Archive for November, 2009
Interview process
A lot of research has been made about the interviewing process.
Here is a brief run-through:
First, you make a schedule for the interview.
Then, you are there in the office and you are seen by the interviewee.
The interview itself then transpires.
Next is the closing, then you follow-up with a thank-you-note.
You eventually get accepted and you discuss, negotiate for and signup
the job offer.
You may notice that the interviewing takes up a great deal of the
getting-hired process, so you might as well polish up your interviewing
skills on your way to getting that dream job.
Identifying your skill set
When applying for a job, it is ideal that you identify your strengths and weaknesses and get prepared to address them. By knowing your
advantage, the chances of getting the job that you want will surely get easier. But you should not get too confident since this is one of the
common mistakes that plague job applicants. Appearing too confident or as somewhat of a know it all person will only get you labeled by
your interviewer as unfit for the job.
Identifying your skills
First thing’s first. You should identify your skills. This is your ticket to get that job and you should be able to articulate your abilities and
expertise as best as you can. Many people have a hard time telling their skills and abilities as this may seem to be bragging. But you
should not be shy or afraid to discuss your skills. In fact, it is important that you convey to your potential employer what your
talents are. You should be able to sell your abilities to your employer. That is how you will get the job that you want. It is important that you
don’t appear arrogant or condescending but you should also avoid selling yourself short. If the interviewer asks you about your strengths
or what separates you from the other applicants, you should be able to readily give a good answer. But before you even go to the interview,
your resume should highlight your skills and talents for your prospective employer to see.
How to Prepare for the Interview
In order to get the perfect job you have to first pass the interview process and get
to the hiring manager. That means you have to know how to conduct yourself at
the interview in order to even pass the first stage. There are some places that will
hire you directly without going through the hiring manager but you still have to
pass the interview process to be hired. Many people just go to an interview and
have no idea what they need to do or how to conduct oneself and end up losing the
job because of it.
One of the places many people go wrong at interviews is not having a clue about
the company or the position. Not all companies ask that question but you have to
be prepared. It makes you look foolish if you dont know anything about the
company. They assume if you want to work for them you will take the time to find
something out about the company. You do not have to know a great deal, but you
should at least know what the company does and the types of products or services
they provide.
Before the interview you should also prepare a list of questions you want to ask the
interviewer. Most of the time the interviewer will ask if you have any questions, and
if you dont have any, the consensus is that you are not concerned enough to ask
any questions rather than that the interviewer covered everything. However, if he
or she does not offer the information, you do not ask about the salary at the
interview. This is something that is against interview protocol and should never be
asked until a job offer is made. Most interviewers will discuss the salary as part of
the interview process but if that is not the case, do not ask.
If you are not sure where the company is located, leave extra early for the
interview or do a dry run the day before your interview. You want to avoid being
late by getting lost, and though this may not be possible if the company is out of
town or you are leaving from another job, make every effort to make sure you
know exactly where the company is. If you are not sure and cannot leave early
from another job, make sure you obtain explicit directions from the company where
you are going.
How to Know if You’re Making the Right Choice
When you accept a position you always wonder if you have made the right decision.
Is there any way to know if you have indeed made the right decision? Of course its
di9fficult to know until you get into the position and begin working but if you have
made your list of attributes for the perfect job and chosen the one that most closely
matches your list, you can be reasonably certain you have made the right choice.
You went to a great deal of trouble to obtain your perfect job, so you dont want to
be too quick to question your judgment. You want to give yourself time to think
about it and learn all there is to know about your new job before you make any
judgments. When you first start a job there will be time for you to work into the
position and learn it, so dont think because it isnt what you expected at the
beginning that will continue. You should have asked all the pertinent questions at
the interview, and if you did that, any doubts you have in the beginning will
dissipate as you learn more about your new job.
Keep in mind that all new positions have a breaking in period and even if you done
the same type of work in the past for another company, there will still be some
differences. You are not going to work right into your perfect job the first time you
sit down at your new deskyou and the job need to learn to know one another
before you will feel comfortable. Once you get past the getting to know you stage,
you will feel more comfortable about the decision you made.
There may be cases where you asked all of the right questions but the employer did
not give you complete answers and you find the new job is not what you thought it
was. Do you simply grin and bear it? That depends how close it is to being your
perfect job. If there is a possibility for improvement, you dont want to just walk
away. If, on the other hand, you do not think the new job is going to work out for
you in the end, you will have to decide if you want to stay for the time being and
look to move on before you become too involved with the company to seek
something else.