Interview Tips - Ten Top Do's & Dont's for Winning InterviewsWritten by Roger Clark
In this day and age it can become increasingly difficult to even get your foot in door and get an interview; once you’ve accomplished that you will want to make sure you continue to put your best foot forward and nail interview as well. Unfortunately, as great as their skills, experience and education are; interview is where many people lose a job opportunity to their competition. Understanding what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in an interview are critical to receiving a job offer.Tip # 1 Dress appropriately. If you don’t take time and effort to wear appropriate clothing to interview, you will lose job before you even get a chance to explain why you are best candidate. What you wear to interview will greatly depend upon industry or field for which you are applying. Any office related position will require that you wear clothing that is no more casual than a button up shirt, slacks and tie for men and either a nice slacks/skirt and blouse combo for ladies or a dress/suit. Only under rare circumstances would you need to wear anything more casual and this generally includes fields such as transportation, construction, mechanics, etc. Additionally, clothing should be conservative and preferably reflect neutral tones. Avoid excessive jewelry. Don’t go overboard on use of cologne or perfume. Many people suffer from allergies and last thing you want to do is cause your prospective employer an allergy attack. Tip #2 Go to interview alone. There is absolutely no reason for anyone else to attend interview with you and this includes parents, children as well as spouses and significant others. If you are having a friend or relative drive you to interview, politely ask them to wait outside for you. If for some reason, you are unable to obtain childcare for time of your interview, phone ahead and politely ask to reschedule. While this is not best way to start off your relationship with employer, it is a much better option than taking your child with you. Tip #3 Pace your conversation during interview. There is a fine line between not talking enough and talking too much. Answer questions directly, elaborate when necessary but don’t ramble.
| | After Your Interview - What Must You Do Next?Written by Roger Clark
Other than actually landing interview itself and living through it, waiting after interview and wondering whether you will get a phone call or a rejection letter can be one of most difficult aspects of searching for a job. What you do after interview should actually start while you are still ‘working’ interview.Prior to leaving make sure that you have noted name of person or persons who interviewed you. This will come in handy later for a number of purposes. Also, do make sure that you shake hands once again with your interviewer and thank them for taking time to meet with you. Also, it’s not out of line to ask when they expect to be making a decision. This gives you a timeline to go by. Always be sure to send a thank-you letter. This practice not only demonstrates good social etiquette but it also helps to keep you and your skills fresh in mind of interviewer. On some occasions an interviewer already has an idea by time interviews are completed who they will be calling to offer job; however on many more occasions they still remain unsure who will be awarded that coveted slot. Sometimes they want a little time to ‘sleep’ on decision or they may need to consult supervisors or others within their organization regarding hiring decision. If a decision has not already been reached in mind of employer when all of interviews have been completed, taking time to send a thank-you letter can go a long way toward making sure you don’t get lost in shuffle. While it’s a good idea to send a polite thank you note to person who interviewed you it is not a good idea to pester that person to no end. The only result you are likely to achieve through this strategy is alienating yourself from them and assuring that you won’t get job. Although ‘don’t take no for an answer’ is a strategy that many aggressive job coaches recommend; it is still always best to observe polite social standards. That is not to say that you should sit by phone and allow several weeks to elapse, waiting, while you hear nothing and do nothing. Ideally, your thank you letter should have gone out same day as interview, no later than following day. This means that interviewer should receive it within one to two days following initial interview. Keep track of when employer indicated a decision would be made and if that time has come and gone, it is perfectly permissible to go ahead and phone them. However; when you do make call, be polite. State your name, date you interviewed and position for which you interviewed. You may say that you are following up to inquire as to whether a decision has been made.
|