SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA JOB MARKET : PART TWO: MAKING THE BREAK : Interviewing for Success : Ask Questions, Find Out If Job Is Right for You

Kathleen Burke still remembers the time she showed up for a job interview at a law office in her crisp and professional dress-for-success suit.

It would have been a good move at many companies, but not at this particular firm, where the atmosphere was loose and the dress was distinctly casual, said Burke, now executive vice president for human resources at Security Pacific Corp.

“Everybody else was in jeans,” Burke said. “Everybody was laughing at me when I came in.”

The job interview is the crucial stress test of the hiring process. It is not only where the interviewer sizes up the job candidate, it is also where the job hunter must check out the potential employer and decide if this job is the right one.

To be sure, many job interviews are characterized by a certain urgency.

“The people I run into are so uptight about getting jobs that they’re willing to say whatever the interviewer wants to hear,” said David Jepsen, a professor at the University of Iowa at Iowa City who teaches courses for career and vocational counselors. That attitude often changes, he said, when “you point out that there might be employers you wouldn’t want to work for.”

“Some people may hire you and they may be hiring the wrong person and you’ll both be unhappy,” said Richard Knowdell, a career counselor in San Jose.

The wise job applicant will look for a job that will suit him or her, counselors say. When the specter of the unemployment line looms or an ulcer kicks into high gear, it is too late to begin wishing that you had known more about a job or a company before you signed on.

As in Burke’s experience, sometimes dress can be a tip-off to the potential employer’s corporate culture. But in most cases, the signs are much more subtle and the interviewee will need to ask some probing questions to find exactly what would be expected in a job and what kind of working environment the company would provide.

“I think it is important for the interviewee to get a good idea of what the job is” by asking questions, Burke said. “In my experience, it isn’t all that frequent that people do that.

“We find if an interviewee does ask questions and shows some knowledge of the company and what we do, that makes them stand out.”

Unfortunately, deciding what to ask is more a matter of art than science.

“There is no clear consensus about the best way or even the best 10 ways to handle a job interview,” said Jepsen, president of the National Career Development Assn., a professional counselors’ organization based in Alexandria, Va. “There are some things you have to do but after that it’s almost stylistic.”

Some of the musts for a job interview are basic. Dress neatly and appropriately. Bring an extra resume. Have your references handy. Answer questions promptly, concisely and truthfully. Don’t be late. Relax.

Be prepared for general questions from the interviewer. Some of the old favorites are: “Tell me about yourself,” “What are your strengths/weaknesses?” and “What are you looking for in a job?”

“People often stumble on that even though they are very typical questions,” Burke said.

Ask about the “three Rs,” Jepsen said: What are the requirements to get the job, and what are the routines and rewards once you are in?

Do some homework on the company to find out what it does, the product it makes and the market it serves. Much of that information, particularly on publicly held companies, is available at libraries in annual financial reports and in newspaper stories.

From there on out, it gets more complicated.

“Find out how the organization does things,” said Knowdell, who is also executive director of the Career Planning and Adult Development Network of San Jose, a national network of career counselors. “I try to get them to ask about the fables of the organization (that illustrate) how things are done around there.”

For example, he once visited a company that boasted of its team spirit and egalitarian culture. But the employee parking lot was across the street while executives stashed their cars right outside the entrance, Knowdell said.

Jepsen suggested asking such general questions as: “Tell me a little bit about the people here” and “What type of people would I be working with?” The job candidate might ask the interviewer to trace how a particular decision might be made at that company and to describe how job performance is evaluated.

“I find it interesting to ask them what they are most proud of about the organization, what do they talk fondly of,” Jepsen said. “Sometimes it catches them a little off guard and you get some good things.”

Knowdell had some even more unusual suggestions.

“Talk to the receptionist. Receptionists are wonderful; they love to talk,” he said.

Job candidates also might visit nearby restaurants frequented by employees and strike up a conversation with a waiter or waitress, Knowdell said. “Employees will gripe about the organization in those restaurants.”

Job hunters should consider describing their own style of working or decision making, Knowdell said.

“There’s a danger that you might shoot yourself out of the water,” he said. “In the short term, that’s a danger. But in the long term, it will be to your benefit.”

Knowdell advocates injecting some humor into the interview, although not all counselors agree with that, he said.

“Get away from talking about the nuts and bolts of the job and get an informal conversation going,” he said. “That’s where you find the fit.”