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How to Project yourself in an interview Sell yourself!
Learn as much as possible about the position, the company, and the interviewers themselves.
The more detailed information you have about the company and the position, the better prepared and more interested you look. Go to the
library and visit the company's web site. Employers want someone
who wants to work for them. Demonstrate this by:
-
PREPARING QUESTIONS. No matter how
thorough the employer is in the interview, you must ask questions.
This demonstrates interest and thinking ability.
-
ASKING, "WHAT IS THE NEXT STEP?"
Tell the employer you were intrigued prior to the interview and
are now even more.
-
EMPHASIZING AREAS OF YOUR
BACKGROUND. Think of specific examples that demonstrate this. Sell
yourself and your abilities through play
back.
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Frequently Asked Interview
Questions
- Here are few commonly asked
questions in an interview. Consider carefully how you would
answer:
- Why are you willing to leave your
current employer?
- What do you know about this
position and company? Why are you interested?
- What are your short-term and
long-term goals?
- How do you feel about your
current supervisor?
- What are your strengths?
- What are your weaknesses?
- What are you currently looking
for in salary? Why?
- What information is important to
you in making a decision about this job change?
- What questions do you plan to ask
the employer either about the job, company, or other things?
- Who have you learned the
most from? What was it? Why was it important?
- What could be improved in your
boss?
- What do you like about your
current boss?
- When are you available to start?
- What would you change here?
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Interview Presentation
Tips
Presentation gives the right impression. You
can answer all the technical questions correctly but if your
presentation is poor, it may be the deciding factor on whether or
not you are offered the position.
- Offer your hand upon
introduction and shake hands firmly.
- Display reserved
confidence. Let the interviewer control the interview.
- Smile. Be
enthusiastic and positive.
- Feel free to ask for
clarification before answering a question.
- Establish and
maintain eye contact with the interviewer
- Refrain from
criticizing current and past employers
- Volunteer
information about your skills and experience that match the
position
- Show that you are
willing to work, perform quality work and respect deadlines
- Emphasize what you
can do for their company
- Show that you can assimilate and work well
with others If you want the job, say so!
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How to Aviod Misconceptions of
Interview
- Prepare in advance
for your interviews:
a. Have an in-depth
understanding and practice presenting your skills, talents
accomplishments.
B. Conduct research on the
company, e.g., products and services, markets, corporate culture,
size, and locations.
C. Understand the
interviewing strategies used by employers, including
ompetency-based behavioral interviews, to respond appropriately to
each employers style of interviewing.
D.
Prepare your questions in advance.
- Dress appropriately.
- Arrive ten minutes
early for your interview.
- Show a sincere
interest in the company and position.
- Express yourself
clearly and with confidence, however, without conceit.
- Convey enthusiasm,
and a sense of pride and dedication in your work.
- Convey tolerance and
team work.
- Be sure to look at
your interviewer while talking.
- Focus on what you can contribute to the
organization rather than what the employer can do for you. Don't
ask about salary or benefits until the employer brings up this
topic. Your initiation of this subject shifts the emphasis from
what you can do for the company to what the company can do for
you, therefore, it is usually better to wait until the employer
initiates the subject, or until the second interview or subsequent
interviews. It is appropriate to ask about salary ranges and
benefits, and/or initiate a salary negotiation when the timing is
right.
- Don't place blame on
or be negative about past employers.
- Consider how you
answer; don't rush to have an answer without understanding the
question, or display defensiveness when a tough question has you
stumped.
- Don't volunteer more
information than is needed.
- Close the interview
on an assumptive note: indicate the job looks like a good fit and
you feel you can make a contribution to the organization; end by
asking about the next step.
- Keep a
positive attitude at all times - most offers are not extended on
the spot.
- Follow up
appropriately (strategic follow-up is best) after each interview.
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Major types of Interviews:
1. Structured
Interview with Layered Questions: This type of interview is common
among skilled interviewers. The interviewer asks a series of
questions, often overlapping, designed to gather information about
each of the major Employer Concerns, and thus the likelihood of a
fit. This overlapping - or layering - will also show up any
discrepancies in a candidate's story. Keep in mind that it is not
enough to answer just the question about Skill A; instead you need
to also recognize and address the competency concern behind the
Skill A question. Our example here uses the competency concern: Can
you do the job? This type of layering would also apply to the other
4 major Employer Concerns - each with its own set of layered
questions intermixed throughout the interview.
2.
Situational/Performance Interview: In this type of interview, the
interviewer requests the candidate to role play one of the job
functions to assess specific skills, or you could be given a
specific hypothetical situation or problem and asked how you would
handle it or to provide a recommendation or solution. Situational
interviews can be particularly problematic in that you may not have
all of the facts from the hypothetical situation in order to
recommend a solution or course of action.
3. Stress
Interview: A Stress Interview is generally intended to put the
candidate under stress and assess reactions under pressure or in
certain situations. Although scenarios vary, some examples are:
Candidate receiving negative feedback from interviewer Unusual
questions or environment (including luncheon interview) Panel
interview with a group of interviewers Group interview with a group
of applicants Keep in mind that although each of the above scenarios
will undoubtedly be stressful, not every interview with one of the
above elements is necessarily intended to be a Stress Interview. For
example, a panel interview could simply be viewed as the most
efficient way to involve several interviewers, rather than to assess
a candidate's ability to handle stress with group
presentations.
4. Relaxed Role
Interview: This type of interview is casual and relaxed; it is
intended to get the candidate talking and too friendly so the
candidate will reveal more information than they might otherwise.
(This may also be the approach of an inexperienced interviewer,
rather than a specific strategy.) Too much information too soon
could screen you out.
5. Reverse Role
Interview: In the Reverse Role Interview, the interviewer is
unprepared, short on time, hurried, distracted, or simply unskilled
at interviewing. The end result is that the interviewer does not ask
the appropriate questions - without which, they may not understand
your ability to perform successfully in this job or other factors
that indicate it is a good fit.
6. Assessment Instruments
(Testing): Various types of Inventories (commonly referred to as
tests) may be used to determine if this a likely fit. Among these
are: Personality inventory (assesses personality types) Aptitude
inventory (assesses aptitudes in certain skill areas) Interest
inventory (assesses interests in various occupational categories)
Combination instruments (combines any of the above)
7. Combination Interview:
A Combination Interview is simply a combination of two or more of
the above types of interviews. This could occur within the same
interview, on subsequent interviews, or both.
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