Interview Practice - The Thing That Will Make You Shine More Than 98% of All the Other Candidates!
The best approach here is to ask a supportive colleague, friend or maybe family member, providing it is someone who will take it seriously and do it positively, and help them to help you by giving them lots of information about the Job and also a copy of what you sent to the Employer - remember I said it was important to copy your Letter, CV, and or Application Form.
Most interviews have 4 stages, especially if being conducted professionally! 1.
An Introduction and greeting, to say hello, settle you down and get names.
2.
The Interviewer/s Questions for you to answer.
3.
Your Questions for the interviewers (sometimes they invite you to ask yours as you go along with their Questions!).
If not i suggest it's better to wait until they finish theirs! 4.
A Conclusion.
Information on what happens next? Decision now or second interview, letter or phone contact, references, date job due to start etc.
It is well worth preparing yourself for all these Stages! Interview Questions; To be honest there are literally hundreds of Interview Questions you could be asked, and if you really want to work hard at your Job Search and take it seriously then you have to Plan what questions you think they are likely to ask.
Consider if you were doing the interviews, what would you ask yourself? You will have all your materials, the Job Advert, Job Description, Company information etc.
So try to predict what some of the Questions might be! When it come to the Practice interview, as well as the obvious considerations, such as somewhere private and quiet, remember it isn't crucial your 'practice Interviewer' knows all the answers (how would they be likely to in many cases?).
But what is important is that you practice giving full answers! I have included a short listing here of a few typical general questions, but you need to consider variations, according to how you see the Job that's available! • Tell me about yourself • Why are you applying for this job? • Why do you want to work for this organisation? • What do you know about us? • What do you like in your present (or last) job? • From the information provided, what parts of this job appeal to you? • What parts of this Job would be most challenging for you personally and how would you tackle them? • Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses? • Describe a typical day (or week) in your present (or last) job • Which of your achievements has given you most satisfaction, and why? • What would you like to be doing in 2 or 3 years time? • What are the most difficult decisions you have to take in your job now? • What kind of people do you like to work with? • What experience do you have of dealing with customers and clients? And the list could go on! If you are interested there are excellent books and guides at your local Library, with long lists of all kinds of other questions! Getting off to a good start; What i would highlight is the need to get off to a confident start and very often you will be asked the first on the above list as your opening Question! "Tell me about yourself" How do you answer that? Well ideally with a short 2 or 3 minutes maximum summary that sells how your background broadly fits their needs! Don't waffle, ramble on, or talk about non work items! They can ask about those at a later stage.
So Planning, Preparation and especially Practice are very necessary to your likely success.
Make absolutely certain your 'practice interview' contains that question first and at least another dozen.
Also make sure that your 'Interviewer' gives you feedback - it's vital.
It builds confidence for the real Interview, which is a key factor! Keep PRACTICING, and you will be much more likely to perform well on the day!! What questions should you ask them? Many people omit to consider this properly, but it should be an integral part of your planning and preparation.
You must remember that "an interview situation should be a two - way process".
Think about what is really important to you to help you to decide whether you are going to accept the Job Offer if it is made to you.
Again some people seem to overlook the fact that they are 'interviewing the Interviewer', albeit subtly,to make sure that it offers them what they really want! However you must beware of asking too many questions! 3 or 4 that relate well to the Job, the organisation and your career, are usually acceptable.
But do keep it to that and, at this stage, unless the Interview raises it, don't refer to Salary, terms and conditions, such as holiday entitlements and pension.
These can be discussed, and negotiated better, when the Employer is at the offer stage! They may be important to you, but you need to avoid a barrage of questions to them.
Keep it brief and relevant to demonstrating how you are competent for the Job, and how you will fit into their organisation! A good last Question for you to ask them! For those who have a background in Marketing, and many others too, you may be aware of the term 'seeking the objection'! In essence this is where you try to find out whether the Employer has any concerns or doubts relating to if he or she feel you are suitable.
Always leave this to your final Question to the Interviewer! So you could ask something along the lines; "Is there anything else about me that you would like to know in order to help you reach your decision"? OR maybe, "Do you believe i am suitable for this Job"? I realise that for some people this may take a bit of 'bottle' but if you can seek the objection the advantage is that once you know their reservations at least you get a chance to deal with them! Often you can respond by dealing with their concerns or doubts by elaborating on what you said earlier.
For instance they may consider you have short-comings in an area of experience, or one of your answers was too brief, or maybe they simply misunderstood a point you made earlier in the interview.
This gives you an opportunity to "overcome the objection".
If you don't ask you can't know! At the end of the day you are their to sell them the product 'you' so try to keep focussed on that! Please refer to; http://www.
jobsandcareernews.
co.
uk
Most interviews have 4 stages, especially if being conducted professionally! 1.
An Introduction and greeting, to say hello, settle you down and get names.
2.
The Interviewer/s Questions for you to answer.
3.
Your Questions for the interviewers (sometimes they invite you to ask yours as you go along with their Questions!).
If not i suggest it's better to wait until they finish theirs! 4.
A Conclusion.
Information on what happens next? Decision now or second interview, letter or phone contact, references, date job due to start etc.
It is well worth preparing yourself for all these Stages! Interview Questions; To be honest there are literally hundreds of Interview Questions you could be asked, and if you really want to work hard at your Job Search and take it seriously then you have to Plan what questions you think they are likely to ask.
Consider if you were doing the interviews, what would you ask yourself? You will have all your materials, the Job Advert, Job Description, Company information etc.
So try to predict what some of the Questions might be! When it come to the Practice interview, as well as the obvious considerations, such as somewhere private and quiet, remember it isn't crucial your 'practice Interviewer' knows all the answers (how would they be likely to in many cases?).
But what is important is that you practice giving full answers! I have included a short listing here of a few typical general questions, but you need to consider variations, according to how you see the Job that's available! • Tell me about yourself • Why are you applying for this job? • Why do you want to work for this organisation? • What do you know about us? • What do you like in your present (or last) job? • From the information provided, what parts of this job appeal to you? • What parts of this Job would be most challenging for you personally and how would you tackle them? • Tell me about your strengths and weaknesses? • Describe a typical day (or week) in your present (or last) job • Which of your achievements has given you most satisfaction, and why? • What would you like to be doing in 2 or 3 years time? • What are the most difficult decisions you have to take in your job now? • What kind of people do you like to work with? • What experience do you have of dealing with customers and clients? And the list could go on! If you are interested there are excellent books and guides at your local Library, with long lists of all kinds of other questions! Getting off to a good start; What i would highlight is the need to get off to a confident start and very often you will be asked the first on the above list as your opening Question! "Tell me about yourself" How do you answer that? Well ideally with a short 2 or 3 minutes maximum summary that sells how your background broadly fits their needs! Don't waffle, ramble on, or talk about non work items! They can ask about those at a later stage.
So Planning, Preparation and especially Practice are very necessary to your likely success.
Make absolutely certain your 'practice interview' contains that question first and at least another dozen.
Also make sure that your 'Interviewer' gives you feedback - it's vital.
It builds confidence for the real Interview, which is a key factor! Keep PRACTICING, and you will be much more likely to perform well on the day!! What questions should you ask them? Many people omit to consider this properly, but it should be an integral part of your planning and preparation.
You must remember that "an interview situation should be a two - way process".
Think about what is really important to you to help you to decide whether you are going to accept the Job Offer if it is made to you.
Again some people seem to overlook the fact that they are 'interviewing the Interviewer', albeit subtly,to make sure that it offers them what they really want! However you must beware of asking too many questions! 3 or 4 that relate well to the Job, the organisation and your career, are usually acceptable.
But do keep it to that and, at this stage, unless the Interview raises it, don't refer to Salary, terms and conditions, such as holiday entitlements and pension.
These can be discussed, and negotiated better, when the Employer is at the offer stage! They may be important to you, but you need to avoid a barrage of questions to them.
Keep it brief and relevant to demonstrating how you are competent for the Job, and how you will fit into their organisation! A good last Question for you to ask them! For those who have a background in Marketing, and many others too, you may be aware of the term 'seeking the objection'! In essence this is where you try to find out whether the Employer has any concerns or doubts relating to if he or she feel you are suitable.
Always leave this to your final Question to the Interviewer! So you could ask something along the lines; "Is there anything else about me that you would like to know in order to help you reach your decision"? OR maybe, "Do you believe i am suitable for this Job"? I realise that for some people this may take a bit of 'bottle' but if you can seek the objection the advantage is that once you know their reservations at least you get a chance to deal with them! Often you can respond by dealing with their concerns or doubts by elaborating on what you said earlier.
For instance they may consider you have short-comings in an area of experience, or one of your answers was too brief, or maybe they simply misunderstood a point you made earlier in the interview.
This gives you an opportunity to "overcome the objection".
If you don't ask you can't know! At the end of the day you are their to sell them the product 'you' so try to keep focussed on that! Please refer to; http://www.
jobsandcareernews.
co.
uk