TIPs

The primary purpose of this website is to teach individuals landing the best job, to sell and promote themselves in all types of job interview!

MissConsult.com focus on how to be successful self-selling in job market, If you are one of person who looking for the best job for yourself, please read this tips!

What are the basic requirements when job hunting? What do you need to know and do in order to achieve success?

Your first thought must be that you will create your own ‘luck’ by setting yourself up for success. Understand the process of Job selection processes. Do whatever it takes to prepare yourself to win the position that you want!

1. Get the Perfect Interview Tools; Resume / CV and Cover Letter as your best representative and to show that you are the best qualify for the job.
2. Make the right contacts and them make the most of them.
3. Don’t give up!

Interview tools: Resume / CV / Cover Letters

You just sent your resume out and, taking stock of yourself, realize that your good looks, tailored suit, and charming demeanor don’t count for much at this pivotal moment. The only thing that really matte is what you have said about yourself-in writing- to a total stranger.

Think about it: You have two minutes to make an impression that can determine the quality of your life for the next three, five, or maybe even ten years. Your resume is one of hundreds that are sent to a big company on any given day.

A lot is riding on that first impression. So what actually happens when your resume lands in the Human Resources (HR) department of a major corporation?

If the company software doesn’t bounce your resume back into cyberspace because there aren’t any keywords that match its needs, it might get a quick once-over. And if there are no errors and your qualifications don’t sound overstated, the resume might get a second look, and then the HR specialist might even read your cover letter. It’s two-minute judgment call that will determine the outcome of your job search.

Without a doubt, getting in the company door can be a challenge, especially in an economy like this. And your resume, cover letter is your representative so that do it best otherwise you will waste your time and get nothing!

KNOW THE INTERVIEW FORMAT

Interview format is determined by the nature of the organization, but there are various standard formats.

Chronological interviews

These work chronologically through your life to date and are usually based on your CV or a completed application form.

Competency-based interviews

These are structured to reflect the competencies that an employer is seeking for a particular job (often detailed in the recruitment information). The chances are you will have focused on these in your application form. This is the most common type of interview for graduate positions today.

Technical interviews

If you have applied for a job or course that requires technical knowledge (eg positions in engineering or IT) it is likely, at some stage in the selection process, that you will be asked technical questions or have a separate technical interview to test your knowledge. Questions may focus on your final year project and your choice of approach to it or on real/hypothetical technical problems. You should be prepared to prove yourself but also to admit to what you don’t know (stress that you are keen to learn).

Case study interviews

Used largely by consulting firms, these can range from a straightforward brainteaser to the analysis of a hypothetical business problem.

You will be evaluated on your analysis of the problem, how you identify the key issues, how you pursue a particular line of thinking and whether you can develop and present an appropriate framework for organizing your thoughts. There is no perfect way to solve each problem and how you reach your solution is often more important than the solution itself

SPECIFIC TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

Face-to-face interviews

These are one-to-one meetings between the candidate and the interviewer, popular with many organizations.

Telephone interviews

Telephone interviews are increasingly used by companies as an integral part of the recruitment process. Most commonly, they are used as a method of initial screening but some use them as far down the line as third or fourth interviews. The majority of companies inform you in advance and usually pre-arrange a time with you but you should also be prepared for those who just ring!

The important things to remember about telephone interviews are:

• it is just as important to make a good impression on the telephone; as with face-to face interviews, first impressions count;
• be aware of how you sound (there are no visual clues) - rehearse on the telephone with a friend or record practice answers on a tape recorder; make sure you allow enough time - interviews can take up to an hour; be prepared - you could be called at any time so make sure that the recorded response on your answering machine is suitable and that flat mates are briefed to take a detailed, sensible message;
• Keep a list of job applications by the phone, plus a copy of your Resume / CV, a pen, paper, diary (in case you are invited to a meeting/second interview) and a list of questions to ask potential employers.

Types of telephone interview :

       Unannounced -someone from the organization or their nominated recruitment agency calls you after receiving your CV or application form. Questions are often similar to those asked at a first face-to-face interview.

       Prearranged -you are contacted beforehand to arrange a time to carry out the interview. You are likely to be briefed as to the style of questions at this stage. You may have an automated interview, where you are sent a personal identification number (PIN) and asked to call the company within a specified time period. You are then required to respond to various statements via a touchtone telephone. The time you take to respond may be taken into account.

       Sales interviews - you may be asked to try and sell something to the interviewer (these are only likely if it is appropriate to the job for which you have applied).

       Research interviews -some companies ask you to carry out a piece of research before the telephone interview and ask you questions on it during the call. For example, if you have applied to the graduate recruitment scheme of a supermarket, they may ask you to carry out some customer research on a certain product or aspect, such as store layout, and then ask for your findings.

Video interviews

These are rare but not unheard of, particularly if you have applied for an overseas position. As far as possible, you should treat them as traditional interviews: dress as you would for a conventional interview; address your answers to the interviewer (ie to the camera rather than the display screen); and listen carefully to the questions and instructions, asking the interviewer to repeat anything that you don’t understand.

Sequential interviews

These are several interviews in turn, with a different interviewer each time. Usually, each interviewer will ask questions to test different sets of competencies. However, you may find yourself answering the same questions over and over. If this does happen, make sure you answer each one as fully as the time before.

Panel interviews

These involve several people sitting on a panel. The actual number of interviewers can vary but there is usually a chairperson to co-ordinate the questions, a specialist who knows about the job in detail and an HR manager. These are popular in the public sector, including education and local government.

INTERVIEW PREPARATION

Preparation is a key part of any interview process and yet many fail to commit enough time. Remember, you only have one chance to make a good impression! Preparation will help you better manage any nerves once the interview is underway.

PRACTICAL PREPARATION

What format is the interview?

Don’t be afraid to ask:

• how long will the interview last;
• are there any group exercises; do I need to prepare anything; are there any other tests or selection methods being used?

Finding out as much as possible not only helps with your preparation but also puts your mind at ease.

Where is the interview?

Make sure you:

• know how to get to the venue and how long the journey takes; have maps, train times, etc, in advance; check for any planned disruptions to road or rail services; leave plenty of time so you are not rushing;
• if necessary, find out if travel and overnight accommodation are paid for; if you have a disability, check the physical access to the premises and indicate any additional support that you might require in the interview.

Try to remember to tell someone where you are going and when you expect to return (you may want to leave an address and telephone number). Beware of going into private dwellings for an interview.

What to take?

Plan what you want to take with you so that you can pack your bag in plenty of time. You should consider taking:

• the interview letter, with the name(s) of the interviewer(s) and their address and phone number;
• a map of how to get there
• a copy of your Resume / CV and/or application form;
• a note of the key points you want to make and any questions you want to ask;
• money, for a taxi in case you are running late or to make a phone call if necessary (or a mobile phone but remember to switch it off when you arrive).

What to wear?

Make sure you are dressed appropriately for the position for which you are being interviewed. Some companies have a much more relaxed approach to dress than others but, if in doubt, wear a suit. You won’t be criticized for being too smart but employers will notice if you walk in wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt!

Check the letter carefully, particularly if there is a social element to the interview (perhaps a dinner for candidates the night before).

The following tips from employers should help:

• Ensure that you maintain impeccable standards of personal hygiene but avoid using overpowering deodorants, aftershave or perfume.
• Your hair should be neat and tidy and your shoes and clothes clean.
• Avoid inappropriate jewellery. Visible body piercings, ankle chains or personalized necklaces may not be suitable. Men should restrict jewellery to cuff-links and a signet or wedding ring.
• Dress appropriately. It is important that you look smart for your interview but equally important that you feel comfortable. Men should avoid short-sleeved shirts and gimmicky ties or socks. Socks, by the way, should never be white. Women should avoid very short skirts, very high heels and heavy make-up.

Make sure that your interview outfit is ready the night before, get a good night’s sleep and set off in good time.

MENTAL PREPARATION


It is important to think about how you might answer certain types of question beforehand but you should also consider the competencies they are looking for (as detailed in the job description/ person specification/advert) as well as actual questions. How will you provide evidence of certain qualities? If you are asked about being a team player, what evidence will you use to show this?

Make sure you cover the five areas below in your mental preparation

Knowledge about yourself

It is important to remind yourself of the messages you have conveyed through your Resume / CV/application form and to be prepared to discuss anything you have included. Read through your application and imagine you are the interviewer. What questions would you ask in their position? Make sure you can give at least one positive example (preferably more) for each of the skills and attributes the employer is seeking.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Why do I want this job?
• Why should this organisation select me?
• What are my ambitions?
• What are my strengths and weaknesses?
• What have I gained from my degree?
• What skills have I gained from my work-related and extracurricular activities?

If you need to think about when and how to declare a disability, you should think carefully about the message you want to convey and how you can best highlight the coping strategies you have developed. These will convey positive messages about your competence, motivation and perseverance. For further advice about disclosure, contact SKILL (National Bureau for Students with Disabilities) and refer to the AGCAS publication A Level Playing Field.

Knowledge about the job itself

It sounds obvious but it is important that you know what job you are applying for. You will struggle to explain how your qualifications, skills and experiences relate to the opportunity on offer if you do not have a clear understanding of what the job entails. If possible, speak to people already doing the type of work you are interested in. Increasingly, employers are adding case studies of employees to their websites, which can provide an interesting insight into the day-to-day activities of certain roles.

You do not need to know exactly what you would be doing but an understanding of the types of activities you would be involved in will help.

Ask yourself:

• what does the job involve;
• what skills will I need to perform the job well;
• what skills, interests and motivation do I already have for the job;
• what examples can I give from work, academic study or outside interests to show I have the skills the employer is seeking?

Knowledge about the organization

This will demonstrate your interest and enthusiasm for working for this particular organization and will enable you to prepare some questions of your own for the interview. Most employers will expect you to display some understanding of their business, its size, products/services and the sector in which it operates. Memorizing the year’s financial performance is not necessary but it is important to read recent information about the organization and to be aware of its competitors. Read their graduate recruitment brochure, have a look at their website and, if possible, their annual report. Many employer websites have press archives of articles that have been issued by them or have appeared in the local/national press.

Questions to ask yourself:

• What do I know about this organization/ function/subject?
• What attracts me to this organization/ function/subject?
• What relevant work experience/degree modules/research project have I done?
• What experience do I have of relevant technical skills/techniques?
• What kind of training/additional skills would I like to gain?

Make sure that you are up to date with developments in the sector to which you are applying. Is it in a state of growth or decline? How is the market changing or developing? How are organizations responding? Consult with your coach for an overview of a range of employment sectors.

Current affairs/commercial awareness

Whatever the position you are applying for, don’t be surprised if you are asked for your views on current affairs and issues of the day. An interview won’t be a general knowledge test but you should have a general idea and understanding of what is going on in the world at large.

Your questions

Prepare two or three questions that you would really like answered. This can be a good opportunity to reveal positive aspects about yourself that the interviewer’s questions may not have elicited. Good questions to ask are those that demonstrate your eagerness to develop within the organization and take on responsibility. Questions about training or what the process is for progression in the company are also a good idea but make sure these are relevant to the organization (saying you would like to develop to managing director as quickly as possible in a company of ten people is not realistic and may put an interviewer off). This is also a good opportunity for you to demonstrate your research into the organization by asking questions about relevant articles you may have read, for example:

‘ I read in the newspaper last week that you are expanding into Europe. Is the company thinking of expanding into any other markets?’

Remember:

show an interest - ask about the job, organisation, employees, products and processes;
don’t ask about pay, pensions or other perks - it is not appropriate at this stage; don’t ask questions that have been answered in the graduate brochure or other literature sent out with the invitation to interview.

Remember that the interview is also a chance to find out more about the role and the organisation so that you can make an informed decision if you are offered the job. You might want to ask:

• How will I be assessed/my performance appraised?
• What factors distinguish successful employees from less successful ones?
• What has happened to previous post-holders in terms of development?

PSYCHOLOGICAL PREPARATION

Approach the interview with confidence and a positive frame of mind. Selectors like to see enthusiasm but will not expect a word-perfect performance; if you make a mistake, just forget it and move on.

If you are very nervous, you may want to investigate ways to relax before your interview.

• Try visualisation exercises as part of your preparation. Relax and visualise yourself being enthusiastic and successful at the forthcoming interview. Preparing yourself for success can make success a more likely outcome.
• Try positive affirmations to eliminate any negative feelings. Identify your main concern about the interview (eg ‘everyone else will be better than me’) and write yourself a positive statement, in the first person and in the present tense, to address it. You might try ‘I am the strongest candidate for the job’. Relax and say your positive affirmation to yourself – out loud if you can – at the start of the day and repeat it whenever you are feeling nervous.

THE INTERVIEW ITSELF

The fact that you have been invited to interview is a sign that the selectors are already impressed with what you have to say. The next step is to show them that you are as good as your application has suggested.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

First impressions are important. An interview may last for 30 minutes or more but studies have shown that someone forms judgements about you within four minutes of meeting you and that these judgements affect their subsequent impressions. Research shows that first impressions are made up of the following:

55% visual impact, ie dress, facial expressions and body language;
38% tone of voice;
7% from what you actually say.

All is not lost if you are very nervous at the outset but try to create the best first impression you can – a warm smile and firm handshake will help.

BODY LANGUAGE

Body or non-verbal language might be defined as ‘what we say without saying anything’. Much of the impact you create at interview is based on your visual and non-verbal presentation.

Non-verbal presentation is composed of:

• how you look -see ‘Practical preparation’ above;
• how you walk, sit, act -sit reasonably upright – slouching or leaning too far back in your chair can give the impression that you are too casual about the whole thing. If you tend to flap your hands around a lot when you speak, try to hold them together. However, don’t cross your arms as it can make you appear defensive. Moderate hand movements are perfectly acceptable and can enliven the conversation;
• eye contact -good eye contact is essential and is an excellent way of conveying your interest in the job. Looking downwards or at anything other than the interviewer can make you appear disinterested and insincere. Maintaining good eye contact can also help you gauge the interviewer’s reaction to what you are saying (to see whether you should be expanding on your answers). With panel interviews, the best advice is to look at and answer the person asking the questions, with a glance from time to time at the other interviewers;
• the style, tone and delivery of your voice try not to talk too fast and keep your tone moderate. This can be difficult when you are nervous but take a deep breath before you start to answer a question and work on keeping your answers concise. Rehearse your answers beforehand and monitor your speed and tone. Don’t use slang and watch out for too many ‘ers’ and ‘ums’. Practising beforehand, especially in front of someone else, can help you identify any bad habits;
• how confident you appear to be -try to relax. An interview is also about deciding if you will fit into the organization so try to smile and establish a rapport with your interviewer.

THEIR QUESTIONS

With thorough preparation, you are in a good position to respond effectively to questions and display knowledge of yourself, the job and the organization to which you are applying. Remember that some interviewers may be inexperienced and untrained; not only does this mean that they may be nervous too but also that they may not be best placed to get the best out of you. You need to make sure you are providing all the information they require.

The following points may help:

• Be prepared to talk -avoid yes/no answers and expand as often as possible. Don’t, however, over-communicate; it can be tempting to talk too much. Don’t talk yourself out of a job trying to fill silences left by the interviewer! Take your cue from the interviewer and, if you are not sure that they have heard enough, ask if they would like you to continue.
• Ask for clarification if you need it -this not only helps you to answer the question asked but also demonstrates confidence and control.
• If you need a moment’s thinking time, take a sip of water, if available -this will provide you with an opportunity to think.
• Use examples from several different experiences, rather than concentrating on just one aspect of your life.
• Be positive -don’t use the word ‘but’. Many people play down good experiences, saying things like: ‘yes, I have worked as part of a team but that was only in a bar at weekends’. A more positive summary would be: ‘I worked in a busy bar at weekends with three other staff and we needed to work well as a team in order to keep the queues down and keep our motivation up’.
• Be yourself -if you adopt a new persona for the interview, the result is likely to be insincere and transparent. Even if you are offered the job, you may find later that it’s not right for the ‘real’ you.
• Remember that honesty is the best policy. If it is discovered at a later stage that you have been dishonest, you could be dismissed. Admitting to a period of poor motivation during your A-levels shows more integrity than blaming someone else for your grades. Don’t feel that you should cover up incidents like this, rather present them as positive learning experiences.

Difficult questions

You may feel that there are certain questions that have the potential to flummox you. These may include questions that appear to be an invitation to shoot yourself in the foot and those asking you to think about yourself in a different way, such as:

• what is your biggest weakness;
• what would you say has been your greatest failure;
• how would your friends describe you;
• if you were an animal/biscuit, what would you be?

One of the reasons that questions like these are asked at all is to see how you react. Relax, be honest, keep in mind the points that you want to make about yourself and turn the matter around so that you can emphasise the positive whilst minimising weaker areas. In answer to the first question, you might say that you tend to be a perfectionist, which can cause time management problems but that you have realized this and now ensure you allocate your time effectively to meet deadlines.

The same strategy can also be used with questions asking you to think about yourself in a different way. It is unlikely that your friends would highlight all of the strengths that you would like to lay claim to but the question focuses very much on your relationships with other people. Your answer could cover your loyalty, your understanding or your readiness to help. The problem is that it is sometimes difficult to say things like ‘my friends think I’m loyal…’ without sounding presumptuous and you may find it easier to preface these glowing attributes with, ‘I think that my friends would say…’ or ‘I hope that my friends would say…’.

‘Just be yourself. Don’t be scared of making mistakes. They want to hear your thought processes and are looking for potential rather than perfection.’ (PhD student, Newcastle University)

Don’t let the interviewer get personal. Recruiters are subject to legal action if they discriminate on the grounds of gender, race, religion or disability. You should politely decline to answer personal questions where personal subjects have no relevance to the job.

POSITIVE ENDINGS

This is the chance to ask those questions you prepared earlier. If the opportunity is not offered, assert yourself politely and say you have a number of things you would like to raise and ask if this is the appropriate time to do so. If it feels right to you, thank the interviewer and reiterate your enthusiasm for the job for which you have applied. Always end the interview on a positive note.

What next?

If it has not been made clear when they expect to let you know the outcome, ask!