Hints and Tips

Know yourself – your strengths, weaknesses and accomplishments. A job interview is not the time to wing it! Prepare as much as you would for a presentation to the Board of Directors at your company.

Find out as much as you can about the company through annual reports, Newspapers, Value Line,” S&P, etc. Your effort will show in the job interview, and you’ll be seen as proactive, hardworking and astute.

Many companies have gone to corporate casual. Check with your contact to see what they require. When in doubt, always err on the side of formal business attire.

Punctuality is a subtle clue about attitude and behaviour. Tardiness, no matter the excuse, is a major blunder. Research in advance what your parking options are and allow plenty of time.

First impressions, positive or negative, dramatically affect the ultimate evaluation. You can make or break an job interview within the first five minutes.

Smile and say hello to everyone. A positive reaction from the support staff is an important factor in the evaluation. Many hires have been heavily influenced by an Administrative assistant.

High self-esteem and self-confidence are the hallmarks of the successful individual. With confidence, be able to demonstrate how you have overcome obstacles. There’s nothing wrong with feeling good about yourself.

Practice your responses to all the typical questions, such as “tell me about yourself” and “why are you looking for a new position?” How well you speak will have a bigger impact than what you say.

The most effective job interviews are those where an active two-way conversation takes place. Not the typical question and answer type. Begin early in the interview to interject your own relevant insight. Remember, don’t interrupt your interviewer.

Discuss your specific accomplishments that demonstrate a proactive attitude. Such as: have you installed systems, done something not required, trained someone, etc. It’s always important to demonstrate how you either created revenue or saved expenses, and be specific with the amounts and how you accomplished that goal.

Be prepared to discuss in detail and with examples your five or six main attributes. These should be the ultimate reason you get the job over someone else. Assuming you have done the proper homework on the company, these strengths should also be closely aligned to the key traits the employer is looking for in a person to fill their position.

Communication is the key to successful interviewing. A minimum of one to two minutes of well-prepared discussion gives the interviewer insight into your intellect and supports your contentions.

Support statements about yourself with specific examples. These will provide legitimacy to your claims. Without them, the interviewer won’t accept them as valid.

Stay alert during the job interview. Maintain good eye contact. Sit forward in your chair. Be animated. Show high levels of interest and stay enthused. These actions can maintain or generate momentum during the interview. This is especially important when you are doing multiple interviews on the same day. The energy level must be as high for the last as it is for the first.

A presumptuous, overbearing attitude will offset the finest abilities. There’s a fine line between being too confident and cocky. Don’t cross that line.

A few strategic questions can demonstrate your intelligence, analytical skills and assertiveness. Have these prepared from your research. Avoid superficial small talk.

Don’t bad mouth previous positions, companies or employers. No matter how well founded, this implies a negative attitude, typical of those who don’t take personal responsibility for their actions.

By the conclusion of the interview, state that you are definitely interested in the position and would like to know when the next step will take place. It’s best to demonstrate this interest throughout the session. Be careful not to go overboard.

Be prepared to discuss in detail and with examples your five or six main attributes. These should be the ultimate reason you get the job over someone else. Assuming you have done the proper homework on the company, these strengths should also be closely aligned to the key traits the employer is looking for in a person to fill their position.

“Tell me about yourself…” Be prepared to talk for two minutes about yourself. Be logical. Start anywhere, such as high school, college or your first professional position. The interviewer is trying to evaluate your communication skills and linear thinking. You may try to score a point or two by describing a major personal attribute.

“Why are you leaving your current position?” This is a very critical question. Don’t bad mouth your previous employer or co-workers or sound too opportunistic. It’s fine to mention major problems, a buy-out or a shutdown. You may want to state that after long personal consideration, your chance to make a contribution is very low due to extensive company-wide changes.

“What do you consider your most significant accomplishment?” A good answer to this question can get you the job. Prepare extensively—discuss hard work, long hours, pressure and important company issues at stake. You may want to tell a two minute detailed story, discussing personal involvement.

“Why do you believe you are qualified for this position?” Pick two or three main factors about the job and about yourself that are most relevant. Discuss for two minutes, including specific details. You may mention a technical skill, a management skill and/or a personal success story.

“Have you ever accomplished something you didn’t think you could?” The interviewer is trying to determine your goal orientation, work ethic, personal commitment and integrity. Prepare a good example where you overcame difficulties and succeeded. Prove that you’re not a quitter.

“What do you like/dislike most about your current or last position?” The interviewer is trying to determine compatibility with the open position. Be careful; don’t say you dislike overtime, like management, or get too detailed. It’s safe to say that you like challenges, pressure situations, opportunities to grow, or that you dislike bureaucracy and frustrating situations.

“How do you handle pressure? Do you like or dislike these situations?” High achievers tend to perform well in high-pressure situations. Conversely, these questions could imply that the open position is pressure-packed and out of control. Know what you’re getting into. If you do perform well under stress, provide a good, detailed example. Be descriptive.

“The sign of a good employee is the ability to take initiative. Can you describe a situation where you did this?” The proactive, results-oriented person doesn’t have to be told what to do. To convince the interviewer you possess this trait, give a series of short examples describing your self-motivation. Discuss one example in-depth, describing the extra effort, your strong work ethic and your creative, resourceful side.

“What was the worst/most embarrassing situation of your career? How would you have done things differently with 20/20 hindsight?” Your interviewer wants to know how introspective you are, and to see if you can learn from your mistakes. Don’t be afraid to talk candidly about your failures, especially if you learned something significant from them.

“How have you grown or changed over the past few years?” Maturation, increased technical skills and increased self-confidence are important developmental aspects. To discuss these effectively is indicative of a well-balanced, intelligent individual. Overcoming personal obstacles or recognising manageable weaknesses can help identify you as an approachable and desirable employee.

“What do you consider your most significant strength?” Know your key five or six strengths—the ones most compatible with the job opening. Discuss each with specific examples. Don’t include your management or interpersonal skills unless you can describe specific examples of good management, or how your relationship skills have been critical to your success.

“Deadlines, frustrations, difficult people and silly rules can make a job difficult. How do you handle these types of situations?” Most companies, unfortunately, face these problems daily. If you can’t deal with petty problems, you’ll be seen as uncooperative. How you overcome these are important. Diplomacy, perseverance and common sense will prevail in difficult circumstances.

“One of our biggest problems is… What has been your experience with this? How would you deal with it?” Think on your feet. Ask questions to get more details and break the problem into subsections. It is highly likely that you will have had some experience dealing with the subsections. Answer these and summarise the total. If you can’t answer directly, state how you would go about solving the problem. Be specific and show your organisational and analytical skills.

“How has your technical ability been important in accomplishing results?” A potential employee needs a strong level of technical competence. Most strong managers have good technical backgrounds. Describe specific examples of your technical abilities, and how you resolved a technical issue.

“How would you handle a situation with tight deadlines, low employee morale and inadequate resources?” Your interviewer is looking for strong management skills. You need to be creative and describe your toughest management task, even if it doesn’t meet all the criteria. Most situations don’t. Organisational and interpersonal skills, handling pressure and good handling of this question are indicative of effective management skills.

“Are you satisfied with your career to date? What would you change if you could?” Be honest. The interviewer wants to know if you’ll be happy. Are you willing to make some sacrifices to get your career on the right track? Your degree of motivation is an important selection factor.

“What are your career goals? Where do you see yourself five or ten years from now?” Be realistic! Pie-in-the-sky goals label you as immature. One or two management jumps in 3-5 years is a reasonable goal. If your track record indicates you’re in line for senior management in 10 years, then mention it. If you’ve had a rocky road, be introspective.

“Why should we hire you for this position? What kinds of contributions would you make?” This is a good chance to summarise. By now, you should know the key problems. Restate and show how you would address them. Don’t be arrogant—instead demonstrate a thoughtful, organised and strong attitude.