How To Prepare For A Job Interview
How to prepare for a job interview is an important skill as interviews are the key to winning job offers and building careers . They are your opportunity to present yourself as the right person to do the job. If you want a career choice and remember the hottest careers often have the highest competition you need to become skillful at interviews
An interview should be a two-way flow of information.
You tell the organisation about yourself, your skills and abilities, and what you can offer the organisation.
The interviewer tells you about the organisation, the position and the expertise they are looking for.
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Interview Agendas
The overall agenda is:
• To explore a fit between the experience and abilities of the candidate (you) and the present/future of the area.
Interviewer’s agenda is:
• To get a clear picture of your experience and strengths (and any weaknesses).
• To define accurately your suitability against the area’s needs.
• To evaluate you against other contenders.
Interviewee’s agenda is:
• To present your experience and abilities to the recruiter in the most relevant manner.
• To get the interviewer very interested in the possibility of recruiting you.
• To assess the opportunity against your own needs (tasks, environment, boss, long-term career prospects).
Interviewer’s Styles
You also need to be prepared to deal with the variety of interviewers’ personal styles:
- The very friendly casual style which may in turn relax you too much and cause you to perform at less than your best.
- The provocative interviewer who may be assertive or challenging in order to test your mettle.
- The straightforward interviewer who typically asks only simple direct questions.
- The interviewer who is uncomfortable with the task or feels threatened by you personally or professionally.
- The interviewer who is distracted by other business.
- The interviewer who won’t let you get a word in edgewise. The “rapid-fire” interviewer, whose onslaught of questions may make if difficult for you to ask questions and feel some element of control or direction.
For many people having to “sell yourself” in an interview situation is a daunting task. Overcoming the reluctance to “blow your own trumpet” is the first step to selling yourself in an interview.
In summary, the major points to consider to ensure you sell yourself effectively are:
Match your skills to the job requirements and career description
Provide relevant examples of experiences and achievements that provide evidence of your skills
Be clear on what results you have produced in your current job
Be clear on how you can add value to the position/organisation. What is it that will differentiate you from the other applicants.
Once you have demonstrated that you are able to perform the job, the interviewers must try to decide who of the applicants stands out on other grounds. They will assess your:
- Team Fit: sense of values, desire to work as part of the team, team compatibility
- Job Enthusiasm: do you really want it, or are you just going through the process?
- Energy Level: can you give 100%, are you striving to achieve goals, or just drifting?
- Enthusiasm for the Company: are you genuine in your enthusiasm for the organisation, their goals, and their market niche?
- Therefore you must ensure you are conveying positive messages about these key aspects.
Often it is not the most qualified person that gets the job – it is the most well prepared.
General Guidelines for an Interview Approach:
• Avoid textbook answers, for example, “I believe in motivating people – Drucker is my model….” Try instead to give examples of how you develop your staff.
• It is appropriate to find out what happened to the last person in the job and how many others have had the same job in the last few years.
• Do not oversell yourself or make exaggerated statements about your ability or experience.
• Bring up any sensitive matters yourself and handle them quickly and nearly. Don’t force the interviewer to probe.
• Do not raise matters such as salary or terms and conditions. These are better left until some mutual, positive interest has developed.
• Don’t over-emphasise weakness or development needs. Discuss these areas always in context of how you have worked to minimise or overcome deficiencies and/or by providing examples of how you have developed new skills, to compensate for weakness.
• Debate with the recruiter if you have been unsuccessful. Typically, you alienate people who may be helpful in your future search. It is much more to your benefit to follow up with the recruiter by seeking constructive feedback.
Selected Blogs On Interviewing
11 Phrases That Kill Your Job Interview : Medical Sales Recruiter …
Think about the kind of impression you want to convey to your interviewer or hiring manager: experience, ability, and confidence. If you’ve been paying attention to me, you’ve got the experience and ability portions down: a winning resume, a brag book, a 30/60/90-day plan, and high-quality references. Your confidence comes out in your physical presentation, your body language, and what you say and how you say it.. Read more…
Interview techniques – job search
Your CV has done its job and secured an interview with a prospective content management employer
You’re positively excited about your new Documentum, Opentext, SharePoint, Filenet job. It’s the career move of a lifetime!
Now it is up to you to ensure that the meeting goes as well as possible.
The old adage “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail” could not be more pertinent. Couple this with first impressions and half the battle is already won and sometimes lost. Read more…
Selection Interviewing: 5 Rules To Follow To Guarantee Success
Summary. Successful selection interviewing is a great skill. Most managers just don’t get enough practice to master it. If you follow these simple rules your lack of practice won’t be a problem.
1.Interview As Few People As Possible.
You should only interview applicants who have a really good chance of getting the job. That’s usually only 2-3 people. Before you interview them you should be reasonably certain that these people * Really know what they say they know * Can actually do what they say they can do… Read more…
How to Prepare for An Interview
Prepare Your Answers - Give a Polished Performance
By anticipating likely questions you may be asked, you will be able to prepare appropriate answers to recall quickly. You will also feel more confident knowing you are giving a well thought out answer and avoid the ‘I don’t believe I said that’ feeling.
Where Do Questions Come From:
General – about you, your background and your anticipated future
eg. Where do you see yourself in five years?
Specific job related – test your technical competence
eg. What do you know about …..
Behavioural based – seek to determine your typical way of behaving
eg. Tell me about a time when …..
The Key to Answering Interview Questions:
- Practice, so what you say is actually what you mean!
- Ensure your examples are relevant to the job you are applying for
- Ensure your examples are recent (say up to last two years) as they provide a stronger indication of likely future performance
- Be concise but give a full answer
- Answer the question asked, and if unclear, ask for clarification
- If no answer comes to mind immediately, buy time by either asking a question back to the interviewer or reiterate the question to show comprehension
- When giving example describe briefly the situation, your role and the outcome
- Listen carefully to the questions and to try and ascertain the reason why they are being asked and nullify the concerns prompting them
- After answering a question, the interviewer may probe for further details therefore be prepared to talk in more depth to each answer you provide
- Gather your thoughts before answering difficult questions
- Have questions to ask
- If, at the end of the interview, you find they have all be answered, and you are asked whether you have any questions, don’t say “No”, say “Yes I did, but they have all been answered, thank you”
- Avoid making excuses for unfavourable factors in your work records
- Have pride in your past performance
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Answering Work Specific Questions:
Work specific questions typically begin with phrases such as:
“what can you tell me about …”
“let’s talk about …”
Reacquaint yourself with your current duties and responsibilities, projects and initiatives
Recall and prepare examples of experiences and achievements that technically and or demonstrate your level of competence with specific job related skills
Answering Behavioural/Situation Based Questions:
Behavioural based questions typically begin with phrases such as:
Tell me about a time when …
How were you able to…
Describe a situation when …
Where would you describe yourself on a continuum between …
Analyse the position you are being interviewed for the determine what core behaviours and attributes are required
eg. Ability to relate to staff at all levels within the organisation
eg. Ability to manage your time to meet requirements
Recall and prepare examples of instances that demonstrate your competence in these areas
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