Career Counselor: This episode of Capella University's Extreme Makeover: Internal Job
Search Edition is focused on how to prepare for and conduct an effective interview for
a new job at your current employer. Many people are interested in remaining employed at their
current organization, but aspire to move up or work in another department or role. Sam,
our interview candidate, is hoping to get another job at her current employer. Let's
see how she approaches her first internal job interview.
Friend: So, what does your afternoon look like? Have lots of meetings?
Sam: Oh, no not really. OH, I have an interview at 1:00. That's exciting.
Friend: Wow, what's the position you're interviewing for?
Sam: I don't know, it's something like in sales or recruiting. I don't know, I just
really need to get out of this job right now. I'm sick of it, I need to move on. You know
what I mean?
Friend: Well, are you prepared for everything?
Sam: Oh totally! I already work here, so there's that. I know the system. And I saw the hiring
manager in the hallway yesterday and I said 'Hi'. It's in the bag.
Friend: Aren't you worried about the specifics they might ask you about?
Sam: What specifics! I mean I talk about my job everyday. I'll just wing-it. I'll be fine.
Friend: Alright, well, it sounds like you think you're ready. Maybe you should get going.
Sam: Get going for what?
Friend: Isn't your interview in like 10 minutes?
Sam: Oh my gosh, it is, thank you for the reminder. Ah, wish me luck!
Friend: You're going to need it!
Interviewer: Thank you so much for coming in today Sam. It's really a pleasure to meet
you.
Sam: Ah, thank you, you too.
Interviewer: I look forward to talking with you about this position, to get to know a
little bit more about you and your skills and experience. So to get started, can you
just tell me a little bit about yourself?
Sam: Um, yeah, I work at Capella- Obviously. I’ve been here for a while, a few years
and um, yeah I just really like working here so I thought maybe I could do a different
job and you know, see where that takes me.
Interviewer: Ok, great. So speaking of the other job, why are you interested in this
one specifically?
Sam: Oh, 'cause um, I’m really sick of my job right now. It's really boring, really
slow. I'm kind of tired of the people I work with. My boss is really annoying. So I just
thought, 'well what a better way to get out of that then to just get a new job', you know?
Interviewer: So what questions do you have?
Sam: Um, well, how much am I going to be making, for this?
Interviewer: Well, We hope to make a decision in the next few weeks, so we'll definitely
be giving you a call and letting you know what the next steps in the process are.
Sam: Awesome, cool. Thanks.
Interviewer: Well it's great to meet you Sam.
Sam: Yeah, you too.
Interviewer: Thank you.
Sam: Bye
Friend: Oh, I forgot to ask, how'd your interview go?
Sam: I didn't get the job, they decided to go with someone else. I just don't understand
why I didn't get the position.
Friend: You know, last year, I talked to a Career Counselor and she said that I should
get in touch with the person I interviewed with, for the job that I didn’t get that
I really wanted. I'm not sure if all managers or recruiters provide feedback, but I found
that a lot of internal hiring managers and recruiters do. Maybe you should get in contact
with your interviewer and see if she has any tips on how you can be more effective next
time.
Sam: Thanks for meeting with me Melody. I really appreciate your time.
Melody (Interviewer): Sure, of course, I'm happy to. You mentioned on the phone that
you had some questions about your interview.
Sam: Yeah. I really was excited for this job, but I wasn't as prepared as I probably should've
been. So I really would like some suggestions on what I can do better next time, so I can
make a better impression.
Melody: Yeah, I'm happy to provide some tips. I'm hopeful that the advice I share with you
can help you do a better job at your next interview. Well, first of all, preparation
and conveying a professional image are both really important. A lot of times people don't
treat an internal interview like an external job interview, but really it's important that
they do that. And one important piece of that is dressing professionally, even if it's on
a casual Friday.
Sam: Oh… I didn't realize that.
Melody: What's also important is to demonstrate interest and enthusiasm for the job. Employers
really want to know the candidate wants the job and wants to work in that department of
the company. One way that you can, sort of, prove this to them is by clearly demonstrating
that you have the skills that they're looking for in that job. So to prepare for that, look
at the job posting. Get a sense of what you'd be doing in that job, what are the skills
that they're requiring. Think back to your own job, and be able to provide stories that
demonstrate that you have those skills and you successfully used them.
Sam: Yeah, people have always told me that researching is really important, but I just
don't really know how to do it. Do you have any suggestions?
Melody: Well, since you are an employee, you have advantages that a lot of external candidates
don't have, and so you want to make sure that you leverage that. One would be to look at
the organization chart, for the department, in which you have an interest in working.
And look at the different people that are working at that department. Consider calling
and asking some of them out for coffee. See if they'd be willing to talk with you, conduct
an informational interview with you, but talk a little bit about what it's like to work
in that department, what they like about it, what are some of the challenges, and what
skills it takes to be successful. That can give you some really good incite into what
might be some of the questions that the interview will ask. In addition, you might ask want
to consider doing a job shadow. I have an employee who's job shadowing me right now
and she's able to sit in on appointments, get a sense of the different types of responsibilities
I hold, and it gets you a really good sense of what really goes on in that job. And to
take it a step further, if you're preparing for ahead, which I encourage you to do, is
to seek out opportunities to get involved with projects, in which you'd be working with
that department. So you actually have a chance to show them what Sam is really like as an
employee and you also demonstrate initiative and interest in getting into that position.
And finally, there are a lot of people here at Capella that are hiring managers and have
conducted interviews before so consider reaching out to them and seeing if they have any incite
on what they're looking for when they're interviewing candidates.
Sam: Sounds good, thank you so much for these suggestions. I'm going to try really hard
to incorporate them and see what I can do. I had no idea that all of this mattered when
you already work at the company.
Career Counselor: Let's see how Sam incorporates the suggestions and recommendations offered
by Melody into her next interview.
Interviewer#2: Thank you so much for coming in today Sam. It was really a pleasure to
meet you.
Sam: Thanks, you too.
Interviewer#2: To get started, why don't you tell me why you're interested in this role?
Sam: Sure. In my current role here at Capella, in the Registrar's office, I've really worked
closely with a lot of learners during the application process. And the advising role
intrigued me, so I did some research and some job shadowing and I realized that there are
certain components to the advising role that I already felt really familiar with, like
the degree planning. A portion of that position is really similar to when I help applicants
through the application process for getting admitted into school, so I feel like it's
a really comfortable role for me and I also feel like I can really give to the learners
and to Capella in the long-run.
Interviewer#2: Great! Wonderful, ok. So now can you tell me about some of your strengths?
Sam: Sure, yeah. I feel like I'm a really good communicator. I really pride myself …
Interviewer#2: Well Sam, it's been really nice chatting with you today. Before we conclude
do you have anything else you'd like to share?
Sam: I just really want to thank you for your time and consideration, and you know, interviewing
me today. I really enjoyed hearing about your perspective on the position and getting the
details of what goes on in the day of an Academic Advisor. And I just really want to reiterate
that I feel like this is a really good fit for me and I feel really prepared for the
position and that I can really contribute a lot to Capella's learners and Capella in
the long-run as well.
Interviewer#2: Great, wonderful! Thank you so much.
Sam: Hi! Yeah, thanks so much for your advice. I got the job! Yes! I'm so excited.
Career Counselor: As you can see, by treating her internal job search and interview as she
would at any other organization, Sam impressed the interviewer and received a job offer.
The Capella University Career Center hopes this tip makes a difference in your next interview.
Stay tuned for more tips and good luck!
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