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How you present yourself shows more about you than your CV ever could. So as well as smiling and maintaining eye contact, make sure you’re sitting up straight and maintain good posture and composure – no fidgeting. Keep your handshake firm, but not too forceful. Actively listen - acknowledge the interviewer's comments with nods and if you are being interviewed by more than one person, engage the whole panel when answering their questions. Other top tips:
It would be a shame to let something as insignificant and short-lived as an attack of nerves conceal your winning attributes. Here are some tips to prevent nervous tics and other imperfections from interfering with your best interview ever. If you're concerned with a piece of clothing in your interview ensemble, change it. In addition to favourably impressing your interviewer, your clothes should do nothing but support and feed the confidence and comfort of the intelligent, sensitive creature wearing them. During the interview you'll want to look neat, clean, and well composed. You should always wear a suit. Even if the workplace where you're applying is business casual (or has no dress code whatsoever.) Even if the interviewer tells you that you don't need to wear a suit. It's always better to overdress than under-dress. Stick to conservative navy, grey or black, wear tights and closed-toe shoes. If a deficiency on your CV worries you, don't obsess on it and let it sink your spirits. Think about this deficiency and how you will explain it before you go in for the interview. It's there, so deal with it and move on. Remember, they've agreed to interview despite this flaw, so it can't be a show stopper. If there is any way of putting a positive spin on it without making it a feature of the interview, plan a short but sweet response. On the day of the interview, breathing exercises can help you relax and focus your energy. Closing your eyes, imagine a peaceful place. Or, visualise yourself acing the interview. Here's another one: place your tongue at the roof of your mouth just behind the teeth and then breath quickly and forcefully through your nose for as long as you can. If you push yourself at this, when you then inhale deeply through your mouth again, you should feel energised. This article is excerpted from www.vault.com. Reprinted with permission. Back to top
This is a range of questions that are frequently asked at interview:
Questions to ask the interviewer:
Your interviewer will want to measure how well you think on your feet, on your seat - how you think, period. How does that brain of yours channel and process information - rationally, creatively, periodically? Companies prize the ability to think analytically. Many of the most successful people in business attribute their success to the fact that they surrounded themselves early on with intelligent people.
A number of questions in the interview will give you an opportunity to demonstrate how your mind gathers, sorts, files and discards information. Sometimes the best thing to do when faced with a difficult question is to take a deep breath or to ask for a minute to consider it, instead of launching into a hurried, muddled answer. The interviewer will respect your decision to think your answer over carefully.
In addition to being a necessary attribute on the job, possession of a rational thought process can be a tremendous asset in terms of getting a job. If you can offer an impeccably reasoned, airtight case for why you should get the job, the interviewer, having difficulty refuting it, may simply surrender and hire you.
This article is excerpted from www.vault.com Reprinted with permission.
This query has been an enduring weapon in the hiring manager's arsenal, but most people still have trouble with the dilemma it poses: answer too frankly, and you'll torpedo your prospects. Give a canned answer and you'll seem fake, or worse, evasive ("My greatest weakness is that I'm a perfectionist and work too hard."). In search of a better way, Vault asked several HR managers and career experts for answers to this interview toughie.
"It's a tricky question," admits Andrea Kay, a syndicated career advice columnist and author of Interview Strategies That Will Get You the Job You Want. "I would suggest, number one, that you be ready for it, anticipate it, because it is still a question that gets asked over and over again."
Some HR managers suggested the old approach of naming a fault that's not really a fault. "I am impatient, and I like to get things done and done quickly and get frustrated when politics and red tape slow down projects," was how a recruiting and staffing manager for a trucking company answered.
A related strategy: name a "weakness," but link it to more egregious faults demonstrated by others. "When I was asked that question, I responded that 'My weakness was getting frustrated when "leadership" fails to make decisions or lead,'" said the director of human resources at a manufacturing company. "I've also answered the question with 'I get impatient when organisations or groups say they want something, don't take the initiative, or make the decision to make it happen, pass it off to someone else, and then criticise how it's done.'"
Jerry Houser, the director of the Career Development Centre of Technology, says students should consider a skill, mention the down side of this skill, describe how they keep that weakness in line, and then give an example.
"This can be done with each skill anyone has," Houser said. "A weakness is just the flip side of a strength taken too far. Great customer service may mean being too talkative. Ability to concentrate for long periods may result in seeming unfriendly. Being realistic can become uncreative. Juggling many projects may mean lost details or follow-up. Strengths and weakness are situational. You have to know how to read your environment and use or moderate your skills in context."
Of course, you can always chose not to answer the question at all or ask the interviewer to rephrase the question, in hopes of drawing out the real concerns about your qualifications and temperament. "I always tell clients, if they're comfortable enough in their own skin while they're being interviewed, to respond with either of these," said Ruth Luban, a careers advisor and author of Are You a Corporate Refugee? "'My CV, and our discussion thus far, are about my strengths and what I can bring to this position. I'd prefer to focus on what you're looking for, rather than respond to a negative question,' or 'What would my weakness have to do with this job?'"
But be warned: each of these strategies can have drawbacks. The first can seem too pat. The second might be seen as condescending. The third might be regarded as evasive, even dishonest.
If you're not comfortable with any of these strategies, try mentioning real weaknesses, but only those that have nothing to do with the job they're applying for. "I would say, if they asked me what my weakness was, that I'm not good at math, because I'm not, and it has nothing to do with anything I will ever do," Kay said.
Or name a real weakness, but one you're taking steps to improve. "Pick something you've decided you need to get better at, like, 'I need to know more languages. All I speak English, so I'm going to make it goal to learn Spanish and French,'" Kay said. "It's saying I'm really aware of what it is that I need to be doing, and I take action on it."
Again, try to name only weaknesses that have little to do with your prospective job. "Not everybody's great at everything," Kay said. "But you don't want to say "I don't get along well with people. You don't want to open up a can of worms, or go down a path that gets you in trouble. Don't talk about people issues."
So why do HR people continue to ask this question, with all its attendant perils? Is it fair?
"Absolutely!" said the HR director. "It's thought-provoking and if posed correctly is one of those questions that can open the door for further discussion." He adds, "It's especially useful for further probing of a very strong, decisive, dominant type personality, then I use it to see if they are as in tune with their weaknesses as they are with their strengths."
But other HR people had differing opinions.
"The only thing it could possibly measure in a positive light is the candidate’s diplomacy quotient," says one HR staffer. "I stopped asking the question long ago."
This article is excerpted from www.vault.com. Reprinted with permission.
If you have arranged the interview through a recruitment consultant, call them immediately after the meeting with your feedback. They will want to talk to you before the interviewer calls them. If you are interested in progressing, it will assist if your feelings towards the role are known together with what you think the interviewer’s perception of you might be.
If you are not successful at interview, make sure you get feedback from the recruitment consultancy as this will enable you to amend your interview style / responses for the next interview.
When you leave an interview, you should leave the building as gracefully as you entered it. Make sure you're as cordial to people on the way out as you were coming in. Then, as you decompress, take some time to review the interview while it's still fresh in your mind. Because interviewing is a beneficial skill, use the experience to help you in the future.
Ask yourself: how could you have better answered the questions? Where did you succeed? Where did you fail? What will you do differently next time?
In assessing the interview, don't let the fact that you didn't feel a connection with the interviewer frighten you away from a great job. And lastly, consider what you've learned about the company and whether or not, all things considered, it would be a good place for you to be.
A thank-you note is essential. Get it in the post the day after the interview. If competition between you and another candidate is intense, the thank-you note just might be the extra burst of effort that propels you to victory. Avoid hyperbole and excessive enthusiasm. Keep your note cordial, brief, and let the tone bespeak its having been written from a cool remove. Thank the interviewer for inviting you to the interview. Say that it was a pleasure to meet him or her. And then mention something you learned during the interview and assure them of your continued interest in the position - provided you are still at all interested.
Follow-up calls can also provide that extra thrust over the job wall in some cases. But it's a good idea to assess the situation before you call. Calling can make you look overeager and can, if overdone, turn off prospective employers. After interviewing with a large and busy company along with several other candidates, it's probably better to just send a note and wait for the response. And until prospective employers make their decisions, everything you say to them can be used against you at decision time.
For this reason, both calls and letters should be viewed as extensions of the interview. The last thing you want is for a clumsy follow-up call to dash a favourable impression of you. To wit: ONE call, e-mail or letter to follow up is just fine. If it's been two weeks, follow up again. That's it. Pestering your interviewer can earn you a hasty journey into the rubbish bin or trash file.
On the other hand, a well-placed follow-up call or letter can give you an opportunity to state an idea you failed to mention in the interview, to position your name in their memories, to demonstrate perseverance, and to separate yourself from the majority of candidates who don't follow up.
Here's one warning. As tempting as it may be, don't call to check up on a CV you've sent - and then start quizzing the person on the other end of the phone (or e-mail) about the position and necessary qualifications. Eager is fine, but desperate is a turn-off.
This article is excerpted from www.vault.com. Reprinted with permission.Back to top