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1. Map your career plan long before the interview. Know what you want. Define clearly your personal career objectives and keep them in mind during the interview process.
2. Conduct through research on the business and its work culture. Be sure to have enough knowledge about the company to respond to questions and to formulate specific questions on your own.
3. Anticipate the important questions and prepare concise answers. Balance the fine line between telling enough without saying too much. Watch the interview’s body language and facial expression closely to gauge when you might be saying too much.
4. Be enthusiastic. Display positive attitude. Eye contact with interviewer is critical. Body Posture is important. Smile, but only as appropriate.
5. In preparation, role-play with someone you have confidence in. There’s nothing like practice and man applicants fail to rehearse.
6. Style is important, so dress and groom appropriate. Traditional dress, such as a dark suit is best.
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| Criteria in which a candidate is judged: |
1. Educational Background
2. Relevant Work Experience
3. Communication Skills
4. Personality and Appearance
5. Motivation
6. Commitment towards a job
7. Initiative on the job and leadership qualities
8. Resolve a complex situation – Problem solving capabilities
9. Work Standard – Standards set for the position
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| Interview DO’s |
- Dress appropriately for the industry. When in doubt, go conservative. Personal grooming and cleanliness should be impeccable. Keep cologne or perfume to a minimum. Pay particular attention to hands and fingernails.
- Arrive 10 minutes early. Know the exact time and location of your interview; know how long it takes to get there, park, and find a restroom to freshen up.
- Treat other people you encounter with courtesy and respect. Their opinions of you might be solicited during the hiring process.
- Offer a firm handshake, make eye contact, and have a friendly expression when you are greeted by the interviewer.
- Listen to be sure you understand your interviewer’s name and the correct pronunciation.
- Even when your interviewer gives you a first and last name, address your interviewer by Mr. Or Ms. And the last name, until invited to do otherwise.
- Maintain good eye contact during the interview.
- Sit still in your seat; avoid fidgeting and slouching.
- Respond to questions and back up your statements about yourself with specific examples whenever possible.
- Ask for clarification if you don’t understand a question; and be thorough in your responses while being concise in your wording.
- Use good grammar and good diction. Say "yes", not "yeah". Don’t fill pauses with "um", "uh" or "ah". Don’t punctuate sentences with "you know", "like", "see" or "okay".
- Treat the interview seriously and show interest in the employer and the opportunity presented and respond to questions in a positive manner.
- Watch the tone of your voice. While it might be trendy among your friends to "up speak" (end sentence with a higher tone of voice so that sentences sound like questions), this habit will kill your credibility during the interview.
- Answer the question and use professional experiences or descriptive information to demonstrate how you would react or respond to a situation.
- Make sure answers have a definite flow. In the beginning state major points you want to make; in the middle expand upon those points or ideas, and in the end reinforce your key points and end on a positive note.
- Evaluate the interviewer and the organization. An interview is a two-way street.
- Make sure you understand the employer’s next step in the hiring process; know when and from whom you should expect to hear next.
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| Interview Don’ts |
- Don’t make excuses. Take responsibility for your decisions and your actions.
- Don’t make negative comments about previous employers or supervisors (or others).
- Don’t treat the interview casually, as if you are just shopping around or doing the interview for practice. This is insulting to the interviewer and the organization.
- Don’t give the impression you are only interested in salary.
- Don’t act as though you would take any job or are desperate for employment.
- Don’t chew gum or smell like smoke.
- Don’t take cell phone calls during an interview. If you carry a cell phone, turn it off during the interview.
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| What about Answering Questions? |
- Your points must be CLEAR, RELEVANT AND ADEQUATE:
to enable the interviewer to understand what you are trying to say; to determine your strengths for that particular job; and to have sufficient information to make a good decision.
The interviewer needs to determine if you can do the job, if you will do the job, and if you fit in. Hiring the RIGHT person is the goal.
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| Be Prepared for Behavior-based Questions! |
- Describe a time when you were faced with problems or stresses at work that tested your coping skills. What did you do?
- Give an example of a time when you had to be relatively quick in coming to a decision.
- Give me an example of an important goal you had to set and tell me about your progress in reaching that goal.
- Give me an example of a problem you faced on the job, and tell me how you solved it.
- Tell me about a situation in the past year in which you had to deal with a very upset customer or co-worker.
- Your keys to RESPONDING well to these types of questions are: Be specific, not general or vague!
Don’t describe how you would behave. Describe how you DID behave. If you later decided you should have behaved differently, explain this. The interviewer will see that you learned something from experience.
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| What to do after the interview? |
- Courteously thank the interviewer(s) for the opportunity to interview with the agency.
- Extend a handshake and exhibit enthusiasm about the career opportunity.
- Consider following up with a thank you note or e-mail of appreciation to the interviewer(s) to further show your interest.
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