helpful hints for the 'Interview"

deisemum

I had an interview recently. I've never experienced anything like it. Very strange experience.

90% of my interview was spent asking me what age I was, did I have children, what ages are they (they're 13 and 11), where do they go to school, what classes are they in, if I was offered the job how would I be able to manage the job and my children.

Also asked where I was from as I don't have a Waterford accent, when I said the county he wanted to know where exactly. How come I ended up in Waterford, then wanted to know about my husband, what he worked at, was the recession affecting his business.

Worst of all was that he recognised that the surname of a former employer was an obvious jewish name and refered to it before he made a disparaging comment re "them".

I came out thinking who's he looking for the job, me or my family members.

As I haven't heard from him I guess I'm not getting the job.

dragonfly!

deisemum wrote: »

I had an interview recently. I've never experienced anything like it. Very strange experience.

90% of my interview was spent asking me what age I was, did I have children, what ages are they (they're 13 and 11), where do they go to school, what classes are they in, if I was offered the job how would I be able to manage the job and my children.

Also asked where I was from as I don't have a Waterford accent, when I said the county he wanted to know where exactly. How come I ended up in Waterford, then wanted to know about my husband, what he worked at, was the recession affecting his business.

Worst of all was that he recognised that the surname of a former employer was an obvious jewish name and refered to it before he made a disparaging comment re "them".

I came out thinking who's he looking for the job, me or my family members.

As I haven't heard from him I guess I'm not getting the job.

:eek: pretty much sums it up! those questions are in no way related to the job! talk about descrimination!:(:mad:

cathriona

Hey,
Just wondered if anyone has seen this www.sonru.com/vip? Virtual Interview Preparation!! What do you think? A friend of mine used it and thought that it was pretty cool. It's way cheaper and less hassle than going to a consultant. I think fact that you can watch back your view is great idea.
C.

doolox

Unfortunately all the old worms will come out of the ground at interview time now that workers are on their knees and the old-style vices of the bosses will make a comeback. Age gender regional and national origin etc will all be brought up and regurgitated in public as if they have any bearing on the jobseekers ability to do the job.
Bosses should be looking for the best people to do a job. Often single people may appear to be more dedicated to their job than married as they do not have pesky children who need minding when they get sick, causing parents to be absent but they have vices of their own which balance things out.
It is next to impossible to police and enforce laws in this area as the decisions of most firms and their personnel records are private. How they come to their choices is private and cannot be brought into the public domain for scrutiny.
In the absence of such scrutiny we have to rely on the ethical standing of HR departments which are paid and accountable only to their boss.
On the thorny subject of maternity leave and the dangers of hiring women of childbearing age there needs to be a meeting of minds between labour, government and employers that the present arrangements be left in place and no one should suffer discrimination for having or planning to have children. Our nations children are our future customers and workers, a plentiful supply of which will keep businesses going in the future, no children = no customers = no sales = bankruptcy. No children = no workers =higher wages, something no boss wants to think about.
The tragedy is that present-day management find it hard to think and plan more than 5 years ahead and do not look into the long-term viability of their business. All they see is the short-term inconvenience of the absence of a worker for 6 months to have a baby.
The most amusing effect of maternity leave is the one I have heard about school teachers planning their pregnancies to occur in September after the summer holidays or in January to maximise the maternity leave. Perish the thought of having a child in May..........

iddy biddy

Hi Has anyone ever done a phone interview, my hubbie has 1 today at 4 and looking for tips

susanroth

:eek: After not getting an interview all year and now finally having one on friday I am scared S******* of how nervous I'll end up! Does anyone have any tips for how to calm down?? I'm sure you all know how hard it is to perform with outta control butterflies in your stomach. Any tips would be gratefully taken.. I dont want to make a complete A** of myself!

Keano

Loads of helpful links in this thread but practice in front of a mirror or friend. My last boss told me I interview really well but I didn't tell him that I spent about 2 days practising!!

susanroth

I'm just after realising my first interview all year is on friday the 13th!!! EEK!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek:

smileyme1

While the number one thing is to relax and be yourself you should always remeber it's an interview not just a chat so when they ask you a question, think "What are they looking for in that question?" i.e. why are they asking that. Sometimes people will get on well with interviewers but they don't give them the answers they need.

Good luck everyone.

'Mind Fit' for 2010
Positivity & resilience workshop
www.peoplepotential.ie

LisaMe

SO glad I came across this thread, I've an interview tomorrow :-)

mcbobbyb

Great advice

KarlDrake

Hi all,
This is an Irish specific CV and interview advice podcast which may be of interest.

http://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/mynewcv/id341771458
or
http://mynewcv.podbean.com/ if you don't have a iTunes.

The most recent podcast is about Interviews.

magooly

Hi all,

I didnt see this mentioned here but its just one small thing that stuck in my mind throughout my recent interview process, helping me prepare well for interview and secure a great job.

The Competency part of any interview generally calls for examples of situations where you have used the skills required for the position. Knowing what is in your C.V is one thing BUT try to apply each piece of your experience on paper to a time where you were presented with a situation and through your wonderful experience you managed to secure a positive outcome. Make sure you have a copy of the job description clearly defining the key competencies required from you. You have these skills, thats why you have been called to interview. All you need do now is demonstrate them through situations. Think STAR:

S.ituation
What was the situation you found yourself in?.
T.ask
What was the specific task or problem as it was presented to you.
A.ction
How you went about resolving the situation, the techniques you employed, teamwork
R.esult
What was the positive outcome of YOUR action

I promise you if you go through all your achievements you can map each one of them to any type of situation an interviewer may throw at you.

Interviewer: Can you describe a situation where..
Interviewer: You CV mentions.... Tell me more about it.

You:
Well (STAR) we had a SITUATION where ....... The TASK/problem here was....... My role in resolving this...... and as a RESULT we.......


Good luck.
magooly

calvinstar

hi

how can i answer this question "what leadership skills do you have"

calvinstar

hi

how can i answer this question " have you ever made a democratic decision"

Amandapanda801

I've always been good at interviews and even though I'm still a college student and have never had a real job(only internships and high school jobs), every single interview i've been to i've had positive results. I think it's mostly dressing appropriately, smiling, seeming enthusiastic, knowing the current situation of the company and showing what skills you can use to improve their business.

calvinstar

Amandapanda801 wrote: »

I've always been good at interviews and even though I'm still a college student and have never had a real job(only internships and high school jobs), every single interview i've been to i've had positive results. I think it's mostly dressing appropriately, smiling, seeming enthusiastic, knowing the current situation of the company and showing what skills you can use to improve their business.

how can i answer the question, what leadership skills i have, if iv'e never lead a team

Amandapanda801

calvinstar wrote: »

how can i answer the question, what leadership skills i have, if iv'e never lead a team

I'm sure you have once in your life.. Maybe your thinking too hard. I'm sure you can think of a time when you led a group or a project at school or when you were younger. How did you react to the setting and how did people react towards you? You could always just take a psychometric test though and find out if your a good leader. I know of this one site called Central Test that has these kinds of tests, maybe you should try one.

Amandapanda801

Telling a story also helps to get people engaged in your life and showing what you have learned through the story makes them think you're wise. It's like college essays, I always just wrote stories of my past and people were always interested in reading them because they could see what I have learned through my experiences.

Denerick

I've an interview next week and I'm really dreading it. I have no idea how to answer stupid questions like 'How would you convince somebody to do something they wouldn't want to do?'

'What are your strengths/weaknesses?'

That last one especially drives me up the wall. My strengths and weaknesses? Fúck you! What are your strengths and weaknesses? I really hate that question, I never know what to say. You either end up looking arrogant or like some sap.

SoupyNorman

Denerick wrote: »

I've an interview next week and I'm really dreading it. I have no idea how to answer stupid questions like 'How would you convince somebody to do something they wouldn't want to do?'

'What are your strengths/weaknesses?'

That last one especially drives me up the wall. My strengths and weaknesses? Fúck you! What are your strengths and weaknesses? I really hate that question, I never know what to say. You either end up looking arrogant or like some sap.

Those 'stupid questions' can be the most dangerous, they can stifle even the most seasoned interviewee.

In my last interview I was thrown 3 of these standard questions, and as I had prepared answers for them I answered them fluidly and without pause.

For a start, if you dont know how to answer the 'What are your strengths/weaknesses?' type questions then Google it, these are the questions you can prepare for. Read some of the examples and then apply one of your own situations/experiences.

When I'm asked 'where do you see yourself in 5 years', I never make the mistake of instantly spouting how much I want to be in a managerial position etc,this kind of answer is given all to often as it's an easy one to give in my opinion, instead I like to explain how I hope to be a subject matter expert in my field and so on.

I know some people who dont believe in preparing much before an interview because they may not be asked many of the questions mentioned, true you may not be but IMO it's well worth taking the time to prepare as it pays dividends when you are asked.

Good luck with the interview.

Amandapanda801

You know what could help you actually.. I know of this psychometric testing website that gives personality, career and personal growth tests to see if people are right for a certain job or not and to pinpoint a person's strengths and weaknesses. I think this could help you since you seem to be having a tough time seeing who you really are. I mean it always helps to ask and actual person what they think about you and what they think your strengths and weaknesses are but taking a psychometric test that has been scientifically validated always helps to really pinpoint your personality type. I think the website is www.centraltest.com, but see for yourself.

angel6

"What is your salary expectation?"
I have an interview coming up for a Graduate Software Developer and I'm not sure what to answer if asked this question as I've seen jobs for IT grad positions advertised with salaries ranging from 20k - 33k. Do I specify a range or a bang on figure?

lasnoufle

"How much do you have, I'll take it all"
Seriously, a figure, now of course the hard part is to guess the highest that won't disqualify you for thinking too high of yourself...
I'd say a range sounds bad because it's like you don't know what you're worth, plus in any case they'll just take the lower bound.

FOXFISH1

Got an interview tomorrow......dreading it!!!

Just a quick question,
I was planning on bringing some notes into the interview so that i could use them to refer to for one or two questions.
Is it generally ok to do this? or is it a no no.

In my opinion i'd prefer to glance at a page in order to remember my answer, rather than sit there dumbfounded for many seconds.

...or does it just appear totally unprofessional to be referring to notes at all?

any advice appreciated,
thanks!

x in the city

FOXFISH1 wrote: »

Got an interview tomorrow......dreading it!!!

Just a quick question,
I was planning on bringing some notes into the interview so that i could use them to refer to for one or two questions.
Is it generally ok to do this? or is it a no no.

In my opinion i'd prefer to glance at a page in order to remember my answer, rather than sit there dumbfounded for many seconds.

...or does it just appear totally unprofessional to be referring to notes at all?

any advice appreciated,
thanks!

bring in a job spec and notes and your cv, all in a folder.

not harm at all, say " i got some questions down here if i could ask you?"

it shows your interested, thats all that matters

better than someone going to an interview with nothing and half asleep....

FOXFISH1

x in the city wrote: »

bring in a job spec and notes and your cv, all in a folder.

not harm at all, say " i got some questions down here if i could ask you?"

it shows your interested, thats all that matters

better than someone going to an interview with nothing and half asleep....

Thanks for the reply @x in the city!
Yea i brought a folder of stuff with me, didn't open it though......i froze....lol.....just sat in the chair answering the questions as best i could.

That's a good idea to have the questions written down.

finisklin

Any thoughts on how to answer "What do you consider to be your biggest mistake to date?"

Berty

finisklin wrote: »

Any thoughts on how to answer "What do you consider to be your biggest mistake to date?"

I once answered that question in relation to my CV.

"I wish I had realised my skills and attributes as a salesman far earlier in my working life as it is something of a job/career that I excel at."

Wishy washy but open and honest. Tailored of course to my job hopping early on in my working life of course.

finisklin

I dug this up from the net...regarding biggest regret....something similar to biggest mistake.

Great Professional Mistakes
The following represent great answers for “professional regrets. or mistakes”

• Promotions you did not accept.
• Internship opportunities you could not afford to pursue.
• Inventions/ideas you did not share.

The first two are difficult. Chances are if you were provided an opportunity to advance your career, you took it. However, if you are one of the few that did not, these are great answers. They make you look like a fantastic employee and your greatest professional regret was a missed opportunity.
Not sharing ideas is the next best answer. If you had an idea you didn’t share that would have helped turn a profit, and failing to share that idea cost the company money, this is a good answer. Chances are you have some answer like this.

Bad Answer
“My greatest professional regret was back when I worked at the local grocery store. I had a rough morning with a customer, and when my boss asked me to stock the shelves, I yelled at him and ended up losing my job.”

Good Answer
“My greatest professional regret occurred when I worked for MarketingCorp. I had an idea for a campaign that could potentially take advantage of an upcoming shift in social media, but I talked myself out of sharing it and a competitor utilized it to their own advantage. Since then I’ve been working on sharing all of my ideas, especially when they are related to possible improved profit for the company.”

This is a good answer, and don’t forget to add what you did to ensure that your greatest professional regret does not occur again.

Take Away Interview Tips

• Your greatest professional regret should be a missed opportunity that makes you look like a great employee.
• Always follow up with what you are doing to ensure it never happens again.

I hope this helps.....