At second interviews, unsuitable applicants should have been screened out by this stage. For certain jobs a decision will be made to offer the job after the second interviews; recruitments for senior positions may proceed to third interviews.
Second interview questions should be deep and probing about the candidate and the candidate's approach to work. The questions should concern detailed and testing examples and scenarios specific to the particular job, asking how the candidate would deal with them. This is to discover as reliably as possible how the candidate would approach the job, and what type of person they are - the interviewer needs to be sure they will get on with the candidate you and that they will fit in well.
The interviewer should also probe the type of management that the candidate responds to and doesn't, and how the candidate would work with other people and departments, giving specific examples and scenarios.
Tests and practical exercises using actual work material or examples can be used, which enable a practical assessment of the candidate's real style, ability, knowledge and experience.
The candidate can be asked to prepare and give a short presentation about themselves, or how they would approach the job or a particular challenge. This could involve the use of certain equipment and materials, particularly if such ability is to be required in the job.
The interviewer should also try to get to know more about the candidate as a person - to be as sure as possible that this is the right person for the situation; the interview approach should be probing and gaining practical evidence, proof, of suitability.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Salary negotiation tips for job interviews
The best time to negotiate salary is after receiving a job offer, and importantly before you accept a job offer - at the point when the employer clearly wants you for the job, and is keen to have your acceptance of the job offer. Your bargaining power in real terms, and psychologically, is far stronger if you have (or can say that you have) at least one other job offer or option (see the tips on negotiation). A strong stance at this stage is your best chance to provide the recruiting manager the justification to pay you something outside the employer's normal scale.
If there's a very big difference between what is being offered and what you want, say more than 20%, you should raise it as an issue during the interview for discussion later (rather than drop it as a bombshell suddenly when the job offer is made). Do not attempt to resolve a salary issue before receiving a job offer - there's no point. Defer the matter - say you'll need to discuss salary in due course, but that there's obviously no need to do so until and unless the company believes you are the right person for the job. "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it," should be the approach.
A job and package comprise of many different things - unless the difference between what's offered and needed is enormous (in which case the role is simply not appropriate) both sides should look at all of the elements before deciding whether salary is actually an issue or not.
The chances of renegotiating salary after accepting a new job, and certainly after starting a new job, are remote - once you accept the offer you've effectively made the contract, including salary, and thereafter you are subject to the organization's policies, process and natural inertia.
A compromise agreement on salary, in the event that the employer cannot initially employ you at the rate you need, is to agree (in writing) a guaranteed raise, subject to completing a given period of service, say 3 or 6 months. In which case avoid the insertion of 'satisfactory' (describing the period of service) as this can never actually be measured and therefore fails to provide certainty that the raise will be given.
If you are recruiting a person who needs or demands more money or better terms than you can offer, then deal with the matter properly before the candidate accepts the job - changing pay or terms after this is very much more difficult. If you encourage a person to accept pay and terms that are genuinely lower than they deserve or need, by giving a vague assurance of a review sometime in the future, you will raise expectations for something that will be very difficult to deliver, and therefore storing up a big problem for the future.
If there's a very big difference between what is being offered and what you want, say more than 20%, you should raise it as an issue during the interview for discussion later (rather than drop it as a bombshell suddenly when the job offer is made). Do not attempt to resolve a salary issue before receiving a job offer - there's no point. Defer the matter - say you'll need to discuss salary in due course, but that there's obviously no need to do so until and unless the company believes you are the right person for the job. "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it," should be the approach.
A job and package comprise of many different things - unless the difference between what's offered and needed is enormous (in which case the role is simply not appropriate) both sides should look at all of the elements before deciding whether salary is actually an issue or not.
The chances of renegotiating salary after accepting a new job, and certainly after starting a new job, are remote - once you accept the offer you've effectively made the contract, including salary, and thereafter you are subject to the organization's policies, process and natural inertia.
A compromise agreement on salary, in the event that the employer cannot initially employ you at the rate you need, is to agree (in writing) a guaranteed raise, subject to completing a given period of service, say 3 or 6 months. In which case avoid the insertion of 'satisfactory' (describing the period of service) as this can never actually be measured and therefore fails to provide certainty that the raise will be given.
If you are recruiting a person who needs or demands more money or better terms than you can offer, then deal with the matter properly before the candidate accepts the job - changing pay or terms after this is very much more difficult. If you encourage a person to accept pay and terms that are genuinely lower than they deserve or need, by giving a vague assurance of a review sometime in the future, you will raise expectations for something that will be very difficult to deliver, and therefore storing up a big problem for the future.
Asking for the job
In certain circumstances, especially for sales and commercial roles, there might be an expectation or opportunity for you to 'close' or ask for the job, which is potentially the most powerful question of all to ask.
If you really want the job and can accept an offer there and then, there is often a lot to be gained, and very little to be lost, by asking for the job at the end of the interview, although bear in mind the effect that this tactic has on salary negotiation.
Obviously it's only appropriate in certain situations; notably towards the end of the recruiting process when the interviewers have seen all the candidates, or if the employer has more vacancies than they can easily fill.
Similarly, it's reasonable to ask for a second interview, or to be shortlisted, if that's the next stage in the process.
Persistence and determination are highly valued attributes, logically in sales and selling organisations, but also beyond the sales functions. In fact some job candidates successfully take the method to extremes and simply do not take no for an answer, virtually camping out on the employer's doorstep until they are eventually brought in from the cold and offered the job. The decision-maker, typically an owner-manager or CEO in such situations, is finally forced to concede that if the person wants the job that badly then perhaps they'll be rather a good bet after all. This sort of determination is often associated with loyalty and commitment - and uniqueness - which can all create a compelling case for decision-makers who are attuned to this sort of style, particularly if other candidates are thin on the ground.
If you really want the job and can accept an offer there and then, there is often a lot to be gained, and very little to be lost, by asking for the job at the end of the interview, although bear in mind the effect that this tactic has on salary negotiation.
Obviously it's only appropriate in certain situations; notably towards the end of the recruiting process when the interviewers have seen all the candidates, or if the employer has more vacancies than they can easily fill.
Similarly, it's reasonable to ask for a second interview, or to be shortlisted, if that's the next stage in the process.
Persistence and determination are highly valued attributes, logically in sales and selling organisations, but also beyond the sales functions. In fact some job candidates successfully take the method to extremes and simply do not take no for an answer, virtually camping out on the employer's doorstep until they are eventually brought in from the cold and offered the job. The decision-maker, typically an owner-manager or CEO in such situations, is finally forced to concede that if the person wants the job that badly then perhaps they'll be rather a good bet after all. This sort of determination is often associated with loyalty and commitment - and uniqueness - which can all create a compelling case for decision-makers who are attuned to this sort of style, particularly if other candidates are thin on the ground.
Questions to ask at interview - for interviewees
While this section essentially gives guidance and tips to interviewees these ideas and principles will also help interviewers.
At job interviews it's as important for you the interviewee to prepare questions to ask the interviewer as it is to prepare answers and readiness for the questions that the interviewer will ask you.
If you are the interviewer, ensure you offer the interviewee the opportunity to ask questions about the job, the management, the organisation and the market within which it operates. The questions that job candidates ask at interview provide valuable insights as to their attitude, maturity, capability and strategic understanding of the role and the organisation, so for interviewers, questions asked by interviewees form a significant and illuminating part of the interview process. Listen to and learn from what interviewees ask you - often the questions that interviewees ask will provide more information to the interviewer than anything you ask them.
As the interviewee, take full advantage of opportunities to ask questions. Asking good well-prepared and researched questions is your chance to demonstrate that you are better than the other candidates, and to show that you have a tremendous capability and understanding and potential, irrespective of what the interviewer asks you.
Preparing and asking great questions at your own job interview dramatically reduces any dependance that you might otherwise have for the interviewer to ask you 'the right questions'. It won't matter if the interviewer doesn't ask good helpful questions, or fails to prompt the sort of discussion that allows you to show how brilliant you are - instead, you can control this area of discussion yourself by asking the interviewer great questions that will make them sit up and realise what an excellent candidate you are.
An helpful although not absolutely essential aspect towards asking the interviewer good questions is good research (which follows later on this page).
A key to asking great questions at your interview is to ask questions that impress the interviewer. Most candidates just ask about routine details that they think they ought to know, or which they think of on the spur of the moment, but which will probably be provided in due course anyway in documentation about terms and conditions. This is meaningless twaddle and to be avoided.
Instead focus on the job priorities and scope, on the organisation and ways to make a difference or an improvement. Try to think strategically like a manager, and for very senior positions, like the CEO. Try to adopt the mind-set of a helpful advisor who needs to ask helpful facilitative questions. Focus on the organisation not on your own needs.
Try to prepare and ask questions that make the interviewer think to themselves, "Wow, that's a good question - this candidate has really thought about the role, and understands the sort of issues we need them to handle/the sort of responsibilities/initiatives we want them to take.."
Aim to ask questions that make the interviewer think, (depending on what the organisation and role requires), "Wow, that's an unusual question - this candidate is special - they are demonstrating to me that they understand people/understand about communications/have great integrity/a strong value system/great humanity/maturity/a good strategic mind/etc, etc."
Think before the interview about what the successful candidate will be like - ask yourself beforehand, what great questions would the successful candidate ask? And then be that person.
When you research the job look into the sort of challenges the organisation is facing, and think how this affects the vacant role. What does the employer need from the successful applicant? How might the role be extended to contribute more to the organisation if the job were performed by a suitably positive and capable person ? (That's you incidentally.) The job advert or job specification might give you some clues. Do your research so that you understand as much as possible about the priorities of the job position, and the organisation and its situation, and then think about the ways that the role could be extended to provide greater support towards achieving organisational challenges.
This sort of background thinking will help you to prepare questions that will seriously impress any interviewer, whatever the role. It is possible also to think of good positive impressive questions just by using what you know of the role and the sort of issues that face modern employers. The point is, you need to think about it and prepare beforehand.
For example:
examples of good questions to ask interviewers
These types of questions are certainly appropriate for interviewees to ask an interviewer at an interview for a junior-to-middle ranking role. For more strategic roles and executive responsibilities you'll need to raise the strategic perspective of some of these questions - use your judgement. Remember, the aim is to make the interviewer think (always relative to the role), "Wow, that's a good question.."
In any event adapt the wording and develop alternative questions to suit your own style and the situations concerned.
"Of the main priorities and expectations attached to this role, which ones are well understood and measurable, and which are not?"
"If the CEO/MD/Departmental Manager/you were to name the three most important priorities for this role/the successful candidate to achieve in the first six months, what would they be, and how would they be measured?"
"I'm aware that this market is fast moving/competitive/mature/local/regional/national/international (whatever your research indicates); how is this affecting the strategic priorities and the demands on the role/vacant position?"
"Communications, internal and external, are clearly extremely important in this organisation; what are the related priorities for this role?"
"I've read that you (the employer organisation) face a lot of competition from XYZ (sector, company, whatever); what do you think are the main ways that the successful candidate can help the organisation deal with this threat?"
"Where are the priorities/What are the issues for this role/the successful candidate in terms of maintaining/developing/improving effective inter-departmental relations?"
"What are the priorities and challenges as regards areas for change and improvement facing the department/organisation/team within/connecting/relating to the role?"
"What is the balance of priorities for this role - short-term efficiencies and performance, or longer-term planning and organising?"
"If someone were to come into this role and begin to make a significant impact on culture and morale, what sort of changes would people/you/the management/the board/the CEO want to see most, and how would this be measured?"
"It's normal that most roles are operating considerably below their potential to contribute to strategic change/organisational performance and improvement; what are the expectations in terms of broadening the scope of this role"?
"How might this role positively impact on/contribute to customer relations/organisational development/culture/staff morale/training and development/legislative anticipation/market development/sales development/business retention in ways that it's not done so far?"
"Where do think there might be opportunities for this role to connect with/cooperate with other functions, and what's stopped that happening in the past?"
"What are the vulnerabilities in processes/people/business retention/grow/ technology, ITC systems within the organisation/department that need to be attended to?"
And so on.. You get the idea?
Serious, strategic, thoughtful, facilitative questions. Questions that amaze the interviewer - about things they might not have even considered. In fact the best questions should make the interviewer think, "My God, if this person can have this level of insight, and such a positive enlightened approach at the interview, just imagine what they'll be able to do when they get their feet under the table..."
This sort of positive expansive questioning is not limited to strategic management positions - every job role is potentially strategic - what makes the role strategic is the person doing it, not the job title or status.
And the role can be in any function, any industry, any type of organisation - doesn't matter - every role interfaces in some way or another with people, processes, other departments, customers and suppliers (internal or external), and so has a strategic dimension. recognise the strategic dimension; influence it positively, and you get asked to do it on a wider scale. Asking good questions at a job interview helps the job candidate to demonstrate that they have this potential.
Organisations, and therefore interviewers want to recruit people into all roles who can come in and make a positive difference. By asking well-prepared and thoughtful questions, you can demonstrate that you are one of these people.
Being an advocate of the maxim 'accentuate the positive' I am usually loath to dwell on negative examples, however in this case I make an exception because this is an important no-go area.
Just as it's helpful for interviewees to prepare and ask good questions, so it's helpful also to avoid asking routine questions that waste time and can often be covered more efficiently in some other way (by reading a document for example.)
questions to avoid asking
Contrast the expansive, positive strategic questions above, about job scope and contribution to organisational effectiveness, with this stuff below. Interviewers will generally react negatively (secretly usually) to questions such as the following examples, so unless you are a very junior person going for a very junior role with an employer who has not prepared in advance this type of routine information, avoid asking questions like these at your interview.
Do not ask these questions
"How many weeks holiday do I get?.."
"When would I get a pay-rise?.."
"What are the lunch times?.."
"What sort of car do I get?.."
"What other perks are there?.."
"What are the pension arrangements?.."
"Do you have a grievance procedure?.."
"What expenses can I claim for?.."
"How soon before I could get promoted?.."
"When is going-home time?.."
and others like these
Generally speaking these questions suggest to the interviewer that the candidate is mostly interested in what the organisation can give the employee, rather than the other way around. Interviewers want to meet and recruit interviewees who see things in terms of what the employee can do for the organisation.
Find another way to get this sort of information if you really need to know it at the face-to-face interview. Good employers will explain all this to interviewees during the interview or in written terms and conditions, which many employers will send out prior to the interview. As suggested in the tips at the start of this page ask prior to the interview for a copy of the employment terms and conditions or an employee handbook. If they don't have this or can't send it, and you have a burning question about these sort of 'hygiene factors', the best way to approach it is to ask something like:
"What's the best way for me to see the routine details about the employment terms and conditions relating to this role? Do you have a handbook or sample contract for example? I don't want to waste time here going through incidentals..."
By doing this you demonstrate several important things, that:
you regard these things as secondary - implication being that you regard doing the job as the priority
you respect the value of time, since you appreciate there are better things to concentrate on during an interview
you understand the principle of efficient information management and communication, on the basis that all this detail will be available somewhere to read rather than have to waste effort asking individual questions
you are professional - because providing information like this in the way you suggest is the most professional way to do it.
Of course the job-grade and seniority of the vacancy and the size of the employer organisation will affect the significance and transfer of this sort of information. In an interview with a tiny little company for a junior clerk's position the interviewee can be forgiven for asking these sorts of questions relating to terms and conditions, not least because the company might not be professional or organised enough to have produced a proper handbook or contract, nevertheless, whatever the role and size of employer, the less time spent asking about all this sort of information the better. And certainly avoid the entire area in interviews for professional positions with professional employers, especially in commercially competitive functions and industry sectors.
At job interviews it's as important for you the interviewee to prepare questions to ask the interviewer as it is to prepare answers and readiness for the questions that the interviewer will ask you.
If you are the interviewer, ensure you offer the interviewee the opportunity to ask questions about the job, the management, the organisation and the market within which it operates. The questions that job candidates ask at interview provide valuable insights as to their attitude, maturity, capability and strategic understanding of the role and the organisation, so for interviewers, questions asked by interviewees form a significant and illuminating part of the interview process. Listen to and learn from what interviewees ask you - often the questions that interviewees ask will provide more information to the interviewer than anything you ask them.
As the interviewee, take full advantage of opportunities to ask questions. Asking good well-prepared and researched questions is your chance to demonstrate that you are better than the other candidates, and to show that you have a tremendous capability and understanding and potential, irrespective of what the interviewer asks you.
Preparing and asking great questions at your own job interview dramatically reduces any dependance that you might otherwise have for the interviewer to ask you 'the right questions'. It won't matter if the interviewer doesn't ask good helpful questions, or fails to prompt the sort of discussion that allows you to show how brilliant you are - instead, you can control this area of discussion yourself by asking the interviewer great questions that will make them sit up and realise what an excellent candidate you are.
An helpful although not absolutely essential aspect towards asking the interviewer good questions is good research (which follows later on this page).
A key to asking great questions at your interview is to ask questions that impress the interviewer. Most candidates just ask about routine details that they think they ought to know, or which they think of on the spur of the moment, but which will probably be provided in due course anyway in documentation about terms and conditions. This is meaningless twaddle and to be avoided.
Instead focus on the job priorities and scope, on the organisation and ways to make a difference or an improvement. Try to think strategically like a manager, and for very senior positions, like the CEO. Try to adopt the mind-set of a helpful advisor who needs to ask helpful facilitative questions. Focus on the organisation not on your own needs.
Try to prepare and ask questions that make the interviewer think to themselves, "Wow, that's a good question - this candidate has really thought about the role, and understands the sort of issues we need them to handle/the sort of responsibilities/initiatives we want them to take.."
Aim to ask questions that make the interviewer think, (depending on what the organisation and role requires), "Wow, that's an unusual question - this candidate is special - they are demonstrating to me that they understand people/understand about communications/have great integrity/a strong value system/great humanity/maturity/a good strategic mind/etc, etc."
Think before the interview about what the successful candidate will be like - ask yourself beforehand, what great questions would the successful candidate ask? And then be that person.
When you research the job look into the sort of challenges the organisation is facing, and think how this affects the vacant role. What does the employer need from the successful applicant? How might the role be extended to contribute more to the organisation if the job were performed by a suitably positive and capable person ? (That's you incidentally.) The job advert or job specification might give you some clues. Do your research so that you understand as much as possible about the priorities of the job position, and the organisation and its situation, and then think about the ways that the role could be extended to provide greater support towards achieving organisational challenges.
This sort of background thinking will help you to prepare questions that will seriously impress any interviewer, whatever the role. It is possible also to think of good positive impressive questions just by using what you know of the role and the sort of issues that face modern employers. The point is, you need to think about it and prepare beforehand.
For example:
examples of good questions to ask interviewers
These types of questions are certainly appropriate for interviewees to ask an interviewer at an interview for a junior-to-middle ranking role. For more strategic roles and executive responsibilities you'll need to raise the strategic perspective of some of these questions - use your judgement. Remember, the aim is to make the interviewer think (always relative to the role), "Wow, that's a good question.."
In any event adapt the wording and develop alternative questions to suit your own style and the situations concerned.
"Of the main priorities and expectations attached to this role, which ones are well understood and measurable, and which are not?"
"If the CEO/MD/Departmental Manager/you were to name the three most important priorities for this role/the successful candidate to achieve in the first six months, what would they be, and how would they be measured?"
"I'm aware that this market is fast moving/competitive/mature/local/regional/national/international (whatever your research indicates); how is this affecting the strategic priorities and the demands on the role/vacant position?"
"Communications, internal and external, are clearly extremely important in this organisation; what are the related priorities for this role?"
"I've read that you (the employer organisation) face a lot of competition from XYZ (sector, company, whatever); what do you think are the main ways that the successful candidate can help the organisation deal with this threat?"
"Where are the priorities/What are the issues for this role/the successful candidate in terms of maintaining/developing/improving effective inter-departmental relations?"
"What are the priorities and challenges as regards areas for change and improvement facing the department/organisation/team within/connecting/relating to the role?"
"What is the balance of priorities for this role - short-term efficiencies and performance, or longer-term planning and organising?"
"If someone were to come into this role and begin to make a significant impact on culture and morale, what sort of changes would people/you/the management/the board/the CEO want to see most, and how would this be measured?"
"It's normal that most roles are operating considerably below their potential to contribute to strategic change/organisational performance and improvement; what are the expectations in terms of broadening the scope of this role"?
"How might this role positively impact on/contribute to customer relations/organisational development/culture/staff morale/training and development/legislative anticipation/market development/sales development/business retention in ways that it's not done so far?"
"Where do think there might be opportunities for this role to connect with/cooperate with other functions, and what's stopped that happening in the past?"
"What are the vulnerabilities in processes/people/business retention/grow/ technology, ITC systems within the organisation/department that need to be attended to?"
And so on.. You get the idea?
Serious, strategic, thoughtful, facilitative questions. Questions that amaze the interviewer - about things they might not have even considered. In fact the best questions should make the interviewer think, "My God, if this person can have this level of insight, and such a positive enlightened approach at the interview, just imagine what they'll be able to do when they get their feet under the table..."
This sort of positive expansive questioning is not limited to strategic management positions - every job role is potentially strategic - what makes the role strategic is the person doing it, not the job title or status.
And the role can be in any function, any industry, any type of organisation - doesn't matter - every role interfaces in some way or another with people, processes, other departments, customers and suppliers (internal or external), and so has a strategic dimension. recognise the strategic dimension; influence it positively, and you get asked to do it on a wider scale. Asking good questions at a job interview helps the job candidate to demonstrate that they have this potential.
Organisations, and therefore interviewers want to recruit people into all roles who can come in and make a positive difference. By asking well-prepared and thoughtful questions, you can demonstrate that you are one of these people.
Being an advocate of the maxim 'accentuate the positive' I am usually loath to dwell on negative examples, however in this case I make an exception because this is an important no-go area.
Just as it's helpful for interviewees to prepare and ask good questions, so it's helpful also to avoid asking routine questions that waste time and can often be covered more efficiently in some other way (by reading a document for example.)
questions to avoid asking
Contrast the expansive, positive strategic questions above, about job scope and contribution to organisational effectiveness, with this stuff below. Interviewers will generally react negatively (secretly usually) to questions such as the following examples, so unless you are a very junior person going for a very junior role with an employer who has not prepared in advance this type of routine information, avoid asking questions like these at your interview.
Do not ask these questions
"How many weeks holiday do I get?.."
"When would I get a pay-rise?.."
"What are the lunch times?.."
"What sort of car do I get?.."
"What other perks are there?.."
"What are the pension arrangements?.."
"Do you have a grievance procedure?.."
"What expenses can I claim for?.."
"How soon before I could get promoted?.."
"When is going-home time?.."
and others like these
Generally speaking these questions suggest to the interviewer that the candidate is mostly interested in what the organisation can give the employee, rather than the other way around. Interviewers want to meet and recruit interviewees who see things in terms of what the employee can do for the organisation.
Find another way to get this sort of information if you really need to know it at the face-to-face interview. Good employers will explain all this to interviewees during the interview or in written terms and conditions, which many employers will send out prior to the interview. As suggested in the tips at the start of this page ask prior to the interview for a copy of the employment terms and conditions or an employee handbook. If they don't have this or can't send it, and you have a burning question about these sort of 'hygiene factors', the best way to approach it is to ask something like:
"What's the best way for me to see the routine details about the employment terms and conditions relating to this role? Do you have a handbook or sample contract for example? I don't want to waste time here going through incidentals..."
By doing this you demonstrate several important things, that:
you regard these things as secondary - implication being that you regard doing the job as the priority
you respect the value of time, since you appreciate there are better things to concentrate on during an interview
you understand the principle of efficient information management and communication, on the basis that all this detail will be available somewhere to read rather than have to waste effort asking individual questions
you are professional - because providing information like this in the way you suggest is the most professional way to do it.
Of course the job-grade and seniority of the vacancy and the size of the employer organisation will affect the significance and transfer of this sort of information. In an interview with a tiny little company for a junior clerk's position the interviewee can be forgiven for asking these sorts of questions relating to terms and conditions, not least because the company might not be professional or organised enough to have produced a proper handbook or contract, nevertheless, whatever the role and size of employer, the less time spent asking about all this sort of information the better. And certainly avoid the entire area in interviews for professional positions with professional employers, especially in commercially competitive functions and industry sectors.
Giving presentations at job interviews
Being asked to give a presentation at your interview is a great opportunity for you to shine and stand out from the crowd.
While giving interview presentations can understandably be daunting, a little preparation and thought will enable you to use the situation to great advantage. This is chiefly because giving a presentation offers you a much better platform than is normally available when simply answering an interviewer's questions.
A presentation enables you to showcase your attributes and qualities - and often to research and prepare - way beyond the constraints normally encountered in reacting to conventional interview questions.
So if you are asked to give a presentation - regardless of the time available for preparation - welcome the challenge - be prepared, and make the most of the your chance to show what you can do.
Demonstrating an organizational or strategic interpretation and enthusiasm for the role - showing that you can add value beyond what the employer hopes for - is the key to standing out as a star candidate.
Research, preparation, and freedom to create and deliver a great presentation are the main the ingredients for anyone seeking to make an impact in any situation - and all of these are enabled when you are invited to give an interview presentation.
While giving interview presentations can understandably be daunting, a little preparation and thought will enable you to use the situation to great advantage. This is chiefly because giving a presentation offers you a much better platform than is normally available when simply answering an interviewer's questions.
A presentation enables you to showcase your attributes and qualities - and often to research and prepare - way beyond the constraints normally encountered in reacting to conventional interview questions.
So if you are asked to give a presentation - regardless of the time available for preparation - welcome the challenge - be prepared, and make the most of the your chance to show what you can do.
Demonstrating an organizational or strategic interpretation and enthusiasm for the role - showing that you can add value beyond what the employer hopes for - is the key to standing out as a star candidate.
Research, preparation, and freedom to create and deliver a great presentation are the main the ingredients for anyone seeking to make an impact in any situation - and all of these are enabled when you are invited to give an interview presentation.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Stress and pressure interview questions
When dealing with questions that put pressure on you or create stress, be confident, credible and constructive (accentuate the positive) in your answers. And make sure you prepare. Stress and pressure questions come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Three commonly used types of pressure questions are those dealing with weakness and failure; blame; and evidence of ability or experience.
weakness and failure questions
"Tell me about your failures....", or "What are your greatest weaknesses......". are the interviewer's equivalent to "Are you still beating your wife?..".
Don't be intimidated by these questions - you don't have to state a failing or a weakness just because the interviewer invites you to.
"I don't generally fail", or "I really can't think of any", are perfectly acceptable answers. Short and sweet, and then wait smiling for the come-back - you'll have demonstrated that you are no mug and no pushover. If you are pressed (as you probably will be), here's your justification answer, or if you wish to appear a little more self-effacing use this as a first response:
"I almost always succeed because plan and manage accordingly. If something's not going right I'll change it until it works. The important thing is to put the necessary checks and contingencies in place that enable me to see if things aren't going to plan, and to make changes when and if necessary....."
weakness and failure questions
"Tell me about your failures....", or "What are your greatest weaknesses......". are the interviewer's equivalent to "Are you still beating your wife?..".
Don't be intimidated by these questions - you don't have to state a failing or a weakness just because the interviewer invites you to.
"I don't generally fail", or "I really can't think of any", are perfectly acceptable answers. Short and sweet, and then wait smiling for the come-back - you'll have demonstrated that you are no mug and no pushover. If you are pressed (as you probably will be), here's your justification answer, or if you wish to appear a little more self-effacing use this as a first response:
"I almost always succeed because plan and manage accordingly. If something's not going right I'll change it until it works. The important thing is to put the necessary checks and contingencies in place that enable me to see if things aren't going to plan, and to make changes when and if necessary....."
Monday, January 3, 2011
Dont say you're a perfectionist
How to explain your weaknesses in an interview
Absolutely not.
When asked to identify "weaknesses'' start by substituting the word "challenge'' for "weakness''. Also, choose a challenge you are already tackling. For example, investigate signing up for a Toastmaster's Speechcraft course to overcome fear of public speaking.
Make sure you pick something you are genuinely doing something about. Don't lie.
It is equally important not to pick a challenge that would torpedo your chances. I met someone recently who started life as a medical doctor until he realised he didn't like sick people. This would be a "challenge''
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