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Job Interview Tips
From: Carnegie
Resources. http://www.carnegieresources.com
Employment Agency Jobs Interview Tips
To give you that inside job interview edge.
APPEARANCE
Your appearance is critical. Dress and act appropriately whenever you have
contact
with a potential employer. Every meeting is a chance for you to be
evaluated.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression. This means
that
no matter how casual the meeting (especially breakfast or lunch 'get
togethers')
appears to be, you have an opportunity to make an impression that
counts.
Be well groomed and look professional. Don't overdo the make up,
cologne
or perfume. While this may seem obvious, employers say appearance will
either
disqualify a prospective employee immediately or move the applicant along
to
the next level. When in doubt, it's better to dress too conservatively rather
than
too
casually. Before you walk in, take a few deep breaths to calm your nerves.
Give
a firm -- not a limp or bone crushing -- handshake.
DEALING WITH THE RECEPTIONIST OR SECRETARY
You are talking to an important person. Do not act rude or superior. Be
pleasant
and
it may pay off. Be aware that how you treat these gate keepers will affect
the
net
result of your visit with other important people in the company. It will
also be
communicated to those who make final decisions.
JOB INTERVIEW
Be positive during your interview. An employer is only interested in what
you
have
to offer his company. If you give the impression that you are only
interested
in
what the company can do for you, they will lose interest immediately. A
firm
handshake
and eye contact are critical. If you have difficulty looking someone in
the
eye, look at the the bridge of their nose. It will appear that you are
looking
them
in the eye. We highly recommend the book 'Knock 'Em Dead',
www.knockemdead.com.
Appear confident and relaxed during the interview and
use
humor where appropriate, especially to defuse inappropriate or
touchy
questions. Avoid stiff, canned speeches. Show respect for the recruiter's
time.
If the interview is only 30 minutes, for instance, don't give eight minute
answers.
Be aware of your body language. Don't cross your arms or fiddle
nervously
with a pen or piece of paper. It's OK to lean forward to make points.
You
want to be natural yet convey energy and initiative.
Let the interviewer establish the pace. Don't interrupt or ask questions at this
point.
You don't want to come across as overly aggressive. Listen carefully. There will
come a time to ask questions, and this is when you can demonstrate your range of
knowledge about the company, its products and how your skills and experience fit
their needs. We suggest writing down questions in advance and taking
them
with you. Enthusiasm is often the significant factor in hiring. Interviewers
respond
to a candidate's enthusiasm about a job. They want team players, yet they
also
want someone who comes in with new ideas and eagerness, -- unlikely to be
found
in an employee who's had a dozen similar jobs and who may be nearing
burnout.
KEEP JOB EXPERIENCE POSITIVE
If there are negative things in your education or employment, be honest.
Don't
dwell
on them and do try to put them in as positive a light as possible.
Do
not make negative comments about past employers. You do not want to appear
to
be a malcontent. End the interview on a positive note. If you are
interested in
the
position, tell the interviewer. Don't make them try to read your mind.
Remember
that your competition is definitely asking for the job. As you shake
hands
good-bye, restate the key message that you want the job. That won't cinch
things,
but it will set you apart from the pack, experts say. One good approach is to
say,
'Steve, you've given me a great picture of ABC Company and it just
confirms
in
my mind that ABC Company remains my first choice. Working for you is
something
I'd really like to do. Thank you for taking the time to meet with me. If
there's
any other information you need, please give me a call.'
Interview Mistakes
Interviewing Tips, Preparing for an Interview
COMMON JOB INTERVIEW MISTAKES MADE DURING EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEWS
1. Poor or casual personal appearance.
2. Lack of interest and enthusiasm:
Passive and indifferent.
3. Over emphasis on money: interested
only in best dollar offer, benefits, hours and vacation.
4. Condemnation of past employers.
5. Failure to look at the interviewer
when conversing.
6. Limp, fishy handshake.
7. Unwillingness to go where sent.
8. Late to interview.
9. Failure to express appreciation for
interviewers time.
10. Asks no questions about job or
company.
11. Indefinite response to questions.
12. Overbearing, over aggressive,
conceited with superiority or "know it all complex."
13. Inability to express self clearly:
Poor voice diction, grammar.
14. Lack of planning for career: no
purpose and goals.
15. Lack of confidence and poise: nervous
and ill at ease.
16. Failure to participate in activities.
17. Unwilling to start at the
bottom-expects too much too soon.
18. Makes excuses, evasive, hedges on
unfavorable factors in record.
19. Lack of tact.
20. Lack of courtesy: ill mannered.
21. Lack of Maturity.
22. Lack of vitality.
23. Indecision and hesitation.
24. Sloppy application, not fully
completed or putting see resume.
25. Merely shopping around seeking a
counter offer.
26. Wants job for short time.
27. No interest in company or industry.
28. Low moral standards.
29. Cynical.
30. Lazy.
31. Intolerant: strong prejudices.
32. Narrow interests.
33. Inability to take criticism.
34. High pressure type.
From: Business
& Career Avenues http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Office/2655/interv.html
Jobs, Employment, and Career advice page:
Make a Great First Impression at Job Interviews by being Prepared for those
Tough Job Interview Questions!
Don't be caught off guard by predictable job interview
questions!
Imagine being prepared for just about every possible
question a job interviewer could throw at you! Not only would you be more
relaxed and confident in the interview, but you'd have a chance to prepare
dynamic and well thought-out answers to those job interview questions. The
following article includes most of the questions you're likely to encounter in
a job interview situation. It also offers some suggestions on how to project a
winning attitude, put effective interview strategies into action, and increase
your chances of turning interviews into a job offer. Most of the time you only
get one chance to make a positive impression in job interviews, and some
people would argue that the first five minutes are all that matter. With that
in mind, it's best to leave nothing to chance, including small but important
details like arriving at interviews a few minutes early, making sure your
interview suit is clean and pressed, and having a couple extra copies of your
resume with you, in case the interviewer can't find his or her copy, or (and
this is a good thing to mentally prepare for) if you're going to be
interviewed by a committee or a series of interviewers.
Successful job interviews are like a good theatrical performance. If you
convincingly act confident, enthusiastic, and prepared for those tricky
questions, there's a good chance you'll be called back for an encore! The job
candidate that gets chosen isn't necessarily the one who's the most
experienced or capable; it's often the job-seeker who has cultivated the
ability to relax at job interviews — to "just be themselves" —
to answer questions in a deliberate way, and to come across in interviews as
if they really believe in themselves. With persistence and determination,
almost anyone can acquire the skill to answer interview questions with
confidence and composure.
A highly recommended way to increase your level of comfort and confidence
in the interview is by taking the time, a day or two before the interview, to
mentally review your accomplishments and the high points of your resume. You
should be able to rattle off your qualifications, your academic credentials,
and your successful career experiences as effortlessly as reciting your own
name, address, and phone number.
Know your answers to probable interview
questions before you walk through the door!
Update your resume before the interview, looking for ways to put the most
positive spin on your career history and responsibilities. It's always best to
be totally honest, but, on the other hand, don't shortchange yourself by understating
or minimizing your career or educational accomplishments. Failing to give
yourself all the credit you deserve is one way to sabotage your chances of
being hired. For example: if you initiated and coordinated a successful
project, don't leave those details out of your resume and job interview. If
you helped save your last employer $100,000, don't hide that fact. If you
developed a new, more efficient training technique that was implemented at
your last job, don't neglect to talk about that in the interview and include
it in your resume. Make a list of and review all these achievements, so they
won't slip your mind when you need them most. Forgetting to mention any or all
of those types of accomplishments could make the difference between being
offered the job or getting passed over for it.
One key tactic for projecting a powerful, competent, and experienced image
is by using action words to describe yourself and the work you've done. That
technique also helps create a dynamic resume. Examples: "I coordinated
... managed ... initiated ... supervised ... produced ... built ... solved ...
recruited ... formed a new department ... provided leadership for
...etc."
A time-tested strategy for feeling and acting prepared for an upcoming job
interview is to rehearse answers to typical questions that will probably be
posed in one form or another. A fatal error that many job applicants make is
to try to "wing it" when they respond to questions from job
interviewers. If you mentally review your positive attributes, your
accomplishments, and your strengths, before you shake hands with the
job interviewer for the first time, you will appear more focused, organized,
and articulate at the job interview than if you attempted to fly by the seat
of your pants! (Don't try that at home!) Bottom line: you need to know your
answers to probable interview questions before you walk through the door!
Assuming you're qualified for the job -- and if you cleared the first
hurdle (namely, being invited to the job interview in the first place),
chances are you are qualified -- then the image you project, and how
you present yourself, will make or break you! So smile, make lots of eye
contact with the interviewer, have a firm handshake, act enthusiastic about
the job and the company, and, perhaps most importantly, rehearse the
answers to these common (and not-so-typical) job interview questions:
- What are your strengths?
- What are your weaknesses? (What you say here can and will be used
against you!)
- How would your current (or last) boss describe you?*
- What were your boss's responsibilities? (Interviewers sometimes ask this
question to prevent you from having the chance to claim that you did your
boss's job. Be ready for it!)
- What's your opinion of them? (Never criticize your past or
present boss in an interview. It just makes you look bad!)
- How would your co-workers or subordinates describe you professionally?*
(Remember, now is not the time for modesty! Brag a little
bit.)
- Why do you want to work for us?
- Why do you want to leave your present employer?
- Why should we hire you over the other finalists?
- What qualities or talents would you bring to the job?*
- Tell me about your accomplishments.
- What is your most important contribution to your last (or current)
employer?
- How do you perform under deadline pressure? Give me an example.
- How do you react to criticism? (You try to learn from it, of course!)
- Describe a conflict or disagreement at work in which you were involved.
How was it resolved?
- What are two of the biggest problems you've encountered at your job and
how did you overcome them?
- Think of a major crisis you've faced at work and explain how you handled
it.
- Give me an example of a risk that you took at your job (past or present)
and how it turned out.
- What's your managerial style like?
- Have you ever hired employees; and, if so, have they lived up to your
expectations?
- What type of performance problems have you encountered in people who
report to you, and how did you motivate them to improve?
- Describe a typical day at your present (or last) job.
- What are the last three books you've read?
- What do you see yourself doing five years from now?
And finally, an interview question which is almost always asked, but is
rarely responded to effectively is, "Do you have any
questions?"! Most interviewers are not asking that final question just to
be polite or because it's a smooth segue to the end of the interview. More
often than not, they're expecting you to show at least some knowledge of the
company or some genuine interest in the company's future.
Your underlying message throughout
the interview should be that you're hard working, dedicated, results-oriented,
dependable, organized, cooperative, a creative problem-solver, a good
communicator, an effective project manager, a good delegator, and that you
believe in doing things right the first time...or assigning tasks and projects
to other people and following through to make sure that they do them right!
If you give some thought to the above questions, and rehearse them out
loud, you'll sound prepared, self-assured, and capable in the interview. Those
are among the key qualities that make a job applicant stand out among the
competition and create a dynamic impression. Always concentrate on putting
your best foot forward, give yourself the benefit of the doubt, and above all:
avoid sounding or appearing tentative in your attitudes, answers, or behavior.
(If you imply that you don't believe yourself, you can be sure that an
interviewer won't!).
Remind yourself that you're not going to job interviews to win any humility
contests! If you don't sing your own praises at the interview, chances are,
there will be no encore performance!
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