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Interview
Tips
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Not many stressful situations
compare to sitting across the desk from some
professional person in a suit, who's goal seems to
be to make you sweat more than you already are by
firing question after question at you to answer. It
doesn't matter if you have been to 10 interviews or
zero - the thought of being drilled with questions
from your interviewer is enough to make anyone
nervous! There are so many questions that they could
ask and you cannot possibly expect to be able to
practice your answer to every possible question out
there. However, if you do your research beforehand
and practice answering potential questions, you WILL
be more prepared and more confident in your
interview. And it will show!
There are many books out there that are devoted to
helping you form great answers to tough interview
questions. If you have a big interview ahead of you,
you might want to look into these kinds of books to
help you get further prepared. To get you started
though, here are different categories of possible
questions you might hear from interviewers:
SOME PERSONAL QUESTIONS
- Tell me a little about yourself.
- Are you looking for a permanent or temporary
job? Why?
- Why did you leave your last job/position?
- What are you looking for in a job?
- Describe the best boss you have ever had.
- How do you define success?
- What kind of people do you like to work with?
- What are your strong/weak points?
- Where would you like to be in five years? Ten?
- Describe your personality.
SOME PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
QUESTIONS
- What do you know about this position?
- What is the most recent skill you have
learned?
- What have you learned from your past jobs?
- What made you chose to apply to this position?
- Why do you want to leave your current
position?
SOME BEHAVIOR QUESTIONS
- Are you a persistent person? Give me an
example of this, if so.
- Where do you stand with your former employer?
- Explain a difficult situation in which you
were involved and how you handled it.
- How do you work with new people?
- We have a problem with ______. How would you
handle this problem?
SOME EXPERIENCE QUESTIONS
- How would you define a great work environment?
- Have you ever worked for a difficult person?
- Have you mostly worked alone or in groups?
- How many projects can you handle at one time?
- What was your workload in your current/last
position?
- What are some things you find difficult to do
on the job? Why?
SOME PURPOSEFULLY STRESSFUL
QUESTIONS
- Can you work overtime? Weekends? Travel?
- Do you have any questions?
- How do you think this interview is going?
- How long have you been looking for a new job?
Why?
- How long would you stay with us?
- Have you ever had problems getting along with
others?
- What can I tell you about my organization?
- What can you bring to the table that someone
else could not?
- What are your outside interests that occupy
your time?
- What are your reservations with working here?
There are many other possible questions that you
could be asked by your interviewer. You also could
be asked none of these questions at all. But it is
better to be over-prepared than to not be prepared
at all!
Prior to your interview, sit down with a parent,
teacher, spouse, or mentor if possible and discuss
what the best answers could be to these questions.
Consult an interview book for reference if you can
and seriously research how you can answer these
questions to make you look like the absolute best
candidate that you can. Over time, you will see that
interviewing becomes easier. You also will hear the
same questions more often so you will get used to
seeing what answers get the best response and what
answers work best for you. If you research, practice
and prepare for that interview, you will feel
confident and will land the job! |
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