Interview Style Inventory: Preparing people for the most important 60 minutes of a job search

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Interview Style Inventory Preparing people for
the most important 60 minutes of a job search

• John Liptak, Ed.D., Associate Director,
• Career Services
• Radford University
• jjliptak_at_radford.edu

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Statements from my students

• I dont know what happened.I thought I did
  great in the interview
• Im not good at the research part
• I dont know why I cant find a job
• I dont think the interviewer liked me
• The interviewer didnt give me a chance to sell
  myself
• Im not good at bragging about myself

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Facts About Employment Interviews

• People who are effective in employment interviews
  utilize a variety of styles and skills to develop
  rapport with the interviewer.
• Interviewees must understand their strengths,
  work to overcome their weaknesses, adapt to
  what happens
• Many different sets of communication behaviors
  are required.
• Prospective interviewees need to be able to adapt
  their personalities to the stages of an
  employment interview.

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Expert Advice

• The interviewers decision about whether you
  will be invited back for an additional interview
  will probably be influenced by your attitude and
  personality as much as your qualifications
• Graber, S. (2000). The everything get-a-job
  book. Avon, MA Adams Media Corporation.

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Stages of An Interview

• Stage 1 (Preparation) Preparing for the
  interview mentally, researching organizations,
  formulating questions, and practicing answers to
  questions.
• Stage 2 (First Impression) Developing rapport
  and forming a good impression, being spontaneous,
  optimistic, and energetic.

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Stages of An Interview

• Stage 3 (Passion/Skills Presentation)
  Passionately and convincingly present skills and
  qualifications, make sales pitch, and tell
  achievement story.
• Stage 4 (Closing Follow-Up) Listening for
  verbal and nonverbal cues of end of the
  interview, use people skills to close the deal,
  ask about process, and follow-up.

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Purpose of the ISI

• The ISI is designed to help people learn about
  and utilize their primary personality type in an
  interview, but also to integrate aspects of other
  personality types throughout the interview
  process to succeed in each stage.

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Need for the ISI

• The interview is the most complex and important
  aspect of the job search

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Need for the ISI

• A persons preferred approach to employment
  interviewing is based on his/her personality type

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Need for the ISI

• The ability to match your personality type to
  that of the interviewer is a skill that can be
  learned

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Personality Defined

• A dynamic organization, inside the person, of
  psychophysical systems that create a persons
  characteristics patterns of behavior, thought,
  and feeling (Carver Scheier, 2000).
• A consistent way of behaving as a result of the
  interaction between temperament characteristics
  and social experience (Deckers, 2005).

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Personality Types

• Categories into which people can be classified to
  understand and explain human behavior patterns
  and predict future behavior.
• The emergence of clear dominant and auxiliary
  functions gives our personality consistency and
  predictability.
• Carl Jung Sensing, Feeling, Thinking, and
  Intuiting

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Take the ISI
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ISI Interviewer Styles

• I. ACHEIVER You are action-oriented and hard
  working. You are very direct and often do not
  take no for an answer. You are self-motivated,
  confident, and persistent. You are respected by
  others because of your ability to get things
  done. You may have trouble getting to know
  people well. You have innate leadership
  qualities and tend to rise to the top in whatever
  you do. You are strong-willed and good at making
  decisions. You would rather achieve personal
  goals than please other people.

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ISI Interviewer Styles

• II. INTUITOR You are highly intuitive about
  people and things. You are a good listener and
  genuinely care about other people and what they
  have to say, making you a good friend and
  confidante. You are easy to get along with but
  are not very forceful in dealing with others.
  You handle problems courteously and efficiently
  but prefer to keep a low profile and avoid
  conflict. You are very productive in your work,
  and find creative ways to solve problems. You
  often are not very flexible, thus you may fear
  change. You tend to be calm and collected in
  whatever you do.

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ISI Interviewer Styles

• III. ENERGIZER You are adventurous, spontaneous,
  and unstructured. You are outgoing and tend to
  get along well with others, though you try to
  avoid confrontation. You like to engage in a
  variety of tasks and are open to change, but you
  are also impulsive and get restless or bored
  easily. You trust in your ability to improvise
  in any situation. You have a high energy level,
  but often need assistance in channeling this
  energy in constructive ways. You prefer working
  with people and do not want to be bothered with
  details or paperwork. You have limited
  organizational skills, but your enthusiasm makes
  you a good motivator.

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ISI Interviewer Styles

• IV. ANALYZER You are very logical in all you
  do. You prefer to work with data and ideas and
  would rather work by yourself than as part of a
  group. You are willing to spend a great deal of
  energy to complete projects you have started
  however, you often get bogged down in details and
  lose sight of the end results. You are often
  viewed by others as a deep thinker, and make
  decisions only after having all of the facts.
  You tend to be objective and unemotional. You
  value critical thinking and dont often act on
  impulse.

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Using Your Results (Step 4)

• 1) Identify your preferred style (aware)
• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• 2) Incorporate the strengths from other styles
  explore all 4 styles
• 3) Work to improve aspects of your type

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ISI Interview Styles Jung Typologies/Keirsey
Temperaments

• NF Intuitor (ENFJ, ENFP, INFJ, INFP) Artisans
• NT Analyzer (ENTJ, ENTP, INTJ, INTP)
• Rationals
• SJ Achiever (ESTJ, ESFJ, ISTJ, ISFJ)
• Guardians
• SP Energizer (ESTP, ESFP, ISTP, ISFP)
  Idealists

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Adapting Personality to Interview Stages

• STAGE 1 Preparation Analyzer
• Research organizations
• Prepare questions to ask
• Practice responses
• Organizing
• Have facts and figures

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Adapting Personality to Interview Stages

• STAGE 2 First Impression Energizer
• Develop rapport
• Impression management
• Spontaneous
• Enthusiasm Energy
• Sociability
• Uses stories and personal examples

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Adapting Personality to Interview Stages

• STAGE 3 Passion/Skills Presentation Achiever
• Shows passion
• Present qualifications/skills
• Sales pitch/Self-marketing
• Tell achievement story
• Action orientation
• Uses many examples

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Adapting Personality to Interview Stages

• STAGE 4 Closing Follow-Up Intuitor
• Listening actively
• Watches for key signs and signals
• Thorough and prepared
• Finish interview gracefully
• Creative follow-up
• Balance patience and assertiveness

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Group Activities

• Break the group into smaller groups based on
  their strongest style on the ISI. Have them
  brainstorm things they can do to incorporate
  strengths from other types
• Brainstorm a list of television characters that
  exhibit a personality style similar to those of
  the four types
• Have members of the group role play an employer
  interviewing a person from each of the four types