Job Interviews

What is an interview?

The whole idea of a job interview is to get you face to face with your potential employer.The primary idea of a job interview is to get you to communicate with an employer.
• through the course of the interview they take you through a series of questions that they need to ask you, relevant to the job
• they will give you the opportunity to sell yourself by giving the answers to the interview questions
• you have the opportunity to ask them questions about the job as well

What will be expected of me in an interview?

Expectations:
1. A series of questions which will be both job-related and company-related. What the interviewer wants to see here?
• that you've done your homework,
• you've done your research,
• you've been on the web site,
• you know quite a lot about the company and where it's going,
• you know quite a lot even about the individual that's interviewing you for the job.

2. They're going to think about what your expectations of the role are. During the job interview, you can expect that they will ask you about how you would perform certain tasks within that role that they're specifying.

3. The interview provides you with an opportunity to ask questions back, but you've also got the opportunity to sell yourself within their interview process.

What are the typical stages to an interview?

1. The first stage to a job interview is the icebreaker.
• once you've walked in, signed in and gone through reception,
• you're taken up to see your interviewer, who will sit down for this first interview stage and ask you a very light question about the weather, for example, or how your trip was there.

Afterwards the whole process becomes more formalized.
In a very good interview, the interviewer will say to you, "These are the stages of the interview process, of the meeting that we're having now. I'm going to ask you questions, then for the next stage I'd like you to ask me any questions about the role, and then we'll make a decision somewhere further down."

They are trying to manage your expectations of their interview process and make you feel a little bit more comfortable by breaking it down into stages.

You need to:
• think about the icebreaker,
• what you need to say about that and
• how you say it.

2. The second stage is:
• focusing you on what they expect from the interview process

3. The third and last stage represent:
• your opportunity to come back with questions at the end of the interview process.

What should I wear to an interview?

Well, it depends on the environment you're working in.
• you may go to a professional organization that requires you to wear a suit and tie.
• or you may go to a rather more modern media or IT company for an interview where they expect you to wear smart casual clothes.
• other times, jeans and t-shirt are acceptable to wear to a job interview.

Consider the type of industry you're seeking a job in, and you have to get a good feel for what is acceptable to wear. When you're invited to go for a job interview, is ok when you ask what the dress code is.

What time should I arrive?

If you are the kind of type that get very excited about going to an interview and you want to get there early to make a good impression, than better don't!

• the earliest you should arrive on the premises is a maximum of ten minutes before your interview is to start.
• if you arrive late, that's a bad first impression.

Do I always have to wear a suit to an interview?

• you don't need always to wear a suit and tie.
• you need to consider the type of industry that you'll be working in and the dress code that that company adopts.
• phone up or e-mail and say: "What will I be expected to wear at the job interview?" You want to get it right.

How should I behave in an interview?

• the best thing you can do is avoid too much humor during the interview
• avoid also behaving with too much arrogance
• don't try to be cocky,
• don't try to be over-confident,
• don't try to be clever.
Behave respectfully and be professional throughout the job interview.

What's the best way to sell myself in an interview?

• do your research prior to the interview.
• be very well prepared.
• have specific questions.
• sell yourself by making sure you are showing evidence that you've looked at the website and spent a lot of time preparing for the job interview process.
In this way you will score a lot of points with your potential employer.

What sort of questions will I be asked in an interview?

• questions about your employment history and your education
• questions that are related to the type of role that you're applying for.
• don't be surprised if they ask you to give an example of a time in the past when you've behaved in a certain way.

Here are five things that most employers want to know about you:

1. They want to know if you are qualified for the position.
What are your greatest strengths?
Do you have experience in this field?
What do you believe you bring to this job?
Why should I hire you?

2. They want to know what motivates you.
What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort?
Where do you see yourself five years from now?
What is more important to you, the money or the job?
What did you like most about your last job?

3. They want to know about the negatives.
Why did you leave your previous job?
What did you like least about your last supervisor?
What is your greatest weakness?
What did you like least about your last job?
Why have you been unemployed so long?

4. They want to know if you are a good fit.
What kind of people do you find it hard to work with?
Tell me about a time when you worked as a member of a team.
In what kind of environment are you most comfortable?
Do you prefer to work alone or with others?

5. They want to know if you want their job with their company.
What are you looking for in a position?
Who else are you interviewing with?
Why are you interested in this position?
What do you know about the company?

Often you'll find in a job interview that one question leads to a very much deeper one underneath, so be prepared.

What are role play questions?

The idea of role-play questions in a job interview is for the prospective employer to actually look at how you might behave in a particular scenario that they are familiar with.

You may be asked to role-play a customer service situation.
For example, the interviewer may ask you to pretend to be receiving a call from a stranger where you're asked lots of challenging questions that are relevant to the role you may have to perform in.

Role-play is drama.

Role-play is all about looking at how you're likely to respond if when put into that type of scenario. Remember that a job interview is make-believe. Role-play is kind of getting underneath that make-believe and making it a bit more real and a bit more relevant to the interviewer and the job itself.

What questions should I ask in an interview?

First of all, questions should be:
• relevant to the role,
• relevant to the industry,
• relevant to the person who's going to be managing you.

You can for example ask:
• "What would my typical day look like?"
• "Can I go and have a look at where I might be working if you take me onboard?"

These are all questions that show your interest in a job. They are looking for you to have done your homework and be taking the job interview process seriously.

What questions shouldn't I ask in an interview?

Some of the worst examples of questions asked by potential employees during a job interview are things like:
• "How many paid sick days do I get per year? "
• "What time do I have to finish on Fridays?"
• "Do I have to be in at nine o'clock every morning?"

These questions display too much attitude and totally the wrong sort of questions to ask during a job interview. Ask questions that inspire confidence in your future employer!

Should I mention salary in the interview?

Many people are afraid and don't know if this kind of question should be addressed in an interview. There is nothing wrong with asking how much your salary would be in a job interview, and when you'd get paid it.

Employers don't look at it as a bad question.

Should I lie in an interview to get the job?

I will recommend you never to lie in an interview, or even extend the truth. You will be caught out. It's guaranteed. Companies will actually go through your C.V. anyway and look at the history. Employers will find out if you are trying to fraudulently obtain the job.

Should I just be myself in an interview?

My recommendation:
• try to be relaxed and
• really try to be yourself,

Employers don't want to see a super person in front of them.
They want to see the real person that they could be working with for some length of time. So, just be yourself.

What are the golden rules to surviving an interview?

• be prepared.
• know exactly where you're going for the interview.
• ask yourself if you need change for parking.
• do they have free car parking?
• will you be traveling to the job interview by train or tube?
• do you know how long it's going to take you to sign in?
• if it's a big organization in a big building, it can often take you five or ten minutes just to get through security, and thus to survive the interview you will need to allow extra time.
• you need to know who is going to be interviewing you.
• a golden rule to survive is to make sure you remember their names. Look them up on the website prior to the job interview. Know what their roles are about.
• know what your potential role is going to be all about.
• make sure you've done your homework on the company.
• make sure you have questions ready.
• make sure that there are no unexpected surprises for you, and you will be able to survive a job interview.

How long will an interview take?

• a first interview should take anywhere between thirty minutes and an hour. An interview is somebody getting to know you - and you getting to know them - and deciding whether you like the look of the role and whether they think you're suitable.
• if somebody considers you for an assessment center, then it could take anything from half a day to a day.
• if it's a panel interview or a second interview, you're probably looking at least an hour, because they're trying to find out more about you and whether you're suitable in the process.

Do I need to make notes during an interview?

Yes, it's important that you make notes during a job interview, be it the first or second, or a panel interview. If is very difficult to make notes during the interview, especially if you are doing a presentation for somebody, always ask "Is it OK for me to make notes as I go along?"
Normally, the interviewer or interviewers will say yes.

Do I need to make notes after the interview?

Yes, it can always be a good idea after the interview to make a few notes while everything is still fresh in your mind.
When we are nervous, hurried or not as prepared as we wanted to be in a job interview, we may forget to ask certain questions. If you get invited back for a second interview the notes you take after the first job interview might be questions that you want to address when you return.

Wish you good luck!
Gabriela