So you've polished your resume, combed the job boards, and
applied to a few positions that you really feel could be a great fit. And then
the great news comes; a recruiter has looked over your resume and is inviting
you in for an interview! It may seem like you are home free at this point, but
the truth is you’re far from it. Although the company has determined that you
meet the qualifications, there is still a long road ahead of you. For starters,
you may not be the only candidate invited in for an interview. And even if you
are, you still need to impress the company sufficiently for them to even
consider extending you an offer. Today
we’ll take a look at some preparation techniques you can use to prepare for an
interview and get ready to shine.
The first piece of advice we’ll discuss today is likely the
most important, and also the simplest. Practice. Yup, just like any other
skill, interviewing is something you can practice at and get better at. As a
soon-to-be or recent graduate, there are several options available to you for
interview practice. The career development center at your college/university is
a great place to start, as most will offer sign-up times to practice
interviewing with a career counselor. A friend or family member with experience
in job interviews can be another resource for you. Here at Verum Staffing, we
offer interview help/practice for candidates, as do many other staffing
agencies. Take advantage of these informational interviews, and ask for
feedback when you are done. The only way to improve upon your interview skills
is to practice, so get to it!
While you are scheduling those practice interviews, take a
moment to really research and familiarize yourself with some of the common
questions that crop up in interview sessions. The first of these we’ll discuss
is called a “behavioral” question. A behavioral or situational question gives
the interviewer an inkling of how you may behave if a given or common work situation
crops up. For example, the interviewer may ask “tell me about a time where you
saw a co-worker who wasn’t following the rules; what did you do?” In this case,
they may be looking to see if you are someone who would try and work things out
with a co-worker, if you would run to tell a supervisor, or if you didn’t say
anything. Behavioral questions are part of most interviews, and can vary in the
type of question (and resulting answer) the interview is looking to hear. You
will be hard pressed to research every
behavioral question that may come up, but seeing and practicing a variety of
them can give you a good head start. As a general rule of thumb, when you are
asked to answer a behavioral question, the interviewer is asking you to
describe one specific time. If we go back to our last example, you would want
to describe one instance where you caught a co-worker not doing their job, not
what you would do in most situations.
Other types of questions that may be asked of you in an
interview can included the following:
·
What can you tell me about yourself?
·
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
·
Are you planning on attended graduate school in
the future?
·
What is one of your strengths?
·
What is one of your weaknesses?
Even if you have researched the questions thoroughly, you’ll
still need to be able to give well thought out answer in order to impress your
interviewer! Practicing the questions and receiving feedback is a good start.
As a note, you do not want to try and memorize an answer. If you have a
“script” answer that you plan to follow, you may get thrown off or forget your
answer. A better idea is to have an outline of various situations that could
serve to answer a multitude of those behavioral questions.
Another idea is to
use what is referred to as the “STAR” technique. STAR refers to the following:
·
Situation
·
Task
·
Action
·
Result
In this way, you think of the situation that best answers
the question, describe the task at hand, the action that you took to resolve
the situation, and what the result was.
To sum up today’s advice: practice! The more prepared you
feel heading in to an interview, the more likely you are better to do! Good
luck!
Stay tuned for our next article on 10/09/14 where we’ll give
helpful tips for interviewing by phone. Until then, feel free to catch up on
our previous articles, and be sure to check out our pages on Linked In,
Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ for the latest news and opportunities available
through Verum Staffing! If you are interested in speaking with us further
regarding positions we have available, future opportunities, or
interview/resume help, please send an email to lhoff@verumstaffing.com to set up an
informational interview.