Author |
Message |
Herckleperckle
Member
11-20-2003
| Monday, July 17, 2006 - 5:13 pm
Source: Paul's Tips Do job interviews like a pro The mere thought of going to a job interview turns many otherwise mature people into frightened babies. I have no official statistics, but I’m certain that large swathes of the workforce cling to their hated jobs because selling themselves to a stranger across a table is just too terrifying to contemplate. Yet being good at job interviews is one of the most important skills that anyone can acquire. You may be the best person with the most experience for the job, but if you bomb in the first interview, you can wave that nice salary package good-bye. There are a myriad of books out there on good interviewing techniques. Some are excellent, but most are dry and cover the same ground that your career counsellor did in high school. I’ll skip over the “make sure your shirt is ironed and your shoes are clean” parts and go straight to the meat. Here are my top tips for interviewing success. Interviewing is selling This point seems obvious, but it’s worth clarifying. People like to pretend that job interviews are some kind of sacred ritual; but when you get down to it, you’re selling something. That something is yourself. The thought of selling makes many people think of sleazy car salesman or life insurance fast talkers. Sales techniques do include the hard-close, but can also include the professional explanation. You should opt for the latter. Get yourself some books on sales techniques and study up. Selling is central to any business including You Inc. If you neglect polishing your skills in this area, you are going to be far less successful than you could be. Get some practice The more interviews you go to, the easier they get. The trial-by-fire perception that lurks within your subconscious will quickly disappear once you’ve attended a few. People who change jobs every year or so quickly learn the types of questions they’ll be asked. They also learn what works and what doesn’t. Even if you’re not actively seeking work, it may be worthwhile to go to some interviews just to keep in practice. Nobody’s going to force you to take a job that you don’t want. Don’t lie If the interviewer asks about something that you don’t know or haven’t got any experience of - say so. Pretending you’re something you’re not is easy on paper. Face-to-face it’s much more difficult. If the interviewer isn’t an expert on the field you will be working in, they’ll most likely bring along someone who is. If you lie about your skills or experience, you will almost certainly get caught. People hate being lied to and they’re unlikely to employ someone who they see as less than honest. The best approach is to say: “I’m sorry, but I haven’t done that before. I’m keen to learn though.” Arrive fifteen minutes early Let the receptionist know you’ve arrived, then sit down and read the newspaper. This will give you a chance to cool down from the heavy traffic or public transport problems you endured to get there. Rushing in at the last minute is going to make you stressed when you should be relaxed. If you’ve never physically seen the building where the interview is taking place, arrive half an hour early and check where it is. This means you won’t be rushing around looking for it five minutes before you’re due to arrive. Don’t actually enter the building until fifteen minutes before though. Smile and be friendly Treat the interviewers with respect, but make it friendly respect. Smiling and making a joke can often break the tension. Your interviewers want to know that you’ll be easy to work with. If you need technical knowledge, read up in the days before It’s impossible to know everything about technical areas, but going over the basics before walking in to an interview can pay off handsomely. Look for areas where you don’t know as much as you should, or skills that are needed but that you haven’t used for a while. If you read up on them the night before, the facts will be fresh in your mind when you walk in. Don’t lose your cool Any professional with a few years experience has been to a horror interview. Whether you’re faced with who’s got something to prove, or a manager who likes belittling others, losing your cool is unprofessional. Smile, nod, answer politely and walk out glad that you’ll never have to work in that hell-hole. Don’t take rejection personally If they decide not to hire you, it’s no big deal. Other dream jobs will come along. Tell yourself that it’s their loss. Two or three unsuccessful interviews in a row can become disheartening. Feel bad about it for a day or so, then dust yourself off and go out to face another prospective employer. Persistence pays and it’s only a matter of time before someone will hire you.
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Monday, July 17, 2006 - 5:28 pm
Great tips! I hope I get to use them soon!
|
Herckleperckle
Member
11-20-2003
| Monday, July 17, 2006 - 5:28 pm
Annie, I'm betting on it!
|
Herckleperckle
Member
11-20-2003
| Sunday, July 30, 2006 - 9:04 pm
International Business Etiquette Proper Greeting Techniques Link: Greeting Protocols
|
Texannie
Member
07-16-2001
| Thursday, November 15, 2007 - 7:51 am
I guess this is the right place for this. My interview went well yesterday. I have to go back and speak with the various department managers. One of the things they would like me to do is develop an action plan for how i would handle my first weeks, month, 60 days on the job. uh..learn it, just doesn't sound like enough! LOL it would almost be a dual purpose action plan, showing how i would learn the job while i am doing the job. any hints on how to write it? format, things that should be included ect? this would be for an instore marketing, special events and community relations for a specialty grocery store.
|
Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Thursday, November 15, 2007 - 9:00 pm
Resimay To hoom it mae cunsern, I waunt to apply for the offiser job what I saw in the paper. I can Type real quik wit one finggar and do sum a counting. I think I am good on the phone and no I am a pepole person, Pepole really seam to respond to me well. Certain men and all the ladies. Im lookin for a Jobb as a offiser but it musent be to complicaited. I no my spelling is not to good but find that I Offen can get a job thru my persinalety. My salerery is open so we can discus wat you want to pay me and wat you think that I am werth, I can start imeditely. Thank you in advanse fore yore anser. hopifuly Yore best aplicant so farr. Sinseerly, BRYAN nikname Beefy PS : Because my resimay is a bit short - below is a pickture of me.
Employer's response:..... Dear Beefy-I mean Bryan, It's OK honey, we've got spell check. You're hired.
|
Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Thursday, November 15, 2007 - 10:44 pm
Question: I am at a current job, but looking for something better. I do have them on my resume, and a couple of my managers know I am unhappy, and have agreed to be a secret reference. Anyways, on a recent interview, they asked me a couple of really hard questions. They asked me "How is it working at where you are?" and then they also asked me what I was most proud of there. What do you say to that, when you really are losing things to be proud of, but you know you look like crap if you bad mouth your current place. But really, if you really were SOOOO happy at the current place, why would you be looking elsewhere?
|
Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Thursday, November 15, 2007 - 11:01 pm
Texannie, I have no experience in your field, but I'd say you should find a list of action items that you'd like to do. Like shadow the previous person to pick up ideas (if that's possible), ask the customers a few questions to get ideas of what they would want, go to other similar shops and see what they are doing. It sounds like they're asking what ideas you'd have to improve the job you'd be doing. Eeyore, you need to phrase it to show that you want to better yourself. E.g. if your current job is boring, say you want to be challenged more; if you feel underappreciated say that you feel you have outgrown your current role and as the opportunity for promotion isn't available there you have decided to move to a more challenging role. The person who's interviewing you will probably know something's wrong with the old job, they just want to get an idea of what you expect from this new job.
|
Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Friday, November 16, 2007 - 7:00 am
It's not a good idea to say negative things about your current job or employer. Try to phrase it in a positive growth kind of way. Kitt's phrasing was excellent. A funny related story. I was interviewing someone for a position and asking him fairly standard questions, and he informed me that he was looking for a new job because his current boss is an idiot. I said rather diplomatically that of course that happens sometimes and asked him about his previous employer. Who oddly enough, by coincidence was also an idiot. And so on. Needless to say, I didn't offer him the job.
|
Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Friday, November 16, 2007 - 9:38 am
LOL Jimmer! That's hilarious!! Most bosses ARE idiots. Just kidding. OK, here's a story that sort of belongs in the rant section, but it gives an idea of why I'm having trouble being proud of our place. I'll write it small, so people looking for interview advice don't waste their time on it. OK, so the restaurant I am working at right now (and have been for 4 years) is sliding in its standards. The GM is an idiot. Really. He shows up for about 10 hours a week, and honestly, even all of the other managers don't know what he does in those 10 hours. He hasn't been able to work a floor shift in 2 years, because he just plain doesn't know how to run the floor, make server sections, cut people, expedite food, seat tables, etc. Really, he is incapable of functioning on the floor. Other managers who want to improve the restaurant and try things out, propose things that he says no to, because he's got this inferiority complex. If he's not going to spend energy doing a good job, he can't let OTHER people do a good job and outshine him. So as a result, good people have left, and the new people we hire are not expected to live up to any service standards whatsoever. I work in the fine dining room, and the casual area still USED TO conform to fine dining standards, just without the white linen. But the good managers have also left, and now the servers downstairs don't care about anything. I'm not just saying this; diner review sites show the decline in customer satisfaction too. So the drop in customers leads to the raise of prices, so the bills can get paid. Unfortunately, the quality of the food is NOT worth the pricing. It's good food, but the prices are on par with some of THE BEST restaurants of Vancouver, and we are definitely not that. If you're going to charge 38 dollars for a meal, you need to have a GREAT plate of food and the surroundings and service level to match. We do not offer that anymore. Let's also note that the head chef barely shows up at work anymore, taking the lead from the GM. A chef should be there for the dinner volume, but he takes Friday and Saturday nights off. It's ridiculous. So what am I most proud of? Honestly, I am not proud of anything anymore. I answered the question by saying I was proud of the upstairs fine dining room, and the view. Upstairs, there are only 4 people in the building who are allowed to work there (that includes me). We are good friends, we pool the room, and we are strong, strong servers who pay a lot of attention to detail. Here's an example. Downstairs has downstairs cutlery, upstairs has upstairs heavy cutlery; and we also have a pub next door that has CRAP cutlery. The valets order food from next door, then bring the dishes in to our dishwasher. Downstairs, there are PLENTY of times servers have set the table with both upstairs cutlery, AND cutlery from the pub!! Nobody cares down there. And management doesn't bother calling people on their transgressions, because some managers don't even KNOW to correct people, and some just don't care anymore. So basically, I'm NOT proud of anything at my job anymore. I NEED to get out. I love my friends upstairs and the quality of our service and room, but that room is only open 2 times a week, so I need something more. So having a better picture of my work, what IS there to be proud of? Even with my little answer about upstairs, I know I'm sort of implying that I hate the rest of the place. As well, the reputation of our restaurant is sliding, and so to pretend I'm proud of this place, might also paint me as someone who doesn't take pride in my work. If my restaurant sucks, and I say I'm so proud of it, what does that say about me? I've fantasized about saying, "Look, let's be honest here; I'm not looking for a job elsewhere because I'm happy at my current place. I've been there for 4 years, so I don't think my loyalty should be questioned. But we all know my restaurant is sliding, and I am no longer proud of the service and product that is going out all around me. I take a lot of pride in where I work, and my own personal service level, and I need to work in a place that shares that pride. This is why I am applying here. I don't mean to insult my current place, and I realize that is what it seems. But when I am proud of where I work, I speak very highly of the place, but when I can no longer feel proud at my job, I quietly look elsewhere." I know that's not the right thing to say, but it's truly how I am, and how I feel. I don't trash my current place, but I DO recognize that I need to get out.
|
Kitt
Member
09-06-2000
| Friday, November 16, 2007 - 11:03 am
I don't think your fantasy answer is far off the mark. You're proud of the job you do, you're proud of how your small team works together to make it the best experience for your patrons. There's no need to say you're proud of the establishment itself if you're not. I think in this case, particularly as it sounds like your potential employer would know your current restaurant and its position, you could safely say something like management changes have resulted in a change in focus at your current job and you would like to work somewhere that puts emphasis on customer satisfaction and takes pride in providing top notch service the same way that you do. You don't have to actually say what your current job does wrong, just say what you want your new job to do and how that matches your personal qualities.
|
Karen
Member
09-07-2004
| Friday, November 16, 2007 - 12:08 pm
Eeyore, it's possible to be honest about the situation without slamming your current employer. I'm in pretty much the same situation as you, I left my last position for a slew of negative reasons (check the Take This Job And... thread for details). Without saying "they were horrible people to work for", I'm able to tell potential employers that I left my last position because I felt I wasn't being treated the way I should be, because I didn't agree with the business model they subscribed to, and because I wanted to work in an environment where I could be proud of my job. It's kind of a backhanded way to say something mean without actually being rude about it, if that makes sense. Also, if you're looking to leave MM for another restaurant, chances are other managers of local restaurants are aware of the goings on at your restaurant already (this is what I've been finding as I interview for other media studios). You can use that to your advantage if you speak candidly, but respectfully, about the reasons you're looking for a change. Good luck! And remember that a lot of employers understand the need for secrecy during the process.
|
Sugar
Member
08-15-2000
| Wednesday, October 01, 2008 - 8:04 am
I have a conference call tomorrow for possibly being a consultant with a company is competing with my former employer. According to the email, they are specifically looking for someone with experience with the former employer. I'm guessing that they did an online resume search using the company as a search word. I was very good at my job but am not sure I know just what would be expected from a consultant. I would appreciate any thoughts or ideas anyone might have.
|
Eeyoreslament
Member
07-20-2003
| Monday, February 16, 2009 - 2:13 pm
Advice please: I am currently applying for a MUCH higher job where I currently work. I am currently a student computer lab tech, in that I answer questions on how to use the university's systems and equipment. There is a job posting up in the sort of...head office of my department, that is a "user experience analyst". Basically, we got a brand new mail/calendar system (which I am front line support for in my current position), and the job would be to coordinate training, multimedia documentation, and other support needs. I don't have a comp-sci degree, but I have two minors in Education, and my work experience is supporting this EXACT system. Now, there is an internal candidate (the girl who is currently doing the job), but rumor is that she isn't working out (lazy? not a good teacher?). I am applying, and I think I would be AMAZING at the job, because I am a GREAT teacher, I am already supporting this on a daily basis, so I know what NEEDS to be supported, etc. Anyways, one of the things in the job description is "The successful candidate will bring creative an innovative perspectives from the user community and their own observations to the software development process." I have a kazillion INTERNAL references, I have people encouraging me to apply, I have a good educational and professional background to be a perfect fit for the job. What I wonder, is if I DO get an interview, and I am asked something like "What do you think could improve about ________" or "What kinds of ideas would you think should be implemented if you took the job", would it be good to blab all of my ideas, or, do you hold your ideas tight to the chest, and only share them once you are hired. My concern is that I could be USED for ideas, then not get the job, and they use the ideas anyways. Like, if I say, "produce one minute online tutorials" and then they don't hire me but go and produce the online tutorials, then it doesn't work out for me. But if I say anything to the effect of "I'll only tell you if you hire me." then they'll think I'm a jerk, and won't hire me anyways. Anyone have any advice?
|
Dipo
Member
04-23-2002
| Monday, February 16, 2009 - 2:57 pm
LOL, I love the don't tell part. You should figure out one example of what you would do and hopefully you can relate it to some of the on the job expertise. Like " I was helping a user and it occurred to me that we could make several one minute tutorials that would help for a majority of the questions I field every day." or something like that. Don't give up all your ideas or you won't have any to impress with when you get the job. Oh and start saying when I have the job I will...whenever you have conversations with yourself about the job, application or interview. I believe if you put it out to the universe you will get the reward. Good Luck!!
|
Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Monday, February 16, 2009 - 9:17 pm
Eeyores I think the job is all but yours, but I don't have a lot of time right now to give you the perfect rejoinder, and I am pretty sure I could do that given some time and working brain cells. But we have company, and it is late tonight. But yeah, along the lines Dipo said. Maybe you give them an easy one and then say I also have ideas for this and this and this areas. And then if they press you for details you say you don't have them copyrighted at the moment. Um, do they have rivals you might go to work for? Could we work something up along those lines? But subtle, very subtle.
|
|