Things Not To Bring To A Job Interview
Congrats. If youve landed a job interview, youre doing a lot of things right. Youve already beat out a huge portion of the other job candidates with your stellar resume and killer cover letter. Now its time to step up your game and nail the job interview.
8 Interview Questions You Should NEVER Ask
To prepare for a job interview you need to brush up on interview questions, research the company, hone your portfolio, brainstorm questions to ask, consider your apparel and appearance, and more. Theres a lot going on. One thing that job seekers often overlook is deciding what things to bring and what things not to bring to a job interview.
Lets start with the basics. Here are a few things that you need to bring to a job interview:
- Printed Directions
- Pets
- Nothing At All
None of these things will impress a recruiter. This is a pretty simple list of things to bring and things not to bring to a job interview. Yet when you speak to job interviewers, youll be amazed at the stories they can tell. Keep the things you need for a job interview to a minimum. They should all fit nicely in a small and professional bag or briefcase.
If you bring too many things or you bring things that you shouldnt, it will reflect poorly on you as a job candidate. In fact, it can ruin your chances of getting hired! Yikes. Stick to this list and you should be ok.
Read up about more job interviews tips on JobMonkey.com to ensure that you are prepared to nail the interview.
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Contact Information And Directions
While there are many things you can control during the interview, getting there is not one of them and traffic or public transport can easily let you down. Plan ahead how you will get there and make sure you have the contact details of the person you are meeting in case you need to contact them for anything.
Have directions to where you are going before hand and if you can, find your way there before the interview, so you know exactly where you are going.
What To Ask During A Job Interview
It’s your turn! As your job interview comes to a close, one of the final questions you may be asked is, “What can I answer for you?” Your interviewer will expect for you to have some questions.
Not asking any questions could make you seem unprepared or disinterested, so take the time to have some questions of your own ready to ask the hiring manager.
Plan ahead and have interview questions of your own ready to ask the interviewer.
You aren’t simply trying to get this jobyou are also interviewing the employer to assess whether this company and the position are a good fit for you.
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How Much Do You Know About The Company
This interview question is one of the most common interview questions asked and is essentially a test to check that youve done your research and know your stuff. If you can prove that youve dug a little deeper than the company website and refer to a company achievement, press release or recent update, youll be sure to win extra brownie points.
Researching the company is a must, and almost all job candidates do it to some degree today. But the interview is not a test to see whether you read the company website. Instead, you want to identify opportunities and demonstrate how you can add value to the company, if they hire you. Take the information you gain through your research and prepare insightful questions and observations that can serve as discussion points during the interview. Here are some ways to do that:
Welcome Questions From The Candidate
Dont forget the welcome questions from the candidate. This is important not only so that the candidate has the chance to ask anything that will help them feel secure about the job that he or she is applying for.
It is also an important opportunity for you to see how invested the candidate is in the company and whether theyll be a good fit. Are they asking about day-to-day tasks? What about the big picture? This is a great opportunity to see if the candidate will be a cultural fit at your company.
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Most Common Interview Questions
Directions And Contact Info
Odds are, you wouldn’t leave the house without it anyway, but make sure to bring your phone with you so you can enter the directions to your interview location, especially if youâve never been there before. If you don’t have a smartphone capable of GPS navigation, print out directions. The worst thing you can do is get lost, which will make you late, which will likely prevent you from moving forward in the interview process. On your phone’s notepad app, or on the directions you’ve printed out, write out the name and contact information of your interviewer. This way, if something does go wrong on your way to the interview, you can let them know. This will also help ensure that you don’t forget your interviewer’s name â a major faux pas.
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S To Prepare For Your Job Interview
- Post authorBy Guest
Now that you have an interview, there are certain things you will want to do in advance to prepare for it. This article will provide practical tips on how to prepare for a job interview. Remember, you never get a second chance to make a first impression, so youll want to do your best in preparing for your interview in advance.
Reread Your Resume Or Application
Reread your resume? Why would you need to do that? After all, you know your own background, right? Well, sort of.
If you tailor your resume to each job , and youve applied to more than one recently, you may not remember which details you included. That could spell trouble.
You can almost guarantee that the hiring manager is going to talk about your resume. If you forgot which accomplishments you mentioned, you might not prepare to discuss them. Then, if the hiring manager asks which they almost certainly will you might give a stumbly answer.
Review your resume! Know what you said! Remember, your resume might be all the hiring manager knows about you, so make sure you can discuss those points with ease.
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Print Out The Directions To The Interview And Be On Time:
Allow enough time to get there and anticipate traffic. Its ok to be up to 10 minutes early, but no more than that. Otherwise, the interviewer may not be ready for you. Bring the phone number of your interviewer just in case you get lost or are going to be late. If you are going to be late, call to let the interviewer know.
Follow these tips and you will successfully know how to prepare for a job interview. Interviewers can tell whether or not a candidate has prepared for it or not and they will appreciate it if you did.
Examples From Your Career Story
Memorizing every possible answer to every possible interview question and behavioral question that might come your way could drive you full-on nuts, and it may also put you at risk for coming across as robotic and disconnected.
Instead, consider thinking about how youd weave examples from your career story around common questions like, Tell me about a time when you disappointed a client, Whats your greatest weakness?, or Describe a stressful situation you had with a colleague, and how you handled it.
You might even jot a few notes down in that notepad you brought along to refer to later. Youre heading into that interview with the expectation that it will be a genuine, engaging conversation. Its mighty hard to pull this off if youre madly searching your recall for the perfectly memorized response for every question.
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The Night Before Your Interview
- Read through your notes, resume, cover letter, job description, company or industry summaries one last time.
- Know the route you will take to the location and how much travel time you will need.
- Build in additional time to ensure you are not late.
Youre ready! Get a good nights sleep to ensure that youre at your best on the day of the interview.
Tips For Great Job Interviews
From researching the company to handling certain key interview questions, make sure you make a great impression and ace your next job interview by following these 20 tips.
Want to ace your next interview and land thatopen job youve been seeking? Here are 20 tips to help you prepare.1. Research the industry and company.An interviewer may ask how you perceive his company’s position in its industry, who the firm’s competitors are, what its competitive advantages are, and how it should best go forward. For this reason, avoid trying to thoroughly research a dozen different industries. Focus your job search on just a few industries instead.
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Being Rude To The Receptionist Or Support Staff
It is vital that you are kind to everyone in the office when you go in for an interview. You never know who has a say in whether you get the job.
According to the Recruiter Nation report, the worst thing an interviewee can do is be rude to the receptionist or support staff. In fact, 86% of recruiters reported that if a potential employee was rude to the receptionist, they would take the candidate out of the running for the job.
Be courteous, professional and polite to everyone you interact with during the entire process, and make sure to thank people for their time as you leave.
Preparing & Conducting Interviews
Being well prepared and then conducting an interview methodically will help you make the most of this important recruitment tool.
When interviewing job candidates, you want to determine what sort of people they are, how good their interpersonal skills are, how they might react under stress, whether they have the skills for the job, and whether they have been honest in their resumes.
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What To Do The Day Of:
That is our list of the most important things to do before an interview. You dont need to memorize everything on that list. Just make yourself familiar with them and you should be fine. While some of these should just be normal parts of your daily routine, you would be surprised how stress can cause tons of people to forget these before a job interview and even cause job-related PTSD for some of us.
We actually hear from plenty of job-seekers who have taken pieces of this list and put it into a todo format on their phone or on paper. This gives the morning of the big day some structure and allows them to feel confident walking out of the door. If you think that youre someone who might benefit from this, jot down this list of things to do before a job interview and check them off as you go.
No one ever suffered from being overly prepared!
How Did You Find Out About The Job
This is a simple question that can be answered in a short sentence, although you can also use it to get your foot in your door by stating that you keep up to date with company activity or that youve had your eye on a position in the IT Department for a long time etc.
If youve been genuinely following the company for a while, you might want to mention here what specific activities of the company really appeal to you or if youve spoken to some employees of the company and heard great things about working for them, you can comment on that here, too.
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Be Clueless About The Company
Knowing the basics about a company is as simple as pointing and clicking. Yet, some applicants still come in woefully unprepared. Its always a huge turn-off when the applicant doesnt take the time to learn about a company before coming in, says Rania Eldekki, digital marketing manager for Hudson Horizons.
Eldekki, who helps hire social media staff for the company, has a simple recommendation for interviewees: Read the companys About page online and browse through other sections of their website, so you understand what the company is about before your interview.
Workplace consultant and former public policy executive Jeanne Miller Rodriguez says shes frustrated by job applicants who havent reviewed the company mission statement and expect a verbal tour of the organization. She points out its not only annoying, but dumb.
Without having done their homework, she says, applicants cant reasonably expect to articulate what skills and abilities they have that fit the position or the needs of the organization.
I dont care if you have to walk uphill both ways in a blizzard to get to your local library to utilize their computers: Research the company, says Lisa K. McDonald, career coach and strategist with Career Polish, Inc. If you cant take the time to know what were going to be discussing, I would prefer not to waste my time talking to you.
What To Bring To An Interview
A padfolio. A padfolio is basically a fancy folder with a notepad in it, and its going to be where you keep most of the things on this list. It keeps your items organized and gives off a professional vibe.
It doesnt need to be super fancy think $20 from Amazon. Aim for a neutral color and keep logos to a minimum. This is your home base, and the rest of this article will tell you what to keep in it.
Pens. Bring two, just in case your first one doesnt work for whatever reason. Go for black or blue, and try to get nicer ones. Leave the ones with unicorns on them at home.
Youre going to hear a lot of new information, and the best way to remember it all is to write it down as you go. Just be sure you ask the interviewer before you start taking notes as a sign of respect .
Dont spend too much time writing, but keep short-form notes to refresh your memory after the interview and help keep your questions straight for the end of the interview.
Copies of your resume. While your interviewer has probably read your resume, theres no guarantee that they remember it or brought a copy with them. Bringing several copies ensures that there will be enough for all of your interviewers.
Also, youll have one to glance at from time to time. This will help you remember what theyre referring to when they ask you questions.
Dont say: I am good at project management.
Do say: Ive performed well in circumstances that demand project management skills, such as
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Preparing For A Job Interview
To prepare for a job interview, you should do the following:
- Work Attire. Make sure your appearance is neat and clean. Dress appropriately for the interview by wearing professional work attire such as a skirt or pantsuit and close-toed shoes. Accessories such as handbags, ties, and belts should be conservative.
- Directions. If you’re not sure where you’re going, bring directions and any instructions the hiring manager may have given you. Also, if one was sent, bring an email confirmation of the appointment. Determine how long your commute will take either by viewing a map application such as Google maps, or a train or bus schedule. Allow 30 minutes extra travel time for any unforeseen delays, as you want to arrive at least 10 to 15 minutes early.
- Research the Company. Make sure you become acquainted with your prospective employer prior to the interview, as you may be asked questions about your familiarity with their business. Many company websites have an “About” section that provides information on a company’s history as well as its beliefs and goals.
- List of Questions. Have a list of questions ready to ask the interviewer if they invite questions at the end of the interview. You can also ask additional questions based on the conversation, which demonstrates good listening and comprehension skills.
What Not To Bring To An Interview
Once youre prepared with all of the interview must-haves, double check to make sure youre not heading into the meeting with these things in tow:
- A phone with the ringer left on
- Earbuds
- Your carryout lunch
- A suitcase
- A waft of heavy perfume or worse, cigarette smoke
- Salary demands
- A negative attitude
One final thought: If you absolutely must swing through the supermarket on your way to an interview? When youre invited to tuck the bag in the coat closet, strongly consider responding with a yes. Or better yet, just hit the store after.
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