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!

[Music playing]