INTERVIEW
The interview is a concept of questioning a person to determine their understanding and knowledge of the facts or circumstances related to the subject of an investigation.
Many experts are offering their time to students. If you have this opportunity either in a chat room or e-mail, you should follow the above advice, except getting straight to the point. Don't waste time "getting to know" the expert. Ask your questions and move.
All job interviews have the same objective, but employers reach that objective in a variety of ways. You might enter the room expecting to tell stories about your professional successes and instead find yourself selling the interviewer a bridge or editing code at a computer. One strategy for performing your best during an interview is to know the rules of the particular game you are playing when you walk through the door.
Companies use screening tools to ensure that candidates meet minimum qualification requirements. Computer programs are among the tools used to weed out unqualified candidates. Sometimes human professionals are the gatekeepers. Screening interviewers often have honed skills to determine whether there is anything that might disqualify you from the position. For this reason, screeners tend to dig for dirt. They also will want to know from the outset whether you will be too expensive for the company.
Some tips for maintaining confidence during screening interviews:
On the opposite end of the stress spectrum from screening interviews is the informational interview. A meeting that you initiate, the informational interview is underutilized by job-seekers who might otherwise consider themselves savvy to the merits of networking. Job seekers ostensibly secure informational meetings in order to seek the advice of someone in their current or desired field as well as to gain further references to people who can lend insight. Employers that like to stay apprised of available talent even when they do not have current job openings, are often open to informational interviews, especially if they like to share their knowledge, feel flattered by your interest, or esteem the mutual friend that connected you to them. During an informational interview, the job seeker and employer exchange information and get to know one another better without reference to a specific job opening.
This takes off some of the performance pressure, but be intentional nonetheless:
In this style of interview, the interviewer has a clear agenda that he or she follows unflinchingly. Sometimes companies use this rigid format to ensure parity between interviews; when interviewers ask each candidate the same series of questions, they can more readily compare the results. You might feel like you are being steam-rolled, or you might find the conversation develops naturally. Their style does not necessarily mean that they have dominance issues, although you should keep an eye open for these if the interviewer would be your supervisor.
Either way, remember:
This interview type, usually used by inexperienced interviewers, relies on you to lead the discussion. It might begin with a statement like "tell me about yourself," which you can use to your advantage. The interviewer might ask you another broad, open-ended question before falling into silence. This interview style allows you tactfully to guide the discussion in a way that best serves you.
The following strategies, which are helpful for an interview, are particularly important when interviewers use a non-directive approach:
The stress interview is a legitimate way of determining candidates' aptness for a position or someone has latent maniacal tendencies. You might be held in the waiting room for an hour before the interviewer greets you. You might face long silences or cold stares. The interviewer might openly challenge your believes or judgment. You might be called upon to perform an impossible task on the fly-like convincing the interviewer to exchange shoes with you. Insults and miscommunication are common. All this is designed to see whether you have the mettle to withstand the company culture, the clients or other potential stress.
Besides wearing a strong antiperspirant, you will do well to:
Many companies increasingly rely on behavior interviews since they use your previous behavior to indicate your future performance. In these interviews, employers use standardized methods to mine information relevant to your competency in a particular area or position. Depending upon the responsibilities of the job and the working environment, you might be asked to describe a time that required problem-solving skills, adaptability, leadership, conflict resolution, multi-tasking, initiative or stress management. You will be asked how you dealt with the situations.
Your responses require not only reflection but also organization. To maximize your responses in the behavioral format:
For some positions, such as computer programmers or trainers, companies want to see you in action before they make their decision. For this reason, they might take you through a simulation or brief exercise in order to evaluate your skills. An audition can be enormously useful to you as well since it allows you to demonstrate your abilities in interactive ways that are likely familiar to you. If you sense that other candidates have an edge on you in terms of experience or other qualifications, requesting an audition can help level the playing field.
To maximize on auditions, remember to:
Interviewing simultaneously with other candidates can be disconcerting, but it provides the company with a sense of your leadership potential and style. The group interview helps the company get a glimpse of how you interact with peers-are you timid or bossy, are you attentive or do you seek attention, do others turn to you instinctively, or do you compete for authority? The interviewer also wants to view what your tools of persuasion are: do you use argumentation and careful reasoning to gain support or do you divide and conquer? The interviewer might call on you to discuss an issue with the other candidates, solve a problem collectively, or discuss your peculiar qualifications in front of the other candidates.
This environment might seem overwhelming or hard to control, but there are a few tips that will help you navigate the group interview successfully:
Interviewing over a meal sounds like a professional and digestive catastrophe in the making. If you have difficulty chewing gum while walking, this could be a challenge. With some preparation and psychological readjustment, you can enjoy the process. Meals often have a cementing social effect-breaking bread together tends to facilitate deals, marriages, friendships, and religious communion. Mealtime interviews rely on this logic and expand it.
Particularly when your job requires interpersonal acuity, companies want to know what you are like in a social setting. Are you relaxed and charming or awkward and evasive? Companies want to observe not only how you handle a fork, but also how you treat your host, any other guests, and the serving staff.
Some basic social tips help ease the complexity of mixing food with business:
Companies bring candidates back for second and sometimes third or fourth interviews for a number of reasons. Sometimes they just want to confirm that you are the amazing worker they first thought you to be. Sometimes they are having difficulty deciding between a short-list of candidates. Other times, the interviewer's supervisor or other decision makers in the company want to gain a sense of you before signing a hiring decision.
The second interview could go in a variety of directions, and you must prepare for each of them. When meeting with the same person again, you do not need to be as assertive in your communication of your skills. You can focus on cementing rapport, understanding where the company is going and how your skills mesh with the company vision and culture. Still, the interviewer should view you as the answer to their needs. You might find yourself negotiating a compensation package. Alternatively, you might find that you are starting from the beginning with a new person.
Some tips for managing second interviews:
During the interview, an interviewee must
When someone with authority speaks, everyone listens. Because of this, it’s a good internet marketing tactic to try and conduct interviews with people who have more authority than you do. In this way, you are leveraging the power and audience of another person to promote your own brand or website. Below is a list of the advantages of interviewing others can have on you.
"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."-Unknown
When going on an interview, you want to present yourself to your best advantage. This is your chance to let the people interviewing you learn about your skills, knowledge, and strengths as you put your best foot forward. How do you do this?
Appearance counts and is the basis for forming first impressions of a person. A neat, well-groomed appearance in an appropriate business suit comes across much better than casual clothes, or inappropriate makeup and jewelry.
Friendly, open people are also perceived more positively. When first meeting the employer, greet them with a firm handshake, a smile, and look them in the eyes. Listen attentively and don't interrupt.
Being late does not impress interviewers, and creates the impression that you would arrive late to work. So try to get to the interview on time, or even a few minutes early. This will give you a chance to do a last minute check on your appearance in the restroom, and to fill out any paperwork.
How you fill out your application paperwork will also reflect on you. Take your time, and make sure that it is filled in neatly, with correct spelling. You can write "negotiable" under the salary box since you will want an opportunity to discuss this with the manager you are interviewing with.
During an interview, you will present yourself well if you answer the questions completely and concisely. Be as positive as possible during the interview. Do NOT speak negatively of a former employer, even if they are the worst possible. Use concrete examples of the problem -solving and strengths when answering questions.
The interviewers will be asking specific questions about your abilities, knowledge, and skills. Try to answer each question, sharing your strengths that would be useful for the position being considered. If you are unsure of the answer let the recruiter or employer know how you would go about finding the answer.
Be honest, and NEVER lie or try to avoid answering. Do NOT say, "You can find that on my resume" since they are interested in YOU and how you interact with others and your personal knowledge base. They can read the resume later. But do make sure that all information on your resume is correct since the company will check on references, dates and job information.
After answering their questions, asking good questions of your own will also create a good impression. You might ask the employer to describe the job in more detail. You should also have several questions written down to refer to, based on the background research you have already done to prepare for the interview.
Ask the employer what he or she is looking for in an employee or the three most important things they are looking for in the person they hire. Then, listen attentively to the answers. Find out why the position is open. This is your chance to find out what the job entails and to discover what you are getting into when you work there.
It is a good idea to practice an interview before actually going to one. This will give you a chance to work on answering questions, listening, and getting feedback on your body language. See if a friend or co-worker can help you by asking you both standard and "surprise" interview questions that make you think and answer spontaneously. Include some hard ones as well.
After the interview, send a short thank you note on quality paper. This will bring your name to mind and confirms your continued interest in the position. Stopping by after an appropriate time, or a follow-up call can also be done as long as you don't continuously harass the recruiter or manager.
By using the above ideas, you should be able to create a good impression during your interview and be further along the road to a good job-the one you want.
Do not overlook the thank you letter. It can very helpful to make you stand out from other candidates. In your job search, you have to make use of all the tools, and the interview thank you letter is one of them.
Thank You Letter General Guide Lines
When to use a Thank You Letter :
Thank You Letter Structure
REMEMBER
7-10% is what you say
20-30% is how you say it
60-80% is your image, your body language and the overall impression you create.
Good Luck with your interviews and don't forget you may not succeed the first time but practice makes perfect.
Interview Techniques
- Make an appointment with the person.
- Learn a little about the person before meeting him/her.
- Know what you want to get out of the interview.
- Write your questions down before the interview, but be prepared to take a different path of questioning if necessary.
Conducting the Interview
- Be on time, and be prepared with paper and pen/pencil.
- Be friendly and courteous because they are giving you their valuable time.
- Ask your questions openly.
- Don't interrupt.
- Ask specific, thought-provoking questions and avoid yes/no questions.
- Try to stay focused, but if something interesting comes up go with it.
- Take good notes. Ask the interviewee to repeat what they said if necessary, but only do this when it is something important.
- Obtain all the information needed for ending the interview. If necessary, review your notes with the person.
- Thank the interviewee for his/her time.
Many experts are offering their time to students. If you have this opportunity either in a chat room or e-mail, you should follow the above advice, except getting straight to the point. Don't waste time "getting to know" the expert. Ask your questions and move.
All job interviews have the same objective, but employers reach that objective in a variety of ways. You might enter the room expecting to tell stories about your professional successes and instead find yourself selling the interviewer a bridge or editing code at a computer. One strategy for performing your best during an interview is to know the rules of the particular game you are playing when you walk through the door.
The Screening Interview
Companies use screening tools to ensure that candidates meet minimum qualification requirements. Computer programs are among the tools used to weed out unqualified candidates. Sometimes human professionals are the gatekeepers. Screening interviewers often have honed skills to determine whether there is anything that might disqualify you from the position. For this reason, screeners tend to dig for dirt. They also will want to know from the outset whether you will be too expensive for the company.
Some tips for maintaining confidence during screening interviews:
- Highlight your accomplishments and qualifications.
- Get into the straightforward groove. Personality is not as important to the screener as verifying your qualifications. Answer questions directly and succinctly. Save your winning personality for the person making hiring decisions.
- Be tactful about addressing income requirements. Give a range, and try to avoid giving specifics by replying, "I would be willing to consider your best offer."
- If the interview is conducted by phone, it is helpful to have note cards with your vital information sitting next to the phone. That way, whether the interviewer catches you sleeping or vacuuming the floor, you will be able to switch gears quickly.
The Informational Interview
On the opposite end of the stress spectrum from screening interviews is the informational interview. A meeting that you initiate, the informational interview is underutilized by job-seekers who might otherwise consider themselves savvy to the merits of networking. Job seekers ostensibly secure informational meetings in order to seek the advice of someone in their current or desired field as well as to gain further references to people who can lend insight. Employers that like to stay apprised of available talent even when they do not have current job openings, are often open to informational interviews, especially if they like to share their knowledge, feel flattered by your interest, or esteem the mutual friend that connected you to them. During an informational interview, the job seeker and employer exchange information and get to know one another better without reference to a specific job opening.
This takes off some of the performance pressure, but be intentional nonetheless:
- Come prepared with thoughtful questions about the field and the company.
- Gain references to other people and makes sure that the interviewer would be comfortable if you contact other people and use his or her name.
- Give the interviewer your card, contact information and resume.
- Write a thank you note to the interviewer.
The Directive Style
In this style of interview, the interviewer has a clear agenda that he or she follows unflinchingly. Sometimes companies use this rigid format to ensure parity between interviews; when interviewers ask each candidate the same series of questions, they can more readily compare the results. You might feel like you are being steam-rolled, or you might find the conversation develops naturally. Their style does not necessarily mean that they have dominance issues, although you should keep an eye open for these if the interviewer would be your supervisor.
Either way, remember:
- Flex with the interviewer, following his or her lead.
- Do not relinquish complete control of the interview. If the interviewer does not ask you for information that you think is important to prove your superiority as a candidate, politely interject it.
The Meandering Style
This interview type, usually used by inexperienced interviewers, relies on you to lead the discussion. It might begin with a statement like "tell me about yourself," which you can use to your advantage. The interviewer might ask you another broad, open-ended question before falling into silence. This interview style allows you tactfully to guide the discussion in a way that best serves you.
The following strategies, which are helpful for an interview, are particularly important when interviewers use a non-directive approach:
- Come to the interview prepared with highlights and anecdotes of your skills, qualities, and experiences. Do not rely on the interviewer to spark your memory-jot down some notes that you can reference throughout the interview.
- Remain alert to the interviewer. Even if you feel like you can take the driver's seat and go in any direction you wish, remain respectful of the interviewer's role. If he or she becomes more directive during the interview, adjust.
The Stress Interview
The stress interview is a legitimate way of determining candidates' aptness for a position or someone has latent maniacal tendencies. You might be held in the waiting room for an hour before the interviewer greets you. You might face long silences or cold stares. The interviewer might openly challenge your believes or judgment. You might be called upon to perform an impossible task on the fly-like convincing the interviewer to exchange shoes with you. Insults and miscommunication are common. All this is designed to see whether you have the mettle to withstand the company culture, the clients or other potential stress.
Besides wearing a strong antiperspirant, you will do well to:
- Remember that this is a game. It is not personal.
- Prepare and memorize your main message before walking through the door. If you are flustered, you will better maintain clarity of mind if you do not have to wing your responses.
- Even if the interviewer is rude, remain calm and tactful.
- Go into the interview relaxed and rested. If you go into it feeling stressed, you will have a more difficult time keeping a cool perspective.
The Behavioral Interview
Many companies increasingly rely on behavior interviews since they use your previous behavior to indicate your future performance. In these interviews, employers use standardized methods to mine information relevant to your competency in a particular area or position. Depending upon the responsibilities of the job and the working environment, you might be asked to describe a time that required problem-solving skills, adaptability, leadership, conflict resolution, multi-tasking, initiative or stress management. You will be asked how you dealt with the situations.
Your responses require not only reflection but also organization. To maximize your responses in the behavioral format:
- Anticipate the transferable skills and personal qualities that are required for the job.
- Review your resume. Any of the qualities and skills you have included in your resume are fair game for an interviewer to press.
- Reflect on your own professional, volunteer, educational and personal experience to develop brief stories that highlight these skills and qualities in you. You should have a story for each of the competencies on your resume as well as those you anticipate the job requires.
The Audition
For some positions, such as computer programmers or trainers, companies want to see you in action before they make their decision. For this reason, they might take you through a simulation or brief exercise in order to evaluate your skills. An audition can be enormously useful to you as well since it allows you to demonstrate your abilities in interactive ways that are likely familiar to you. If you sense that other candidates have an edge on you in terms of experience or other qualifications, requesting an audition can help level the playing field.
To maximize on auditions, remember to:
- Clearly, understanding the instructions and expectations for the exercise. Communication is half the battle in real life, and you should demonstrate to the prospective employer that you make efforts to do things right the first time by minimizing confusion.
- Treat the situation as if you are a professional with responsibility for the task laid before you.
- Brush up on your skills before an interview if you think they might be tested.
The Group Interview
Interviewing simultaneously with other candidates can be disconcerting, but it provides the company with a sense of your leadership potential and style. The group interview helps the company get a glimpse of how you interact with peers-are you timid or bossy, are you attentive or do you seek attention, do others turn to you instinctively, or do you compete for authority? The interviewer also wants to view what your tools of persuasion are: do you use argumentation and careful reasoning to gain support or do you divide and conquer? The interviewer might call on you to discuss an issue with the other candidates, solve a problem collectively, or discuss your peculiar qualifications in front of the other candidates.
This environment might seem overwhelming or hard to control, but there are a few tips that will help you navigate the group interview successfully:
- Observe to determine the dynamics the interviewer establishes and try to discern the rules of the game.
- Treat others with respect while exerting influence over others.
- Avoid overt power conflicts, which will make you look uncooperative and immature.
- Keep an eye on the interviewer throughout the process so that you do not miss important cues.
The Mealtime Interview
Interviewing over a meal sounds like a professional and digestive catastrophe in the making. If you have difficulty chewing gum while walking, this could be a challenge. With some preparation and psychological readjustment, you can enjoy the process. Meals often have a cementing social effect-breaking bread together tends to facilitate deals, marriages, friendships, and religious communion. Mealtime interviews rely on this logic and expand it.
Particularly when your job requires interpersonal acuity, companies want to know what you are like in a social setting. Are you relaxed and charming or awkward and evasive? Companies want to observe not only how you handle a fork, but also how you treat your host, any other guests, and the serving staff.
Some basic social tips help ease the complexity of mixing food with business:
- Take cues from your interviewer, remembering that you are the guest. Do not sit down until your host does. Order something slightly less extravagant than your interviewer. If he badly wants you to try a particular dish, oblige him. If he recommends an appetizer to you, he likely intends to order one himself. Do not begin eating until he does. If he orders coffee and dessert, do not leave him eating alone.
- If your interviewer wants to talk business, do so. If he and the other guests discuss their upcoming travel plans or their families, do not launch into business.
- Try to set aside dietary restrictions and preferences. Remember, the interviewer is your host. It is rude to be finicky unless you absolutely must. If you must, be as tactful as you can.
- Choose manageable food items, if possible. Avoid barbeque ribs and spaghetti.
- Find a discrete way to check your teeth after eating. Excuse yourself from the table for a moment.
- Practice eating and discussing something important simultaneously.
- Thank your interviewer for the meal.
The Follow-up Interview
Companies bring candidates back for second and sometimes third or fourth interviews for a number of reasons. Sometimes they just want to confirm that you are the amazing worker they first thought you to be. Sometimes they are having difficulty deciding between a short-list of candidates. Other times, the interviewer's supervisor or other decision makers in the company want to gain a sense of you before signing a hiring decision.
The second interview could go in a variety of directions, and you must prepare for each of them. When meeting with the same person again, you do not need to be as assertive in your communication of your skills. You can focus on cementing rapport, understanding where the company is going and how your skills mesh with the company vision and culture. Still, the interviewer should view you as the answer to their needs. You might find yourself negotiating a compensation package. Alternatively, you might find that you are starting from the beginning with a new person.
Some tips for managing second interviews:
- Be confident. Accentuate what you have to offer and your interest in the position.
- Probe tactfully to discover more information about the internal company dynamics and culture.
- Walk through the front door with a plan for negotiating a salary.
- Be prepared for anything: to relax with an employer or to address the company's qualms about you.
During the interview, an interviewee must
- Smile and make eye contact.
- Relax and be friendly.
- Be positive and enthusiastic.
- Think about your body language.
Advantages of Interviewing Others and Being Interviewed
When someone with authority speaks, everyone listens. Because of this, it’s a good internet marketing tactic to try and conduct interviews with people who have more authority than you do. In this way, you are leveraging the power and audience of another person to promote your own brand or website. Below is a list of the advantages of interviewing others can have on you.
- The content of an interview is mostly provided by the interviewee.
- You develop a relationship with the interviewee, which is good to have and can help you later on.
- You learn from the experiences and skills of others by asking the questions you are most interested in.
Present Yourself to Advantage
"People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."-Unknown
When going on an interview, you want to present yourself to your best advantage. This is your chance to let the people interviewing you learn about your skills, knowledge, and strengths as you put your best foot forward. How do you do this?
First Impressions
Appearance counts and is the basis for forming first impressions of a person. A neat, well-groomed appearance in an appropriate business suit comes across much better than casual clothes, or inappropriate makeup and jewelry.
Friendly, open people are also perceived more positively. When first meeting the employer, greet them with a firm handshake, a smile, and look them in the eyes. Listen attentively and don't interrupt.
Be On Time
Being late does not impress interviewers, and creates the impression that you would arrive late to work. So try to get to the interview on time, or even a few minutes early. This will give you a chance to do a last minute check on your appearance in the restroom, and to fill out any paperwork.
How you fill out your application paperwork will also reflect on you. Take your time, and make sure that it is filled in neatly, with correct spelling. You can write "negotiable" under the salary box since you will want an opportunity to discuss this with the manager you are interviewing with.
Answer Their Questions Well
During an interview, you will present yourself well if you answer the questions completely and concisely. Be as positive as possible during the interview. Do NOT speak negatively of a former employer, even if they are the worst possible. Use concrete examples of the problem -solving and strengths when answering questions.
The interviewers will be asking specific questions about your abilities, knowledge, and skills. Try to answer each question, sharing your strengths that would be useful for the position being considered. If you are unsure of the answer let the recruiter or employer know how you would go about finding the answer.
Be honest, and NEVER lie or try to avoid answering. Do NOT say, "You can find that on my resume" since they are interested in YOU and how you interact with others and your personal knowledge base. They can read the resume later. But do make sure that all information on your resume is correct since the company will check on references, dates and job information.
Ask Intelligent Questions
After answering their questions, asking good questions of your own will also create a good impression. You might ask the employer to describe the job in more detail. You should also have several questions written down to refer to, based on the background research you have already done to prepare for the interview.
Ask the employer what he or she is looking for in an employee or the three most important things they are looking for in the person they hire. Then, listen attentively to the answers. Find out why the position is open. This is your chance to find out what the job entails and to discover what you are getting into when you work there.
Practice Makes Perfect
It is a good idea to practice an interview before actually going to one. This will give you a chance to work on answering questions, listening, and getting feedback on your body language. See if a friend or co-worker can help you by asking you both standard and "surprise" interview questions that make you think and answer spontaneously. Include some hard ones as well.
Follow-up Is Important
After the interview, send a short thank you note on quality paper. This will bring your name to mind and confirms your continued interest in the position. Stopping by after an appropriate time, or a follow-up call can also be done as long as you don't continuously harass the recruiter or manager.
By using the above ideas, you should be able to create a good impression during your interview and be further along the road to a good job-the one you want.
Interview Thank You Letter
Do not overlook the thank you letter. It can very helpful to make you stand out from other candidates. In your job search, you have to make use of all the tools, and the interview thank you letter is one of them.
Thank You Letter General Guide Lines
- The letter has to be sent before the decision to hire a particular candidate has been made.
- Clear up any misunderstandings.
- You can use some things you learned during your interview to your advantage.
- This shows you are a professional.
- Your last opportunity to leave a good impression.
- Send it within one day of the interview.
When to use a Thank You Letter :
- After an employment interview.
- To a person or contact who referred to a particular job.
Thank You Letter Structure
- Short and Simple is the key.
- Mention Specific points discussed.
- 1st Part Thank Interviewer, for time and interest.
- 2nd Part Emphasis skills, enthusiasm and why you are fit for the job. Mention also any new things you have learned about the organization.
- 3rd Part Provide your contact details, and any follow up action.
REMEMBER
7-10% is what you say
20-30% is how you say it
60-80% is your image, your body language and the overall impression you create.
Good Luck with your interviews and don't forget you may not succeed the first time but practice makes perfect.
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