Acing Job Interviews

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Career Corner's Home Site's Home Page Terms of Services Give Feedback Link To Us CAREER ARTICLES► Resumes Resume Builder 101 Creating Word Resumes Resumes & Word Tables Scannable Resumes 101 Functional Resumes Can Power Verbs Really Improve A Resume? A Volunteer Job Does A Resume Good 10 Resume Don'ts Guide "Resume," Just Easier To Work With Tricks To Help Extend Short Resumes Analyzing Bad Resumes Resumes: Bad To Good Objective Statements Job Letters Easy Cover Letters Thank You Letters Acceptance Letters Resignation Letters Decline Letters A Cover Letter Must Informational-Interview Request Letter _____________________ _____________________ Interviewing Winning Interview Tips Pre-Interview Etiquette Interview Do's & Don'ts Behavioral Interviews Landing Job Interviews Requesting Feedback After A Failed Interview Good Behavior Rewards Fail-Proof Guide To Successful Interviewing Acing Job Interviews Pre-Interview Jitters What Employers Are Really Looking For Other Job Stuff Rejection Letters Revealing Names Keeping The Job Not A Single Reply Behind The Handshake? Entrepreneurial Energy Finding Jobs: Try It All CAREER TOOLS► Jobs Resources Center Employment Agencies Links to Job Sites Scholarship Resources		Written by: Brad Karsh President of JobBound www.jobbound.com
	Here's a shocking fact: Recruiting Directors actually want you to do well. They are not looking to trick you, terrorize you, or make you look bad. Instead, they are looking to make a connection in order to find terrific candidates. But for some reason, the Legend of the Evil Recruiting Director lingers. As a result, most people think of the interview as a contest, where the goal is to out guess or bluff the interviewer. In fact, it's really just a conversation where the most important skills required are being relaxed, confident, and honest. How To Think About An Interview An interview is your resume come to life. Typically you're interviewing because your resume was impressive enough to merit an in-person discussion. Now's when they have the chance to see the real you! It's a bit scary, but it shouldn't be. Companies want to hire you for who you are, not for who you are trying to be in an interview. Try to relax and be yourself. How To Prepare - Behavioral Interviews Most companies conduct behavioral interviews - where they are more interested in your skills and behaviors, than in talking about the basics of what you did. In other words, they are looking for the "hows" and the "whys" as opposed to the "whats." What you need to do is take a 360 degree view of everything you've done. Think about why you did it, what you learned, how it helped you grow, and what you might do differently if you had to do it all over again. For instance, let's say you were a teller at a bank. Some of the questions you might get could be... Why did you decide to take the job? What were you hoping to accomplish? What specifically did you accomplish? How did you work with the rest of your team? What did you like most? What did you like least? What did you learn? How would you do it differently if you had to do it all over again? Thinking about these questions probably seems like torture, but you can be almost certain that these types of questions can and will be asked during an interview. Just being aware of some of this stuff in advance can make your responses much stronger. Obviously, there are no right or wrong answers to these questions, but you want to make sure you're coming across as honest, insightful and strategic in talking about what you've done. That's going to be the best way to ace an interview. Good Luck. ___________________________________________ This article is © 2004 by Brad Karsh and may not be reposted without written permission from the author and may not be reprinted for profit.