(This is focused towards the marketing interview, but there's probably a lot here that is relevant to other disciplines)

Your interview is a sales pitch. Sell yourself. It's a conversation with a purpose, and keep the back-and-forth going. Remember, there are three main objectives for this exercise:

• Build rapport
• Accomplish the interviewer's objectives
• Accomplish your agenda

The Eight Phases Of The Interview

• Preparation
• Introduction: Meet and Greet
• Tell Me About Yourself
• General Q&A, including Information-Seeking; Behavioral; Case; and Negative
• Your Questions
• The Close
• The Debrief
• The follow up?

Of course, with eight phases, you need to exercise NFL-coach-level clock management. And manage the interview itself as well:

• Let the recruiter take the lead -- be friendly if they're friendly, business if they're business, get to the point if they don't like your questions
• Don't ramble; if you catch yourself, take responsibility and cut it off
• Make eye contact
• Silence is acceptable
• Build the dialog
• Organize your thought pattern -- big picture to key concenrs to conclusions
• Don't panic! If it blows up on you, at least you got to learn from it. You might be able to make a contact that you can use down the road!
• Show you have strong marketing attributes
• Make yourself stand out! Everyone says "I'm from the Marshall School, here's my resume" -- make an observation! Start a conversation! Look at an attribute across the line, compare to the competition, and ask questions about it!

What to Watch Out For

The only thing the interviewer fears is hiring the wrong person. Don't be the wrong person.