The Secrets To Interview Success
|
Many well qualified and extremely able candidates fail at job interviews simply because they are unaware of the conventions of the job interview and the expectations of the interviewer.
Successful candidates, on the other hand, manage to impress prospective employers precisely because they know how to present themselves.
Thus, they study the job advertisement; they analyse what is required in the way of skills qualifications and experience; they assess their own suitability for the job; and finally, they present themselves in a thoughtful and carefully prepared manner.
Their written applications are comprehensive and business-like, containing all the relevant information presented neatly and concisely.They prepare themselves carefully for interview, anticipating likely questions and rehearsing their responses. They study the structure of the interview and devise a strategy to satisfy the interviewer's requirements. In short, they prepare themselves to succeed.
Let us begin by giving some general advice to candidates who are considering the daunting prospect of an interview. As a candidate, you should be able to express yourself with clarity and precision. To do this, you must make adequate preparation, anticipating likely questions and rehearsing your responses. However, this does not mean that you should learn your responses by heart.
To do so would make you sound unnatural. Your answers should appear spontaneous. At the same time, you should come across as thoughtful, articulate and coherent. So preparation is essential.
During the interview you should speak confidently, making sure to support your answers with relevant examples from your work experience. Sometimes the questions might not be wide-ranging enough to enable you to present your case as fully and convincingly as you would wish. In such circumstances, it is up to you to take the initiative and acquaint the interviewer with whatever information you consider to be important in advancing your claims to the job on offer. Remember, it is up to you to sell yourself.
Always relate your answers to the job for which you are applying. This is particularly important in the case of candidates who are faced with the sort of indirect questions favoured by many interviewers. For example, the interviewer may ask you to describe your current job. This is an indirect way of asking you to what extent your present skills and experience relate to the job for which you are applying.
Always present a positive face. Having studied your application form, interviewers will have identified the weaker aspects of your case. They will often use such material to build up a negative impression of you. So it is in your own best interests to examine your application critically with a view to identifying any weaknesses or negative aspects which the interviewer might spot. Having identified such negative aspects, you should be ready to answer tricky questions by preparing positive answers.
Since interviewers are looking for candidates who display a positive attitude, you should state that you enjoy your job; that you are enthusiastic and ambitious; and that you welcome challenge.
It is important to tell the truth in interviews. However, try to present the facts as persuasively as you can. It would be pointless and self-defeating to reveal negative facts which are largely irrelevant and which only serve to highlight weaknesses in your case. So examine and assess your own case and tailor the facts to give the best and most positive impression.
It is essential to develop a rapport with the interviewer. If you can give the impression that you are in agreement or have something in common with the interviewer and if the interviewer takes a liking to you, you are off to a great start. So be pleasant and agreeable.
On the other hand, it would be a grave mistake to appear as a grovelling 'yes' man or woman. Discretion should be your watch-word in this as in other areas.
Interviewers usually place a greater emphasis on experience than on paper qualifications, so it is up to you to convince them that your experience qualifies you for the job on offer. This will involve using your experience as evidence to support statements that you make in answers to questions.
Now to sum up: here are the success secrets known understood and applied by thousands of successful job interviewees.
1. Make adequate preparation to enable you to express yourself fluently in the interview situation.
2. Be confident but try not to sound conceited: use examples to support your answers.
3. Make sure to acquaint the interviewer with all the relevant information in support of your case.
4. Relate all your answers to the job for which you are applying.
5. Look out for indirect questions and know how to cope with them.
6. Concentrate on the positive aspects of your case and be ready to deal with questions relating to any negative aspects.
7. Do not tell lies but tailor the truth in order to present a positive impression of yourself.
8. Determine to establish a rapport with the interviewer right from the start.
9. Convince the interviewer that your experience entitles you to the job.
Gerard McLoughlin, author of 'Four Minutes To Interview Success', has contributed career-related articles to hundreds of recruitment companies, websites and publications throughout the world, including: USA Today, JobBankUSA.com, US-Recruiters.com, etc.
To receive FREE career tips on a regular basis, sign up today for The Assignments Plus Newsletter.
|
|
|
Losing A Career Can Feel Like Getting A Divorce
Most of us are aware that we need to grieve the death of a close friend, relative or favorite pet. We are beginning to learn that other events -- relocation, divorce, illness -- can also be experienced as loss.Losing a career or business can also be a source of grief, anger and frustration. Starting a new business is an end as well as a beginnig. You may feel as though you are getting a divorce after a twenty-year marriage. Here's why.1. Sometimes the career leaves you. The f...(related: Employment)
Resumes And First Impressions
Hunting for a position in a new career field? Trying to take your new education or skills and transform them into a job with a future?I've spent the last few weeks working in a placement service trying to help people find that first "career" job; trying to help them make the transition from student to employee. I see the same mistakes over and over again. Here are a couple of things to be aware of as you search for that fresh start.1. The Skim Rule - Understand that most recruiters will only take less than 30 seconds to skim a resume for further review. ...(related: Employment)
Make Your Resume Keyword Rich And Scanner Friendly
If you haven't looked for a job recently, there are new tactics that hiring professionals are using that you should be aware of before updating your resume.Employers and recruiters increasingly rely on electronic resumes, resume posting boards and job banks to find job candidates. Resumes are either being scanned or input directly into keyword-searchable databases, and accessed when an employer inputs a keyword list of requirements that best describe the position they are seeking to fill.The database sea...(related: Employment)
My Landscaping Business Is Better Than Your Lanscaping Business...
Yesterday I was having a discussion with Mary who I know from a mother's group that I attend with my daughter Sammi. Through previous conversations I have determined that this woman is very talented in the areas of landscaping and interior design.I couldn't help myself?As we talked, I asked her if she had thought about going into business for herself which would be a perfect way to do work she loves while making money. Her reply to me was, "It's really hard to make money at it. People aren't willing to pay."Now if Mary were a client, my next question would have been, "So no one makes money doing landscaping and interior design?" Of course her response would have been, ...(related: Employment)
Become A Personal Trainer
Every human body is different and a personal trainer will know exactly how to not just get a human body into proper shape but also shape the body into the desired form. A personal trainer knows that while guys may want to 'bulk up'; a girl might want to slim down. A good personal trainer will know what to do to get the desired look wanted by their client.To get started, it really comes down to lessons from instructors about how different exercises affect the human body. The key to being a good personal trainer is not just ...(related: Employment)
Prepare For Your Performance Review Before You Start The Job
When you start a new job, you probably realize the first three months are critical to your long-term success. Everybody's eye is on the "newbie" as you le...(related: Employment)
What Can I Do To Improve My Job-interviewing Skills?
Whether you're a student job seeker or a polished and proven executive, the first thing you must come to terms with is, "Regardless of the position you seek, you are now in sales!" The product you are selling is YOU! The interview is your opportunity to differentiate yourself in the eyes of your customer [the interviewer] when compared to your competitors [other job applicants].Successful companies today are focused on building what's known as, corporate "Unique Value-Add Propositions." Simply put, a...(related: Employment)
Building Performance Trust
You can have outstanding ideas, yet never leverage them into winning at working results. That's because the secret behind those ideas lies in performance. Yours.Getting the okay to pursue your idea is directly related to the level of confidence other people have in your ability to deliver it. And if you do, you will create for yourself opportunities on a regular basis. One successful idea delivery leads to another and another and another. Bigger and bigger ideas are entrusted to people who consistently turn ideas into reality.You see, not only does an idea need to be a good one, but the idea-maker needs to be a performer who can deliver the vision. That doesn't mean you need to have executed lots of ideas before getting one approved. It does mean the base quality of your work is a deciding fact...(related: Employment)
Importance Of Your Job Search
So that you can decide just how critical your job hunt is in your total life scheme, let's put a kind of frame around the importance of the effort ahead.Reflect on it.A job is not just a job. Half of you waking hours are devoted to it. Its quality ramifies through all other aspects of your life. It determines your productivity and how far you will go in achieving full self-realization. It governs your happiness, the happiness of your family, where you live, and how well. The quality o...(related: Employment)
Career Success: Take Charge Of Your Career
People react very differently to the waves of change that suddenly flood the work and marketplace. Some, who feel confused or unsettled struggle to keep their heads above water gasping for air. By contrast, others, who may not even like or agree with the changes, nevertheless accept them, get on with their lives and swim forcefully to thei...(related: Employment)
When The Teacher Becomes The Student
A relationship expert once said that during an argument, there's usually three sides to every story: his side, her side, and of course, the truth.This is something we must definitely keep in mind as teachers. As educators (especially professors), we have been accused of having the biggest egos on this side of Mount Rushmore. One of the quickest ways to burn out in education is to refuse to embrace change. Whether we want to admit it or not, life moves and changes constantly.Students are constantly exposed to material we on...(related: Employment)
site-map - Copyright © 2007 | Contact Webmaster | All Rights Reserved | Free Articles and Information | Employment