Prepare For The Interview
Review these tips so that youll have all of the information you need to make a great impression at your next job interview.
Be Prepared. Dont only show up for the interview. The more information you have prepared in advance, the better impression you will make on the interviewer. Take the time to get working papers and references before you start looking for a job. Do your research. Learn all you can about the position and the company.
The job posting and others for similar positions can offer valuable information about what they are looking for in a candidate. This will let you know what skills you should be emphasizing on your resume and in your interview.
Checking out the company website will give you insight into the company culture and about exactly what they do and aspire to accomplish.
All this information will allow you the opportunity to give complete, educated answers to anything the interviewer might ask.
Have Questions Ready To Ask During An Interview
Asking questions is a great way to dig into the company culture and the specific day-to-day responsibilities of the job so that, should you be hired, your first week or so in the position won’t be accompanied by any major surprises.
Asking questions can also give you the opportunity to further highlight some of your qualities, skills, and experience, and show the employer why you’re a terrific match for the job.
Melissa Ling / The Balance
Do You Prefer Working Independently Or On A Team
Your answer should be informed by the research youve done on the company culture and the job in question. Nevertheless, you should expect that most work environments will have some team aspect.
Many positions require you to work collaboratively with other people on a daily basis, while some roles require you to work on your own. When you answer this question, highlight the best traits of your personality and how they fit the job requirements. It could also be in your interest to answer this question by highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of both situations.
Example: I enjoy a blend of the two. I like having a team to strategize with, get diverse opinions from, and reach out to for feedback. But I am also comfortable taking on assignments that require me to work independently. I find I do some of my best work when I can focus alone in a quiet space, but I really value collaborating with my teammates to come up with the best ideas.
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Plan Your Journey To The Job Interview
When preparing for a job interview one of the most important things to consider is how you are going to get there. A failure to plan is a plan to fail. If you are planning on driving to the interview, make sure you fill your car with fuel the night before. You dont want to be filling up on the way dressed in your suit.
Make sure you arrive on time, or better yet, at least 15 minutes early. Ensure this by knowing the address and if you can, have a trial run a couple of days before. The morning of the interview, check the traffic reports and have a backup route planned just in case. If you are travelling by train or bus, make sure you check the weather report the night before and keep an eye on the public transport websites for any delays. Look out for track works or traffic conditions that can potentially delay your train or bus trip.
Go to bed early the night before and wake up early to give yourself plenty of time.
What To Do After An Interview
First of all, take a deep breath, youve gotten through the most stressful part. While waiting for a response from the hiring manager can definitely be frustrating, knowing what to do after an interview can actually help you influence the outcome. Once youve accomplished these steps, you can rest assured that you did everything in your power to get the job offer.
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Get Feedback On Your Answers From A Mentor Or A Friend
Practice your responses for your first job interview with a trusted mentor or friend that can give you constructive criticism. This way, you’ll be highlighting which areas you need to prepare for on your time and ones you’ll know when asked by the interviewer. A mentor may be a better source for you to prepare considering the experience they may have in the workforce, but your friend is also valuable if they work at the job you applied for. Either way, being prepared improves your confidence and increases your chances of receiving an offer.
What Type Of Questions Should You Ask
Before, we get into what the best type of interview questions are, lets start with the number of questions you should ask. Its best to have a least three questions in your back pocket to ask at an interview.
Why? Because if the interviewer answers one of your questions before the end of the interview, you have at least two other questions you can still ask. If you only have one prepared and they answer it, you will be scrambling to think of another question and not focusing on the interview itself. If you only have two questions and they answer one already, only having one question can also give off as bad of an impression as having no questions. So, three is your magic number.
There are three main categories to touch on when preparing your questions: company culture, future development, and your interviewer. Lets break that down a bit more.
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Determine How You’ll Arrive
Prior to your interview, make sure you have reliable transportation to the interview site. If you’re not driving yourself, it’s important to find a ride that can get you there on time. Get directions to the interview site, be mindful of traffic and understand the parking situation before arriving. Plan to arrive 15 minutes early as this shows the interviewer you have strong time management skills and that you’re respectful of their time.
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Put Your Game Face On
To begin with, this friend is an idiot. He will pick your brain for no reason and I hardly take him seriously. But this time I could sense a determination in his voice. He really wanted to see it through and was willing to work on whatever I would tell him. Given that its hard to get jobs without any experience and proper qualifications, I asked how he expected to get this job while still studying. Well, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs did not complete their degrees. His answer was the most clichéd response ever. But, he had clearly put his game face on.
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How Do You Plan To Achieve Your Career Goals
Having goals shows interviewers you care, are ambitious, and can think ahead. Having a plan for how youll achieve your goals demonstrates your self-motivation as well as organizational and time management skills. Finally, the fact that youve accomplished past goals youve set for yourself is proof of your ability to follow through. All together, these are indications that you can not only set and achieve goals of your own, but also help your prospective boss, team, and company do the same. To craft your answer, make sure you focus on one or two goals in detail, explain why the goals are meaningful, communicate what milestones are coming up, highlight past successes, and connect back to this job.
What Would Your First 30 60 Or 90 Days Look Like In This Role
Your potential future boss wants to know that youve done your research, given some thought to how youd get started, and would be able to take initiative if hired. So think about what information and aspects of the company and team youd need to familiarize yourself with and which colleagues youd want to sit down and talk to. You can also suggest one possible starter project to show youd be ready to hit the ground running and contribute early on. This wont necessarily be the thing you do first if you do get the job, but a good answer shows that youre thoughtful and that you care.
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What To Do During An Interview
Your qualifications and skills are only a part of what the hiring manager is looking for when conducting an interview. Whether you get the job depends largely on how you behave at the interviewwhat you do, what you say, and how you say it. From the first door you walk through to the final handshake on your way out, this lesson will help you learn how to behave during an interview. It will help you identify basic business etiquette that can improve your chances, as well as show you how your tone of voice and body language can be interpreted by an interviewer. It will also outline the basic rules for answering questions well.
I’ve Researched Your Company
While some job seekers read the job description to understand the qualifications and responsibilities, researching the company further shows your interest in the company’s culture and history as well. Interviewers appreciate when applicants take the initiative in learning more about the company before the interview because it shows that you still have a desire to work for them after your initial research.
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Common Job Interview Questions And How To Answer Them
Interviews can be high stress, anxiety-driving situations, especially if its your first interview. A little practice and preparation always pays off. While we cant know exactly what an employer will ask, here are 10 common interview questions along with advice on how to answer them. The questions include:
- Could you tell me something about yourself and describe your background in brief?: Interviewers like to hear stories about candidates. Make sure your story has a great beginning, a riveting middle, and an end that makes the interviewer root for you to win the job.
- How do you deal with pressure or stressful situations?: Share an instance when you remained calm despite the turmoil. If its a skill youre developing, acknowledge it and include the steps youre taking to respond better to pressure in the future.
- What are your salary expectations?: Before you walk in for your first interview, you should already know what the salary is for the position youre applying to. Check out websites such as Glassdoor, Fishbowl, or Vault.com for salary information. You could also ask people in the field by reaching out to your community on LinkedIn.
Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here.
Below is a list of 10 common job interview questions, along with answering techniques that will help you dazzle your prospects, and hopefully, secure the role you want.
Come Prepared With Questions
Coming to your first job interview prepared with thoughtful questions shows that you truly care about this opportunity. Don’t ask questions that you could have easily looked up yourself. Instead, ask your interviewer questions about their career development journey, how they think certain trends may be affecting their industry, or their perspective on recent company news.
Some examples to get you started can include the following:
- What is it about the company or role that has kept them that long at that company?
- What are some common challenges people face when starting out in that role?
- What are some ways they can overcome these challenges?
- What distinguishes an average employee from an exceptional and high-performing employee?
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What Has Been Your Most Rewarding Accomplishment
What They Want to Know: You dont want to brag, but you should share an accomplishment that relates to some of the qualities or experiences required for the job youre interviewing for. Sharing a story with your interviewer is a great way to showcase your accomplishments.
My biggest success, I think, was being accepted into university and offered a full scholarship based on my good grades and my enthusiastic leadership and participation in high school groups. My family immigrated here when I was in sixth grade, so it was a challenge to learn a new language and adapt to a new society. Ill be the first of my family to attend college, and am so excited about what my future holds!
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What Not To Do:
I once heard someone standing outside our building, smoking furiously and complaining loudly on their phone about the early start time of their meeting and wondering aloud why they were even there. When I got to my next interview, I realised to my dismay the noisy moaner was my next candidate! Not a great start
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Before Your First Job Interview
Research the company. Take some time to research the company, so you are familiar with how they operate. There is a lot of company information available online. You might be asked what you know about the organization, so check out the “About Us” and “Careers” section of the company website if you’re interviewing with a large employer. For smaller employers, review their website to get an idea of what the company is about. Also, check social media pages to ascertain the company’s current focus.
Learn about the job. Find out as much as you can about the position youre applying for, then ask yourself, “Why am I the best person for this role?” Do you know someone who works at the company? Ask them about the job, the interview process, and the company. The more you know about the job, the easier it will be to answer questions about why you’d be a good fit for it.
Practice interviewing. Review typical teen interview questions and answers, then ask a family member or friend to ask you some questions so you can practice your answers. You may also want to review the ten most common interview questions.
These tips will help you practice interviewing, so you’ll be more comfortable with the process.
Get references. Have a list of a few people who can give you a reference. Teachers, neighbors, coaches, and family friends are all options.
The “grandma” rule is always a good one to go by. If your grandma would approve of the outfit, you have made the right choice.
Practice Your Interview Answers
Being well prepared is of the utmost importance. First, you can more or less guess what kinds of questions they’ll ask, like
Second, gather a few of your past professional and relevant experiences, and relate them to the main skills and qualifications as listed in the job description. Think about times in which you drove valuable results for your team, demonstrated leadership, overcame challenges, or any other achievements that you think the interviewer would be interested in hearing about.
Next, structure those stories using a framework like SOART, which is an acronym for Situation, Obstacle, Action, Result, and Takeaways. So, when you’re still preparing, simply jot down bullet points of the situation, task, action, and result of your experiences, and practice telling the story in front of a mirror, sharing only the most relevant and important information.
Practicing in this manner will help you grow more confident in your capabilities and turn the interview into more of a conversation.
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Job Interview Question #: Why Should I Hire You
This is the interviewer asking why youre the best choice out of all the applicants. Its a hard question to answer, but its your chance to sell yourself and make a great impression.
Look at the job description and identify which duties you would excel at. Tie that into your answer to show that youll not only fulfill the job requirements but exceed them.
Example: Im an extrovert who loves working with people. I saw this position calls for customer service, and my strong interpersonal skills would be a great fit.
Self Introduction In Interview
Courtesy: Career Sidekick
The moment you are escorted to the interview room, you start panicking and thinking about all the possible questions and answers you could frame in that short period of time. However, we often ignore the importance of the very first question about our introduction in the interview. Just sit back and note down the following pointers on how to ace self-introduction.
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Read And Review The Job Description
Youve received a call for that dream job, so how do you prepare for the interview? The first step in the preparation process should be to go back and review the job description. Most job descriptions follow a similar pattern and are usually categorised by the following points:
- Job title/Department
- Duties and tasks
- Skills required
The job title and department will give you an understanding of the major purpose of the position and where the role fits into the organisation, allowing you to discover who your potential line manager could be.
Read and review the job description very thoroughly and be sure to align your competencies with the skills required for the job. You will consequently ready yourself for questions around your previous experiences, performing similar duties in other organisations.
What Do You Think We Could Do Better Or Differently
This question can really do a number on you. How do you give a meaty answer without insulting the company or, worse, the person youre speaking with? Well first, take a deep breath. Then start your response with something positive about the company or specific product youve been asked to discuss. When youre ready to give your constructive feedback, give some background on the perspective youre bringing to the table and explain why youd make the change youre suggesting . And if you end with a question, you can show them youre curious about the company or product and open to other points of view. Try: Did you consider that approach here? Id love to know more about your process.
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