Interview Tips

Interview Tips

In the highly competitive job market of today, simply getting to the interview stage can be a struggle. Now that you’ve made it, there are countless questions to ask yourself. How do I describe my experience in a way that is interesting and engaging? How do telephone or video-conference interviews differ from in-person? How do I carry myself physically?

We have included the following articles of note to help you answer pertinent questions such as these, and present yourself professionally and confidently.

 

Typical Interview Questions

Interviewing can be a stressful experience. We at GuruLink want to give you the upper hand. We have compiled a list of traditional generic questions that may have slipped your mind in preparing for your next interview.

Be ready for these!

  • Could you please tell me about yourself?
  • How can you help us to grow? Why should I hire you?
  • What is it that you expect from us so that we are the best employer in your eyes?
  • What are your goals? Both sort-term and long-term? How did you establish them?
  • How did you learn about our organization? What made you apply for this role?
  • What would you consider are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
  • What are the qualities that you would look for if you were in charge of hiring new employees?
  • Are you willing to take courses?
  • How do you work under pressure? Give examples from your previous jobs?
  • Where do you see yourself in 2 years? What about 5-10 years from now?
  • In what ways do you think you could make a valuable contribution to our company?
  • What things about a job give you the most satisfaction?
  • Tell me about an accomplishment that you are proud of.
  • Describe your ideal job.
  • What have you learned from your mistakes?
  • What is your biggest frustration with your current or most recent position?
  • Why did you leave your last position or why are you looking to leave?
  • How would you like your next position to be different?
  • How do you get along with your current supervisor?
  • Tell me about a conflict you had with someone in your work environment and how you dealt with it.
  • How do you spend your time at work?
  • How has your college experience prepared you for a career? (If applicable)
  • What motivates you to put forth your greatest effort?
  • Why did you choose the career for which you are preparing?
  • What qualifications do you have that make you think you will be successful?
  • What do you REALLY want to do in life?
  • What do you think it takes to be successful in an organization like ours?
  • How would you define the word, “success”?
  • Do you have a geographical preference? Are you willing to relocate? Travel?
  • What criteria are you using to evaluate the company for which you hope to work?
  • Why have you been out of work for so long?
  • Who do you admire?

 

Surviving Tricky Interviews

Most recruiters or employers are normally quite friendly and congenial as they try to learn more about you and your background during an interview. In all likelihood you will leave the meeting feeling that you have met someone with whom you would like to work, and could see yourself working, with. Then there are the interviewers who go out of their way to be abrasive and adversarial.

By provoking you, they hope to measure and assess your composure in order to determine how you react when you are frustrated, angry or under pressure. You must be prepared for these interview games.

The following interview situations are some that you might very well encounter. Following them are guidelines on how to handle them.

Who Are You?

The recruiter or employer opens the meeting with: “Tell me about yourself.”

This statement should not trip you up. It gives you a great opportunity to explain why you are the best person for the job. Your answer should come from the prepared statements you have relating to how you can benefit the company, not on such autobiographical elements as where you grew up, your marital status or your hobbies and interests. Give a nice brief summary of your professional experience, then conclude with a strong statement outlining your most important strengths and accomplishments as they relate to the sought after role. Recruiters or employers who open a meeting with “Tell me about yourself” are handing you a golden opportunity to go through your qualifications and wrap up an offer. Instead of dreading these opening remarks, prepare for recruiters or employers who begin this way.

Promoting Yourself

The interviewer begins the conversation by bluntly asking, “Why should I hire you?”

Many people trip over this question when asked and make a terrible first impression. Again, you could not ask for a more beautiful opportunity to lay out your qualifications on the table. Try being just as blunt as the interviewer when describing your most salient strengths and accomplishments. Give a nice brief summary of your professional experience, then conclude with a strong statement outlining your most important strengths and accomplishments as they relate to the sought after role.

Profitable Silence

Some recruiters and employers will not say anything after you have answered a question. They just stare at you. In response, most of you get anxious and either laugh or grope for things to say, and your remarks more often than not backfire. A short period of silence is easy to manage. You have given your answer to the recruiter’s or employer’s question, and now it’s up to them to continue the flow of the conversation. Simply gaze back while slowly and silently counting to 20. If these 20 seconds seem like an unbearable amount of time and you feel pressured to break the silence, ask the recruiter or employer a question about the position or company. Your question will be brilliant if it uncovers details about the available job. Instead of dreading difficult interview situations, prepare yourself to handle them effectively. While your competition will make a poor impression and lose points with interviewers, you can cast yourself in a favorable light and be well on your way to winning an offer by simply having prepared yourself!

Difficult Personalities

If recruiter or employer is determined to make things tough for you, the only thing you can do is be ready for it and handle it appropriately. The recruiter or employer might try to frequently point out your weaknesses, constantly interrupt you, intimidate you with their knowledge of the field, or continually disagree with your comments. These methods of intimidation are especially effective if you are being interviewed by a group of people at once. Most of you often become so flustered or worked up that you fall apart and blurt things out that you later regret. Forgetting to mention important information is also quite common in these circumstances. Your best ammunition against this is to play along. The secret weapon is to recognize that the recruiter’s or employer’s antagonism is nothing more than a game. It is a game aimed at determining if you can keep your cool. By acting politely, calmly and evenly, no matter how rudely the recruiter or employer behaves, you will be demonstrating your confidence and maturity. Granted, the interview can become quite challenging. Some circumstances may arise that are so extreme, you have to realize that they are acting this badly to learn how aggressive or assertive you can be. Research. Any and all information you can get in advance about the person(s) you will be meeting, as well as the personal characteristics the company is looking for, will help you know how to behave.

There are other more simple yet subtle ways to arouse you during an interview. These include seating you in a wobbly or squeaky chair, next to a hot radiator, beside a breezy open window or with the sun in your eyes. You do not want to be interviewed like this. So, explain to the interviewer what’s annoying you, and then continue the conversation while moving your chair to a different location or sitting in a different place. Do not bear it and compromise your chances. Stand up, speak up in a polite yet assertive manner and correct the discomforting situation. You can only be respected for this. No one cares much for a passively quiet teammate.

Do Not Bad-Mouth Your Former Employer

What made you want to leave your job?

This is one of the first questions you will be asked by an employer or recruiter in your initial interview, be it over the phone or in person. So, why you are interested in leaving your current job or why have you left your most recent job?

The last thing you want to do is to take this opportunity to go off about how much you despise your old boss or your peers from your old company. Saying bad things about an employer in an interview setting reflects more negatively on you than the employer.

Always speak positively, or at least refrain from making any negative comments when asked this question. No employer will hire someone who appears to have a bad attitude or cannot seem to get along with peers, reports, or superiors.

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