Interview Tip - PREPARATION (1)

Always spend some time preparing for the interview – the extent of the preparation is up to you, but make sure that you are ready.

There is nothing worse than panicking the morning of the interview because you’re not sure how to find the office or you thought there was a bus at 9.00am and in fact it left at 8.50am – do your research and make sure that you can get there in good time.

Where to go
Do you know exactly where you need to go? Address? Floor? Contact name?
If you do not have all the information you need make sure that you ask.

Find your way
Do you know how you are going to get to the interview?

If you are not sure take the trip the day before if you can so there are no surprises on the day of the interview.

Make sure you know how you are going to get there and how long it will take you.  Check and double check bus/train timetables.

If driving, make sure that you know exactly where you will park.

Knowing where you need to go and how you are going to get there will mean that you have 1 less thing to worry about on the day of the interview.

Job Interviews - an Introduction

So, your Resume/Profile has got you a foot in the door.....Now it’s up to you to convince the employer that you are the best person for the job. It’s time to sell your skills, your experience and most importantly sell yourself!

Although your technical abilities are important, interviewers don’t only consider your qualifications and on-job experience. Employers use interviews to assess:

• Your communication skills
• Your ability to articulate your views
• Your ability to perform under pressure
• Your ability to think on your feet
• Your personality

Therefore the way you answer the questions is as important as the content of the answer.  They will also be considering:

• Whether you will fit into their current team
• Whether you will fit in with the company culture 
• Whether you will fit their management styles/ethos

This is why you must "know your enemy" - well that's a bit dramatic, but it's certainly a good idea to do some research into to the company culture, views, visions, mission statements etc.

Interview Tips - Top 10 Quick Reference Guide

Here are the top 10 quick reference tips:

• Prepare
• Dress well
• Mobile phones off
• No chewing gum
• Firm handshake
• If you use glasses, wear them in the interview
• Think before you answer
• Try not to use sentence filler such as “like”, “you know”, “right” and never finish a sentence with “eh”
• Be enthusiastic about the meeting
• Smile

 

 

Interviews taken care of during June 2011

Over the next month or so we will be posting daily information snippets that will help you with your next job interview.

These snippets come together to give you a comprehensive Interview Guide that is sure to give everyone at least 1 brand new piece of advise that may well make the difference on the big day!

Stay tuned during June for daily updates.

JobTip - Resume, ask a mate

Ask a friend or relative who does not know or understand exactly what you do for a job to read your résumé. 

Once they have finished ask them what you do for a job. 

If they can tell you or explain to you what you actually do on a daily basis – success!  You have a good resume!

JobTip – Cover Letters

Q - Why include a cover letter?
A - It helps to introduce you to the read and provides a high level overview of your skills and experience in relation to a specific job or role that you are applying for.

Sounds simple enough, so why do so many people get is so wrong?

I read cover letters every day that are addressed to someone else or refer to a different job.  For me it's a immediate negative mark.

If you are going to include a cover letter with any application make sure that it server a purpose. Don’t just send the same generic cover letter that you send to all prospective employers – i.e
“Dear Sir/Madam

I read with great interest your advertisement for XYZ.

I feel that my skills are a great match for your requirements and attach my Resume for your review.

I look forward to your positive reply….”

Don’t do it. A cover letter such as this will not do you any favours. You are better off not sending a cover letter at all.

If you are going to take the time to actually compose a cover letter here are a few tips:

• Address the letter to the advertiser. Most adverts include a contact person – address the letter to them
• If the advertisement includes a number of key requirements – address these in your letter. Respond to the requirements explaining how you meet each criteria
• Do not copy sections of your Resume into the cover letter
• Do not be pushy or cheese – lines like “I look forward to your positive response” should be replaced with something a like “I look forward to hearing from you in due course”
• Do not waffle on about skills and knowledge that is not specifically mentioned in the advert as a requirement. If you want to mention your other skills/experience, keep it brief.
• Keep it less then 1 page.

Job Tips - helping you land the next job

The daily job tips are back on Twitter - http://twitter.com/BeFoundAU

We will also be posting some JobTips here that need a little more depth.  Keep an eye out for posts including JobTip in the title.