My informational interview experience is almost one that I didn’t attend.

When I was first starting out in my career, I applied to a sales job that I’d seen advertised in the paper. This was the 1990s so newspaper ads were still pretty popular.

I got a call from the company I’d applied to and they asked me to attend an informational session for two evenings where they’d discuss the job opportunity with other people who they were also inviting to the session.

It turned out that they were actually hiring for 9 sales people not one, and that they were conducting interviews in a slightly different way than what I was used to.

They had identified 20 different people who interested them and all 20 of us attended the informational interview. It wasn’t an interview per se as for both nights, we just attended and listened to several of the staff members explain the company, the job and what they were looking for. They also spoke about what they offered in return.

Those were interested to continue on in the process were then invited back to actually interview on a one-on-one basis with the hiring managers.

I almost didn’t attend the first session and after the first session, almost decided not to come back for the second one because I was unsure if I wanted a job that involved this style of hiring process and was hiring so many people at once.

Why would a company choose to have an informational session rather than having a more standard interview process?

In the case of this company, they were coming out of bankruptcy under a new owner and had to build up their sales team from scratch. Due to the number of people they needed to hire – nine new sales reps – they felt that it was preferable to start with a larger sample of around 20 people that they identified and inviting them to a session to learn more about the job to start with.

Typically, you’ll probably find that with informational session type interviews that the company is looking to hire numerous staff and that the job more often than not is one that has a high turnover.

That’s why they use the informational interview: they need to hire numerous people – many of whom may only last several months on the job – and the company probably has to conduct these informational type sessions every few months.

Another common trait of jobs that are filled using an informational interview format is that they tend to be commission-based, perhaps commission only. In other words, it really isn’t costing the company anything to hire people – except the cost to train them of course – because the real cost of the job is borne by the person taking the job.

If they don’t make commissions, they don’t get paid.

Some financial services firms that hire for financial advisors use this kind of interview process, too. They invite you to an informational session along with perhaps 10-20 other people, they hope that perhaps half of them will be interested in the job and that they can hire several people from this list.

Again, it’s probably because the job is commission-based, has a high turnover and the job is one that the company needs to fill on an ongoing basis.

In the case of the company I was working for, they held these informational sessions every few months, several times per year. I worked for this company for 18 months – before they went out of business again – and during that time, there were 4 informational sessions that resulted in them hiring 4-5 new sales staff each time.

Before accepting a new job with a company that uses informational interview sessions to hire staff, at least think about the sorts of things I mentioned above, namely why are they using this form of interview, how high is the turnover for the job, and is it a commission-only job?

The last thing you want to do is take a job where they essentially expect that there is a better than average chance that you quit in several months given the nature of the job which of course will result in you having to look for a new job yet again.

In the last two days we’ve discussed the lunch interview and the panel interview.

Yesterday I referred to the panel interview as a group interview but there is another form of group interview that is actually quite different, and is one that I have experienced once.

The group interview I experienced actually involved me being interviewed by a panel of staff from the employer along with a group of other job candidates for the same job!

So it was like a panel interview and a group interview rolled into one.

It occurred right after I graduated from university and had moved overseas to New Zealand. The company – a multi national corporation – was looking for an entry level staff member to join their marketing department and I was on the short list with 8 other people from around the country. The whole interview process actually lasted for five days from Monday – Friday, 8am-5pm each day.

The interview process was quite interesting in terms of how it rolled out. An HR staffer from the company acted as a facilitator and for the first few days, the group of us being considered for the job all met together and worked through a series of group activities that were observed and led by the HR staffer.

During the latter part of the week, senior managers were brought in and met with us as a group and then on an individual basis to interview us in the more traditional one-on-one interview that we’ve probably experienced.

Finally, all 9 of us being considered for the job interviewed as a group by 5 executives from the company who sat in a row behind a table in front of us. So the final “interview” was the panel interview and group interview rolled into one that I mentioned earlier.

I recall one question that we were asked to close this interview where the executive asking the question wanted us to tell them the one reason they should hire us.

I offered to go first and I recall mentioning one of my skills that I thought would benefit them. 7 other people in the group took the same tact and mentioned one thing that they felt was a positive.

The last person to answer the question was a woman who started her answer by suggesting that she had a “total package” of skills and when I saw the HR staffer smiling and nodding her head in agreement, I knew she’d given them the answer they were looking for.

I didn’t get the job – I suspect the woman with the “total package” answer did – but I had a good experience with this interview. Given that it took place over a period of days, it wasn’t really an interview per se but rather a drawn out interview process and series of interviews but it was a great experience to have early in my career and a good learning point for me, too.

The panel interview or group interview is another type of interview you can attend that I alluded to several days ago in the stress interview entry.

The panel or group interview is exactly as it sounds: instead of being interviewed by one person, you get interviewed by more than one person simultaneously.

Early in my career, I experienced a panel interview where I was interviewed by the general manager, operations manager and sales manager for a sales job I was interviewing for. The interview was a comfortable one for me and the three people who interviewed me were very nice people and kept it very informal.

I got the job too, so I’m guessing the interview went ok…

Companies choose to do panel interviews for different reasons but one of the benefits to you is that you only need to answer a question once rather than having different people asking you the same question in separate interviews.

It also gives the other people in the room the chance to ask a follow up question after you’ve answered someone else’s question so I’d be prepared for an in depth discussion. I’d also be prepared for follow up questions and for different styles of interviewing since you’ll be in the room with different personalities.

Perhaps you get interviewed by 3-5 people perhaps representing different functional groups in the company including the group or division you’re looking at joining.

In terms of the people in the interview itself, perhaps it includes the person you’d be working for, one or more of their staff, an HR staff member, among other people.

One of the keys to the panel interview is therefore finding out ahead of time whenever possible:

1. The names of each person attending the interview

2. The role (job title) of each person attending the interview.

This way, you’ll be able to prepare for different kinds of questions knowing who is attending the interview and if possible you’ll be able to familiarize yourself with their names beforehand. If you’re interviewing with several people in a panel interview, unless they’re wearing name tags (!) you’ll probably have forgotten their name the moment they mention it since your head will already be full of everything else that you’re trying to remember.

If you’re lucky enough to have been handed a business card by each or most of the people in the room I’d lay them out in front of you in the order that they are seated without drawing too much attention to it, to help with remembering names.

When answering questions, remember to address everyone in the room and to pay particular attention to the person asking the question.

After the interview, I’d follow up by email with a short thank you note to each person that interviewed you.

The lunch interview is a job interview that as you might have already figured out involves being invited out to lunch by the person or people interviewing you for the job.

First off, let’s get the question of “who pays” out of the way. Since the hiring company undoubtedly asked you on the lunch interview, they’ll pay, so we’ve got that part figured out.

Earlier in my career, I was invited out on a lunch interview with two hiring managers who I was considering working for. I’d already met them at their office a few days earlier and they decided to follow up with a second interview in the form of a lunch interview at a local restaurant that they arranged.

Based on what I observed, if I was going on a lunch interview in the near future, there are a number of things I’d do in advance of the interview and during the interview itself:

1. Figure out where the restaurant is: I’d make sure I know exactly where the restaurant is located and how long it will take me to get there especially if I was driving and needed to park.

2. Figure out what the restaurant serves: I’d check out the restaurant’s website to see what they serve and make my choice ahead of time to avoid figuring this out on the day. I’d avoid ordering messy foods that involve me picking them up with my hands (like chicken wings) and I’d pick up a light food rather than a heavy meal. I’d avoid ordering alcohol even if the interviewers ordered it. Ultimately, I’d probably order something that was similar in price to what the person taking me out on the lunch ordered and if they insist I order first, I’d pick a mid-priced meal.

3. Be nice to the staff and mind your manners: I’d remember that the wait staff, etc are people too and I’d be nice them, which I’d do anyways but during an interview where we’re under stress, I’d remember that the interviewers are probably paying attention to how I’m treating the staff, if I complain about the food, have bad table manners, talk with my mouth full, make bad jokes, etc.

4. Focus on the interview not on the food: Remember the goal. You’re on an interview so I’d remember that the goal of the lunch interview is to get you closer to the job. I’d also remember to finish by letting the person interviewing me that I’m interested in the job and I’d leave with a smile and a hand shake, just like I’d do in a regular interview.

5. Figure out what happens next: Depending on how the interview ends – did you get a job offer during the interview? – I’d send a follow up note/email to the person I went to lunch with to thank them for their time and the fact that I appreciated their time and the lunch.

Over the next few days, we’ll look at a few types of popular interview types.

The stress interview is one type of job interview that you might face during your job searches that can throw you for a loop and surprise you if you weren’t expecting it.

The stress interview can take different forms but essentially the goal of it is to see how you handle pressure or how you handle a situation that you’re not expecting.

One sort of stress interview I faced earlier in my career was for a sales job where the interviewer (the sales manager) walked into the office I was waiting in, sat down in the chair and simply said to me “so, what do you want to know?”

So instead of a typical interview where he asked the questions and I answered them, he decided to reverse the situation and have me interview him, essentially.

In hindsight, I think this interview was less an interview that the interviewer tried to turn into a stress interview and more a case of him being a Type A person who had a busy job and preferred to cut to the chase and skip the formalities.

Either way, it did throw me for a loop but I recovered quickly and began asking him the questions I planned on asking him anyways.

Stress interviews can also take the form of a panel interview where a number of people interview you at once and fire off questions at you one after the other. I’ve experienced this type of interview, too. You deal with this by answering the questions as they’re asked and giving eye contact to each person in the room paying particular attention to the person asking the question.

Stress interviews might involve the interviewer cutting you off before you have answered the question completely or acting like you’re not answering the questions correctly. In this instance, keep your answers brief and maintain eye contact with the interviewer to try to gauge when they’re about to interrupt you. Don’t assume that you aren’t doing well in the interview because of the interviewer’s expression because that might be part of the act.

A stress interview might also involve being asked silly questions or trick questions, answering riddles and stuff like that. Whether or not you want to work for a company or manager who utilizes these sorts of tactics is another story…

Part of the issue with stress interviews is finding out about them ahead of time, whenever possible. If you already knew that you were being interviewed by a panel of people, knew their names or at least knew their job titles, you’d be better prepared than had you walked into the interview and then suddenly realized that it was a panel interview. Knowledge is power so asking the right questions before the interview is paramount.

In many cases with the stress interview, the goal can be to put you under stress to see if you crack under pressure.

Don’t give them what they want.

As they used to say in a deodorant commercial from a number of years ago, “never let them see you sweat.”