Cv for Interviews

Posts Tagged ‘Focus’

During your process of identifying the perfect job, there are some things you may
want to keep in mind. Although you are going to identify what is important to you
its also important to be realistic in your expectations. Some of the areas in which
people tend to place the most focus and expect too much are listed below. Look at
the items on your list and see how it compares to the items on this list.

Salary
Salary is one of the biggest areas where people have a tendency to expect too
much. They tend to think they are worth more than they really are to a new
company, and that often causes them to lose the position. Be realistic when you
identify your salary requirements, keeping in mind that now many employers are
not hiring at all, so getting an interview gives you an edge over others.

Medical Insurance
Although this is an area of major concern, it is also one that many people tend to
overstate when identifying their perfect job. Very few employers today are paying
the full cost of medical insurance, so to include that as an item on your list of
criteria for the perfect job is ludicrous. What you need to do is rephrase it to state
medical insurance at a reasonable cost.

Vacation and Sick Time
Do not lump the two of these together because not all companies offer sick time. In
fact some companies actually lump the two together and call it by various terms or
they may include sick time as part of personal time or include both vacation and
sick time as one item. You also dont want to expect to take vacation right away or
have two weeks right away. Although some companies do allow two weeks
vacation after six months, many companies still only offer one week during the first
year.

Retirement Plan or 401K
Many companies today are getting away from the retirement plan and staying with
the 401K plan. This is reasonable to expect from your perfect job but do not
attempt to identify what you expect from the plan since it is regulated by the
government leaving the company itself very little leeway in what it can offer. The
only difference you may find among companies is the funds they offer and
percentage they contribute for each employee.

Although some might think becoming friendly with the interviewer is an easy way to
get hired for that perfect job, quite the opposite is true. You want to remain
professional and not attempt to sway the interviewers position by being friendly
instead of professional. You want to show your professional skills and training
rather than to identify with the interviewer by talking about personal things. The
discussion should focus on the job for which you are applying and why you are the
most qualified person. The interviewer is likely to be seeing a number of people, so
you do not want to take up his or her time talking about things that have nothing to
do with the job.

The purpose of the interview is to find out if you are a good fit for the job and the
company. In order for the interviewer to be able to do that you must remain
professional and make certain the conversation is business-related. In regards to
any personal questions the interviewer asks you want to answer only what he or
she asks. If the question is whether you are married, the answer should be yes or
no and not an autobiography of your married life. If the interviewer wanted to know
how long you have been married and what your husband or wife does for a living,
he would ask.

Make sure you do not provide any negative information on former employers. Even
if your last supervisor was a real nasty person, do not mention that. It is not even
necessary to mention that you left your last job because you were unhappyall you
need to say is you and the company were not a good fit. Many companies today are
not providing information on the reason an employee left for legal reasons, so in
most cases all they will know is your position and the dates you worked for the
company. Do not go into any more details than necessary about former employers
stay with how long you were with the company and the job functions you
performed. Certainly if you were the victim of downsizing you can state that but
again, keep it brief and to the point leaving out any details unless the interviewer
asks. Keep the interview professional and make sure your answers are right to the
point without any unnecessary and unrequested details provided.

If you want to increase your chances of getting your perfect job, you want to make
sure you do well at the interview. One of the most important things to remember is
to remain focused on the interviewer and the interview. There is no quicker way to
fail at an interview than to allow the interviewer to see you looking out the window
or daydreaming rather than focusing on him or her and the interview. It is not only
rude but it makes the interviewer feel you are not interested in the interview itself.
Some people just feel as long as they are listening to what the interviewer has to
say there is no need to maintain eye contact. Unfortunately this is an incorrect line
of thinking and in fact makes the interviewer feel you are not really interested in
anything he or she has to say. Keep in mind that the interviewer is sizing you to
see if you are a good fit for the company, so if he cannot read your eyes because
you are staring into space you may as well leave the room because you have
already lost any chance of getting that perfect job.

Even if you find interviews boring, and most of us do, you still have to maintain an
aura of interest if you expect to be hired for that perfect job. Its not difficult to
pretend to be interested for the few minutes you will be talking to the interviewer.
Remember, if you fail at the interview you will have to continue the process but if
you present a good image and are hired you do not have to go to any more
interviews.

If you have trouble focusing when you go to an interview, try practicing at home so
that you can get into the habit of maintaining eye contact with your interviewer in
order to increase your chances of getting that perfect job. Learn to look at the
interviewer instead of out the window, into space or down at the floorworse yet,
looking at messages on your cell phone. Your focus and attention need to be on the
person who is interviewing you and not on anything else in the room. Remember
the interviewer has other things to do and has taken time out of his or her busy
schedule to interview you for the job.