Rehearse Answers to Interview Questions

I just want to follow up on one of my blogs from last week. It's important to prepare for job interviews by researching most commonly asked interview questions.

It's equally important to then write (or type) out your responses and then rehearse them. Memorize them or at least the main points and rehearse them. Practice in front of a mirror, camera, whatever, but treat it like a professional baseball player would. Study your intonations and movements. What type of feelings or attitudes do they give off. How would others perceive/receive it?

Just a helpful tip that has been useful for me over the years.

Tip for connecting on LinkedIn

I receive a lot of invitations on LinkedIn. I also send out a lot of invitations. When you send out an invitation make sure you add a brief personable explanation as to what your purpose is. There's a couple reasons why.

First, it's rude not to. Don't be rude by not explaining yourself. Especially, if the person you're trying to connect with doesn't know you from Adam. Would you go up to a person and talk business without introducing yourself? No. The same goes online. It's no different if you're a professional. So be professional.


Second, how will they know how to help you? I enjoy connecting people with others and helping out where I can. I can't do that if I don't know you or your intentions.


Help yourself out, drop a line to the folks you're connecting with on LinkedIn. You'll get a lot more positive responses.





 

Interview Questions - Google it.

Prepare for interview questions before your interview. The easiest way to do that is to google "interview questions," or "best interview questions," "common interview questions," etc.

It's just a good idea to have a few answers prepared for the interview. It'll pay off for you.

Share Job Opportunities with Others

Let others know about the job opportunities you're pursuing. If you're excited about them and you share the positive experiences and details, this can spark them to share other opportunities with you.

For example, maybe they know other people in the industry of field you're looking into.

The more positive you are about your job search the more it will help.

Networking within the company you are applying to - Follow Up

I wanted to follow up on last weeks blog about networking within the company you're applying to.

Again, it can be a great help to create an internal advocate for you while you're in the interview process, but it can also backfire on you if your so called 'friend' or past work associate doesn't speak highly of you.

Many folks get good reviews through this method, but unfortunately some do not. Just make sure that you only mention people as references that would say good things about you. Otherwise leave it alone.

Having said that the HR people will do the best they can in their background checks to find an unbiased opinion of your abilities.

Formal Education vs. Real World Experience

Check out this article on experience vs. education: http://utahbusiness.com/issues/articles/11919/2012/01/the_college_of_hard_knocks

Personally, I don't think they are at odds. You need formal education to give you tools and you need real world experience to give you tools.

What you don't need is one or the other. That is a one winged plane.

Networking within the company you are applying to

When you apply for any position you should connect with your network to find out if you know anyone that works at that company.

Many times I receive personal emails from coworkers about friends who have applied. This strengthens your credibility.

I usually at least give these folks a call because I trust the opinion of a lot of my coworkers. It doesn't mean you'll get the job, but at least you will increase your chances of getting a phone call.

Understanding the Interview Process

Once you've engaged with someone about a position and you both agree that it's a good fit, ask what the rest of the interview process will be like.

You will prepare and interview differently depending on who the interviewer is. It's important, for example, to know whether you'll be interviewing with an HR person or the CEO.

It's also good to know what kind of skills or personality tests you'll have and whether they'll be online or on site. Again, that changes how you prepare.

Just remember. You can't just send people a resume and assume they can derive your experience from it. Prepare so you can show them your experience.

Define your goals in your Job Hunt

Happy New Year! I hope your Christmas and New Year's celebrations were great and that you were able to receive support from your family.

I read a quote this morning I wanted to share.

"Define clearly what you want to have happen in your life. Keep the vision in front of you and make a total commitment to fulfill it." - Paul Donahue

Decide what you want to do for work that would be fulfilling and provide for your family then set goals for your job hunt and go after them.