Interview Prep and Being Quick on Your Feet

I had an onsite interview that followed a phone interview by a couple of days.  The interview was interesting in that during the phone interview the recruiter asked me to consider and prepare to respond to 3 specific things.  One had to do with operations and logistics, a second area was about intern development and the third was coordinating an educational program.

Over the course of a couple of days, probably about 3 hours total, I formulated some responses to the areas being considered.  I actually created a PowerPoint for myself that I took into the interview, both printed and on my tablet (in case I could not get network access).

The interview itself was different in that there were very few questions asked.  Most of the time, I spent listening to the interviewers thoughts about the plans and goals for the organization.  During the course of the hour plus discussion I did get to present some of my thoughts on the three areas.  Even though I did not get to give the complete details, because of time I at least got to provide some broader thoughts and show that I was prepared.

Some take-aways from the experience:  First the preparation paid off.  I felt prepared and confident to cover the required areas.  Second, the notes I created were very helpful. As we got into the discussion and I realized we were running short on time, I was able to go to the areas that seemed most pertinent to the concerns that were articulated by the interviewer.  Second, always be ready to be quick on your feet. I had planned for the interview to be more "standardized" and to get more time to talk, but had to adjust on the fly for a different experience.  Hopefully, it was good, but I think that I did a good job on my end and I cannot control what the interviewer thinks.