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How to Prepare for a Job Interview
The most difficult hurdle for most people who are job seeking is the interview. Whilst the application form presents no problem when they sit in front of the interviewer their mind goes a complete blank. What can they do about it?
First off, you need to eliminate the fear of interview itself. To do this, just keep one thing in mind: The interviewer is nothing more than a stranger trying to know you as a person. Are you really so scared or tense while talking to strangers? I think not. It’s true that this stranger will give you a paying job but remember an interview is conducted not just to know whether you’re right for the job but also to see whether the job is right for you. So what if you don’t get this job; there are several other opportunities just around the corner. Be yourself is perhaps the best advice for preparing for a job interview.
The next thing you need to do before your interview is to have a basic idea of the set of questions you might be asked. Of course, interview questions are highly subjective to the kind of position you’re applying for but certain questions such as describe yourself, describe your accomplishments, where do you see yourself in 5 years etc are mostly asked in any corporate interview or otherwise. You must make this list of expected questions by thinking of yourself as an interviewer. The purpose of this exercise is to have a basic frame using which you can eliminate any unwanted surprises from your interview. Of course you can’t anticipate every question but just use common sense while making list of expected questions.
Once you have compiled the entire list of expected questions, its time to answer these one by one. Remember practice makes a man perfect and hence you must practice each answer until you get it right. Make sure you sound professional and friendly while giving your answer. Making a nice “chemistry” with the interviewer by providing professional and friendly answers is another great advice for preparing for a job interview.
Next we need to focus on your presentation on the day of interview. You should present yourself in a professional but friendly manner. Also a tense face will fail to make a good first impression. The old adage of first impression being the last is very true on the occasion of an interview. Although it’s indeed difficult to relax your tense nerves before an interview, there are definitely a few techniques to help you in this regard.
Slow and shallow breathing goes a long way in relaxing your tense nerves and you can start this exercise some 15 minutes before the interview. You should inhale through your nose while your mouth should be used while exhaling. Also don’t tab your feet and keep the entire shoe surface firmly on the ground. You can also move your foot fingers inside your shoes but make sure you don’t move your entire legs while doing the same.
Finally, on the day of your interview, make sure you have all your certificates in order. Nothing turns off an interviewer more than dealing with an interviewee who takes a minute to produce the right certificate when asked or doesn’t have it at all! Make sure your resume correctly represents the professional that you are and recheck it at least twice for any grammatical or spelling errors. Show up on time and remember to wear a smile while you are at it!
Some Popular Telephone Interview Questions
Telephone interviews are fast becoming the norm among human resource recruiters to weed out the unsuitable candidates at an early stage of recruitment process. With the ever increasing pile of applications for available jobs, telephone interviews provide an ideal solution for several companies to limit the pool of prospective employees to a selected few. Under such intense competition, it would be a good idea to go through some of the popular telephone interview questions to have an edge over other job hunters.
Popular Telephone Interview Questions:
1. Why are you interested in this job opening?
The HR manager is interested in knowing as to what is being offered by this job which you’re not getting at your present one. Talk about the growth opportunities which you might see at this job. Explain your experience and accomplishments at your former job which make you a perfect fit for the responsibilities of the applied one.
2. What do you know about our company/job position?
The answer to this will determine how serious your approach is in securing this job. Make sure you conduct proper research on company website for getting all relevant information related to your applied job position. Also see the annual reports of the company for the last financial year so that you get a sense of the bigger picture. A well informed applicant will surely stand a better chance of securing a face to face interview as compared to the one with a narrow viewpoint based on platonic information.
3. What’s the highest accomplishment you’ve made in your career?
You can answer this question by highlighting the highest accomplishment you’ve made in your former or current workplace. Remember to not sound boastful while mentioning the same and try to support your claim with facts and numbers so as to provide a more effective answer. Keep it short and sweet by cutting out all the unnecessary details.
4. How many years of experience you have in your last workplace?
It’s a pretty straight forward question which demands an equally well straight forward answer. While giving your answer, don’t just mention the number of years but additionally also mention the department in which you’ve acquired this experience. Do mention any additional skills which you might have acquired in the process.
Job Hunting Tips
Hunting for jobs nowadays is a very competitive and sometimes cut-throat affair. Here are a few tips to help you get the edge in searching out and landing the job of your dreams.
The Curriculum Vitae
The CV is the first, and at most times the most important part of applying for a job. Since potential employers have to whittle down practically hundreds of applications to a few valid ones, they will have to base their narrowing down efforts using the CVs they have collected.
Studies have shown that about half of the employers decide to accept or reject job applications based on the related work experience listed in the CV. A third of the employers decide to reject or accept these job applications based on the layout design of these applications.
1. Make Your CV Stand Out
When preparing your CV, make sure your CV stands out among the rest. It should be the type that is appealing to the eyes, making the evaluating personnel want to read the CV. Step two is for you to make sure your CV lists the related work experience you have had in relation to the job you are applying for.
1. Make Your CV Concise and Relevant
Avoid making your CVs too long. It may make it irrelevant to the evaluator. Remember that the employer is a person to whom time is important. If your CV shows that you value his/her time while showing the most relevant information in the least amount of time, you will have won one important battle.
2. Always tailor your CV to the job.
You may have had previous experience that may not be related to the job you are applying for. Some people keep many different versions of their CV for different job opening purposes. Make sure your CV is appropriate for the job. A one-size-fits-all CV may not be the best way to go since the employer will have the impression that your previous efforts have not been focused enough to produce any specialization on your part.
3. Write about your achievements
You may add your achievements, but make your statements factual and relevant. It does not do harm to advertise yourself, but make your advertisement matter-of-fact and not just hot air. You may want to skip on listing your weak points as the CV is not the avenue for such discussions.
4. Polish Your CV
Your employer will know if you have put enough time producing your CV. If he/she sees that you have put sufficient and thorough effort into your CV, he/she will assume that you will do the same in your work. This is a big plus for you. It is not uncommon for some people to spend days or even weeks polishing and buffing their CVs.
Tips in a Job Interview
The second step in getting the job is meeting the potential employer for an interview. The first step that an applicant has successfully completed was sending your application and passing the screening process of the company.
The employer got the resume through a variety of sources that can be from an ad that was posted, a referral from a friend or a headhunter, or by a person who simply submitted an application by logging on the company’s website.
Here are a few tips that will help in having a successful interview;
• Before going to an interview, it is best to do some research about the company one is applying to.
• It is also best to practice with a friend or family member mock up questions that the employer will likely ask so you do not choke during the real interview.
• When you go for an interview, it is best to always arrive 10 to 15 minutes ahead of time. This shows employers that the person is punctual and serves as a good attribute in a potential employee.
• When meeting an employer, you should bring an extra copy of the resume and other documents that are needed if asked certain questions. A good example is architects and photographers who are professionals in the respective fields who have a portfolio of the works done which may impress the interviewer.
• It is always best to dress appropriately. This shows the employer sincerity on the part of the applicant applying for the job. One must have finger-nails and hair well groomed for the interview. The outfit worn should be professional. This would mean that shoes must be used to match the outfit. If you typically wear a lot of jewelry, it is advisable to remove and tone it down for the interview.
• When you are in front of the employer, smile and greet the interviewer with a firm (but not bone crushing) handshake which is always a good start to get the interview moving.
• During the course of the interview, listen very well to the questions asked. Each must be answered truthfully and confidently to be able to sell yourself to the potential employer.
• Afterwards, the applicant should thank the recruiter for the time that was given to meet for the interview.
Looking for the Job that is right for you
Finding the best job that suits your personality and your lifestyle is never easy. It’s actually a full time job itself. To better understand your needs and increase your chance of succeeding in your chosen field, you need to conduct a personal evaluation. Is this the career you want? Is there room for growth? Are the salary and benefits good?
You can’t really evaluate a position unless you do the research. From a recent survey in the U.S., graduate degree holders earn an average of 35 to 50 percent more than just bachelor’s degree holders. This is a reason why more and more are taking their Masters. There could be an offer or two, all you have to do is make a concrete decision to ensure the right job for you in the present job market.
Know what you want
Knowing what kind of personality you have and your interests gives you an idea how you would like to spend your day on a job. The activities you’d like to get involved in plays a great role in keeping you motivated. You could make a list of the kinds of people you would like to be working with. Say, people who like being told what to do or authoritative types; how about loud people or quiet types; and would you like a place where people love socializing or not? There are different sizes of companies as well, there are small, medium, large, overseas, local, and regional.
The Internet is a valuable tool that assists online job seekers in looking for a job they could fit in. Trim down the choices depending on your needs and wants to get the more possible pool of companies you can try submitting resumes.
Below are the common job search techniques:
Percentage of
Job hunters Search Technique Effectiveness
66.0% Direct application 47.71%
50.8 Referral from friends’ work 22.1
41.8 Asking friends from other places 11.9
28.4 Asking family about the company they work for 19.3
27.3 Asking relatives about jobs from other places 7.4
45.9 Newspaper posts 23.9
21.0 Career centers 24.2
12.5 School organizations/clubs 21.4
15.3 Civil Service Exams 12.5
10.4 Referrals from mentors 12.1
1.6 Local ads 12.9
6.0 Cooperative programs 22.2
*Percentage results obtained from dividing the technique by the total number of job hunters who tried to use the method, successful or not.
Your major strengths and weaknesses will help indicate how well you will perform in the work you have chosen. Your progress dictates your maturity and enthusiasm at work. Finding the best job for you is a full time job itself. It requires time and passion to get positive results. No matter what you choose, it should always be a place where you can identify yourself and remain happy.
3 Tips For Telephone Interviews
Telephone interviews are increasingly becoming popular among employers looking to weed out the unsuitable candidates at pre hire stage. With tough economic times you will do yourself a favor by following afore mentioned tips for telephone interviews.
3 Tips For Telephone Interviews:
1. Be prepared:
There are basically two kinds of telephone interviews: one, where you’ve been given the day and the time for the telephone interview or you might have fixed this with the employer and second where the employer can call you at any time according to his convenience. In case you’ve fixed the timing of your interview, it would be best to be available near you phone at the fixed time. In case you don’t get any call from the employer for an hour after the fixed time then you can call the company to reschedule your phone interview. It would be best not to enquire as to why the employer failed to call you but rather you can simply tell him that you were expecting his call for the phone interview. In case you’re required to face an unexpected interview then make sure you carry your cell phone at all times. Also leave a professional message on your answering machine in case you are not nearby to attend the call. Leaving a trendy or colored message with loud music might be cool thing with your friends but your employer will surely view it as a signboard of an undisciplined person.
Also keep a copy of submitted resume nearby so that you can get a rough reference of expected questions from the employer. This takes us to the next tips for telephone interviews
2. Make a list of expected questions:
A telephone interview is just like a face to face interview and you must prepare it with same sincerity. While it’s unlikely that you would secure a job based solely on a phone interview, the interviewer is still interested in gauging whether you’re right for the job and vice-versa. You must make a list of expected questions before you come across the real phone interview. You can easily get a list of such questions by conducting an online research. After compiling this list of expected questions, its time to search for genuine answers to the same. A word of caution here, don’t just remember the “ideal answers” which you might get from any of the 1000 websites but rather add your own unique twist by looking at your own situation. The interviewer is usually a person who has extensive experience in conducting different kinds of interviews and you can bet your last dollar that he can make out in a second whether you really mean what you’re saying or is it just a verbatim of some online resource. You can also get your friend to act as an employer and ask you the questions on this list. Such a mock interview will help you immensely when it comes to facing the real thing.
3. Feel confident and relax:
I know, this is easily said than done. However, there is no need for you to feel anxious before the interview. Just remember that the interviewer will only ask you basic questions related to your personality and former or present workplaces, in case you have any. Relax your tense muscles and focus on the call while talking. A good tip for strengthening your focus would be to close your eyes while talking and listen to him with utmost attention. In case you missed out on anything he said then a polite”can you say that again please” will be all that is required.
While talking about your former or present workplaces, try using numbers and facts to be more effective in small sentences. You can use the same strategy while supporting your resume. Never mention your salary expectations voluntarily in a phone interview. Even if asked, then you might state that it’s not possible for you to provide a salary figure without a face to face interview since you can’t gauge the responsibilities of this job without talking to a hiring manager in person. Such an answer will highlight your seriousness in securing this job.
4 Important Phone Interview Tips To Get You Started
Phone interviews are increasingly becoming more popular with the employers to separate the wheat from the chaff at an earlier stage. In the good old days of classical economy, phone interviews were only conducted for those applying for very senior posts in the company and employers were more than eager to meet entry level candidates. Those were the days of face of face interviews. With the advent of free economy, the pool of candidates for the same posts has increased dramatically and this has forced employers to develop new methods to weed out the unsuitable and the unwanted at an earlier stage.
Here are four important phone interview tips to get you started in the right direction:
1. Use a good quality phone
This may sound basic or even silly to mention here but more often that not several job hunters miss out on this one. You will do yourself a favor by using a landline with a cord for phone interview purposes rather than using a cell phone. The reason for this is because cell phones usually vary in service based on the available signal in your area. This signal is significantly influenced by changes in weather which can make you sound pretty awful at the other end without you even realizing it in the first place. You can be sure that such an encounter won’t leave a good first impression with a prospective employer. Beware of using ten or fifteen dollar phones which you might get in your local dollar store or discount mart, for business purposes.
2. Show Enthusiasm while talking.
This is perhaps the most important of all phone interview tips. In a face to face interview you have the luxury of showing your enthusiasm through facial expressions but while talking on a phone all you can depend on is your voice. Everybody likes talking to happy and enthusiastic people who can deliver their thoughts with a passion in their voice. What this means is that you must say things in an excited manner while talking about the job for which you’ve applied.
3. Be comfortable and be yourself:
For you to sound enthusiastic on the phone, it’s very important that you feel comfortable while talking to the interviewer. For this to happen, apply the old adage of honesty being the best policy. Understand that the interviewer is trying to know you as a person and as a professional and there is nothing wrong if you do the same thing in return. In no way am I suggesting that you start interviewing the interviewer but rather there is nothing wrong with acquiring a friendly and honest tone. For this to work, you can practice the phone interview with a friend with him playing the role of an interviewer. In this mock interview you must answer all the questions as if you’re talking with the employer himself. Of all the phone interview tips out there, this is perhaps the most neglected and hence practicing through a mock interview will put you leagues ahead of other candidates applying for the same post.
4. Be ready with all the details
You must take the phone interview at an isolated place away from kids and house pets. It would be a good idea to close the door and be alone in a small room with no TV or stereo sound in the background. Be ready with a copy of submitted resume so that you remain on the same page with the interviewer. Have a paper and a pen ready in case you need to note down anything during the interview.
A Quiz To Find Your Ideal Job
Are you confused as to which career or job you should choose, which will bring you happiness in your professional life. You might have heard the popular quote that successful people get successful because they love what they do. See around yourself and you’re sure to find several successful people who get along with their work as they would get along with their near and dear ones.
Now let’s come to you. Let’s say that you have an extrovert nature and simply love the nightlife and just has to know everything latest happening around yourself, then chances are good that you’ll do better as a radio jockey rather than being an office accountant doing repetitive number crunching. Hence even before you go around searching for a job, you must know as to what exactly is the job ideal for you. This is important since it’ll help you in defining career related goals in a much more exact manner. Moreover, this is simply inevitable if you want to have fun (and who doesn’t) while going through your work on a daily basis. In case you’re desperate to take a quiz to find my ideal job then you’ve come to the right place.
The afore mentioned quiz entitled “A Quiz To Find My Ideal Job” will point you in the direction of your ideal job or at least will give you an approximate frame in this regard. Such a quiz will help you immensely in deciphering out your strongest aptitudes and desires based on which you can decide for yourself as to what exactly you can naturally excel at. Please answer all the questions with utmost sincerity and without any bias.
A quiz to find my ideal job:
1. What are your strengths? I know, this may sound very difficult to answer but trust me, its perfectly normal to think this way. Most of us think lowly of ourselves when it comes to examining our personality but remember that everybody has positive traits including you. For example you may be somebody who works exceptionally well under stress; this makes you a right match for high pressure careers such as those of accountants, lawyers etc or it might be that you can work on your own without getting bored; this makes you a right fit for doing some kind of repetitive work.
2. What is it that you love to do? This one really shouldn’t be all that tough to answer. Everybody loves doing something which they never get tired of doing. Please be very specific with this, for example, some people love snapping pictures while others simply love meeting new people. You can mention multiple things here. No matter how long your list, just be very specific with each point. If you’re somebody who has taken a summer job at 10 selling lemonade then chances are good that you have an inherent desire of making money. Hence you can put earning money on the list of things that you love to do.
3. Can you think of jobs related to the list which you have made while answering the questions above? Answering this question might involve some research. Hit the net and start collecting information in this regard. Just accumulate all the information about the various jobs. A word of caution here, don’t put anything on your list simply due to its earning potential. While it’s true that certain professions hold a higher than average earning potential, you won’t make squat if you’re not good at it and you can’t be good at anything if you don’t love what you do. For example, it’s true that a lawyer can make a lot of money but you can almost guarantee that a bad lawyer won’t make any and you’re sure to become a bad lawyer if you’ve an introvert nature and the mere thought of public speaking causes you a stomach pain.
Making Your Curriculum Vitae Work for You
Curriculum Vitae (CV) is a Latin phrase meaning “The way you life has run”. In modern business it is the first contact that the potential employer may have with the job seeker.
There is no correct or incorrect way in which to lay out a CV although it does need to highlight your past achievements and strengths relevant to the job you are seeking. When you are writing your CV always bear in mind that the main purpose of the CV is not to get you the job. The main purpose is just to get you to the interview stage and that is when you sell yourself.
Imagine you are the busy boss or human resources manager who has to go through all the initial applications. In these difficult times a job advertisement could generate hundreds of applicants, which means hundreds of CVs landing on their desks. Just on the strength of those CVs they are going to select the candidates for interview. So what can you do to make your CV stand out from the rest?
As in life so with CVs, the first impressions count. That means that your CV is fresh and clean and does not look as though it has been doing the rounds. Do not try and make your CV standout by printing it on coloured or patterned paper, use good quality A4 white paper.
It is a good idea to keep a master copy of your CV on your computer and that makes it easy to edit for specific job applications. For instance if you are applying to be a junior executive in a financial company your sporting prowess may not be as important as if the job was with a sporting goods company.
Do not make your CV too long, just 2 or 3 pages maximum. Long rambling CVs do not find favour with busy executives. On the same note keep sentences and paragraphs reasonably short as this makes for easier reading.
Need less to say both the grammar and spelling should be perfect. It is a good idea to get someone else to proof read your CV before you send it so that nothing slips through the net.
The most relevant experiences that you are likely to have had will have been your most recent jobs. Therefore when writing out your work record it should be in chronologically reverse order with your most recent employment or education first and working back to your school days.
Remember the main purpose of the CV is to get you into the interview but it may well also form the basis of the interview itself. You will be asked questions based on what you have written in your CV so be prepared for this. For instance if there is a gap between two periods in your CV you my well be asked to explain this so have your answer ready.
Writing a CV can appear daunting, especially if you have never had to write one before. However, there is a lot of help available both on the Internet and in book form which can guide you through the process. There are also professionals who can write the CV for you but for most people there is no need to go to this expense.
You are the best person to sell yourself.
Here Are Some Good Answers To Interview Question
In case you’re searching for some good answers to interview questions then you’ve come to the right place. First off, you must understand that there is no single “good” answer to any interview question. Rather, any answer you’ll provide during the interview has to be unique according to your particular situation. Below I’ll list some good answers to interview questions which you might find useful in understanding as to what exactly the employer is looking for:
Good Answers To Interview Questions:
1. Tell us something about yourself?
Most people provide a very generic answer to this question by delving too many details about their personal life such as place of birth, details about other family members, religion or political view. The interviewer is not interested in knowing any of this. Instead, you should provide a very brief overview of your education level, places where you previously worked, years of experience along with the departments and your position at your present or former workplace.
2. What is your greatest strength and weakness?
While mentioning your strength, make sure that you correlate it to the position that you held at former or present workplace. For example, if you’ve been in sales department then you might mention that you love giving people what they want along with having an aggressive attitude to selling which helped you in increasing the sales figures at your former organization.
When it comes to narrating your weaknesses, don’t fall into the trap of getting negative about yourself. Understand that everybody has flaws and the interviewer knows that you’re not an exception. Simply state some of your weaknesses and the various steps you might have taken for overcoming them.
3. Why do you want to work for us?
The best approach to answer this question would be to research the company before the interview. In addition to doing online research, do try to get in contact with someone who’s already working for them. Through this meeting, you can acquaint yourself with the core values of their workplace and the company at large. Also conduct similar research about their competitors and try to gauge the supplemental growth opportunities which you might get by working for this company.
You must not provide any self serving reason, at any point, such as “I need to work for a higher package” even if that’s the real reason as to why you want to work for them!
4. Why are you leaving your current job? Or why you left your last job?
A right hand rule of thumb to remember here is to never badmouth about your current or former workplace. This might give a notion that you’re a difficult employee to handle. In case you’re jobless then don’t tell the sobbing story of how you got fired in your last job even if that’s the real thing which happened. In case you simply have to tell that you got fired (I can think of no reason why would that be) then provide some “intelligent” reason for the same, such as you got fired due to downsizing, they wanted to post you to some place you didn’t wanted to go etc. Never ever give bad performance the reason as to why you got fired even if that’s the real culprit.
Keep your response positive at all times and mention the growth opportunities being offered in the interviewer’s company which were missing at your former workplace. Also mention that you want to take up additional responsibilities in the organization so as to contribute towards the overall growth of the company.
5. Do you consider yourself a team player or an individual performer?
Honesty would be the best strategy here. No matter you consider yourself a team player or an individual performer, augment your claims by providing relevant examples from your former or current job responsibilities. A better approach would be to say that you can work in a team or even individually based on the requirements of your job responsibilities.
I hope the above good answers to interview questions will help you in your next interview. Make sure you tailor each answer based on your unique position rather than remembering them by heart from some online resource. Good luck and Godspeed!
