Would Miss Manners Approve? Meals (And Behaviors) To Avoid During The Lunch Interview

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Someone finally invited you to lunch! Unfortunately, it's a hiring manager, and it’s a lunch interview – a series of well-designed tests to see if you are the right job candidate. A regular interview vs. a lunch interview is like the 100-meter dash vs. the 100-meter hurdles if the hurdles are food, forks, and heavy sauces. For maximum pressure, lunch interviews are typically at the end of the interview process, so you know it's now or never. Don't blow (or spill) it!

Employers don't spring for lunch because they like you. They raid the petty cash to make sure you're not a barbarian. If you can't conduct yourself like a professional in public, hold a one-on-one conversation for an hour, or treat the people you encounter with kindness and respect, your stellar qualifications sink a notch. Everything is a hurdle. Everything is a test. Order with care. Do not make food your downfall. Here’s a list of foods to avoid during the interview.

Tip #1: Avoid Sauces

• Spaghetti and meatballs. The sadist took you to an Italian restaurant. It's going to be the tall hurdles. Do not fall for this cruel ploy. Pasta sauces gun for your white shirt and silk tie. You don't want to look like a Jackson Pollack painting. You will disorient the hiring manager.

• Dipping sauces. Thai peanut. Soy ginger. Pineapple lime. Buffalo Blue Cheese. Cabernet Peppercorn. It's all fun and games until dipping sauce forms a Rorschach test on your interview clothes. Remember when the fly sat on Mike Pence's head during the Vice Presidential Debate? It was all anyone could notice. The hiring manager will stare at your dipping sauce stains like the world stared at the Vice-Presidential fly.

Tip #2: Avoid Smells

• Herring and onion. There are over two hundred species of herring, and they all smell like shame and regret, which are the two emotions you will experience after the hiring manager returns from lunch and announces you are the finalist most likely to microwave fish in the office break room, effectively ending your candidacy.

• Brussels sprouts and cabbage soup. So healthy! Will most likely add several years to your life span. But smells like an armpit, in mid-August, with 95% humidity. Think about the aromas you want wafting up from your plate between you and a job offer. The Limburger cheese sandwich may be a culinary delight but will not do you any favors at a lunch interview. If you subject the hiring manager to unpleasant food odors, it is human nature to associate you with them. "You stink!" is not the lasting impression you want to impart.

Tip #3: Foods You Can’t (or Wouldn’t) Cut with a Fork & Knife

• Hamburger with grilled onions. Talk about finger food. If you are at a lunch interview, one ingredient can lead to your sudden irrevocable downfall (no pressure). Grilled onions are the yummy avalanche of foods. Whether they are on a classic burger or Philly Cheese Steak, grilled onions will slide off the bread and bury you. It's not a matter of if. It's a matter of when. If you apply Murphy's Law, the grilled onions will slide onto your lap right after you say, "I am the best." And it's not just grilled onions. Many extras, sides, and condiments are hurdles waiting to take you down.

• Stacked Food Like a Carnegie Deli Sandwich. If you've ever been to a serious deli, you may know that many sandwiches are so big that they do not fit in the human mouth. If you need to dislocate your jaw to devour your prey it's probably too big for a lunch interview. A separate but related issue is that most stacked food falls apart - on you. Forks and knives have been around since ancient Egypt and are used to cut food into easy-to-manage-and-digest pieces while reducing the amount of food you wear.

Tip #4: Do Not Order Alcohol

• Loose Lips, Sinks Ships. While there are exceptions to every tip, this one is pretty solid. Even if your lunch interview is with a panel of well-known drinkers who order their bottle of wine, stick with non-alcoholic beverages. If you want to exercise foresight and caution, make it a clear non-alcoholic drink in case of unexpected spills. Water dries and disappears. Coffee does not. (Note: If you’re interviewing with a beer, wine, or spirits company, follow the interviewer’s lead – sampling the products might be a decent choice.

• Elaborate Cocktails. Any beverage with a paper interview could be construed a poor choice.

Tip #5: Do Not Order a Dish That Creates Extra Work for the Accounting Department

•  Lobster Thermidor. It's a lunch interview, not a first date with the King of Money. If you believe a global Fortune 500 company that spends a million dollars a year on paper clips doesn't care about the recruiting budget, then go right ahead and order the 10oz Japanese A5 Wagyu Beef Ribeye Steak, Almas caviar, a side of Bonnotte potatoes, and a brick of Alba white truffles. If you want the job, order a dish that is the same price or less than your lunch companion's order. If the interviewer insists you order first, choose something that is mid-priced. Exercise sound judgment, or it may seem like you're taking advantage of the company's generosity.

• Tuna eyeballs. Chances are your lunch interview will not take place at the Tuna Eyeballs Café, but sometimes adventurous diners can't resist the one esoteric item on a menu, especially when the King of Money is paying the bill. Keep it simple. Don't let the conversation be about black pudding and hákarl instead of what makes you a super genius who will increase your new company's profit margin by 50% on day one.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Need To Get Better At Interviewing? Try A Mock Interview

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In many ways, a job interview is a performance. Any actor will tell you doing scene work or watching themselves on film for the first time is a sobering experience. After that, it’s nothing but practice. Just like acting, interviewing is a learned skill. The better you become, the better your chances of receiving the job offers you truly want. 

Enter the Mock Interview. Think of a mock interview as a rehearsal – you run the lines but the stakes aren’t real. It does not matter how many mistakes you make because there are no real-world consequences beyond derision from the very generous and patient friend or family member who has agreed to interview you. Running lines with another person is a superior barometer of how prepared you are to face the room than writing out and practicing answers to potential interview questions. 

Before we dive into the nuts and bolts of a Mock Interview, let’s step back and think about your “sweet spot” in the room. The whole purpose of practice, practice, practice is

to make the experience as natural as possible. A contradiction? Yes. Tried, true, and effective? Yes. Going into an interview, you want: 

·      Your authentic self to shine.

·      Your answers to sound polished but not rehearsed.

·      To give sharp, succinct answers that match the question you were asked.

·      To avoid using space-filling interjections (e.g., um, ahem, aah, hmm, ah, like, etc.)

·      To make eye contact and have open body language. 

Mock interviews can:

·      Provide a fantastic method to hone your skills and sharpen your pencil.

·      Reveal whether or not you are effectively answering questions.

·      Make you more prepared, which makes you more comfortable, which mitigates anxiety and nervousness, which increases your vertical leap by three feet.

·      Provide a friendly and receptive audience comprised of a person, or people, who know you best and will, most likely, offer positive constructive criticism.

Start with a list of questions. Endless examples of interview questions are a Google search away but to jump-start your groundbreaking off-Broadway production of “Interview 101”, here is a quick list of classics: 

·      Tell me about yourself.

·      What interested you in this opportunity?

·      Why do you think you’re a good fit for this job?

·      Tell me about your experience in this type of work.

·      What is your greatest strength and weakness?

The first type of Mock Interview is like a play in an empty theater. It’s in person. Just like a real interview, you sit awkwardly across the table from someone who asks you questions typical of a job interview. There are no rules to conducting a Mock Interview, but for the best results keep the interview questions a secret for the first run-through. After that, you can hone your responses and demeanor. In this setting, your interviewer’s body language and reactions are instant feedback.

The second type of Mock Interview is a video. Yes, you’re sitting awkwardly across a table just like before, but this time a video camera is rolling. Warning: video is not kind. Watching yourself interview can be painful, because video reveals interview skill deficiencies with unnerving accuracy. You will see things invisible during your live one-on-one like fidgeting, posture, eye contact, blinking, excessive interactions, and sweating.

Practice. Practice. Practice. Rinse. Repeat.

Other tips – ignore at your own risk: 

·      Do a full dress (up!) rehearsal, including printing out your resume and stressing about where to park.

·      Many interviews are behavioral interviews. Knowledge is power. Learn as much about them as you can.

·      Don’t forget the other important set of interview questions – yours! Chances are, you’ve had an interview that ends with, “Do you have any questions?” Have questions. Great, well-researched, and well-thought-out questions. If you don’t ask your interviewers questions, you’ll come across as uninterested.

·      For recent graduates or soon-to-be-recent graduates – put down your phones! No. Seriously. Put down your phones. Take those earbuds out of your ears and L-I-S-T-E-N. Your college career center may have some great resources to help you prepare for interviews.

·      Thank your interviewer(s) for your time (yes, even the imaginary one during the mock interview!).

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Overcoming Obstacles In The Hiring Process

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If you’ve ever watched Olympic track and field athletes race the 400-meter hurdles, you know how the typical job hiring process feels – a lap of obstacles while you run as fast as you can. You must stay in your lane and hope the other runners don’t clear a hurdle. In the end, only one person will be hired. You want it – you need it – to be you. 

Athletes train for years to run that lap and clear eleven hurdles, high and low. Nobody trains to look for a job. It’s something that’s done out of necessity and in intense bursts of activity. Then you land a job, settle in, and forget about how hard it was too until the next time you’re faced with unemployment or want to move onward and upward.  

During the hiring process, job seekers face a multitude of obstacles. Some are technical. Some are all too human. Here are some key examples and some tips to win the race. 

• Obstacle #1: Companies use Automatic Tracing systems to screen candidates’ resumes and profiles. It is impossible to know the magic combination of keywords your resume must contain to slip past the machine wall. How do you overcome that? Battle tech with human intelligence. After you’ve applied online, use LinkedIn, or any other means at your disposal, to try to discover the job’s hiring manager – if you know who that is, you can get your resume directly to them. Be aware that you still need to follow the company’s online application process, but this can help put your candidacy over the top.

•  Obstacle #2: You’re hot on a new job listing. Then you see what the role pays. It’s below market and not where you need it to be. Don’t panic. This high hurdle may not be as insurmountable as you believe. First, you need an interview before you start worrying about an offer. Second, if the application requires desired salary information, enter $0 if you can. This will allow your resume to make it through filters that try to weed out high salaries. Third, go on to PayScale.com and find out what the job should pay in your area. When salary negotiations begin, have the data and be ready to explain why you deserve your desired range.

•  Obstacle #3: Not all job listings are created equal, and it’s hard to ascertain whether you are qualified. If a company asks for everything and the kitchen sink, read between the lines and figure out what the essential skills are. If you have a significant skill gap, you can close it with online classes during the hiring process. Be honest about your level, but you can improve your candidacy by proactively learning a required skill.

•  Obstacle #4: One of the most frustrating aspects of a job search is an endless interview process. Time frames for how long a company takes to hire varies. Hiring a C-level executive (such as a CEO, COO, etc.) takes longer than an hourly employee for an entry-level job. However, there is such a thing as too long. If you find yourself mired in a lengthy hiring process, try contacting the company and tactfully push your candidacy along – tell the potential employer you are entertaining other offers but really, really want to work for them. They will potentially respond to this in a positive manner and get the gears in motion if they want you. If you get more stalling, it may be time to move on.

•  Obstacle #5: Speaking of moving on, if there are too many obstacles, there are plenty of other jobs out there. A company’s hiring process says a lot about its culture. If the way a company conducts itself during an interview process rubs you the wrong way, there is good reason, though not certain, to believe that you may not be the right cultural fit for the job. Learn when to walk away!

•  Obstacle #6: Don’t drop the ball on the basics. Proofread everything. Be on time. Dress appropriately. Be prepared with questions. You have enough hurdles to clear. Do not be your greatest obstacle.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.