*formerly posted on the BGSU MBA blog in 2009
Today, I received an unexpected wake-up call in the form of a phone call. On Sunday, I had submitted a resume and cover letter for an internship opportunity at a local company. Well, today (just two days later) a company human resources representative called and left me a message to call her back. Silly me, I tried to return the call during a break in my GA today. Instead of setting up an appointment time to talk, the representative immediately began firing questions in my direction. Like I said in a post on February 17, it is critical for people to know themselves and be able to use examples to answer questions rather than simply answering the questions with short answers that lack details. Since I did not take the time to 'warm up' before the call, I provided answers in a choppy, unsmooth, and unimpressive manner.
The representative did tell me that she will contact candidates tomorrow for interviews on Thursday. Unfortunately, I may have filtered myself out of the competition with this screening/pre-interview phone call. Please let this be a lesson to all of you out there: do not just prepare for interviews. Remember to be prepared for any and all communication with prospective employers. Failure to do so can be the difference between getting a call back to schedule an interview and having to call the employer back to learn about an already suspected rejection.
Today, I received an unexpected wake-up call in the form of a phone call. On Sunday, I had submitted a resume and cover letter for an internship opportunity at a local company. Well, today (just two days later) a company human resources representative called and left me a message to call her back. Silly me, I tried to return the call during a break in my GA today. Instead of setting up an appointment time to talk, the representative immediately began firing questions in my direction. Like I said in a post on February 17, it is critical for people to know themselves and be able to use examples to answer questions rather than simply answering the questions with short answers that lack details. Since I did not take the time to 'warm up' before the call, I provided answers in a choppy, unsmooth, and unimpressive manner.
The representative did tell me that she will contact candidates tomorrow for interviews on Thursday. Unfortunately, I may have filtered myself out of the competition with this screening/pre-interview phone call. Please let this be a lesson to all of you out there: do not just prepare for interviews. Remember to be prepared for any and all communication with prospective employers. Failure to do so can be the difference between getting a call back to schedule an interview and having to call the employer back to learn about an already suspected rejection.