interview tips you need to know about
Your best strategy for being successful at interviews is to practice your answers to the most commonly asked questions by employers. The most certain way to sabotage your chances to win over a potential employer is to try and wing the interview. Your answers can appear aimless and without direction, making you look unprofessional, unprepared and even unqualified. Prepare yourself by developing answers to these questions:
1. Tell Me a Little Something About Yourself.This is probably one of the most dreaded questions of all time. We quiver and sweat in our seats wondering what the employer really wants to know. Hey, relax! For starters, this is a great opportunity for you to sell yourself to the employer. Talk about your key accomplishments and strengths and how these factors will benefit the employer in the desired position. Write down ahead of time what you plan to say; perfect it; then practice it every chance you get. Your answer shouldn’t be longer than a minute, and should be followed with you politely asking, ‘Did I give you enough information?’ OR ‘Did you want me to go into more detail about __?’
2. Why Do You Want to Leave Your Current Job?This question is basically a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It appears harmless enough, but it can damage your potential in a heartbeat if you’re not careful. By all means, keep your answers to this question as positive as possible. Above all, do not dwell on how much you hate your current boss! The interviewer wants to hire an enthusiastic team player for the position.
3. Are You Still Employed and If Not, Why Not?If you are, great, but if you aren’t, you can still use your answer to this question to shine a light on your positive features. For example, if you were laid off or terminated, be brief about the actual termination [ex. Downsized/didn’t see eye to eye/wanted a new challenge] and focus on what you learned from the experience. This question is more about your attitude and character than anything; jobs end all the time… employers know it.
4. Do You Have Any Budgeting Experience?If you haven’t, be honest; but you can answer in a way that shows that you have had some exposure to adhering to a budget - on a project, for example. If you have budgeting experience, give an example of your fiscal responsibility to show this.
5. Have You Ever Managed Anyone?This question is most important to those who are seeking a supervisory type of position. If you have managerial experience, elaborate on how many people you have supervised and what their positions were in the spectrum of the organizational chart. However, if you haven’t had direct managerial practice, talk up how much you were a part of the decision process of a team project, or how you organized volunteers or took initiative.
6. What Are Your Strengths?To adequately answer this question, you need to be aware of the strengths you possess in the following areas: experience, specialized training, achievements, personality and skills. Once that information is known, match your strengths to the requirements of the position for which you are interviewing. Illustrate with examples.
stay tuned for the 'weakness question' everyone hates...
posted by melanie @ 10:52 AM
2 comments
