Category Archives: Interviews

Careers Advice, guest blogger, Interviews

Tricks On How To Look Confident

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Not too many people are aware of how they present themselves when going on a job interview. They either look disorganized or nervous and this is something that will immediately put an end to any prospects of your getting hired. Remember that job interviews could make or break your career, so if you want to stay ahead of the race, consider these tips to make you look confident during the interview.

1. Mind your body language. Don’t ever slouch or do any unnecessary movement during the interview. This will only hint signs that you are nervous. Instead, maintain a straight and confident posture that will impress your would-be employers. Sit straight during the duration of the interview and maintain eye contact to your would-be employers. You’ll leave an impression that you’re really ready for the job.

2. Prepare Your Mind. Think positive. Condition your mind for the better and you will feel relaxed. If you keep your thoughts on the negative side, chances are, everything will definitely go wrong. You will only feel bad during the interview and might even end up losing your confidence. Think that you’ll get hired! Claim success for yourself and you will end up just like that.

3. Look Good and you will Feel Good. Choose to wear clothes that will magnify your image as a professional and knowledgeable individual. With the right attire, it feels like you can answer all the questions they’ll throw on you.

4. Smile.  Smile is what it takes to make the difference between a nervous applicant and a confident interviewee. It breaks the ice and makes you feel comfortable and more ready to face them.

5. Relax. Rest your back on your chair. Keep your feet firmly planted on the ground. Fasten your hands while resting them either on your lap, on the table, or desk during the interview. If you really feel nervous, take a deep breath and count from one to five. During the interview, answer straight to the point. It’s OK to add a little detail—a sentence or two would do—but don’t make it too long to make you look like you’re lecturing.

Most importantly, don’t ever let the thought of getting rejected get inside your head. Remember, you’re being asked for an interview because you’ve been shortlisted. You are already a potential candidate. So give your best and go get your share of success!

About the Author –  This article is a contribution by Manilyn Moreno on behalf of Better Caterer, a catering software company. Currently, she works for the company as the Online Marketing and Content Manager. 

Careers Advice, Interviews, Job Applications, Project Management, Project management career progression, project management jobs

Demonstrating you want the job – Interview tips

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With the double dip recession the market has certainly come around full swing and interviews are not in abundance – they certainly haven’t disappeared but there are less roles being advertised and for those who are less active at searching for new openings then it does feel like there are less opportunities and as a knock on effect less interviews. Therefore it is important to make sure you are doing all you can to make sure you harvest success in the interviews you are being invited to.

One of the key areas employers check for in interviews is your buy-in to the organisation, interviewers are expecting a good level of enthusiasm and are happy to throw prospective employees back into the vast sea of job seekers as it is perceived as an employer’s market. This isn’t entirely the case – yes there are a great deal of job seekers out there at the moment but there are only a few which closely meet the employers’ expectations in terms of experience and skills. Most of the good candidates have already secured work or have been in work for some time and would rather not risk a move into a company whilst we sit in unknown territory with the global recession.

Here are a few tips to ensuring you grab the interviewers’ attention for the right reasons by demonstrating your buy-in to the business:

  1. Make an effort – how you present yourself is very important, think first impressions – putting on a suit and clean shoes (boys & girls) is a must, no matter how casual the workplace is.
  2. Noting down names – seems like a stupid thing to even mention but I have lost count of the amount of people who forget or just don’t take notice of my name when I am interviewing them. Don’t overuse names either – it sounds wrong and almost patronising if you keep repeating someone’s name when you are talking to them.
  3. Research the business, again it seems ridiculous to even mention this but over and over again I have come across people who really should make more effort to understand what an organisation does / produces etc as a bare minimum. However you could actually shine in the subject of buy-in by learning more about competitors and what’s happening in recent news for the company.
  4. Presentations – sometimes you will be asked to prepare a presentation to take along to the interview, make sure you put the work in. I would expect you to ask what presentation facilities will be available on the day and make use of the best ones. i.e. a projector and Powerpoint is ideal, it’s what most use in everyday life at work and helps the interviewer imagine you in a regular meeting (how you fit in, can they actually sit through an entire meeting listening to you etc.). I cannot emphasise enough that “just jotting down some notes to talk through and maybe a handout” is not good enough.
  5. Take examples of work – you may be asked to do this, such as a plan or something similar but you can always take some examples even if you have not been asked to. Try to keep to documentation which is closely aligned to the role you are being interviewed for and don’t force it on them if they are not keen.
Careers Advice, guest blogger, Interviews

10 Ways to Leave an Impression in a Job Interview

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Congratulations, you made the interview. But you still need to go out there and clinch the job. Follow our ten tips to impress at your interview and you’ll be the one they’ll remember after seeing 20+ interviewees.

1. Print off the job description and take a copy of your CV and/or application with you to the interview

Seeing the job description in print forces you to be analytical about how you meet the job requirements. Before the interview, make notes and match your job experience, skills and knowledge against the person specification.

On your interview day, take the job description (with your notes on it), your CV (or application form, if you filled one in) to the interview. They can serve as reference points for you when you’re being interviewed.

2. Research the company

Find out as much as you can about the company by going to its website, reading the company reports and the latest industry news.

Make notes and ask questions at your interview that show that you have done your research.

3. Practise your interview questions

When they ask you to ‘tell us about yourself’, they’re not asking for details of everything you’ve done from the minute you were born to your interview date.

Talk the interviewer – briefly – through your CV. Emphasise the skills and knowledge you’ve acquired from each job and how they meet the requirements of the job you’re interviewing for.

4. Dress to impress

Keep it formal, even if the company you’re interviewing for is the hippest, trendiest in the industry. It makes you look professional and competent.

It goes without saying that your appearance should also be tidy and well groomed. A grimy collar is not a good look.

5. Try wearing smart glasses

Research has borne it out time and time again that glasses-wearers look intelligent and competent. Choose a simple pair of glasses – black is a good option. They can even be used as a prop – if appropriate, take them off and lean forward to make a point, but be careful not to come across as though you are telling off your interviewer, or being too pushy. Best to do it with a smile while saying something like “You know, you are right, that is a very good point” or words to that effect.

Don’t overdo it though, as the last thing you want is to poke out the eye of the interviewer. And definitely DON’T chew the ends of the earpieces if you do take the glasses off.

6. Don’t be too specific about money

Salary questions are always tricky, so keep your answers as brief as possible. If the interview was arranged by an agency, say that you’ll leave the salary negotiation to your agency.

If the interview was arranged between you and the company, then say that your salary expectations are in line with the industry standard.

7. Keep your answers focused on how you meet the job specification

Keep your answers focused. You’re here to be interviewed about a job, so everything you say should be tailored to that.

8. Be positive about your previous employers

Your last employers may have been the worst employers in the world but, as far as your interviewers are concerned, they were Nelson Mandela incarnate.

Keep it positive: the company was going through a restructure and you decided to use the opportunity to seek new challenges in your career.

9. Sit up straight

Good posture is extremely important. Slouching denotes a lazy manner. There is also a psychological benefit to sitting up straight; you tend to speak more clearly and confidently.

10. Smile and relax – but not too much

Nothing gladdens the heart like a smile, but smile too much and you’ll end up freaking out your interviewers. So smile – but not too much.

Try to relax; you’ll be able to sell yourself much easier if you are relaxed rather than a quivering nervous wreck. People who are nervous tend to talk too much and mix up their words. Try not to think of it as an important job interview but as a friendly (but formal) chat.

Make them need you more than you need the job… There are plenty of other companies out there that would love to employ your skills.

Follow these tips and you’ll do all right in your job interview.

Good luck.

Michael is the web content manager for a leading online retailer of prescription glasses and sunglasses at Select Specs.

 

Careers Advice, guest blogger, Interviews, Job Applications

Six Things To Do Before An Interview – Guest Blog

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With the current economic climate in its current state, interviews, let alone job offers, are a little on the rare side. Because of this, when you’re called in to discuss your suitability for a position, you can’t afford not to put on a good show.

Though the interview itself is of course important, what you do before the interview is equally so. When it comes to effective interviewing, preparation is key.

An hour spent preparing for an interview can not only save you a lot of awkward silences and regretful rambling, it can also greatly increase the chances of you actually landing the job. Here are six things that you should do before every job interview.

Research the Company

The first thing that you should do upon landing an interview is to spend a few minutes researching the company in question. Many job candidates arrive at interviews knowing little other than the companies name and this sends a very bad message.

A little bit of research about both the company and the industry in which it operates will allow you to illustrate that you are serious the position.

Ask Yourself What they Want

If you’ve been called in for an interview, you probably meet the positions requirements in terms of both qualifications and experience. The interview is your chance to illustrate that you also meet the positions requirements in terms of personality.

To do this, you need to ask yourself what they are looking for. What specific personality traits would allow you to perform the job well?

Think of Examples

Once you’ve established what personality traits the employer is looking for, you then need to figure out how you are going to demonstrate them. Unfortunately, listing them is isn’t going to work.

You need to come with specific examples in your past employment when you demonstrated said traits. Specific examples speak volumes, general adjectives say very little.

Decide What to Ask

Unprepared job applicants are often stumped at the end of job interviews when they are asked if they have any questions. You can save yourself a lot of stuttering by coming up with a few questions to ask before hand.

Avoid asking about the salary. Instead ask about working conditions and specifics of the role. Doing so allows you to demonstrate that you won’t work just anywhere.

Choose the Right Clothes

Regardless of what position you are applying for, you can’t go wrong with a suit. Some people question the suitability of such attire when they are applying to work somewhere with a casual dress code. Ignore such thoughts.

There is no such thing as a casual dress code when it comes to job interviews. When you wear a suit, you are demonstrating that you are both a professional and somebody that genuinely cares about landing the position.

Map Your Route

Finally, we have the small matter of deciding how you’re going to get to the interview. Many people don’t make a trial run and this is why so many people arrive at job interviews late.

When you go somewhere that you haven’t been before, traffic is difficult to predict and wrong turns are easy to make. And just because you know where the building is, that does not mean that you know where the actual interview room is. Always do a trial run.

Peter Johnson is an established career consultant who offers professional assistance to students seeking designer jobs.