Job

Interviews

Module
Twenty Nine
McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2014 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Job Interview

 Job interviews are scary, even when you’ve

prepared thoroughly. But when you are
prepared, you can harness the adrenaline to
work for you so that you put your best foot
forward and get the job you want.

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 Employers expectation

 Today many employers expect you to

 Be more assertive, but not to the point you’re showing up
at offices unannounced or having parents call on your
behalf.
 Follow instructions to the letter.
 Participate in many interviews.
 Have one or more interviews by phone, computer, or
video.
 Be approved by the team you’ll be joining.
 Provide—at the interview or right after it—a sample of
the work you’re applying to do.
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Why do I need an interview strategy?

1. What about yourself do you want the

interviewer to know?
 Pick two to five points that represent your strengths for
that particular job.
2. What disadvantages or weaknesses do you
need to minimize?
 Expect that you may be asked to explain weaknesses or
apparent weaknesses in your record: lack of experience,
so-so grades, or gaps in your record

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Why do I need an interview strategy?

3. What do you need to know about the job

and the organization to decide whether to
accept this job if it is offered to you?

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 What details should I think about

 What to Wear
 Your interview clothing should be at least as
formal as the clothing of the person likely to
interview you.
 Choose comfortable shoes. You may do a fair
amount of walking during an onsite interview.
 Take care of all the details.

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 What details should I think about

 What to Bring to the Interview

 Bring extra copies of your resume
 Bring something to write on and something to
write with.
 Bring copies of your work or a portfolio
 Bring the names, addresses, and phone
numbers of references if you didn't put them on
your resume.

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 What details should I think about

 Note-Taking
 The name of the interviewer (or all the people you
talked to.
 What the interviewer seemed to like best about you.
 Any negative points or weaknesses that came up that
you need to counter in your follow-up letter or phone
calls.
 Answers to your questions about the company.
 When you'll hear from the company.

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 What details should I think about

 How to Get There

 If you're going to a place you haven't been before, do a
practice run at the same time of day your interview is
scheduled for.
 Check out bus transfers or parking fees.
 early enough so that you'll get to the interview 15 minutes
early.
 Use the extra time to check your appearance in the restroom
mirror and to thumb through the company publications in
the waiting room.
 If an accident does delay you, call to say you'll be late.

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Should I practice before the interview?

 Your interviewing skills will improve with

practice.
 Rehearse everything you can: put on the clothes
you’ll wear and practice entering a room, shaking
hands, sitting down, and answering questions. Ask a
friend to interview you. Saying answers out loud is
surprisingly harder than saying them in your head.

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Should I practice before the interview?

 How to Act
 Should you “be yourself? There's no point in assuming
a radically different persona. If you do, you run the
risk of getting into a job that you'll hate (though the
persona you assumed might have loved it).
 Interviews can make you feel vulnerable and
defensive; to counter this, review your
accomplishments—the things you're especially proud
of having done. You'll make a better impression if you
have a firm sense of your own self-worth.

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Should I practice before the interview?

 How to Act
 sit up straight, don't mumble, look at people when
you talk.
 Office visits that involve meals and semisocial
occasions call for sensible choices. When you order,
choose something that’s easy and unmessy to eat.
Watch your table manners.. Eat a light lunch

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Should I practice before the interview?

 Parts of the Interview : Every interview has an

opening, a body, and a close.
 opening (two to five minutes), good interviewers
will try to set you at ease. Some interviewers will
open with easy questions about your major or
interests. Others open by telling you about the
job or the company.
 Get to know the interviewer.
 Listen for information that could be useful later in
the interview.
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Should I practice before the interview?

 Parts of the Interview:

 body of the interview (10 to 25 minutes) is an all-too-
brief time for you to highlight your qualifications and
find out what you need to know to decide if you want
to accept a second interview.

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Should I practice before the interview?

 Parts of the Interview:

 close of the interview (two to five minutes), the
interviewer will usually tell you what happens
next.

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The Communication Behaviors of
Successful Interviewees

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 How should I answer traditional
interview questions?

1. Tell me about yourself.

Don’t launch into an autobiography. Instead, state the
things about yourself that you want the interviewer to
know. Give specifics to prove each of your strengths
2. “What makes you think you’re qualified to
work for this company?”
state your strong points: your qualifications for th ejob, the
things that separate you from other applicants.

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 How should I answer traditional
interview questions?

3. “What two or three accomplishments have

given you the most satisfaction?”
Pick accomplishments that you're proud of, that create the
image you want to project, and that enable you to share
one of the things you want the interviewer to know about
you.

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 How should I answer traditional
interview questions?

4. “Why do you want to work for us?”

Make sure you have a good answer— preferably two
or three reasons you’d like to work for that company.

5. “What college courses did you like best?

Least?”
This question may be an icebreaker; it may be
designed to discover the kind of applicant they’re
looking for
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 How should I answer traditional
interview questions?

6. Why are your grades so low?

7. What have you read recently? What movies have
you seen recently?
8. Show me some samples of your writing.
9. Where do you see yourself in five years?
10. What are your interests outside work? What
campus or community activities have you been
involved in?

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 How should I answer traditional
interview questions?

11. What have you done to learn about this

company?
12. What adjectives would you use to describe
yourself?
13. What is your greatest strength?
14. What is your greatest weakness?
15. Why are you looking for another job?
16. What questions do you have?

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Poor Responses to Behavioral
Interview Questions

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 Good Responses to
Interview Questions

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 How can I prepare for behavioral and
situational interviews?
 Behavioral interviews  Situational interviews
 ask the applicant to  put you in a situation
describe actual that allows the
behaviors, rather than interviewer to see
plans or general whether you have the
principles. qualities the company
is seeking.

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Behavioral Interview Questions

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 How can I prepare for phone
or video interviews?
 Try to schedule phone interviews for home, not work,
and for a time when things will be quiet. If a company
wants to interview you on the spot, accept only if the
timing is good.
 To prepare for a phone interview,
 Tape yourself so you can make any adjustments in
pronunciation and voice qualities.
 Practice short answers to questions. After giving a short
answer in the interview, say, “Would you like more
information?” Without a visual channel, you can't see the
body language that tells you someone else wants to speak.
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  Two kinds of video interviews exist.
 First kind is a live interview using videoconferencing equipment.
• use the same guidelines for a phone interview.
 Second kind, the company sends a list of questions, asking the
applicant to tape the responses.
• Practice your answers..
• Tape the interview as many times as necessary to get a tape that
presents you at your best.
• Be specific
For both interviews, smile when you talk to put more energy
into your voice.

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