| SolveYourProblem eLearning Series: Job Interviews
Help Me Nail My Job Interview!
( 11 pages )
Preparing
for the Interview
Once you get the
call for an interview, the next thing that you have to do
is prepare for it. You can never over prepare for an interview.
The more prepared you are, the harder it will be to make
mistakes. It is best to prepare yourself emotionally as well
as intellectually for an interview. Giving a great interview
is not as hard as some may think, but not as easy as others
do either. Here are a few things that must be done in order
to prepare for your next interview.
Remember: during
an interview, you are a salesman. You are there to sell yourself
to your prospective employer. You want to market yourself
in the most interesting way possible. Great preparation for
the interview is your best bet. A salesman that is knowledgeable,
friendly and positive always gets the close.
Do
Your Research
It doesn’t matter
how much knowledge or experience you have about the position
you are
trying to get with a company if you don’t have a clue who the
company is or what they do. It is disastrous to
enter into an
interview and not be able to tell your interviewer what their
company is all about. Besides, how else are you going to
tell them why you
feel that you would be a good addition to their company?
The best
and least time consuming way to get to know more about a
company is
to look
at
their website.
You can absorb all of the general knowledge about them that
way, including the names of key people and their job titles.
There
will be more on that in a minute. You should also sift through
most
of their pages, including the pages that show samples of their
work and/or products.
You can also type
their company name in your favorite search engine. Read
the articles or press releases listed about them and
soak up as much information as possible.
Another
thing
that is nice to do is to check out the surrounding area
around the company headquarters. It makes for a nice ice
breaker during the interview.
You can make a comment about a particular monument or resting
place nearby or even 'hot spots' where employees choose to
eat lunch.
A trickier way
to get a little extra information about the company is to
call them on
the phone and ask general questions, without referring to yourself
as a potential employee. It’s a nice way to get the goods
on
upcoming promotions, etc.
Know Your Contact
When called for
an interview, ask who you will be talking to & meeting with.
It is nice to be able to
greet your interviewer by name at the beginning of the interview
without first being told who they are. It shows that you
are
on top of things, and have prepared beforehand.
You will also
want to do some research on the person that will be conducting
your interview.
Learn what they do for the company and try to get some samples
of their work or achievements at the company.
If you know what
department that you are going to work in, you may want to
get the names
of your potential colleagues and superiors prior to the interview
as well. This way you can get some information about their
roles
in the company and the types of work that they have done.
Mention some of
the things that you learned about your potential colleagues
in the interview
and about how much you look forward to working with them in
the future. If you can, give an example of their work so
that
you will appear more sincere.
Practice
Your Responses
It is best, if
you are prone to nervousness, to practice giving your responses
to the questions
that may be asked of you. A
list of the most common questions will appear later on in this
guide. You should practice your
wording and the tone of voice you plan to use; Try to keep
your responses as brief as possible, but with as much detail
as you can.
As you work
on the proper responses to an interviewer’s questions,
you
will also want to practice the art of getting your nerves
under
control as well as ridding yourself of any other odd habits
while talking; like over expressing yourself with your hands.
Practice answering
your interview questions with a friend. Get his or her opinion
about
your delivery and gestures. Perhaps your friend will have some
nice insights for you to use during the real interview.
If a friend is unavailable, use a mirror.
> Home > Job
Interview Main Page
|
