posted October 09, 2006 04:34 AM         

Interview Tip 2: Role Play - Once you have finished studying, begin role playing (rehearsing). Use the general questions provided below in the Interview Preparation Area. Write down answers if it helps to make your presentation more concise. Try to keep your answers to the information your new employer will want to know.

Interview Tip 3: Eye Contact and Body Language - Maintain eye contact with your interviewer. Show you want the job with your interest. Maintain a posture with an erect back and head slightly leaning forward to show you are interedted in every word of the interviewer. Hands comnfortably placed on the desk or your lap without fidgeting. Never tap your feet. Never slouch the shoulders. Never scratch your head or rub your eyes/nose/chin.

Interview Tip 4: Be Positive - In particular, avoid negative comments about past employers and past employees.

Interview Tip 5: Adapt - Listen and adapt. Be sensitive to the style of the interviewer. Pay attention to those details of dress, office furniture, and general decor which will afford helpful clues to assist you in tailoring your presentation.

Interview Tip 6: Relate - Try to relate your answers to the interviewer and his or her company. Focus on achievements relevant to the position.

Interview Tip 7: Encourage - Encourage the interviewer to share information about his or her company. Demonstrate your interest. Some suggested questions to ask the interviewer are provided in the "Questions You Could Consider Asking the Employer" section.

Below are questions you may be asked in the interview
1. Tell me about yourself? (try to hold your response to 2 minutes)
2. What do you know about our company?
3. Why should we hire you?
4. What can you do for us that someone else can't?
5. What do you look for in a job?
6. What skills and qualifications are essential for success in the position of ______?
7. How long would it take for you to make a meaningful contribution?
8. How does this assignment fit into your overall career plan?
9. Describe your management style.
10. What do you believe is the most difficult part of being a supervisor of people?
11. Why are you looking for a new career?
12. How would your colleagues describe you?
13. How would your boss describe you?
14. How would you describe yourself?
15. What do you think of your present or past boss?
16. What were the five most significant accomplishments in your last assignment?
17. What were the five most significant accomplishments in your career so far?
18. Can you work well under deadlines or pressure?
19. How much do you expect if we offer you this position?
20. Why do you want to work for us?
21. What other positions are you considering?
22. Have you kept up in your field with additional training?
23. What are your career goals?
24. What are your strong points?
25. What are your weak points?
26. How did you do in school?
27. What position do you expect to have in 2 to 5 years?
28. If you took the job what would you accomplish in the first year?
29. What was wrong with your current or last position?
30. What kind of hours are you used to working or would like to work?
31. Do you have your reference list with you? (Remember don't give it out unless it is asked for).
32. Can you explain your salary history?
33. What questions didn't I ask that you expected?
34. Do you have any question for me? (See Questions for the Interviewer that you might want to ask below).

Below are questions you may want to ask the Interviewer
1. Why is this position open?
2. How often has it been filled in the past five years? What were the main reasons?
3. What would you like done differently by the next person who fills this position?
4. What are some of the objectives you would like to see accomplished in this job?
5. What is most pressing? What would you like to have done in the next 3 months.
6. What are some of the long term objectives you would like to see completed?
7. What are some of the more difficult problems one would have to face in this position?
8. How do you think these could best be handled?
9. What type of support does this position receive in terms of people, finances. etc?
10. What freedom would I have in determining my own work objectives, deadlines, and methods of measurement?
11. What advancement opportunities are available for the person who is successful in this position, and within what time frame?
12. In what ways has this organization been most successful in terms of products and services over the years?
13. What significant changes do you foresee in the near future?
14. How is one evaluated in this position?
15. What accounts for success within the company?
16. These questions are presented only as interviewing guidelines. They are meant to help you prepare for the interview. Some questions may or may not be appropriate for your interviewing situation.
17. By practicing your responses to some of these questions, hopefully you will not be taken off guard if asked one of them. Most importantly, relax, go with the flow, and before you know it, you'll be in your next job.

10 Basic Steps to a Successful Interview

· Arrive on time.
· Introduce yourself in a courteous manner.
· Read company materials while you wait.
· Have a firm handshake.
· Listen.
· Use body language to show interest.
· Smile, nod, give nonverbal feedback to the interviewer.
· Ask about the next step in the process.
· Thank the interviewer.
· Write a thank-you letter to anyone you have spoken to.

Facts to Gather Before Interviewing
· Key people in the organization
· What are the Major products or services?
· Size in terms of sales and employees
· Locations other than your community
· Organizational structure of the company
· Major competitors
· View of the company by clients, suppliers, and competition
· Latest news reports on the company or on local or national news that affects the company , especially the good news and achievements.

Top Ten Sample Answers to Important Interview Questions

Tell me about yourself.
What should you tell her? What would you tell a real recruiter or hiring manager? Focus on your academics, professional achievements and relevant experience. Ask yourself, ‘what are the top five things I want this person to know about me so that he/she could value me in the organization?’”

What do you see yourself doing five years from now?
Say something related to being in management or achieving a challenging growth goal for the company. Do not say ‘I want to be an astronaut’ or ‘I want to win the Academy Award.’”
This question is designed to help the interviewer know if the job seeker will be happy in that position, or if he or she wants to work in it only as long as it takes to find something “better.”

How do you make yourself indispensable to a company?
Companies are looking for both technical and interpersonal competence.
Hence, the answer to the above question should include the ways of how you contribute to adding profits to the company financially as well as to the human resource by cooperation, mentoring and training other employee while upgrading yourself even more.

What’s your greatest strength?
Don’t just talk about your strength—relate it to the position. Let them know you are a qualified candidate who deserves the position.

What’s your greatest weakness?
Say something along the lines of, ‘I have difficulty with this thing, and these are the strategies I use to get around ‘.
For example, you could say, ‘I get too involved with the details of my work and so I always answer my e-mails and phone calls right away because I may forget to reply on time otherwise. I’m aware of the problem and I am developing strategies to deal with it.’

Tell me about a time when your course load or project was heavy. How did you complete all your work?
Companies looking for a plan-ahead kind of individual, not someone who just gets things done accidentally.
Situation-Task-Action-Result or STAR method should be the answer format.
Describe the tough work condition and workload, then explain that you developed a priority based action plan with disciplined time management and effectively completed the work. Result of course being a success.

Tell me about a time when you had to accomplish a task with someone who was particularly difficult to get along with.
Say something that shows you have the ability to be sensitive to the needs of others and can still influence them positively.

What are some examples of activities and surroundings that motivate you?
Make sure team activities, success orientation and mentoring juniors are included in your answer.

Tell me how you would handle an ethical dilemma.
Suppose you worked at a bank and a long-time customer wanted a check cashed right away but didn’t have the fund balance in his account to cover the check and the bank’s policy prohibited cashing checks in that manner, the teller would have a choice of violating bank policy or alienating a good customer.
The best way to handle such a situation would be to go to a supervisor, explain the situation, and ask for advice. Also make sure that you conveyed to the customer that you are doing your best for him.
The keys are: Asking a superior for the sake of company loyalty and proving customer friendliness by conveying your full support to the customer for who’s sake you are willing to talk to superiors.

Tell me about a time when you had to resolve a problem with no rules or guidelines in place.
Companies that ask this question are looking for a sense of urgency in initiating action. The question also probes a candidate’s ability to overcome obstacles.
The best answers here are always those that show how customer service and customer satisfaction were given highest priority, and how candidates were ready or should be ready to put in the extra effort for the customer even if they did not have to.
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posted October 09, 2006 07:22 PM         

Lovely advise. I copy & pasted it into an e.mail to a few friends who really would do well in hearing this right now. Thanks!

So how's married life? How'd your Saturn Return go (seeing as both of ours is/was at 14*....)

See you on the Flip Side