How To Pass A Job Interview

What Can You Offer Us That Someone Else Cannot

A solid candidate can name specific skills, abilities, or understandings they have that apply directly to the job that other candidates are unlikely to have, or that are in short supply.

Red flags: Going negative â if the candidate starts trash talking other candidates, it’s a sure sign of a bad attitude. Also, if they can’t provide a solid answer, it may show that they lack thorough knowledge of the skills the job requires and an understanding of where they fit in.

Being unprepared for basic interview questions like this is also a bad sign all around.

How Do You Organize And Plan Your Workload For The Day

This is a simple question designed to reveal the candidate’s organizational skills. Look for candidates who have a system in place that allows them to complete all their daily tasks without getting distracted by emails or office chatter. It will also give you an idea of how they prioritize tasks.

Red flags: The candidate is unable to provide an answer, or they have never used a system to organize their work.

Powerful Job Interview Tips From A Recruiter: How To Pass An Interview

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If you think most hiring decisions are based on your experience and qualifications, then you better keep reading. Your resume gets you in the door, but how you interview determines whether youre offered the job.

This article will teach you proven job interview tips to help you pass a job interview and get the job you want. Heres what were going to cover:

• Part I: Job Interview Preparation Tips everything to do before your interview
• Part II: Interviewing Tips the best strategies to use during your interview to stand out
• Part III: Tips for After Your Interview how to make sure you get the job offer after your interview is over

These are the best interview tips that I know, from close to 5 years working as a Recruiter.

After you finish this article, youll know how to stand out from other job seekers and pass a job interview a majority of the time.

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Use Your Sick Time Wisely

You can use one or two sick days in most jobs before your boss starts getting suspicious that youre job searching.

So try to save them for when you really need them

You can also think about whether you can use one or two vacation days as needed.

I mentioned earlier that one strategy to save sick days is schedule early-morning or late-afternoon interviews so you dont miss a full day of work. So thats another way to save those full sick days for when you really need them.

Coming in one hour late , is better than missing a full day.

What Will You Miss The Most About Your Current/former Job

This is a personality question in disguise. Even in a difficult work environment, top employees will develop relationships or techniques to deal with stress. Candidates should be able to provide an answer that will give you some insight into their coping mechanisms.

Red flags: The candidate hated their former job, or they don’t have an answer.

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Always Be Upfront And Take Responsibility

Answering why did you leave your last job? when you were fired or had trouble getting along with your boss can be tough. And you dont need to say, everything was my fault, but the interviewer also doesnt want to hear, nothing was my fault.

Its about finding a balance and showing youre responsible for your actions and you try to learn from experiences like this. If you seem stubborn or unwilling to learn from the past, youll struggle to get a job.

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The Best Way To Prepare

What’s the best way to prepare? It’s important to remember that you will not know what type of interview will take place until you are sitting in the interview room. So, prepare answers to traditional interview questions.

Then, since you don’t know exactly what situations you will be asked about if it’s a behavioral interview, refresh your memory and consider some special situations you have dealt with or projects you have worked on. You may be able to use them to help frame responses.

Prepare stories that illustrate times when you have successfully solved problems or performed memorably.

The stories will be useful to help you respond meaningfully in a behavioral interview. You can research the STAR interview response technique, which offers a way of answering behavioral interview questions.

Finally, review the job description, if you have it, or the job posting or ad. You may be able to get a sense of what skills and behavioral characteristics the employer is seeking from reading the job description and position requirements.

How To Prepare And Pass An Online Job Interview

Many companies are resorting to conducting job interviews online to save time and cost, especially if the job is abroad. The spread of the Coronavirus has contributed to companies adopting this method of interviewing. How do you prepare for it?

• Practice: You can record a video of yourself practicing for it or make a video call with a friend or relative to give you feedback.

• Create a calm atmosphere: Find a quiet, private place, with good lighting, away from any potential noise or interruption. If you live with family members, inform them when you’re going to have your interview, so they don’t interrupt you.

• Ensure a good internet connection: Make sure your internet connection is stable and do an audio test with your interviewer before you start, as many technical problems may occur during the online interview. If you don’t have a fast and stable WIFI at home, try using the 3G cell phone internet or go somewhere else with a good internet connection.

• How to dress and sit: Wear formal clothes and avoid wearing brightly colored ones. The official colors are black, white, grey, and blue, and therefore wearing any shirt of one of these mentioned colors is considered acceptable. And don’t forget to keep your back straight when sitting.

Rami El Rawas

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My Department Brought In A New Manager And I Felt It Was The Right Time To Leave

Things change. A job you used to love could turn not-so-good, and one of the most common reasons is a new director or manager is brought in to replace your old boss.

Sometimes its just not the right fit, so you decided to leave.

If you use this answer, dont badmouth the new management, just say that things changed and you didnt feel as excited about the job under new management, so you decided to look elsewhere for the next step in your career.

If You Started A Company Today What Would Its Top Values Be

This question is meant to test a candidate’s emotional intelligence. A good answer articulates values, and the values are a good fit for their role and for the company’s mission.

Red flags: They have a hard time nailing down any values, values are negative or completely opposed to the company’s mission.

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Always Have An Answer To The Questions

One of the biggest mistakes you can make during an automated interview is not answering a question. Even if you are unsure of what the question is asking, take your best shot. You can always restate what you believe the question is asking in the interview to clear up confusion.

If the prompt asks you to detail a situation you’ve never been in before, instead of leaving the answer field blank, or answering the question by saying, “I don’t know, I’ve never encountered that,” explain how you would approach the situation instead.

It looks way better hiring managers for an answer to start with, “I’ve never come across this situation in particular, but if I had, this is how I would approach it,” other than no answer at all. Remember, these situational questions are to demonstrate your problem solving skills in a work environment.

Overall, take a deep breath. Your resume has already impressed the company, and the purpose of the interview is to make sure you can back up your experience. Give the interviewer, whether automated or in-person, a chance to get to know you, your personality, and professionalism.

Good luck!

Originally published May 6, 2020 4:00:00 AM, updated March 05 2021

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Do A Trial Run Beforehand

Think about the questions you might be asked during the interview. Then, record yourself answering them on a time limit. Note: this will feel weird and unnatural.

However, timing your answers and analyzing your body language will help avoid those intrusive interview thoughts of, “Will I have enough time?” and “How am I coming across?”

Treat the trial as if it’s a real interview: dress for the occasion, and rehearse earnestly.

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What Is The Most Difficult Problem You Have Had To Solve

Look for answers that name a real problem, talk about specific steps taken to resolve it, and any processes developed to ensure that it would be solved more quickly next time, or would not arise again.

Red flags: The candidate is unable to name a problem, or names something that is a routine part of the job and should have been simple to solve.

How To Pass A Job Interview Successfully

An interview is one of the most important stages of selection for a job or internship. At the interview, both candidates and interviewer identify mutual interest and get answers to questions. During the interview, the employer assesses your qualifications, level of motivation, and whether you understand what you want to get from this position. Considering interviews in terms of benefits for the candidate, then they give you the opportunity to evaluate the company, its concordance with your expectations and goals. Moreover, an interview is always a great opportunity to improve the skill of self-presentation, which is extremely important in the modern world.

To pass the interview, you need to prepare for it well, so that there are as few unexpected questions from the recruiter as possible. Our tips will help you with that.

If there are no questions left to the recruiter by the end of the conversation, then you can say that during the meeting you have already received answers to all your questions, and thank him for the meeting. For candidate it is better not to initiate the question about wage. If the recruiter did not ask you about this, it means that he already has this information, or he intends to clarify this at the next stages of selection

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Behavioral Vs Traditional Interviews

In a traditional interview, you will be asked a series of questions which typically have straightforward answers like “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” or “How do you handle a challenge?” or “Describe a typical workweek.”

In a behavioral interview, an employer has in the person they hire and will ask questions to find out if the candidate has those skills. Instead of asking how you would behave, they will ask how you did behave.

The interviewer will want to know how you handled a situation, instead of what you might do in the future.

What Is A Behavioral Interview How To Prepare And Sample Questions

What is a behavioral interview? Candidates for employment often ask what the difference is between a regular job interview and a behavioral interview. What should you do to get ready if the employer is going to ask you behavioral based interview questions?

In many ways, a behavioral interview resembles other types of job interviews. There isn’t a difference in the actual format of the job interview. You will still meet with an interviewer and respond to interview questions. The difference is in the type of interview questions that they will ask you.

Review information on the difference between behavioral and traditional job interviews, examples of questions, and how to handle a behavioral interview.

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I Resigned From My Last Job To Take Care Of A Family Issue The Issue Is Resolved So I Am Able To Work Full Time Again Without Any Issue

You dont have to go into a ton of detail. Just keep it simple. Make sure you tell them that the issue is resolved though, so they dont worry whether youll have to resign again.

If you do want to share a bit more information, thats fine. As a recruiter Ive talked to a few job seekers who had to take time off to care for an elderly parent or relative. So thats one common story I hear, and its completely normal.

What Is An Automated Video Interview

Automated video interviews are interviews in which the interviewee must answer prompts that appear on their computer screen within a certain time limit. This can either be done in a typed format, or in a ‘call-and-response’ format.

These interviews take an in-person interviewer out of the equation. Instead, your interviewer will be a series of questions that you’ll have an allotted amount of time to read and comprehend. Then, you will record your responses via video or text, depending on the instructions.

How do you pass one? Lets cover some best practices.

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What Can You Do For Us That Other Candidates Can’t

Emphasize what makes you unique when you’re asked, “What can you do for us that other candidates can’t?” This will take an assessment of your experiences, skills and traits. Summarize concisely: “I have a unique combination of strong technical skills, and the ability to build strong customer relationships. This allows me to use my knowledge and break down information to be more user-friendly.”

Keep Your Notes Accessible

If you’re someone who finds it helpful to refer to notes when interviewing, keep them in front of you. For me, it’s helpful to have my LinkedIn profile and resume open in another window, with sections I know I want to mention highlighted or bolded.

This helps to make a quick reference. Similarly, if the interviewer asks a question about a specific piece of content on LinkedIn or a resume, it’ll help to accurately explain that experience. By already having those reference points accessible, you won’t forget anything important.

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Prepare To Talk About Specific Accomplishments

Most people go into their interview and make general statements and talk in very general terms. To set yourself apart, you want to prepare specific examples and talk about DETAILS. Facts, numbers and real accomplishments.

Hint: this is true on your resume also. Youll get far more interviews if you cram your resume with facts, figures and statistics instead of general statements like responsible for handling customer requests.

So when the hiring manager asks what you accomplished in your last job, or what you do each day, you should be ready to impress! This is not the time to hesitate or be unsure. Prepare ahead of time for this.

If youre looking for your first job without any work experience, then think about accomplishments in your academic career classes youve taken, projects youve completed, etc. Thats your most relevant experience!

How To Predict The Interview Questions

Is it really possible to predict the interview questions? The answer is yes. Heres how to do it:

Get a copy of the job description and person specification for the role you are applying for.

Grab a highlighter pen and highlight the key requirements for the role.

You will now be able to predict the interview questions based on the key requirements for the role. For example, if one of the key requirements for the role is an ability to respond to customer complaints quickly and efficiently, the predicted interview questions for this key element are:

Q. Provide an example of where you have dealt with a customers complaint from start to finish. What did you do and why?

Q. What is the process for dealing with a customers complaint?

Q. What considerations would you take into account when dealing with customers complaints?

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Read All The Information

Once you have researched career fields and companies you would like to work in, you have to read job descriptions carefully. You need to understand all the position details and your future duties. It will be advantageous to read some information about the companys culture and history. But you dont have to limit yourself with the companys website, chances are you will find much more interesting and useful information in articles, interviews, reviews, and group discussions. You need to find out as much as possible about a company and a position in order to answer job specific questions and questions about the company.