Interview Tips

Winning Interview Skills

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:09:28 +0000

Interview is a structured meeting between you and hiring authority. Every person need to develop interview skills because he/she may face interview through their whole course of life either at the time of admission as a student or at the time of professional job interview as a candidate. Good communication plays vital role in successful interview. You need to know about the purpose of your job and what you want to do in near future and will be able to convey all these things to employer. Through interview you got a chance to tell the employer that what your positive traits are and why are you beneficial for firm or business. If you prepared for interview before interview time then you feel more comfortable during interview and can get the better chance of being hired.

Practice Practice Practice

Conduct research about company to collect more and more information about organization. You can make your interview more interesting and attractive by talking about organization’s culture. Practice all typical interview questions and design some comprehensive and sound answers for them to attract hiring manager. Arrive at the place of interview before interview time to retain your confidence level.

Preparation for Interview

First step in preparation of interview is to know your personality. Identify your objectives, career goals and fit them with company goals. Take an idea about company’s problems, culture and environment and prepare some productive ideas which are beneficial for company. Study job description carefully and relate your skills with job description to be able to talk about your skills. You can be asked about your past jobs, projects, hobbies, interest and your ability to work in teams as a leader. Keep your answer brief and to the point, communicate all necessary and relevant information by skipping extra details. Focus on your positive points. Dress well during interview. Your personality creates your first impression instead of your stunning intelligence. Follow the old phrase that dress is your success, demonstrate your attires be confident and calm.

During Interview

The initial few minutes are crucial for interviewee and the interviewers take overall impression of candidates in first 4-5 minutes. Therefore keep in mind following basic things:

Make eye contact
Be bold and brave
Shake hands firmly
Use formal address like Mr. or Ms. and be polite
Wait for sitting invitation and don’t sit until invited
Sit straight and tall
Be attentive and enthusiastic

All these attitudes indicate toward your confidence and professionalism.

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Interview Tips for Law Students

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:19:14 +0000

A student who is being trained to work in a legal firm is known a law student. The law students need to learn interview skills along with their studies because they are going to expose for interview through out their career either at the time of admission or at the time of job selection process as a candidate.

Pre Preparations for Interview

Self-awareness is a critical part of interview, through this you have to show that you have actually evaluated your skills, interest and yourself for interview. For example if you are interested in criminal affairs then you will be able to explain with examples that why you want to be criminal lawyer with sound reasons.
If you want to make interview interesting then conduct some research to clearly articulate about your interests in firm with specific reasons. Prepare yourself to communicate with interviewer and you can prepare some multiple questions to show your interest in firm in case of job interview. You should know complete BIOS of business firm.
Prepare yourself for question that why you choose to study at law on other careers and what area of law particularly attracts you. You must think about your academic studies and preferred subjects.
You may ask questions about your activities in idle time. Remind your law college time and remember your experiences that how you enjoyed your law degree to show your keen interest in law.
Keep you up-to-date about legal news and update your knowledge time to time by reviewing Law Gazette to be prominent among other legal graduates. Show your key skills, achievements and experiences.
Keep an eye on the stories of your future clients and provide your opinion on past cases. Core skills of a lawyer in today’s competitive environment are researching, drafting, analyzing, questioning, checking and advising. You should demonstrate yourself with practical examples to show all these qualities in you.

First Impression

Think about reactions of client, put yourself in the place of client and think what kind of attitude you want to see in a lawyer. Show your professional attitude and communicate clearly. Provide logical events and practice examples to support your ideas.
Dress smartly and keep a smile on your face. Make eye contact during communication and smile continuously.
Don’t become empty handed carry portfolio bags to look like professionals and for easy access toward pen and paper.
Turn off your cell phone during interview. Get a professional look through smart hair cut and dark suit. Remove all jewelries even ring and earrings because no one will appreciate your fashion sense. Don’t look at toward watch during interview.
Don’t speak negatively about attorneys, career service personnel and professors or any one else in legal community because legal community seems like very large but actually it is very small.
Be polite, courteous and kind with supportive staff like secretaries and receptionists etc. They are source of informal feedback during selection decision especially if you conduct any kind of misbehave with them. A firm handshake, smile and nice eye contact are crucial parts of interview.

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Medical Interview Tips

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:38:55 +0000

Medical professionals are the body of individuals who work for the health maintenance of their clients. Medical profession has very wider scope and needs too much care because it totally deals with health affairs and human life. Medical Interviews are scaring for you if you are not fully prepared for them. Here are some guidelines for medical interviews which will help you to stand out among competitors.

Introduction

Introduce yourself in concise way and avoid from too hectic detail which spoils your impression. Some employers want direct and immediate answers so it is crucial part of interview that you get quickly every point of interview and reply core answer of every question. Avoid from too lengthy and in-depth introduction because it is just wastage of time.

Concise and Clear Answers

Keep your answer between 1½ and 2 minutes and avoid from too much detail because no one can listen speaker for more than 2 minutes even if they are captivating interview panel or have visual aids to retain concentration. Therefore provide to-the-point answers and avoid from unnecessary detail or too lengthy answers otherwise you will take the risk with your future by boring the interviewer.

Key Points

One major problem which is faced by many interviewees is lack of planed and structured answers. If you don’t go well prepared for interview and have not prepared different answers before interview then you show non-serious behavior toward your career. It is very difficult for human brain to remember everything instead of 4-5 core points. If you try to provide 9-10 different answers of one question then it will only create confusion to employer so stick to maximum 3-4 points and if you feel it insufficient then structure your answer in different ways.

Quote Examples

If you want to differentiate yourself from other candidates then make your sound clear and impressive because worst arrogant makes it difficult for employer to listen you and to screen you out. Try to quote examples with your all answers to prove your abilities. Before answering any question make its clear picture in your mind and then answer this question with proper evidences.

Action Words

Show your sound confidence to employer and try to convey your message clearly. Try to use slightly different medical terminologies in your answers to stand you out from crowd. Use encouraging and initiative words which may reflect positive aspects of your personality. Avoid from vague statements like “I adopt profession of cardiac surgery because I like it” instead of it provide your clear objective statement and goals. Bring example of your experience in your answer.

Stay Positive

Be positive trough out whole interview and don’t show your negative attitude even about your previous employer. Don’t try to over estimate yourself and avoid from I attitude. Show humble and polite behavior because you are going to deal with patients and patients need care, love & affection along with proper medication.

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Interview Tips for Employers

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:33:42 +0000

The job interview is a powerful tool for employee selection process in almost all organizations. It is a powerful source of hiring because finding right employee for the success of organization. Through interview you can examine the skills of candidate and can ask standard questions to find out suitability of candidate for your company.

Selection of Candidates

First step before scheduling a job interview is review of resume and resume cover letters of each candidate. These are very important tools for selection of selective candidates out of 200-400 candidates. The resumes and cover letters also help you to prepare interview questions for candidates according to their resumes. You can find out values of potential employees by asking questions that explore the various skills that you need for betterment of your organization. It is important for employer to gauge the employee’s ability to resolve conflicts. You should ask various questions from candidate and note his/her reaction in confrontational situation.

Candidates who take much time for answering any question are probably can not respond well when confront with crises. Through interview you can examine the candidate’s commitment toward their career and over all work ethics. If you are giving add for specific positions then you should explain each and every requirement which you want to see in employees.

Preparation before Interview

You should prepare a set of common questions for candidates. These questions help in evaluation of candidates as you get different responses of same questions.
Critically examine resume of each candidate to know her/his over all background. Design special questions for each candidate according to their resumes.

Common Questions

You can ask three types of questions from candidate to determining its viability.

What was your most rewarding last job position?
How did you find out us?
What will be your first step if I hire you?

These questions help in evaluation process and you can find out devotions and ethic of candidate toward his/her new or previous job. These questions provide you clear reflection of candidate’s motivations and strategies. You can get an idea about thinking capacity of candidates. Candidate’s answers reflect his/her vision about company and his/her own future career.

Provide Relax Environment to Candidates

Make candidate to feel comfortable because however the candidate is confident but he/she feel nervous before interview. To minimize the anxiety of candidate create friendly environment by sharing your names.
Start general questions first as a warm up session and avoid asking personal questions which candidates feel uncomfortable to reply.
Make an eye contact with candidates to let him/her know that you are listening to him/her. Through this you can make an idea about non-verbal communication of employee.
Keep you mind open and avoid from any biasness.

Summarize Interview

At end answer the queries of candidate because it is natural that they want to know right answer if they fail to answer any question. Avoid from making false promises and tell them about next step. Tell them about how and when the decision will made and communicated to them.

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Interview Strategies for Legal Professionals

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 12:38:58 +0000

Legal professional is legal entity through which human beings derive their legal capacity and status, within their society’s legal order. It is sum total of individual’s legal advantage and disadvantages. A legal person is often called an artificial person. Legal professionals usually work in courts and very often some personalities are hired by different organizations on permanent basis to solve their legal matters.

Conduct Research

Before interview day you should prepare a solid ground for you with the help of research because it is matter of objection for legal employer that an interviewee has no knowledge about firm. Therefore research skill should be one of your strengths. You can gain knowledge about any particular law firm through directories. These directories are available online or in public or local library. This directory is an authentic source to get worldwide in-depth information about attorneys and legal firms or professionals. You can also visit the organization’s website to get preliminary information about culture, job requirements, and office locations. Your professional school’s career center is an excellent source of information.

Prepare Questions & Responses

In legal interviews the interviewer expects questions from you and if you fail to ask any question or don’t ask any question then he/she may interpret it as a sign of disinterest. It is a good practice for you that you prepare a list of open ended questions before interview about job like:

What qualities are you looking for in candidates?
What is typical career path in this firm?
How much time you take in making a hiring decision?
What are my SOPs for whole day?

The answers of interviewer will provide you guidelines to tailor your own answers in best possible way. You should be prepared to discuss each and every thing in your resume including duties of your college internship. You should also prepare for the questions about your salary expectations. You can conduct market research and also discuss with friends to get an idea about current trends and then state your expectations accordingly.

Dress Appropriately

In this age dressing becomes an important factor due to dress codes. Relaxed dress is infiltrating in many careers but legal industry remains conservative and employers expect from interviewee to wear proper attire. Therefore professional suit with conservative colors like dark colors (black, blue, brown or navy) provide you an eye catching impression.

Market Yourself & Make Interviewer Busy

Design a precise presentation to highlight your strengths, weaknesses, achievements and experiences before employer because skilled interviewers provide chance to candidate for presentation through open ended questions about yourself, skills, achievements , strength and weakness. Practice your presentation until you will be perfect in it. Engage interviewer in conversation instead of simple answering of questions. You can ask similar questions from interviewer such as hobbies and institutions etc.

Be Positive & Effectively Close Interview

Don’t show your negative attitude in response of any questions either it is about your past experience or future employment. Always remain positive during discussion about your background and work history. At the end recall your all skills and backgrounds once again to emphasize that how you are the best choice for position. After Interview send a thank you letter to refresh the memory of interviewer and convince him/her that you are the perfect choice for position.

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College Admission Interview Questions

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:06:49 +0000

Each institution conducts its admission interviews differently. Interview is a very valuable tool for evaluation. College interview is a best time to create your best impression on interviewer. You should use the interview to show off your personality that is not possible on application. It is not enough to have effective answers for introduction but you should be prepared for full spectrum of questions. Here is list of some question which may be asked from you during interview:

Tell me about your experiences at your previous school. Have you any special experience which stands you out?
What kind of changes you want to see in school/college if you had the power to do so?
What were the opinions of your teacher about your strengths and weaknesses as a student and what are you weak points?
What kind of steps you want to take in your own self-development?
What kind of magazines and newspapers do you like to read?
What sort of activities do you like to do after school?
What books or articles have you read in the last years and what kind of books have special meaning to you?
What are your future plans?
If you have got a time machine then in what time period will you go to and what would you do?
Tell me about your family?
Describe yourself in few possible words?
What is your most important achievement to date?
How would you describe your ideal activities?
Why did you choose this career?
When did you decide on this career?
What goals and objectives do you have in your career?
How do you plan your future to achieve these goals?
What is success in your opinion?
Tell your any success story?
What achievements have given you the most satisfaction in your life?
What one thing would you change if you got any opportunity?
Would you like to work in team of people or information?
Are you a team player?
What are your short term goals or objectives?
Where do you see yourself after five years from now?
What do you want to become after five years?
What kind of people influences you?
Why did you choose this college?
What changes will you want to make at our college?
What were your favorite subjects? Why?
Do you have any independent research experience?
What is the name of your favorite professor? Why?
What is your higher GPA?
How will you contribute to our campus community?

During Interview evaluation of non-verbal signals are also done like this:

Evaluation of non-verbal signals
	GREAT	GOOD	POOR	COMMENTS
Eye contact
Posture
Smiled
Didn’t fidget
Voice volume
Voice speed
Grammar
Confidence
Sincerity
Enthusiasm

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Interview is a conversation between two or more than two...
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College Interview Tips (For Admission)

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 12:21:58 +0000

Many higher schools and colleges require interview for admission. Usually private schools or colleges conduct admission interviews. The interview provides necessary information to admission committee for the evaluation of candidates. If they have bunch of candidates with good SAT scores, excellent academic records then decision becomes very tough for admission and then the further evaluation and final choice takes place with the help of interview.

How can you perform well in interview?

In first step conduct a comprehensive research about college you are interviewing at. If you have more and more knowledge about college then it will make easier for you to answer all questions about college like:

Why do you want to get admission in our college?
Why should we admit you as a student in our college?

If you conduct research then you can easily answer all these questions.

Practice Practice and Practice

Try to practice interview with your friend and family members. You can practice some questions that are frequently asked:

What are your major achievements or accomplishments?
What do you conceive about yourself?
Where do you find yourself in ten years?
What kinds of books you like for study?

Keep Smile on Face

You should keep a permanent smile on your face, due to this you automatically feel more comfortable. Smile will help you to relax yourself and put some of your nerves at ease.

Common Interview Mistakes

Repeating Casual Answers: You should prepare for interview by practicing certain questions repetitively asked during interview. If you are asked these questions then don’t jiggle off canned answer. Try to speak in natural voice; it should not seem like that you are reciting some thing.

Concise and Confusing Answers: Always try to provide elaborate and honest answers and avoid from “Yes or No”. Don’t be aimless and confused so that it may reflect your personality like blunt and careless.

Dressing: Wear neat and professional dress. Don’t show off with heavy make up, jewelry, perfume/cologne and fancy outfits. Behave like a job interview.

Ending: when the interview is over, show your regards toward interviewer and thank him for providing you opportunity of meeting. You can take their addresses and contact numbers or business cards. After getting home send a thank you letter to them. Avoid from too much typical details in letter just send a short letter thanking them for their time.

College Admission Interview Questions Each institution conducts its admission interviews differently. Interview is a...

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Write Thank You Letter after Interview

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:56:27 +0000

Sending a thank you letter after meeting is proper business etiquettes but many people take it as a matter of courtesy. A thank you letter can make you stand out among other candidates competing for job in market. It is best that you send a thank you letter before hiring decision has been made so it is best to mail thank you note as soon as possible. It is best chance to tell the employer what you forgot to discuss in the interview that can prove as a strong point of you. You can send a thank you letter by discussing all forgotten matters. Sending a thank you letter to employer draw your positive impression before employer that you have professional attitude. After interview thank you letter is a last chance for good impression.

Situations which required thank you letter

After employment interview
When someone provides you assistance in job search
After company visit or career exploration activity after getting some useful information

Simple Tip for Thank You Letter

Keep your letter concise and simple usually one page is enough.
Write your letter in professional style with no typo and grammatical errors, use good quality paper. Mention some points from interview to refresh the memory of employer.
Send your letter a day after interview and don’t put it off.
Express you enthusiasm and interest for position.
Address the recipient in formal way unless you have personal relation with him/her.
Use printer and take a nice print of thank you letter.
Thank you letter can be your edge because very few people bother to send it.

First Paragraph

Thank the interviewer by mentioning the proper date and position for which you interviewed. Type the name of employer with correct spellings.

Second Paragraph

Show your interest in position and mention something which you have learned from interview. Again emphasize on your strengths, weaknesses, skills and achievements to refresh employer’s memory so that he/she may consider you perfect for job.

Third Paragraph

Once again say thanks to employer for his/her time. Give him/her suggestions for future action if possible. Provide your phone number with appropriate contact time and mention that you will contact with him/her.

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How to Dress for a College Interview?

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:38:13 +0000

College is a degree awarding educational institutions and it may also call a secondary school but this concept may vary from country to country. College education is first step toward higher education. Interview is the first step for college education and many people get to their first interview when they are applying to college. A college interview is a time to impress the officials at your prospective university. During interview you should show that you are an honest student and will take your education seriously. Therefore it is important to take time to choose perfect cloths that you wear for interview.

Here are following steps by considering them you can make your dressing appropriate for interview:

For college interview put away; hats, flip-flops, sunglasses, graphic T-shirts and jeans because these items are not suitable for college interview at any cost and under any circumstances. These outfits will provide the message to interviewer that you don’t take any care about your impression before him/her.
Try to buy something new and while buying make sure that clothes are crisp and clean and don’t look worn out. You can choose an appropriate dress for interview from any departmental store.
Girls should wear simple blouse and skirt and they can also wear a paint suit. Remove all extra and heavy jewelry except those from your ears because reasonable & light jewelry should not interrupt the interviewer during communication. You should leave platforms or very high heel like 8-9 inches instead of it wear 1-2 inch heel.
Boys use button down shirts and nice paints. All clothes should be well ironed and inspected closely to make sure that they are free of stains. Wear well polished and appropriate shoes. You should wear simple prints and styles with nice colors.
Avoid from too much cologne and perfume. Ladies should use light make up and decent hair style.
Be confident and have smile on your face.

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Journalistic Interview Techniques (For Interviewer)

admin — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:22:35 +0000

Journalists collect and scatter information about current events, peoples, trends and issues and their work are acknowledged as journalism. They need good communication skills to produce quality copy of report, creativity to search new angles from old stories, persuasiveness to convince unwilling people to be interviewed, Listening skills to pick out nuances of story, investigative skills to find new stories and autonomy to be able to work independently. Reporters are also one type of journalists because they develop reports as a profession for advertisement or telecast in mass media like TV, radio, magazines, newspapers, documentary film and on internet.

Interviewing is a vital part for being a journalist and conducting the journalistic interview requires skills that can be got from experience and practice. It is the best way to collect information and create content for a story. It doesn’t mean that you can only do successful interviews because good interview technique requires much practice so don’t expect to be master it immediately. There are several techniques you can use to improve your skills in right way.

Interview Techniques

Recording of Interview is a good way as you can make eye contact with interviewee as it seems like a normal conversations and person will often say things she/he might not say if are taking notes. Very few people have good memories so recorded interview is very beneficial as it reduces the chances of accusations of misquotations by playing back the section in questions.

Avoid Mundane Questions for which you can get answer by yourself after little research. Try to ask direct questions that indicates what you want to know and uncover. Most of the journalistic interviews take place in group situation or under time constrains where many reporters are firing off questions, in such situations make your questions and time slot count.

Tailor Questions before interview according to your subject and keep in mind that questions should be directed for individual to get perfect information that person can provide.

Ask Open-Ended Questions through which you can get detailed information about your subject. Avoid asking such questions which result “yes” or “no” answers. Open-ended questions are often beginning with phrases like “Tell me about” or “What your opinion is about”. If you want to get best quotations to elaborate the topic design your questions according to his/her personality.

Be Persistent because it is a crucial part of conducting successful interview especially in the cases of hostile subjects. You should ask same questions in various different ways to get comprehensive information about whole story. If your interview subject refuses to answer any question then continue line of questioning until you get the answer.

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