Submitted by mrobinson99 on
in
Forums
Hi everyone,
I have an interview coming up. I will be preparing a presentation to highlight my relevant experience and share some ideas of what I could do in the position.
A bit of background, I know who the hiring manager is... I've met him a few times at casual events. He is the actual manager over the position (he's not HR).
I'm wondering if I should create a brief (5-10 mins) video of my presentation and send it to him prior to the interview. That would leave more time for interaction during the interview. Also, hopefully, get me an early jump over the competition.
Or, is it better to request to do the presentation live at the start of the interview?
Thanks for your feedback.
M
Are you using the Interviewing Series?
Hi M,
Just to clarify: did the hiring manager ask you to prepare a presentation, or are you doing it on your own? If he didn't ask for it, it may come across as "here's what I want to tell you about myself" rather than "here's what YOU, as the hiring manager, really want to know" - and that's not great. Speaking as a hiring manager, I have a limited time to get a whole lot of information from a candidate (in addition to sharing info about the role, of course), and I would not be thrilled if someone wanted to walk me through an unplanned presentation. Your mileage may vary. :-)
I strongly recommend the Interviewing Series - you'll learn very specific ways to "highlight your relevant experience" throughout the entire interview and follow-up period, and will think about your accomplishments and past experience in a totally new way. Ultimately, your behavior and confidence throughout the interview will have far more impact than a presentation.
Good luck!
I got 99 words, and "yes" ain't one
As Stenya said, unless the interviewer has specifically asked you to prepare a presentation, don't. If the interviewer has not asked you to send a video of a presentation before the interview, don't. Basically, doing anything the interviewer hasn't asked for is likely to end up either coming off as weird or downright irritating. I'd certainly rethink my decision to interview someone if they sent me an unsolicited video of an unsolicited presentation containing a whole pile of information I hadn't asked for (and would probably contain nothing of relevance to my hiring decision).
Interview series
Like STENYA above - use the MT Interview Series. Works! P.S. the answer is no to presentation.
Wow... I guess that's a
Wow... I guess that's a "no" then... thanks for your feedback, everyone :)
The idea behind the idea is
The idea behind the idea is good, though. You are thinking about your experience with respect to this particular job, and you are thinking about what you might do to help this company, should you be hired. Those are good things.
Given that you have the interview coming up, there is probably not time to work thruogh the interviewing series before you actually go on this particular interview. So instead, go ahead and create the presentation, but only because it is going to help you to think through what you want to say if they ask you something you've predicted. But ONLY create the presentation. Do NOT send it, and do not whip out a deck of presentation materials when they ask you a question that you've covered while preparing. Don't even bring it with you... just use the act of preparing the presentation to clarify your thoughts, and bring those clear thoughts into the interview.
Great point, Maura
"go ahead and create the presentation, but only because it is going to help you to think through what you want to say if they ask you something you've predicted." Wish I'd said that! :-)
MRobinson, I hope you'll let us know how it goes!