Interview Success Tips

During these tough times a large number of people are re-entering the job market. Stay-at-home mothers going back to work, part-time workers looking for a full time position, people who took time out to get qualifications are finding that economic conditions are forcing them back into the job market. Time out of the workforce for a while can make one anxious about entering the job market again. The key element during your job interview is to emphasize the skills and experience you now bring to the position, what constructive steps you have taken to stay up-to-date during your absence and the new and valuable skills you have learned during this time that can be transferred to the workplace.

Prepare for these interview questions about your re-entry into the workforce:

Your resume shows no work experience over the last few years. Can you tell me what you have been doing?

The interviewer is asking why you have not been working. It is important to be honest and straightforward about your reasons for deciding to take time out of the workplace.

For parents who have been at home raising kids this can be an frustrating question as you have most definitely been working! Use this as an opportunity to highlight the skills and behaviors you have learned during your time at home such as stress tolerance, planning, scheduling, time management and to confirm why you are ready and eager to return to employment. 

If the reason is more complicated such as an illness or having to look after a sick relative you can still use the same approach. You may feel tempted to play upon your interviewer’s sympathies and discuss the difficulties you have experienced but it is far wiser to provide a straightforward explanation of your time off. Explain why you decided to leave your job after careful evaluation of the situation. Detail what you learned from the experience. Assure the interviewer that the reasons have now resolved themselves and you are eager to be back at work and focused on your career. Steer the conversation back to your skills and experience and communicate clearly what you are able to offer to the position and the company 

The important thing to remember is that you do not have to defend your absence from the workforce, you only need to explain it. The employer wants to know and understand what your reasons were and why you are now looking to re-enter the job market. Address these concerns in a factual, non-defensive way and you can successfully move on to the next part of the job interview.

What did you gain during this time?

Remember that experience does not have to be paid to count as valuable and relevant. What new skills have you learned during your time away from the workforce? What steps did you take to keep current with industry news and happenings. Did you take any courses or programs?

In a confident and positive manner discuss your experiences and why they would make you a good employee. Refer to skills such as budgeting, planning and organizing, prioritizing that you learned while raising your family. These can all transfer to on-the-job skills. Doing community work or looking after a sick relative means learning to adjust to different demands and needs.

Be positive about how busy and active you have been, regardless of why you were not formally employed.

What makes you the right candidate for this position?

This is when you refer to your past employment history. Make sure that you highlight why this previous work experience is still relevant to the position you are interviewing for today and to the work environment you will be in. Focus on your own competencies, such as problem-solving, planning, organizing and communicating, that you bring to the position. Emphasize your maturity and adaptability, your re-commitment to your career and your willingness to work hard and learn quickly.

Re-entering the job market holds a number of  challenges, but with perseverance and preparation they shouldn’t hold you back in your job interview. Use this opportunity to show them you’re the best person for the job.

For good advice and help with dealing with tough interview questions read through How to Answer Difficult Interview Questions. Prepare for typical interview questions using these guidelines and sample answers.

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Good job interview questions are the most essential and important component of any job interview. You need to be very focused on the questions you ask. In addition to this you must get the desired answers from the questions you ask the candidate. First, you must make a good rapport with the candidate. Remember one thing, which you are the questioner and you will get the answers according to what type of questions you ask. In addition, how and at what time you different questions plays significant role. Overall outcome of the interview depends on it. Always listen to the answers carefully and then ask the next questions.

Good job interview questions are asked in increasing order of importance. So at start you should ask general informative questions like how would you describe yourself, What are your long term and short term aspirations and objectives, where do you see your self five years from now, have you drawn out any plan for achieving your career goals, What do you look ahead  to be paid in five years. Then some of the tricky questions are like why did you select this profession, according to colleagues what are your strengths and weaknesses, what are the benefits you expect from your career and so.

As you further advance to the next level of the interview, questions should be more specific and you must test the talent and expertise of the applicant. Take your own time to ask the next questions. You must manipulate your questions depending on the answers given by the candidate. Some of the excellent questions can give you what you are looking for in no time. Some of the tough questions are as follows. How would you assess your capability to deal with disagreement, why should I hire you, and what credentials do you have that make you win in this occupation. Then you can ask what you think it require to be victorious in an organization like ours, do you think about yourself as a leader, which is more important: creativeness or efficiency and why so, what do you know about our challenger s is very tricky question. You must ask these type of questions whenever they are necessary. From these questions, you can point out the candidate’s nature, skills and other capacities.

At the end of the interview, you must ask good questions from which you can assess the person’s ability whether he can work in your group or team. Some of the quality questions are as follows. Have you ever been fired or asked to quit from some company, what your last supervisor would say regarding your job performance, how you perform under pressure. Some times you can ask questions about future work like how you will motivate your colleagues, how you plan on for getting to higher positions in this company, how you will relate your work experience with the work you are given this company and so on.

Good questions are a key factor to the successful interview. Along with the good questions, you must be able to point out the important points you got from the answers given by the candidate. This will help you take the final decision about choosing the right candidate for your company.

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Your resume is doing its job when you are getting employment interviews. But, if you can’t seem to land the job offer, you need look for what may be holding you back. Many frustrated job seekers suffer from a variety of negative personal traits that can sabotage them in the job seeking process.

During an employment interview, you must strive for perfection. After you have left the the interview, it is too late to address any small foible that may have cost you the job offer. Now is the time to privately evaluate your own personal traits and decide if you need to make some improvements. Below are the top five negative traits that may keep you from receiving a second interview or a job offer. Do any of these describe you?

1. Inadequate personality; Often expressed as a poor attitude, lack of poise, or lack of self confidence. These traits are very common in job seekers who have been in the job market for some time. After receiving no response from resumes, no returned calls after an interview, your self esteem, poise, and confidence are all likely to suffer.

2. Lack of goals and objectives; This person appears poorly motivated and indecisive. They lack a clear plan and cannot articulate their goals and interests. They may be hesitant during the interview and their answers may wander from the what was intended by the interviewer’s question.

3. Lack of enthusiasm; Generally perceived as a failure to demonstrate drive or initiative. You may not be sufficiently assertive or may have low self esteem. These people often have difficulty “selling” themselves during the interview. They may feel incapable or not sufficiently intelligent to perform in the position that they are interviewing for.

4. Inability to express yourself; This person may have poor communication skills, they are unsure of their speaking skills, speaking voice or vocabulary. These people are often quiet during the interview, providing only short, non-descriptive answers that fail to “sell” the job seeker to an employer.

5. Poor personal appearance; This applicant lacks neatness, may be a careless dresser, or have poor personal hygiene. The job seeker may be unaware of this and walk out of the interview believing they have the position, but never get the call.

Unfortunately, these factors often overlap and each may compound the impact of the others. If you did find yourself anywhere on this list, take heart, recognizing your negative trait is the first step to overcoming it. And you can overcome these negatives with a little effort.

Begin by setting a self improvement goal and committing yourself to reaching that goal. Next, develop an action plan that will work for your life and circumstances and will ultimately reach your goal. Your plan may invovle taking a class, joining a club, or reading the latest self-help best seller. No matter what path you chose, remember to write down your plan. An idea remains in your mind; a plan is written down on paper. Show your plan to a spouse a trusted friend and ask them to hold you accountable for your self-improvement plan.

We have limited our discussion to the 5 most common negative traits, but there are many, many others that will be examined in following articles. Overcoming the 5 negative traits discussed here will produce a positive synergistic effect in your professional and personal life. A healthy sense of confidence will help to improve your poise, attitude, and speaking skills. You can then ask for some help in correcting any fashion faux pas in your wardrobe! Define your goals and enthusiastically pursue them. Your efforts will benefit you in the next job interview as well as your personal life.

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Job interviews are stressful no doubt, however if one is properly prepared then there are umpteen chances that he or she will be able to crack the interview.  The job interview questions and answers does not only test a candidates intellect but it also test the candidates presence of mind, his patience and his overall attitude.  Every candidate who comes for a job should be properly prepared.  An unprepared mind will make fool out of himself in the interview room.  Every candidate who comes for the interview has almost the same qualification and the same aspiration. So it is imperative for a candidate to distinguish himself from the crowd; personal branding of oneself is a must and it always plays a pivotal role in a candidate’s success.  

At present there are no guides on job interview questions and answers which focus on personal USP.  USP a marketing concept stands for unique selling proposition; a candidate USP will create a distinct image of the candidate in the mind of the interviewer which will distinguish him from the rest of the candidate.  The job interview questions and answers session tests a candidate’s mettle, his preparation and his ability to influence the interviewer.   Some typical questions which are generally asked are: describe yourself, why do you want to join our company, how do you handle stress, are you a team–man, what is a your expected salary, why should we hire you, what is your work ethics, what is your dream job, why did you leave your previous job, describe about your previous work, do you have any question to ask and so on. 

The candidate should be prepared with his personal profile but while presenting it, it should not appear as a rehearsed activity.  While presenting the personal profile a candidate should mention his educational qualification, his family background and his achievements. If the achievement is in the relevant field for which the candidate has applied then it should be mentioned very clearly.  Answers should be precise and to the point.  While answering, the candidate should address everybody, make proper eye contact, should have proper body language and should always carry a pleasant smile on his face.   

The candidate should state that he has relevant qualification for the post for which he has applied, he is a team man and for him work is more important than money but it should not be overstated.  About why did he leave his previous job a candidate should be honest but should not allow the focus to shift in this direction. On being asked about the expected salary; the job-seeker should not make the first statement as he may end up losing if the employer was willing to pay more. The job interview question and answers slightly differ for a fresher and for a work experienced.  For a fresher the focus is on his education and his other relevant skills whereas for a work experienced the focus is on his previous work.  No job interview question and answer guide will help a candidate unless and until he believes in himself.

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