Here is a presentation on Effective Job Interviewing for emplyer and employee by Andy Lester who is McHenry, IL, United States based Author, web programmer at The Working Geek. Read on:
interview
Tough Interview question – Why were you removed from your previous job?
What to ask an Interviewer – Do you have any questions for us?
Many time the interviewers are considerate enough to ask you – “Do you have any questions for me?”
Shall you say say … “Yes!” OR “No”
We recommend to always say “Yes”. Why? Asking questions shows that you are interested in the job. This also gives you another chance to show how knowledgeable you are about the position and the industry. Last but not least, it lets you highlight why you are the right candidate for this job – you have done till now using answers and now you have do the same with your questions.
What questions to ask to an interviewer?
You obviously have to be prepared before. You have to choose your questions carefully, depending on who is on the other side of table. Note that an excellent question for a recruiter might be inappropriate for an executive. Depending on the level and function of the person you have to chose the question.
What you should never ask?
There are certain questions you should never ask (if asked for asking a question) no matter whom you’re meeting. Do not ask about salary, vacation, Benefits (like retirement benefits) or anything that may look as if you are more interested in the compensation than the company.
Here are some questions depending on the person you are meeting
Questions to ask Recruiter / HR Manager
The recruiter’s job to identify and shortlist strong candidates and take them through the hiring process. They can give you an overview of the company and the department as a whole. But they may not help you with nitty gritty of the job. So save very specific questions about the job for the hiring manager. The recruiter is also the best person to answer questions about the hiring process. So the appropriate questions to as the recruiter are:
- What is the kind of the company culture you have?
- What type of employees do well in your company?
- Please tell me more about the interview process?
- Please tell me more about the joining formalities required.
Questions to ask Hiring Manager (Who will be your future boss)
Hiring manager will be the one who is most likely to supervise you if you get the job. They are the most knowledgeable people about the role and what it demands. So if you are meeting Hiring Manager you ask the specific questions about the job, responsibilities and challenges. So the appropriate questions to as the hiring manager are:
- How would you describe what candidate you are looking for?
- What are the key skills required for the job?
- What’s a typical career path at the company for someone in this role?
- (You can ask about the specefic questions related to project, job – like technology etc)
Questions to ask Senior managers and executives
Senior managers and executives are some of the most knowledgeable about the latest happenings in their industry. They work and think at a higher level so do not ask them
about specifics about the job. instead you focus your questions on the future of the
company and the industry. Taling to Senior managers and executives is a chance for you to to show off your industry knowledge. Here are some questions to ask a senior manager or executives:
- How do you think this industry will shape in the next decade?
- What do you think gives this company an edge over its competitors?
- What’s the company’s biggest challenge? How is it planning to meet that challenge?
Questions to ask Coworker
Some companies have practice of interviews with a potential coworker. A potential colleague may be most open about the job, its challenges and the work environment. However, don not expect inside information and do not even ask for it. Some questions for potential coworker are:
- What’s a typical day like in the department?
- How would you describe the work environment at the company?
- What’s the most enjoyable part of your job? What’s the most challenging part?
We have kept the above questions relatively generic so that they fit for all situations. However you may need to re phrase the questions for your domain and industry.
A Guide to Preparing For Your Job Interview
By: Tony Jacowski
Start preparing for your job interview at least two or three days in advance. This will give you enough time to select the appropriate clothes to wear, complete research about the company, and prepare for questions from the interviewers. You will also be able to use this time to become familiarized with the location of the interview, which will allow you to get to know the area and decide upon a route that will allow you to reach your destination on time.
Remember the old adage, “Dress to impress.” That is the first thing an interviewer sees – and a sloppy appearance can mar your chances. Maintain at least one business suit for job interviews. Take care to look clean and professional, and choose your outfit before-hand and have it cleaned and ironed.
Part of your preparations should include reviewing your resume, cover letter and application form for the job, where applicable. Go over all the dates and details you have submitted and memorize what you have said in your cover letter so that you can answer any questions about them. Take a clear-headed, third person perspective look at your resume.
Check for anything unusual and anything that might prompt the interviewer to probe deeper. Have reasons ready for leaving your current job or previous ones and for any gaps or frequent job changes. Also, make sure that these issues are put in a positive context.
Find Out More about Your Prospective Employer
Research the company to learn more about how the organization works. Try researching the company on the Internet, talk to your contacts, and read through the information provided by the organization. Knowing the mission and the values of the organization gives you an edge. It shows that you did your homework and that you are interested while making you familiar with the possible duties of your desired position to better relate your skills to the job at hand.
Practice some sample job interview questions. It can help you to prepare your responses and answer your interviewer confidently. Preparing in ample time puts your mind at ease. You can never know exactly what questions the interviewer will ask, but it is possible to think through potential areas and preparing the facts, figures, and examples.
Think about and focus on the job you are applying for. Focus on your past experiences and skills, and specify how these skills and experiences will be applied for this job. Look at what the job involves and the selection criteria, and prepare examples from your past work experience that meet the criteria.
Prepare your own questions for the interviewer. Most interviewers will end the interview by asking if you have any questions. Have some questions prepared with careful thought. The questions can reflect your understanding of the job and the organization, give you a chance to impress the interviewer, and give you a change to get more information. Some general areas to ask about might be:
-How has the position become available?
-What would the jobholder’s typical day involve?
-What training and career development opportunities are available?
-How would the interviewers describe the culture of the organization?
-What do they enjoy about working for this organization?
-How is performance assessed?
Don’t ask about pay or benefits at this stage. Tailor your questions for each interview (if you just have a standard list, you may find that some of your questions have already been answered during the interview or in the company’s literature) and prepare quite a few, in case some of your questions are pre-empted.
With adequate preparation and research, you will get through your job interview with ease and grace. Waiting until the last minute to try to pull it all together is a big mistake often made by headstrong jobseekers who think they can “wing it” during an interview. Prepare today with these interview tips and you just might have a job tomorrow!
Author Resource:-> Tony Jacowski is a quality analyst for The MBA Journal. Aveta Solution’s Six Sigma Online offers online six sigma training and certification classes for lean six sigma, black belts, green belts, and yellow belts.
Article From Articles Promoter
Getting Hired: Successful Job Interview Using Influence Skills
By: Alan Vengel
One of the most important influence moments in your career is the moment where you must convince someone to hire you. Whether you are just out of college, looking for a change, or a contractor who must convince others of your services almost daily, you will find that a set of simple influence skills will propel you through the interviewing process on your way to a successful career.
Assert
It is imperative that you state your objectives clearly. Most organizations are looking for people who take action and will engage in helping the organization move forward. Your organization will first see your potential for such behavior in the hiring stages.
Jay and Mary are both interviewing for a position at an engineering company. Each is highly qualified for the position and holds some great recommendations. As Jay enters the interview, he is asked a series of questions. He ponders each and answers to the best of his ability. When asked, he pulls out his portfolio and demonstrates his skills to the employer. His work is excellent and the employer is notably impressed with it. He is sure to take Jay’s information and informs him that he will be contacted with their final decision.
Mary’s interview comes later, and when she enters, she introduces herself and instantly pulls out her portfolio and references. During her presentation, she highlights the portions of her work that seem to fit with what she has seen advertised for the position for which she is applying. When she is finished, she asks the interviewer if there are questions that he has. She ponders each question and answers to the best of her ability.
When the board makes its decision, it is determined that Jay’s work was excellent, but Mary’s assertive presentation of her work was what the company needed in order to progress in the competitive engineering market. Mary made good use of her first influence skill.
Ask Questions
Your ability to draw your interviewer in through active questioning is another important influence skill. Open-ended questions gather information and find out what the other person is thinking. Focused questions help the other person to focus on alternatives. These questions promote a greater inclusion of the other person and lead to openness and increased rapport, understanding and commitment.
During Mary’s presentation, she asks her interviewer, “Is there a specific set of drafts that you would like to see?” Her question prompts the interviewer to indicate that he is most interested in what she has done with mechanical design. Though Mary had intended on showing him other drawings, she realizes by her open-ended questioning that it would be better to focus on what her interviewer is most interested in. She has two sets of drawings in her portfolio and asks the focused question to determine exactly which he would like to choose from.
Summarize
You will want to be sure that you and the other person understand each other. By repeating and summarizing important elements of the influence situation, you will be sure to remain on the same page.
When Mary finishes her presentation, the interviewer asks her, “How do you feel your employment would benefit our organization?” Mary is unsure of the exact response that the interviewer is looking for, so she uses her summarizing skill to clarify the situation. “So what you’re asking me is what will change within the organization when I am hired?”
The interviewer responds, “Yes, I would like to know how you feel your set of skills will make a fit with our organization and its mission statement.” Mary’s keen use of her influence skills brought out a much more specific question where she could determine precisely what type of answer the interviewer was looking for.
Offer Incentives
Make it easier or more attractive for the person to do what you are asking. This will help you further promote agreement and commitment.
When the interview is finished, Mary is sure to express her feelings to the interviewer. “This interview has shed new light on your organization, and I am enthusiastic to begin my employment with you. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed with your decision. I plan to immediately put into action the skills that we discussed and help the company move forward in its objectives.” Mary’s statement offers concrete rewards that the company will receive by hiring her.
The influence skills listed are only a few of the skills that you can develop which will help you progress in your career. They can be applied in a variety of circumstances; and when used effectively, they can achieve outstanding results for your career development.
Author Resource:-> Alan Vengel is a consultant in management training and organizational development and author of The Influence Edge – How to Persuade Others to Help You Achieve Your Goals. He offers cutting edge training and skill building workshops on influence and negotiation. http://www.vengelconsulting
Article From Articles Promoter
Tough Interview Question Why you leave your job?
One of the questions that is typically asked in an interview is “Why are you leaving your job?” or “Why did you leave your job?” Review these suggestions on how best to response to meet your particular situation. Be direct and focus your interview answer on the future, especially if your leaving wasn’t under the best of circumstances.
This question is among the most basic in interviewing. It’s also one of the tricky Questions that may ask in the interview, as an interviewee can be eliminated from consideration with a poorly apprehended response.
The main issue with this question, as with all interview questions, is to maintain a positive common beliefs – even if the reason for leaving that last position was due to job performance, poor fit, career change situations, money, politics, boredom, personality conflict, or any of the usual reasons. Even when the job move is intended to add a countersign or challenge, an acceptable reason for changing jobs, it’s difficult to make yourself look good when you’re suggesting that the last position was problematic in any way at all.
A great way, then, to remember to keep this issue as positive as possible, is a new commandment: “Thou shalt never speak ill of thy former employer!” Many clients have interpreted this to mean that an interviewee shouldn’t discard that former job because prospective employers might think you’d do that with them, too. That could be true, but the real problem in presenting a negative situation is creating the impression that the applicant is some kind of malcontent. Negatives always have some kind of unwanted effect on interviewers, even if the story is perfectly understandable, even if the interviewer sympathizes with the tragic circumstances.
It is strongly suggested that the answer to this question should be prepared well in advance of any self-marketing, especially interviewing. It’s also advisable to make sure that you’re keeping the prospective employer’s interests ahead of your own in the interview..
Of course, the above presents a generalized common beliefs, and ignores some of the more individual and personal issues in dealing with this difficult interview question. We’ll take some of those up in future columns, and on the Interviewing bulletin board.
Your answer should always be based on real reason you left ,here are some best answer to why did you leave your job.
As someone that interviews many people for different positions, I would have to say that the truth is definitely the best route to go. What you can say is that your previous position no longer challenged you and therefore was no longer enjoyable. That the company was not allowing you to grow within the company and that that was something you hoped for.
- First and foremost, answer truthfully while at the same time not talking about the company or staff in a negative light. Of course, your answer should also be based on the real reason you left, but put a positive impact on it.
- There isn’t room for growth with my current employer and I’m ready to move on to a new challenge.
- I found myself bored with the work and looking for more challenges. I am an excellent employee and I didn’t want my unhappiness to have any impact on the job I was doing for my employer.
- This position seemed like an excellent match for my skills and experience and I am not able to fully utilize them in my present job.
- I recently received my degree and I want to utilize my educational background in my next position.
- I’m relocating to this area due to family circumstances and left my previous position in order to make the move.
- After several years in my last position, I’m looking for an company where I can contribute and grow in a team-oriented environment.
- To be honest, I wasn’t considering a move, but, I saw this job posting and was intrigued by the position and the company. It sounds like an exciting opportunity and an ideal match with my qualifications.
- I’ve decided that is not the direction I want to go in my career and my current employer has no opportunities in the direction I’d like to head.
- I am seeking a position with a stable company with room for growth and opportunity for advancement.
- It depends on why you left your last job. Make it sound as positive as possible though. If you resubmit your question with more detail, I’ll be able to help you better. Put the reason you are no longer at your last job in your question.
- My Current Project will be over and I am looking for a new challenge. I have been with my current company for two and half years and don’t find the work as interesting as I once did. I am looking for a company where I can take on new challenges and learn new things with a possible career path.
- You should always address an interview question with honesty. However, you should also always try to frame your honest answer in the most positive way possible.
- you might say that your prior work didn’t allow you to grow professionally or intellectually and didn’t offer advancement opportunity.
- Always keep in mind that your interviewer is looking for a positive, motivated, hardworking candidate. No potential employer wants to hear your gripe about a prior boss or talk poorly about a previous employer. She or he wants to hear about your potential at the position you are seeking.
- You typically leave a job because you are unsatisfied with some aspect of your job. Most of the times, it is salary or opportunities. So how do you word it better for the interviewer? “I see better opportunities in your company because of the XYZ reasons.” (You need to study up about the company and look into challenges you can solve for the new company.)
- And lastly never criticize your last company that may imprint bad impression on interviewee.
Prepare answers to typical job interview questions, like this one, in advance. Practice your responses so you sound positive, and clear, about your circumstances and your goals for the future.
Tips & Tricks for attending Telephonic Interviews
Telephonic Interview
These days Telephone interviews are becoming an important part of the recruitment process. They are now frequently used by many organizations, as the first stage in selecting a candidate.
Why Telephonic Interviews: Telephonic interviews may save time and cost
Employers conduct telephonic interviews for a variety of reasons. Here are few of them:
- Employer may have received hundreds of responses to a vacancy advertisement and do not want to go through a face-to-face interview with each applicant.
- A number of applicants may be living in other cities, and the organization wants to save on the time and travel cost involved
Employers, therefore,the used of telephonic interview as an initial screening interview. It also helps in finding out the answers to the some basic questions about the applicant/candidate
- Is the candidate really serious about the position offered?
- Has he/she made any effort to research the company/position or has just mailed his/her resume?
- How good are his/her communication skills?
Scheduled V/s Unscheduled Telephonic Interviews
There is no fixed system for when a telephone interview is held, unlike a face-to-face interview where the time, date and venue are scheduled well in advance. Some employers could inform you before-hand when they are likely to call. Others may just decide to pick up the phone and call you in the evening when they expect that you would be back from work. You also cannot be sure who is making the first call, whether the HR person or the recruiting agency.
In this scenario, it makes sense to be prepared because you never know when you will receive the telephone call. In case you receive the call, without prior notice, at a bad time, when you are in the middle of some domestic chore, you could take down the person’s name and telephone number and say you would call back after 5 minutes. Or, you could request the caller to hold on for a few seconds till you get your act together in terms of getting a paper/pencil and your documents ready. Otherwise, you may not be psychologically prepared and could be caught on the wrong foot from the word go.
If you are lucky, you may be informed of a date and time when the telephone interview will be held. This will may things easier for you in terms of being mentally prepared, having the relevant papers by your side, speaking suitably for the occasion etc.
It is always advisable to understand whom you are speaking to. There is nothing wrong in asking for persons name and role in the organization. Just ask “Before we continue I would like to know whom I am speaking to?”
Your aim should be to get short-listed to the next stage of the face-to-face interview
What is your aim in a telephone interview?
As the telephonic interview is usually the initial screening interview that works as an elimination round, your objective is to get short-listed! Getting short-listed implies that you move on to the next round for the face-to-face interview. You need to, therefore, prepare for this telephone interview and not take it as a casual call. However, do not let the significance unnerve you. It is important that you remain cool, calm and confident throughout the duration of the telephonic interview, as this will do wonders to your performance.
Tips for telephonic interviews
- The primary concern of the interviewer, during a telephonic interview round, is to judge you by your (1) communication skills (2) Knowledge of Position or company (3) Interest in Position or Company (In this order)
- How well do you communicate on the telephone, where you cannot see your interviewer?
- Do you seem uncomfortable since you cannot see the interviewer’s reactions? Do you sound confident, qualified, interested and enthusiastic despite the absence of non-verbal cues from the person at the other end? Or are you left stuttering and groping for words, distraught by occasional awkward silences during the telephone call?
- Since you may receive your telephone call without warning, it would help if you kept important papers within easy reach of the telephone.
- As you cannot be seen, you could quickly glance at the papers for any assistance that you may need in answering questions that you had not anticipated.
- Keep papers such as your resume, the cover letter and any other information that you may have researched on the employer such as company size, market share, turnover, job responsibilities etc., easily accessible near the telephone.
- Do not be in a situation, where you have a friend or relative prompting you as this could turn out to be disastrous.
- Ensure that there are no distractions such as the blaring noise of the TV set or anything else at home, while the interview is going on.
- Follow these guidelines and then look forward to a good telephone interview!
Think through your answers to improve the way you communicate on the telephone
Improving the way you communicate on the telephone is not just how you speak and your accent. What is crucial is what you say i.e. the content of your answers. You can definitely make a difference to your answers by a certain degree of smart preparation. Your preparation should involve thinking through certain questions that you could be asked with regard to your resume, and how you could possibly answer them. This does not mean that you should memories canned and standard answers, but just that you draw up a list of anticipated questions, and think through how you would answer them. You could jot down points for each answer or just write a few key words to clarify your thought flow. This will eventually help you in the actual telephone interview by reducing the time taken to answer questions, will ensure that the answers are brief and to the point, will reduce unnecessary gaps and long silences at your end. In addition, it will also indicate to the interviewer that you are a thinking person with clear career plans and are seriously interested in the position at the employer organization.
Some of the common questions asked in telephonic Interviews
- Tell me something about yourself. OR Introduce yourself
- Provide us summary of your career/previous work experience
- Why do you want to quit your current job?
- Why have you applied to this Position?
- Why have you applied to this organization?
- Why do you want to work for this organization?
Tips for answering questions in a telephonic interview
- Keep your answers short and to the point: Avoid lengthy detailed explanations in your answers. Stick to what you have been asked. Do not get into a long preamble before you get to the actual answer. This will show clarity of thought and can be achieved by your preparation. Describe yourself in a few adjectives to cover your strengths and weaknesses, or you could give a brief outline of your current employment and your career objectives etc. What you say should be prepared before hand so that it ensures that your answer is short and to the point.
- Speak clearly and slowly:Regarding your style of delivering your answers, try and speak clearly and slowly. You have to rely on the interviewer’s listening skills to evaluate what you say, so do not take any chances in messing up at your end. You have to be sure that the interviewer has heard and understood what you say, so initially you may need to be careful about the pace at which you speak. However, do not concentrate on it so much that you forget what you were talking about.
- Be positive in what you say: You should approach your answers in a positive way i.e. do not criticize your former employer or give a negative picture of why you want to leave your current job. You are obviously looking for a change because you are unhappy with your existing job, Give the real reasons, but put it across in a positive way .
- Ask questions to show interest in the job you have applied for: To avoid just a one-sided conversation on the telephone, where you just speak when spoken to, if there is an opportunity, you could ask the interviewer certain questions about the organization or the job that you are being interviewed for. For instance, you could clarify the responsibilities that your job will entail, the number of people working in the group/department or team that you will be joining. You could also ask what your immediate priority would be if recruited, in terms of a problem that the organization is currently facing in that area, or any project that you may need to initiate as soon as you join.This will just go to show that you are a serious candidate for the position, and that you are really interested in the job.
The most common Interview question – Tell me something about yourself?
Tell me something about yourself? This is the most common starting question used by interviewers across the world. Before we decide on how to answer this question it is better to understand why this question is asked. Here are few reasons why interviewers ask this question:
It is perceived as most common icebreaker and interviewers think this puts candidate at ease.
Inexperienced interviewers (unstructured) use this, as they do not know what questions to ask. So they just ask this questions and remaining will be leading questions from the answer given to this.
Interviewers think that this gives candidate opportunity to highlight his strengths early in the interview.
It gives interviewers chance to judge candidates preparedness, communication skills and thought process.
How to answer – Tell me something about yourself?
Take advantage
If interviewer has given you opportunity to speak about you, so just speak and sell yourself shamelessly. Do not hesitate in doing self promotion and saying that – I am and expert in xyz OR I have achieved XYZ OR I have been given president’s award three times (a feat achieved never before in the history of my company).
Go prepared
Considering that this is the most common question asked – one should go prepared with an answer. To prepare read the Job description provided by company and prepare your answer highlighting your those strengths which match the opening on hand.
An example
Not like this
“I am a very hard working employee. I was doing financial research using technical analysis after my school. Now I have just completed my MBA and now I am looking for a new job.”
Say something like this
“I have developed skills in equity research while working with world’s sixth largest equity research firm, where I worked as a technical analyst for over two years. As a technical analyst I have advised some the multimillionaire investors in our Portfolio Management Services and helped them in outperforming the market returns by 60%. I was one of the star players and have been given “Top 5%” ratings in the two appraisals I have taken there. After a successful sting in technical analysis I planned to broaden my horizon and have taken up a Business Management Course from a top five Business Schools. I have recently complete my MBA with all A+ grades and now looking for a challenging role in (say what role company is offering).”
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