Latest rules on the interview front
You brush up on your interview know-how constantly and put it to actual use. So why the drought in offers? Because most of the advice you’ve been getting has been handed down from generation to generation, and some no longer apply in a work environment that is seeing dramatic shifts in step with modern times. Indeed, what may be desirable candidate qualities a few years ago may today be stale and ineffective. Here, we give you the latest rules on the interview front: 1. Drop the long-term...

Interview tips: Making a great first impression
It’s said that body language makes the biggest impact on the meaning of the message, followed by the tone of voice, and finally, by the words itself. This holds true particularly in the interview, where the first few minutes you spend with a potential employer can spell the success or failure of your application. If this were not so, employers would be hiring applicants merely on the strength of their resumes or test results. It’s thus vital to make a favorable first impression. To do that:...

Interview tips: Things to avoid in an interview
1. Be unprepared. Going to the meeting knowing nothing about the company but its name or having only a vague idea of what the position entails predisposes you to a hasty, unceremonious exit. What’s there to talk about, anyway? Do some background checking before showing up. Being ready also means planning for any contingency. Bring along extra resumes, your portfolio, your references’ contact numbers and your social security or tax number in case you need to fill out an application form. 2....

Be mentally prepared to interview
Preparing for a prized interview entails much more than just knowing what to wear or where to go, looking neat and being on time. Beyond logistics and physical appearances, there should be constructive mental and psychological planning as well. Follow these steps to emerge a winner in your next interview: Do some research. Learn as much as you can about the position, the company and the industry so you can assess and justify your suitability for the job. If the company has a website, check it...

Effective interviewing strategy: Writing a thank you letters that work
Q&A What if I don’t get a reply to my thank-you note? If the interviewer doesn’t answer your thank-you letter about a week or so after your meeting, you may send a follow-up letter. The follow-up should repeat your continued interest in the position and courteously seek a response. While ideally you should receive the same professional courtesy you gave the interviewer, don’t take it personally if he doesn’t reciprocate. Just remember: The pursuer is usually more earnest than the...

Personal gromming tips for attending a job interview
Roslina Ahmed Tajuddin People who take buses to the interview should use perfume to cover the smell of sweat. If possible, bring extra clothes to change before the interview session. NORHAYATI MOHD ALI Focus on doing the right things, then on doing things right. Remember that working on inappropriate tasks do not contribute towards successful time management. Make a daily "To Do” list which includes activities to achieve weekly goals, priorities and time estimates. Prioritise as follows: top...

Interview Tips: By job seekers, for job seekers
Ahmad Zul Afif A common question is "tell me about yourself." There is no need to explain about your family, your previous school and stuff like that. No need! Just tell the interviewer all of your specialty and ability. Convince them to hire you with your high level of confidence. Alex Lee In multi-stage interviews, the most important is consistency. That is, the ability to perform well consistently in all stages as opposed to excelling in one stage while failing in another. Thus, remember...

Job Interview Tips
Job interviews in many organizations are getting sophisticated these days. Psychological tests, role plays, and challenges to one's "quick intelligence" and street smarts are often part of the package. While it's impossible to anticipate everything you may encounter, here are ten tips that will help you negotiate the interview process successfully. Prepare and over-prepare It is assumed that you don't go in with egg on your tie, spinach in your teeth, or without a thorough knowledge of the...

First Interview vs. Second Interview
First interview and second interviews differ in major aspects. First interviews are normally carried out by a human resources officer, whose intention is to check out your academic background, skills set and work experience against the info on your resume. There is greater flexibility in the format of second interviews, which may involve a one-on-one meeting (probably with your potential immediate supervisor), panel or group interviews, or a series of interviews. The second interview is out to...

How to Answer Job Interview Questions
Human Resources personnel, professional recruiters and various other career experts all agree: one of the best ways to prepare yourself for a job interview is to anticipate questions, develop your answers, and practice, practice, practice. There are plenty of websites that offer lists of popular job interview questions, and knowing the types of questions to expect can be very useful. But knowing how to answer those questions can mean the difference between getting the job and getting the...

Winning at Behavioural Interviews
Describe an experience when you had to calm down an angry customer. Describe a situation when you had to perform under pressure. Describe how you formed a team and led it. No two persons can give same answers to the above questions. Behavioural interviewing – asking questions about your past behaviour in certain specific situations - is one of the hot trends in hiring. The underlying logic is that your past behaviour is the predictor of your future behaviour – and performance....

Interview Preparation – Success at Interview
In the April 2000 issue of the Reader's Digest magazine, Nick Corcodilos, a famous headhunter, recounts how Zagorski, a professional seeking a new job, wowed an interviewer at a big corporation and got the job. Zagorski went for an interview at AT&T. At the outset, even before Zagorski could settle in his seat, the interviewer told him that he had only 20 minutes to spare. Instead of feeling belittled or nervous, Zagorski got up and walked up to the marker board. He then started writing down...

Interview Question – Tell me about yourself v2
Tell me about yourself is a question that most interviewees expect and it is the most difficult to answer as well. Though one could answer this open-ended question in a myriad of ways, the key to answering this question or any other interview question is to offer a response that supports one’s career objective. This means that you should not respond with comments about your hobbies, spouse, or extra curricular activities. Trust me, interviewers are not interested. To start with there is no...

Job Interview Tips – Be a good listener
Are you good at listening? It's an interesting question because listening, as apart from just hearing, is an acquired skill. And by being able to listen well, you have a skill that can be put to good use during job interviews. Good listening skills, however, just don't happen. You will have to work on improving them. Active listening requires that the listener receive both the speaker's spoken and unspoken message. This can be difficult because very often, the listener is so busy thinking...

Job Interview Skills
Whether you’re a student job seeker or a polished and proven executive, the first thing you must come to terms with is, “Regardless of the position you seek, you are now in sales!” The product you are selling is YOU! The interview is your opportunity to differentiate yourself in the eyes of your customer [the interviewer] when compared to your competitors [other job applicants]. Successful companies today, are focused on building what’s known as, corporate “Unique Value-Add...

How should I dress for an interview?
A few years ago, as a newbie applicant fresh out of college, I remember making my way to various job interviews dressed in black pants and a black blazer, sweating under the sun and wondering if there’s a more comfortable way to go about job hunting. Fresh graduates, used to the college dress code of jeans and T-shirts, get apprehensive taking on a more corporate look. I went to an interview dressed in cargo jeans and a shirt,” shares Crissy, a marketing graduate from a Manila university. ...

How important is it to stand apart from others in an interview and how difficult is it?
Any professionally trained interviewer can verify these questions are the most asked by people involved with job-hunting. How important is it? Absolutely vital! … How difficult is it? Not hard at all. I can demonstrate the importance with a true story from my book 'The Art of the Interview'. [*Now on CD-ROM] In the early 1980s I interviewed a young man who, in our meeting, began to quote information pertaining to the company he was applying. He talked about the previous...

Interview Questions – Managing Bad Interview Questions
Who has not felt nervous during an interview? Sometimes an applicant can become so anxious about giving the right answer that he does not realise that he is being asked the wrong question. Illegal interview questions are queries that a person may refuse to answer as they violate his rights as an applicant. In fact, in the United States, some states allow a person to sue an interviewer for asking such questions. But with jobs scarce to come by on the local market, it may be more prudent to...

Interview questions and answers: Have you thought about your answers lately?
Sometimes I think the entire interview process is turned on its head. In a typical interview the recruiter commences with a slew of exploratory questions aimed at extracting key information that will help the candidate differentiate him or herself from the other 230 candidates being interviewed. Our ultimate objective as interviewers is to narrow the hundreds of homogenous Resumes into a crème pile of 20 quality individuals. Pure and simple. Contrary to popular belief, we are not out to...

The art of stalling a job offer after a successful interview
"We'd like to make you an offer." Boy, words just don't get any sweeter when you're hanging out to dry without a job. In this current market swinging on a downturn, many professionals may be freshly laid-off, or have been suffering that same fate for a while now. In any case, when your bills need attention and prevailing obligations abound, getting employment is all that counts, isn't it? Maybe, maybe not. You want me? You got me. Congratulations! You've just been offered a job you've been...

Job Interview Questions and Answers
This article is probably what most of you out there are waiting for. So, wait no more! The "Interviewer's Top 10 Hits" Best Compilation record is out! Here, you'll find a list of the 10 most popular questions used by those faithful interviewers world wide. I do want to caution everyone though, that this is only to provide you with a overall guide to what they want to know, and it should not be treated as text book answers, because there are none. If everyone started answering the same...

Interview Tips – How do you beat the competition?
I have been receiving a deluge of queries about interviews and how to get it right the past few months. I thought a logical way to attack the growing pile of question marks, was to shed some light on that game we play – the Interview. It should arm you with the right tactics and tools to make it happen for you! So, without further ado, let the games begin! You Have 10 Brown Eggs, But Which Makes the Best Ommelette? The interview is basically a tool used by employers/HR managers to...

Interview Tips for Job Seekers
Dos and don'ts during job interviews: Dos Be specialized in an occupational field and have work experience in that field. Be precise and accurate when describing the nature of your previous job(s), use technical terms and statistical figures as much as possible. Be honest with your work history, personal profile and especially your salary. Be multilingual, take up foreign language proficiency courses. Don'ts Do not hop from one job to another frequently without good reasons. Do not...

Interview tips: What the interviewer is looking for
In most interviews, knowing what the interviewer is looking for means you have won half of the battle. The other half of the battle: be prepared to show your knowledge about the organisation, ask tactful questions about the job, and give a good impression that you can do better than others, if you are offered the job. The interviewer has two methods of judging your suitability for the job. First, by questioning you and evaluating the things about you and your experience, based on what you...

Job Interview Question – Tell Me About Yourself
This is one of the most popular questions asked, and your response will probably set the tone for the rest of the interview. It is the most challenging question for many people, as they wonder what the interviewer really wants to know and what information they should include. How would you respond? One thing is for sure: the interviewer does not want to know about your family details or personal background. What he is interested in are your achievements and the milestones in your career. As...

Attending A Job Interview
A candidate is successful in job interview if he can convince the interviewer that he is more capable of doing the job than any other candidates. Unless a candidate has established personal networks with the company, a job is usually offered based on the assessment of the candidate's performance during the interview. This assessment places great pressure, both mentally and emotionally, on the candidate who needs the job desperately. What then, are the criteria for selection in this process?...

Phone Interview Tips
Trying to prove your mettle during a 30-minute interview is hard enough as we well know. Trying to achieve the same effect over a 30 minute telephone interview is another ballgame altogether. The advantages you can leverage through a freshly pressed suit, a brilliant Colgate smile or a firm handshake are no longer available. You are now challenged to convey the very same effects via the tone of your voice, content of your speech and the cadence of your answers. No mean feat. Having the...

How to Dress for a Job Interview
Let's say you are going for an interview tomorrow. You have prepared yourself well for the occasion - anticipating the questions and getting ready the answers - but have you given a thought to what you will wear? If you have not peeked into your wardrobe yet, it's time to take a real hard look now. Your application's fate depends not just on how well you answer the interview questions, but also on how well you project yourself physically. The first impression your interviewer makes about...

Developing an enthusiasm for the interview
When you go for an interview, the first thing you should have is the right mental attitude or approach. Banish the negative or self-defeating thoughts from your mind, and replace them with more positive and productive ones. Here are four positive attitudes that you can bring with you to the interview: Be confident. Just to get here to this stage of the interview means that you have already beaten some of the competition. So, build on this confidence. Be optimistic. Why are you called to an...