantee it.
-1
u/Coloredgemstone1316 5d ago
It's not out of touch. The point is to be helpful. If you were in a position of hiring you would likely have a different perspective. I have so much heart for all of the volatility and layoffs and that's why I'm putting this out there. All I hear is that people are applying to 300 jobs and rarely getting an interview - and I'm saying when you do get the rare interview take it seriously! I think there are a lot of broken issues with hiring but that's not what my particular post is about. And if it was just new grads I would direct it to them. but unfortunately the new grads tend to do the best!
1
u/Technical_Fudge5208 5d ago
It is though. For example, your point about asking questions specifically about the company from what I’ve researched. IF the interviewer even gives me a chance to ask questions, which doesn’t always happen, I want to ask the questions that I need answered to know if this is somewhere I want to work and yeah I need to ask every company I speak with about that.maybe sometimes I’d have a question specifically to the company, but the hiring process is already not conducive to giving candidates a proper sense of the role and the employer. It just doesn’t. You get to assess the candidate plenty, but candidates also deserve to assess the employer. The 3 questions I might have time to ask are for me, not for you. You’re asking people to perform for you with this one rather than treating that as a chance to ask the questions that will help them determine whether you are a good employer. Some of the Qs might be specific but they might not be, but you’re going to judge them based off that? And if this isn’t a new grad/entry level role, that person is probably asking that Q for a reason because they know what to look for and want to hear the answer.
I have been on both sides of the table, including a recent job search and I am telling you the quality of the people doing the TA and recruiting is in the toilet, yet it’s always TA wanting to give advice to the people doing the searching and interviewing. Glass houses and such.
1
u/Technical_Fudge5208 5d ago
Also are you hiring someone that gives a good interview or has the skills? If the questions they ask you during the interview, or whether they are inflating your ego enough, is what’s making your decision for you, I’m sorry that’s just incredibly short sighted.
1
1
1
14
u/swiftiemel 6d ago
I’ve also been on the hiring side and the amount of bad resumes was also astounding. Hard to find a good one. Make sure it’s professional, preferably a basic word document template, buttoned up, and one page. No headshots either!