It appears that now than ever before college students are filling out online job applications following graduation with anticipation of getting a job interview. Before students graduate college they need to have an extraordinary resume. Most colleges offer some type of resume writing seminar and students should be able to write a good resume most of the time. With that being said, the first step of getting a job interview includes having a great cover letter and an extraordinary resume.
Preparation is the key for answering hard interview questions once a job interview has been scheduled. A good amount of people do keep this in mind and prepare for answering hard interview questions. A lot of people prepare by practicing responding to interview questions so that they can sound confidence while answering them. Because the job market is very competitive with the current economic climate, employers have developed a way to separate applicants to find the brightest stars. Companies will ask interview questions that are tricky, which will make job applicants nervous and be hard to answer.
Hard Interview Questions You Can Expect
We will take a closer look at some hard interview questions you could be asked and what your response should be:
What is your biggest weakness? – Of course nobody wants to answer this question. Why answer a question that reflects negatively on you? Be clear and confident in communicating to the potential employer what you feel your biggest weakness is. Use this simple strategy: Turn a negative into a positive. Explain how you made your biggest weakness into a goal to overcome and how you did it.
Have you ever had time that you didn’t agree with a supervisor or college professor? – How did you resolve the conflict? When you answer this question, make sure you don’t reveal to the interviewer that you hold a grudge against your former supervisor or professor. You want to keep everything positive as can be with an interview. Never say anything bad about your former employer or teachers. To answer this question accurately, you need to display that you are able to see the other person’s view in the disagreement, consider all options and then act logically. That is what the potential employer is looking for. The potential employer really wants to know how you handled yourself and the situation.
How would friends, employers, and professors describe you? – This is a good time to incorporate some of your key strengths and skills into your answer. i.e. Passionate, Driven. Inform the job interviewer that you have references for their review to support your comments. By the way, LinkedIn.com is a great tool for references.
What motivates you to be successful? – This question is normally asked to see how driven you are to be successful for the position that you are interviewing for. There no correct or incorrect answers. Obviously, in order to answer this question, you need to first write down what motivates you professionally and think of some examples that display these attributes.
You have no experience. Why should I hire you? – You need to be persuasive. Mention your ability to overcome various challenges. Also, mention how you increased your knowledge through education, internships and your past employers. Explain how your core competencies would have a positive impact on the organization’s bottom line.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
The Essential Job Interview Checklist
You just got the call for a job interview! This is great news, Congratulations! See how all the hard work you put into writing a professional resume, networking at various events and online job searching has paid off at last. To be sure you are the brightest star above all the other job candidates, I have provide essential job interview tips to ensure your success!
Be Prepared – This means practicing answering interview questions , doing your homework on the potential employer and matching your skills with your answers for the duties related for the open position.
Dressing for Success – Dressing professionally makes the best first impression. While it may not be necessary to purchase a business suit, it is very important that you dress the part.
Don’t Be Late – Arriving on time for a job interview means getting to the interview location at least 15 minutes early. Indeed the job interviewer will take note of your arrival time and will allow you to review all your notes for the interview.
Keep Eye Contact – Making eye contact, along with a smile and solid handshake will convey confidence to the job interviewer.
Show Enthusiasm – If the job comes down to you and another candidate, this is an excellent way to stand out to the interviewer. Showing your enthusiasm for the open position lets the interviewer know that you are serious about the position and are driven to succeed.
Let Them Know You’re a Team Player – Hiring managers want to make sure that they hire someone who can take direction. They also want someone that can lead a team to meet the company’s objectives. Provide real work examples of how you can lead a team and also how you can be a team player for a company.
Make Sure You Sell Yourself – It has been proven that people buy from people they like and this theory does apply when hiring someone. Remember a job interview is like a sales pitch. Have a list of your core competencies and be prepared to discuss how you have showcase your competencies in the past and they will be beneficial to the potential employer.
Always be Truthful – Never mislead the job interviewer, especially about your skills and past experiences. Most companies will conduct a background check before they hire someone and you don’t want to be in the boat where they find out that you were being dishonest to them.
Be Professional at all Times – Although this should always be done without saying, sometimes people do need to be reminded from time to time. Don’t chew gum, pay attention and sit up straight.
Ask Interview Questions – Asking questions demonstrates to the interviewer that you are interested in the job. So much to the fact that if you don’t ask interview questions you could come off as frail and useless. Also asking questions allows you to evaluate the company so that you can make sure that company is a good match for you.
Always Thank the Interviewer – When the a job interview comes to an end make sure to smile, stand up to extend your hand for a firm handshake and say “thank you. Ask the interviewer when do they expect to make their decision and if you should follow up with them if you don’t hear from them by the decision date.
Be Prepared – This means practicing answering interview questions , doing your homework on the potential employer and matching your skills with your answers for the duties related for the open position.
Dressing for Success – Dressing professionally makes the best first impression. While it may not be necessary to purchase a business suit, it is very important that you dress the part.
Don’t Be Late – Arriving on time for a job interview means getting to the interview location at least 15 minutes early. Indeed the job interviewer will take note of your arrival time and will allow you to review all your notes for the interview.
Keep Eye Contact – Making eye contact, along with a smile and solid handshake will convey confidence to the job interviewer.
Show Enthusiasm – If the job comes down to you and another candidate, this is an excellent way to stand out to the interviewer. Showing your enthusiasm for the open position lets the interviewer know that you are serious about the position and are driven to succeed.
Let Them Know You’re a Team Player – Hiring managers want to make sure that they hire someone who can take direction. They also want someone that can lead a team to meet the company’s objectives. Provide real work examples of how you can lead a team and also how you can be a team player for a company.
Make Sure You Sell Yourself – It has been proven that people buy from people they like and this theory does apply when hiring someone. Remember a job interview is like a sales pitch. Have a list of your core competencies and be prepared to discuss how you have showcase your competencies in the past and they will be beneficial to the potential employer.
Always be Truthful – Never mislead the job interviewer, especially about your skills and past experiences. Most companies will conduct a background check before they hire someone and you don’t want to be in the boat where they find out that you were being dishonest to them.
Be Professional at all Times – Although this should always be done without saying, sometimes people do need to be reminded from time to time. Don’t chew gum, pay attention and sit up straight.
Ask Interview Questions – Asking questions demonstrates to the interviewer that you are interested in the job. So much to the fact that if you don’t ask interview questions you could come off as frail and useless. Also asking questions allows you to evaluate the company so that you can make sure that company is a good match for you.
Always Thank the Interviewer – When the a job interview comes to an end make sure to smile, stand up to extend your hand for a firm handshake and say “thank you. Ask the interviewer when do they expect to make their decision and if you should follow up with them if you don’t hear from them by the decision date.
Monday, November 16, 2009
5 Must Interview Questions You Need to Ask!
These five must ask interview questions go beyond the apparent ones, such as what is the title of the job, what is the job description, who would you be reporting to, and other fundamental questions. In fact, it's doubtful you'll even need to ask those questions, as they are typically summarized for you.
Through some preparation and consideration, you should have no trouble coming up with 10 to 15 first interview questions to ask. However these five interview questions in some shape or form must always be asked.
Not only will they assist you to determine if the job for which you are interviewing for meets the standards of your ideal job, but the answers, when formulated, will give you a fairly accurate description of what's actually is happening behind scenes of the job interview.
1. WHAT ARE THE DUTIES FOR THE POSITION THAT WILL NEED TO BE IMMEDIATELY ADDRESSED?:
As you know the title of the position doesn’t tell you anything. The job description is helpful as it will tell you what you will be expected to do on a daily basis, but again it doesn’t reveal much of anything. Since you listed your accomplishments on your resume, you should be given the same sense of what the position requires from you as an individual. You need to be able to know if you are walking into a position that will require you to clean up someone else’s mess. If that is the case, are you going to be able to do it? If you don’t have this information available to you already, this will provide you with some insight about the hiring manager and the previous employee.
2. WHY DID THE PREVIOUS EMPLOYEE LEAVE? HOW LONG DID THEY HOLD THE POSITION?
Most of the time, when answering the first part, the hiring manager will answer the second part as well. However, if they decide not to answer the second part, make sure you ask. If the previous employee was working with the employer for a relatively short time, you will also what to know how long the previous person before the last employee left was there.
Do you understand why we are asking these questions? If the opened position is constantly disarray and the last two employees were there for only a small period of time and/or were fired, you won’t need to ask any of the other interview questions in this article. Make sure you end the interview elegantly and then leave as fast as you can! Because if you are hired for the job, it won’t be too long before you either quit the job or get fired from it, because you were not able to meet the objectives of the position, despite if the duties listed can be done in a realistic time frame of not.
3. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR MANAGEMENT STYLE? HOW DO YOU MOTIVATE YOUR EMPLOYEES TO SUCCEED?: This question will help you determine if the hiring personnel is a micro manager. Is the manager is a good communicator? Will they keep you in the loop with everything? Will this person leave you alone and only work with you when you need help? Will this person provide mentoring? Of course, the person is not going to come right out and tell you that they are a micro manager! Instead they may say, "I like to keep a very secure watch on what's going on in my department," or "I visit with each of my employees on a daily basis to make sure they're staying on track," or something related. You’ll find that the hiring manager will be fairly straight forward in sharing their management style with you. What you want to pay attention to is how they word it.
4. WHAT TYPES OF PEOPLE DO WELL AT THIS COMPANY?: People who work great in teams or committees? Employees who kept their manager in the loop of everything? Perhaps people who are workaholics? This will help you learn about the culture of the company. Someone who is has an entrepreneurial spirit won’t do well in a committee type environment. At the same time, sales driven personalities can vary immensely, the lead achievers are goal driven and inspired to achieve, rather than self-righteous. People who are adjust to thinking for themselves will find themselves chafing in an organization that has a more dictatorial approach, while those who perform better when they're told what to do will find themselves lost in a organization that requires its employees to think for themselves.
5. HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED FOR THE COMPANY? WHY DO YOU STILL WORK HERE?: This question will give you a good idea as to the general feeling of the company. The way in which the hiring manager answers this question will also give you addition insights about your potential supervisor, their management style and what type of personnel do well with the company.
These questions are not challenges, these are valuable informational questions. Make you are legitimately interested each of the answers, sine you are gaining information that will be valuable for your future. When you leave the job interview and start thinking about the information gained from the interviewing, you’ll be matching what you learned with what you are searching for.
Pay attention to the job interviewer’s facial expressions and body language. Does the interviewer help fill in some of the spaces? Are they relaxed during the interview? Do they speak to you or do they speak at you? Do they answer your interview questions briefly and then quickly fire back with another one. These, too, are priceless cues, and after the interview, you'll need to piece them together with the verbal information you received. Your ideal job might land in your lap by good luck and fortune. But more likely, you'll need to search for it. It's there, but to identify it, you'll need to know what it does not look like, as well as what it does.
Through some preparation and consideration, you should have no trouble coming up with 10 to 15 first interview questions to ask. However these five interview questions in some shape or form must always be asked.
Not only will they assist you to determine if the job for which you are interviewing for meets the standards of your ideal job, but the answers, when formulated, will give you a fairly accurate description of what's actually is happening behind scenes of the job interview.
1. WHAT ARE THE DUTIES FOR THE POSITION THAT WILL NEED TO BE IMMEDIATELY ADDRESSED?:
As you know the title of the position doesn’t tell you anything. The job description is helpful as it will tell you what you will be expected to do on a daily basis, but again it doesn’t reveal much of anything. Since you listed your accomplishments on your resume, you should be given the same sense of what the position requires from you as an individual. You need to be able to know if you are walking into a position that will require you to clean up someone else’s mess. If that is the case, are you going to be able to do it? If you don’t have this information available to you already, this will provide you with some insight about the hiring manager and the previous employee.
2. WHY DID THE PREVIOUS EMPLOYEE LEAVE? HOW LONG DID THEY HOLD THE POSITION?
Most of the time, when answering the first part, the hiring manager will answer the second part as well. However, if they decide not to answer the second part, make sure you ask. If the previous employee was working with the employer for a relatively short time, you will also what to know how long the previous person before the last employee left was there.
Do you understand why we are asking these questions? If the opened position is constantly disarray and the last two employees were there for only a small period of time and/or were fired, you won’t need to ask any of the other interview questions in this article. Make sure you end the interview elegantly and then leave as fast as you can! Because if you are hired for the job, it won’t be too long before you either quit the job or get fired from it, because you were not able to meet the objectives of the position, despite if the duties listed can be done in a realistic time frame of not.
3. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT YOUR MANAGEMENT STYLE? HOW DO YOU MOTIVATE YOUR EMPLOYEES TO SUCCEED?: This question will help you determine if the hiring personnel is a micro manager. Is the manager is a good communicator? Will they keep you in the loop with everything? Will this person leave you alone and only work with you when you need help? Will this person provide mentoring? Of course, the person is not going to come right out and tell you that they are a micro manager! Instead they may say, "I like to keep a very secure watch on what's going on in my department," or "I visit with each of my employees on a daily basis to make sure they're staying on track," or something related. You’ll find that the hiring manager will be fairly straight forward in sharing their management style with you. What you want to pay attention to is how they word it.
4. WHAT TYPES OF PEOPLE DO WELL AT THIS COMPANY?: People who work great in teams or committees? Employees who kept their manager in the loop of everything? Perhaps people who are workaholics? This will help you learn about the culture of the company. Someone who is has an entrepreneurial spirit won’t do well in a committee type environment. At the same time, sales driven personalities can vary immensely, the lead achievers are goal driven and inspired to achieve, rather than self-righteous. People who are adjust to thinking for themselves will find themselves chafing in an organization that has a more dictatorial approach, while those who perform better when they're told what to do will find themselves lost in a organization that requires its employees to think for themselves.
5. HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED FOR THE COMPANY? WHY DO YOU STILL WORK HERE?: This question will give you a good idea as to the general feeling of the company. The way in which the hiring manager answers this question will also give you addition insights about your potential supervisor, their management style and what type of personnel do well with the company.
These questions are not challenges, these are valuable informational questions. Make you are legitimately interested each of the answers, sine you are gaining information that will be valuable for your future. When you leave the job interview and start thinking about the information gained from the interviewing, you’ll be matching what you learned with what you are searching for.
Pay attention to the job interviewer’s facial expressions and body language. Does the interviewer help fill in some of the spaces? Are they relaxed during the interview? Do they speak to you or do they speak at you? Do they answer your interview questions briefly and then quickly fire back with another one. These, too, are priceless cues, and after the interview, you'll need to piece them together with the verbal information you received. Your ideal job might land in your lap by good luck and fortune. But more likely, you'll need to search for it. It's there, but to identify it, you'll need to know what it does not look like, as well as what it does.
Monday, November 9, 2009
When was the last time you had a job interview? Did it go well for you? Chances are that it went poorly for you and that is no criticism on you personally, it’s just that people tend to be afraid of interviewing and as a result, they don’t get the jobs they want. I read that something like 86% of people in the workforce right now had to go through 6 interviews before they landed the job that they are in right now. There may be several reasons for this number however; I must tell you that if the large majority of people knew the secrets of successful interviewing, they would get the job every time. Instead of getting rejections letters, they would be turning downing offer letters.
So personality isn’t just the reason? This is a yes and no answer. Having a personality that presents yourself in the best possible way and can carry a conversation is very important in a job interview, however not many people have this engaging personality. There are a lot of people who get jobs than people with outgoing personalities and the reason is that they know how to interview well. Yes, job interviewing skills can specifically be and ought to be learned. Now the question is, how do people learn?
A lot of people have learned how to interview through trial and error. The more you do something, the more you become a pro at it. This can be very hard though, not many people want to learn like this. I mean, no one likes being rejected from a job interview. Indeed, interviewing isn’t a fun activity. Most of the time, people tend to fear them. Since this is the case, wouldn’t it be great if you could learn how to interview and impress the interviewer? Wouldn’t it be great to go into a job interview with all the confidence in the world and have the state of mind that you are evaluating them, instead of the other way around.
Another important thing to remember is that this goes much deeper than learning interviewing skills or tricks. The point being is that training that makes you successful at interviewing, will make you successful in life. Learning how to interview is learning how to communicate well. Good communication will help you with the ability to lead, network and social confidence.
Whether you are a freshman in college or an experience business person, learning and gaining interviewing skills is a profitable benefit for anyone. It is also good for you as it serves as a value tool outside of your career including dating, parenting, marriage and so forth. Don’t wait any longer to take control of your life and be successful in your career.
So personality isn’t just the reason? This is a yes and no answer. Having a personality that presents yourself in the best possible way and can carry a conversation is very important in a job interview, however not many people have this engaging personality. There are a lot of people who get jobs than people with outgoing personalities and the reason is that they know how to interview well. Yes, job interviewing skills can specifically be and ought to be learned. Now the question is, how do people learn?
A lot of people have learned how to interview through trial and error. The more you do something, the more you become a pro at it. This can be very hard though, not many people want to learn like this. I mean, no one likes being rejected from a job interview. Indeed, interviewing isn’t a fun activity. Most of the time, people tend to fear them. Since this is the case, wouldn’t it be great if you could learn how to interview and impress the interviewer? Wouldn’t it be great to go into a job interview with all the confidence in the world and have the state of mind that you are evaluating them, instead of the other way around.
Another important thing to remember is that this goes much deeper than learning interviewing skills or tricks. The point being is that training that makes you successful at interviewing, will make you successful in life. Learning how to interview is learning how to communicate well. Good communication will help you with the ability to lead, network and social confidence.
Whether you are a freshman in college or an experience business person, learning and gaining interviewing skills is a profitable benefit for anyone. It is also good for you as it serves as a value tool outside of your career including dating, parenting, marriage and so forth. Don’t wait any longer to take control of your life and be successful in your career.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
5 Steps To A Great Job Interview
Are you ready for your next job interview? Do you know the secrets of pulling off a great interview and getting hired for the job of your dreams? Use these five simple steps to prepare yourself and you will leave the best possible impression you can with the hiring manager.
1. Get there Early – The worst thing you can do is to show up to a job interview late. What does that show to the hiring manager about your dedication level? Why would any hiring manager want to hire a person who doesn’t have the organization skills to show up to the job interview on time? By showing up early for the interview, you are demonstrating and showing respect to the organization and the hiring manager. Also by showing up early, you may have the opportunity for more face time with the interviewer. Face time is important, as the longer you have with the hiring manager, the better your chances you will be chosen for the job.
2. Do your Homework on the Company – Never go into a job interview without knowing anything about the company. You need to do your homework; find out how many locations they have, who is the CEO and what products and services they market. A good idea is to find out their financials from their company website and other investor relations. You should be prepared to ask some questions about what you findings of the company. At the end of every interview that I have been involved with, I like to ask “What questions do you have for me?” I am always amazed with people who have done their homework and are serious about working for the organization.
3 Make sure to Listen and Don’t Interrupt – It may seem counter-productive, however the hiring manger is speaking. It is a demonstrated reality, that hiring managers think interviewers go better, if they do most of the talking. Make sure you use your research about the company and ask a lot of questions to get the interviewer talking.
4. Bring Extra Copies of Your Resume – Hiring Managers have a lot to do and most of the time they don’t have a copy of your resume ready for the interview. Even if they do have a copy, there may be other people besides the hiring manager interviewing you. This also presents a good opportunity to hand them your resume on a good piece of quality paper. Resume paper is thicker and has a nice feel to it and that is what you want the interviewer to associate with you… a good feel. Later, when the hiring manager is reviewing your resume, you will stand out because of it and it provides you a better chance of getting a second interview or even better getting hired for the job.
5. Follow Up – It is always a good idea to follow up with the hiring manager and/or interviewer in some way after the job interview. If the hiring manager gave you their business card, make sure you use it. You can call them and ask a couple of follow up questions and thank them for the opportunity. Also, you should send them a thank you note email. If you didn’t get their business card, then just mail them a thank you letter. The main objective here is to remind the hiring manager about you. And the more they think about you, the better the chances you will get hired for the job.
1. Get there Early – The worst thing you can do is to show up to a job interview late. What does that show to the hiring manager about your dedication level? Why would any hiring manager want to hire a person who doesn’t have the organization skills to show up to the job interview on time? By showing up early for the interview, you are demonstrating and showing respect to the organization and the hiring manager. Also by showing up early, you may have the opportunity for more face time with the interviewer. Face time is important, as the longer you have with the hiring manager, the better your chances you will be chosen for the job.
2. Do your Homework on the Company – Never go into a job interview without knowing anything about the company. You need to do your homework; find out how many locations they have, who is the CEO and what products and services they market. A good idea is to find out their financials from their company website and other investor relations. You should be prepared to ask some questions about what you findings of the company. At the end of every interview that I have been involved with, I like to ask “What questions do you have for me?” I am always amazed with people who have done their homework and are serious about working for the organization.
3 Make sure to Listen and Don’t Interrupt – It may seem counter-productive, however the hiring manger is speaking. It is a demonstrated reality, that hiring managers think interviewers go better, if they do most of the talking. Make sure you use your research about the company and ask a lot of questions to get the interviewer talking.
4. Bring Extra Copies of Your Resume – Hiring Managers have a lot to do and most of the time they don’t have a copy of your resume ready for the interview. Even if they do have a copy, there may be other people besides the hiring manager interviewing you. This also presents a good opportunity to hand them your resume on a good piece of quality paper. Resume paper is thicker and has a nice feel to it and that is what you want the interviewer to associate with you… a good feel. Later, when the hiring manager is reviewing your resume, you will stand out because of it and it provides you a better chance of getting a second interview or even better getting hired for the job.
5. Follow Up – It is always a good idea to follow up with the hiring manager and/or interviewer in some way after the job interview. If the hiring manager gave you their business card, make sure you use it. You can call them and ask a couple of follow up questions and thank them for the opportunity. Also, you should send them a thank you note email. If you didn’t get their business card, then just mail them a thank you letter. The main objective here is to remind the hiring manager about you. And the more they think about you, the better the chances you will get hired for the job.
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