How To Practice Interview Skills

What Are You Passionate About

Much like the previous question about motivation, employers might ask what you are passionate about to better understand what drives you and what you care most deeply about. This can both help them understand whether you are a good fit for the role and if it fits into your larger goals. To answer, consider this structure:

1. Select something you are genuinely passionate about and explain why youre passionate about it:As a software developer, Im passionate about creating truly beautiful, efficient digital products to make peoples experience with technology memorable…

2. Provide examples of how youve pursued this passion:”…One of the things I loved about my last job was witnessing the results of my teams code update and watching as our months of work yielded positive user feedback…

3. Relate it back to the job:”…Having the opportunity to lead projects from ideation through launch was one of the reasons I was so excited to apply for this role.

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Get Comfortable With The Setup

No matter what type of format or technology will be used, it’s a good idea to practice with a friend beforehand.

It often takes a few tries to get the hang of angling the camera so that your whole face is in the frame.

Youll want to find a flattering angle and practice making eye contact with the interviewer via the camera. Newbies tend to stare at the part of the window with their own video image instead of looking into the camera, which can appear odd, not to mention disengaged.

Remember To Focus On Listening

It can be easy to get distracted during a job interview. It’s stressful, and you’re in the hot seat when it comes to having to respond to questions. That said, if you do your best to listen to what the interviewer is asking, it will be easier to frame appropriate responses.

Listen carefully and take the time to frame a thoughtful response to each of the questions you’re asked.

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Tell Me About Yourself

The interviewer is asking this question to learn more about your professional career and how your experience has brought you to apply for this position. You should try to use this question as an opportunity to discuss how your knowledge, experience, interests and skills make you the best candidate for the position.

Example answer:”I originally realized I had a passion for education and teaching when I was a student in middle school while participating in a teacher assistant program. When I began college I knew I wanted to pursue a career in education, so I majored in Elementary Education with a minor in English Literature.

While I was working on earning my degree, I became a substitute teacher to gain real-world experience in the classroom. Substituting helped me develop strong classroom management, organization and communication skills.

As a recent graduate, I finished an internship program and passed my teacher certification exams this past year. I am excited to continue to advance my career by becoming a full-time teacher for elementary students in language arts and reading.”

Where Do You See Yourself In Five Years

Understanding how you imagine your life in the future can help employers understand whether the trajectory of the role and company fits in with your personal development goals. To answer this question you can:

Describe skills you want to develop and accomplishments youd like to achieve:

In five years, Id like to be an industry expert in my field, able to train and mentor students and entry-level designers alike. I would also like to gain specialized expertise in user experience to be a well-rounded contributor working with design and marketing teams on large-scale projects that make a difference both in the company and the global community.

Provide specific career goals including any dream roles or projects:

“Some of my future goals for the next few years include leading a design team in a formal capacity. Im also excited about the prospect of working with product and event teams on developing streamlined processesthis is a natural fit with my project management background. Id also like to further develop my skills in user experience to aid in creating more user-focused designs all around.

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Why Is Job Interview Practice Important

Job interview practice is important because it will help you feel confident and comfortable during your real interview and will ensure you are prepared to answer questions the interviewer asks. In addition to practicing your answers to interview questions, practicing for an interview also gives you time to make sure you prepare the outfit you want to wear, gather documents you need to bring with you to the interview and practice your posture, body language and eye-contact.

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Be Polite To Everyone

You may have heard stories of people who were rude to the receptionist, cut someone off in the parking lot, or yelled at the barista at the coffee shop around the corner and then didn’t get the job. These things happen, and they can ruin your chances. I will never, ever, not in a million years hire the person who is rude to the receptionist or barista. Many recruiters and hiring managers feel the same.

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What To Do Before During And After Your Interview

We all need interview skills. In a wide range of situations, the ability to answer tough questions, and to stay cool under pressure, is extremely valuable.

Perhaps you’re looking for a new job or a promotion. Maybe you need to reinterview for your own job. Or maybe you want to brush up on your interview skills before meeting with a potential new client.

In this article and video, you can learn the skills you need to ace your next interview whatever form it takes.

We’ll outline the preparation you need to do in advance, how to follow up afterward, and how to deliver a polished and persuasive performance in the interview itself giving you the very best chance of success!

to view a transcript of this video.

What Does Customer Service Mean To You

If youre applying for a public-facing role, an employer may ask this question to determine what aspects of customer service are most important to you. . A good answer will align with the companys values, which you can glean through researching their customer service policy, understanding their products and clientele and reflecting on your own experiences as a customer. Your answer can either come from the perspective of a customer or a customer service provider.

Example answer:In my experience, good customer service involves taking responsibility when something goes wrong and doing what you can to make it right. For example, on a recent flight, I had pre-ordered my meal only to discover they didnt stock enough of my dish. Instead of simply stating the facts, the flight attendant apologized sincerely and offered me a free drink or premium snack. To me, this apology went a long way in smoothing things over. The freebie was a bonus that made me feel valued as a customer and choose the same airline for my next flight.

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Interviewstream: Virtual Practice Interviews

Now its easy to practice your interviewing skills from anywhere at anytime. Simply create an account with your ASU email address and access interviews tailored just for you. Build your interview confidence by recording and reviewing your answers to common interview questions. When you are ready, you can even submit your recorded responses to our career team for valuable feedback.

Strategies Of Effective Interviewing

The executive engaged in the normal conduct of business devotes much of his time to interviewing. However, there is an appalling lack of effort given to systematic attempts at building improvements into this age-old process. Interviewing remains one of those activities which we think we know all about merely because we have been doing it so long we have been lulled by habit. It seems apparent that a modest effort aimed at an analysis of our interviewing techniques would yield generous returns.

In the broad sense, interviewing is the process whereby individuals exchange information. The individuals may be concerned with a job opening, a promotion, a special assignment, a product sale, information for intelligence purposes, a proposed merger, or other questions. The information exchanged need not be limited to facts. In business, particularly, such products of an interview as meaning and understanding are oftentimes more significant than objective factual statements.

• The proper kind of preparation for the interview.

• Value of such procedures as having an outline of points to be covered and taking notes.

• Use of questions and questioning techniques.

• The kind and amount of control that the interviewer should exercise over the discussion.

• Analysis and evaluation of information obtained.

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Practice Tips And Activities To Improve Your Interview Skills

Through my experience in interviews from local radio stations all the way up to nationally televised interviews on shows like Late Night with David Letterman and international Olympic coverage, I’ve learned to hone my skills in challenging question-and-answer sessions. I was far from a natural when I started out, but just as with my Olympic training, I worked hard to reach professional levels. My personal experience taught me a great deal about mistakes that can be made and secrets to building big improvements.

I’d like to offer some insight into the process that helped me be invited back to the Today show four times. I’ve developed a number of practice tips and activities that will help you sharpen your own skills for job interviews, televised interviews, radio interviews, Q& A panels and business interactions. There is nothing that replaces practice and experience, so these activities will help prepare you to walk into any interview with a much needed confidence.

To gain the most of each of the activities, I highly suggest videotaping each practice session and take notes so you can remember what areas you can improve.

Practice Tips and Activities

3. Ask a friend to put three random topics in a hat. Pull one out at a time and practice your impromptu responses. Have the friend include one question in which you might not know the answer. It’s better to rehearse how you’ll handle an answer you don’t know before you are in a critical interview.

Motivational Tips and Tools

Preparing For Your Interview

Although impromptu means without preparation, always prepare for job interviews!

• Read the employers website and social media platforms
• Review the interviewers LinkedIn profiles
• Search for news and events related to the position, organization or industry
• On employment sites like ranstad, Monster, Workopolis and LinkedIn, search for and prepare answers to commonly asked interview questions
• Bring with you about 10 questions to ask the interviewer. Not sure what to ask? Search the sites above for questions to ask in a job interview
• Know exactly how to get to the location of your interview, if its in person
• If youre interviewing by phone or video, test the connections and setup before the interview. Have a backup plan in case technology fails
• Plan what youll wear, based on your knowledge of the organizations culture
• Be there 5-10 minutes early, with a copy of your resume, your list of questions, and something to take notes with

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Practicing For A Job Interview

Practicing for an interview is an important step in the interview preparation process. When you have an interview for a new job coming up, you want to practice for the interview to make sure you are as prepared as possible.

In this article, we discuss everything you need to know about practicing for a job interview including practice questions with tips and example answers.

How To Prepare For An Interview

Use these questions and example answers to prepare for your interview by making them your own and tailoring them to fit your experience, the job and the company youre interviewing for. Its important to get comfortable with what you could be asked and understand what a good response might be.

Much like preparing for a test in school, the best way to succeed in your interview is to study and practice. Research the company and the job, and practice your talking points until you feel confident about your answers. The more you prepare, the more likely you are to leave a lasting impression and outperform fellow candidates. Come equipped with examples of work from previous jobs, as well as ideas for the new job. Try and make the interview as conversational as possible by showing genuine interest in the job, company and your interviewer.

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What Is Your Greatest Accomplishment

Its easy to get hung up on figuring out your single most impressive accomplishment. Instead, think of a few achievements that showcase your work ethic and values. If you can, pick examples that also tie back to the job youre applying for. The STAR method is a great tool to ensure you highlight the parts of your story that employers want to hear.

Example answer:In my last role, I managed all social media content. I noticed other brands were experimenting with videos and seeing great engagement from their customers, so I asked my boss if we could do a low-budget test. She agreed, so I produced a video cheaply in-house that drove double the engagement we normally saw on our social channels. It also drove conversions with 30% of viewers visiting our website within a week of seeing the video.

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Dress For The Job Or Company

Today’s casual dress codes do not give you permission to dress as “they” do when you interview. It is important to know what to wear to an interview and to be well-groomed. Whether you wear a suit or something less formal depends on the company culture and the position you are seeking. If possible, call to find out about the company dress code before the interview.

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Practice Answering Interview Questions

The simplest way to prepare is to create a list of common interview questions and answer each question out loud. The more you practice, the more you will be prepared to respond during an actual job interview. It’s important to practice out loud so you can get used to verbalizing your answers and become more comfortable speaking.

Tips For During The Interview

After youve spent time preparing, you can be successful on interview day by practicing these tips:

9. Plan your interview attire the night before. If youre speaking to a recruiter before the interview, you can ask them about the dress code in the workplace and choose your outfit accordingly. If you dont have someone to ask, research the company to learn whats appropriate.

10. Bring copies of your resume, a notebook and pen. Take at least five copies of your printed resume on clean paper in case of multiple interviewers. Highlight specific accomplishments on your copy that you can easily refer to and discuss. Bring a pen and a small notebook. Prepare to take notes, but not on your smartphone or another electronic device. Write information down so that you can refer to these details in your follow-up thank-you notes. Maintain eye contact as much as possible. For more, visit What to Bring to the Interview.

11. Plan your schedule so that you can arrive 1015 minutes early. Map out your route to the interview location so you can be sure to arrive on time. Consider doing a practice run. If youre taking public transportation, identify a backup plan if there are delays or closures.

Tip: When you arrive early, use the extra minutes to observe workplace dynamics.

18. Keep your answers concise and focused. Your time with each interviewer is limited so be mindful of rambling. Practicing your answers beforehand can help keep you focused.

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Why Do You Want To Work For Our Company

The interviewer is asking this question to determine whether you have done any research about the company, how much you know about the company and why you feel you will be a good fit for the company. When answering this question, try to make a specific reference to information you learned about the company from your research and find a way to relate how your personal interests or values align with the company’s goals or values.

Example answer:”I have always dreamed of working for one of the big four accounting firms. I was able to achieve this dream while completing my internship in college with your company. During my time in the internship program, I had the pleasure of getting to know a lot of people within my team. What excites me most about working for this company is the opportunity to work for a large firm supporting several big clients while also feeling like you’re working in a small firm because of the company’s culture.”

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Here are a few additional tips to remember when practicing for a job interview:

How To Improve Interviewing Skills

How you deliver on the interview starts long before you walk in the front door. Being prepared beforehand is important and is having a cheery and professional outlook. Here are several tips you can start using to improve your interviewing skills:

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