Your Interview Types

Your Serial Interview
Ranges from a couple of hours to a day-long trek from office to office, plus a plant tour and a mealtime quiz . It often begins and/or ends in the Human Resources Department, where you learn about the company’s benefit program and have your psyche probed a bit. Try to anticipate the questions you must answer during the day and prepare your responses well, as you may have to give them several times.

Your Panel Interview
Usually takes place around a conference table, with an HR representative as moderator. An efficient way of screening candidates, it has advantages for you as well: You answer each question one time. You observe the interaction among your interviewers, learning a bit about the company culture. It is stimulating and challenging. You may also have a facility tour, a luncheon interview, and a one-on-one conversation with an HR representative.

Your Mealtime Interview
Treat your food server with respect. Avoid dangling pasta, greasy finger foods, runny dressings, and anything that you have never eaten before. Don’t talk with food in your mouth. Take small bites so that you can chew and swallow before answering a question. No alcohol. No smoking. Go easy on sugar, caffeine, foods that linger on the breath, and foods that cause gas. Carry a small toothbrush and use it afterwards.

Your Off-Site Interview
This might be in an airport or some other stop in your interviewer’s business travel, a sign that this company expects a lot from its employees and is looking for people with a get-it-done attitude; or it could be part of a routine screening process held in the office of a university placement department, an outplacement organization, or a recruiting firm. If it goes well, expect to be invited to the facility for a more thorough interview.

Your Secret Interview
This is often a search for a replacement for a current employee who is not yet aware that he or she is being replaced, and usually takes place off-site. Don’t expect to learn too much about the company or position on your first interview. Do your homework ahead of time and treat this as an opportunity to get acquainted and present your credentials.

Other information that will aid you in your ceramic or ceramic related job search: