Like any process, applying and interviewing for a new job carries with it an unspoken set of rules. Competition for top jobs is tough, so you need to be well prepared and avoid the common CV and interview pitfalls that could lose you a lucrative position.
DO . . .
a) Think about how you present yourself
Whether on paper, by email or in person, it’s important that you give a good impression whenever you communicate about the executive appointment you’re interested in. A professional image is critical to your success, and it is something that makes an immediate impact. It may seem unimportant to you, but every bit of contact that an agency or employer has with you informs their eventual decision on whether to offer the job to you or not.
b) Tell the truth
Apparently, we’ve all been tempted to lie about our qualifications or experience. This is always a bad move, particularly if you’re applying for an executive appointment. The company will be investing a reasonable amount of money in your appointment and on your salary, and they won’t be happy if they discover you got the position by being dishonest with them. An honest candidate is much more likely to get the job, and won’t have to worry about keeping up the lies once they start work.
c) Be on time
Lateness should be avoided at all costs. Make sure you leave in plenty of time to get to your place of interview 5-10 minutes early. If you are unavoidably caught up in traffic, make sure you have the company contact details with you so that you can call immediately and explain your situation. Once you get to the interview, don’t spend your time moaning about the delay.
DON’T . . .
a) Be offensive
Applicants for executive appointments are expected to have a certain standard of behaviour. Don’t make the mistake of being too informal with your interviewer, don’t tell rude or offensive jokes, or make comments that the interviewer may find distasteful. Limit your answers and questions to the subject and scope of the interview.
b) Be over-confident
Over-confidence in interviews is often the result of nerves, and an effort to appear self-confident for executive appointments can end up looking like arrogance to the interviewer. Sell yourself by all means, but do it in a manner that shows that you can also work as part of a team and accept ideas and criticism from others.
c) Put too much emphasis on salary
If an employer thinks that you only want the job for the money, you are unlikely to get it. Any talk about salary and benefits should come right at the end of the interview. If you begin by asking about pay and conditions, you run the risk of giving the interviewer the wrong impression. Salary is an important part of all executive appointments, so stick to your guns when negotiating salary, but don’t make it the focal point of the interview.
Executive appointments carry responsibility and agencies and companies are looking for people who have the skills, qualifications and experience. Careful preparation and planning can help you to succeed.
Tags: Amount Of Money, Bad Move, Company Contact, Contact Details, cv, Email, Eventual Decision, Executive Appointment, Executive Appointments, Executive Job, Honest Candidate, Interview Don, Interviewer, Interviewing For A New Job, Lateness, Lucrative Position, Offensive Jokes, Pitfalls, Plenty Of Time, Professional Image
So, you’ve submitted a killer Curriculum Vitae and supporting documents. You’re ahead of the pack and have just received a call for an interview. What do you do next?
The interview is the most stressful and important part of job hunting. This is where the employers make a decision based on his or her impression of whether to hire you for their job. You will want to do your best in this part because here lays the culmination of all your job hunting efforts. Flub it here and all your efforts from application to examinations will go down the drain.
1. Make a Great Impression
Always dress in your best attire for the interview. Your attire should be appropriate. No matter what the company may require for their employees, the first impression for applicants should be conservative business attire.
2. Do a Little Research
One of the best ways to make a good impression on your interviewer is to do a little research on the company you are applying for. This will equip you with material to answer many of the questions the interviewer will ask. One of the main points of the questions you will be asked is how your skills can benefit the company. If you know a thing or two about the company, you will find it a lot easier to answer this question. Plus, dropping a few meaty tidbits about how much you know about the company will go a long way in impressing the interviewer.
3. Watch Your Body Language
Many of the interviewers are well versed in body language, and you will find that, throughout the interview, they will be looking for hints about your personality from the way you act, talk, and move. It would be abnormal to assume a different set of body language during the interview. What you should do is to take note of your body language so that at least it communicates openness and honesty.
Avoid telling lies or embellishing your answers. Experienced interviewers will notice this in an instant. Always keep your palms open and avoid crossing your legs or your arms together. Do not be afraid to make eye contact while speaking; just make sure that you do not come across as intimidating.
4. Confidence
Walk in with a purpose. Answer with a purpose. Try not to be too self-conscious. Make sure you are confident in what you say. If you hit a snag and find yourself in a compromising situation, make sure you handle the situation confidently – even when saying that you do not know an answer to a question.
Confidence reflects competence. Employers always look for competent people to fill their ranks.
Tags: Act, Ahead, Answer Questions, Body Language, Business Attire, Conservative Business, Culmination, Curriculum Vitae, First Impression, honesty, Interviewer, Interviewers, Job Hunting, job interview, Legs, Openness, Opportunity, Palms, Personality
Fresh out of college, most people are excited about landing that first job. Given that most grads do not have work experience or only had a part time job while studying, it is not easy to secure an executive position right away.
Starting from scratch, one has no choice but to start from the bottom in an entry-level position then in time move to the top. The challenge most grads face in applying for a job is the competition. Aside from those who just graduated, there are also those who have left the previous job and are looking for a new one.
According to hiring and compensation experts, there is not that much room to negotiate when one is just a fresh grad. This is because that person does not have substantial work experience as basis to negotiate for a higher wage compared to those who have already worked before.
The range of the salary fresh grads get are based on the course one has finished in college. To those who volunteered to be surveyed, it was found that people who graduated from the sciences were able to get a higher salary compared to those who graduated from the liberal arts.
A tip that may help a little in the negotiation process is knowing your potential and not easily giving in or selling yourself short. In the course of an interview, it will boil down to the how much you will be getting. Most fresh grads accept what is given immediately and reply “ok” ending it there.
It is best to only talk about the salary when an offer has been made. If the interviewer is good, it can wait. During that time, one can try asking how much the company will give for someone in that position then be able to negotiate about that further later on regardless of the figure that was given.
The applicant can then ask questions such as job responsibilities and mention that the contribution one can give to the company is more important than the salary you will be receiving showing the recruiter you are a team player.
Applicants can negotiate more by doing research on how much other companies are offering for the same job before giving an immediate answer. By knowing that information, it is possible for you to negotiate the salary offered for a little more.
Getting a job is not only about a salary. This includes other things that the company offers to its employees and by thoroughly checking out the other benefits and perks, it can also help in deciding whether the applicant should accept the job or not.
Tags: Applying For A Job, Compensation Experts, Doing Research, Entry Level Position, Executive Position, Face, First Job, Grads, Interviewer, Liberal Arts, Negotiation Process, Part Time Job, Recruiter, Salary, Starting From Scratch, Substantial Work Experience, Team Player, Time Move
Have you recently been contacted for a job interview? If so, you may be pretty excited. When it comes to getting a new job or starting a new career, an interview is the first step towards success. The only problem is that many interviewees end up making costly mistakes during their interviews. One of those mistakes is by not asking any questions. You are advised against doing this. Not asking any questions during a job interview gives the impression that you are not a leader, just a follower. That is not the type of impression that you want to make.
When it comes to asking questions during a job interview, you may be wondering what type of questions you should ask. Before examining the type of questions that you should ask, it may be best to focus on the type of questions that you shouldn’t ask. For one, you are advised against asking about the pay or raises, like when they kick in. Salary is something that should be brought up by the interviewer. If and when salary is discussed, you may want to ask about raises, but it is advised that you refrain from doing so, at least right away.
In keeping with questions that you should not ask, many employers give their job applicants information about their company, like a company brochure or a link to their online website. You are advised to thoroughly examine all of the information given to you, whether that information be online or in print. This will prevent you from asking questions that you should already know the answers to. Asking a question about the history of the company, when you were already given detailed history information, gives the impression that you did not read through the materials given to you. This is not the type of first impression that you want to make.
Now that you know some of the questions that you do not want to ask during a job interview, you may want to focus on some of the questions that you can ask, or at least ones that are considered “safe,” to ask. One of those questions is about the average workday or workweek. For instance, ask if you were hired for the job, what would your workdays or workweeks be like? What type of tasks would you be required to complete?
Another question that you may want to ask during a job interview is about the company’s future? Are there any plans for expansion? How does the company rate against the competition? These are interesting questions that show that you want to work for a successful company, one that will be around for a long period of time. Asking about the stability of a company gives a good impression of yourself, as it often means that you are also looking for stability.
You may also want to ask the interviewer some personal questions, but do not go too personal. Trying asking them about how they like working for their company. Ask about when they started working for the company and what level did they start at. If they advanced, ask if it was relatively easy to do? Does the company in question tend to promote from the inside up or do they hire new employees? This may get you on a personal level with the interviewer, which tends to make your interview more memorable.
The above mentioned questions are just a few of the many that you may want to ask an interviewer during a job interview. In all honesty, you are advised to use your best judgment when asking questions, but it is important that you do ask at least some.
Tags: Company Brochure, Costly Mistakes, First Impression, First Step Towards Success, Focus, Follower, History Information, Interviewees, Interviewer, Interviews, Job Applicants, Job Career, Job Information, new job, Questions To Ask During A Job Interview, Salary, Wondering What Type
Have you recently landed a job interview, from one of the job listings that you applied to? If you have, when is your interview scheduled? If your interview is scheduled to take place in a few days or even in a few hours, are you prepared for it? What you may not know is that most job applicants aren’t. To make sure that you are prepared for your interview, you will want to continue reading on.
When it comes to hiring an applicant, there are many interviewers who do place a large focus on personal appearance. This focus on personal appearance doesn’t just focus on beauty, but hygiene as well. Employers want to hire workers who will give their business a good public perception. That is why it is important that you give that good perception, especially in an interview. When attending a job interview, you will want to make sure that you are professionally dressed, either in a pant suit or a dress. Make sure that your hair is well kept as well. In fact, you may want to think about buying a new outfit or getting your hair done before your interview is scheduled to take place.
Before your interview, you may also want to make a trip to the store to purchase some needed supplies, if you don’t already own them. These supplies may include a notebook, writing utensils, and a thank you note. As for the notebook and a writing utensil, you may want to take notes during your interview. If you applied to more than one job listing, you may have multiple interviews scheduled. Taking notes during your interviews will help you keep all of them straight. Also, taking notes during a job interview makes you look as if you are more interested in the job. It is also shows a side of you that says “I am professional and always prepared.”
As for the thank you note, which was mentioned above, you will want to send a thank you note to your interviewer. A thank you note may also help to create a good, positive impression of yourself. With thank you notes, many have intentions of sending them, but not everyone ends up doing so. Having a standard thank you note already filled out and ready to go is ideal. In fact, you may also want to drop it off at the post off right after your interview has been completed. Of course, make sure that you don’t drop it off beforehand. Should the mail be delivered early or your interview needs to be rescheduled, you may be embarrassed with the early delivery of a thank you note, for an interview that never even occurred yet.
As you likely already know, job interviews are where hiring employers are able to learn as much as they can about you. This is often done by asking a series of questions. The questions that you are asked during a job interview will tend to vary, but most are likely focused around your goals and your work ethics. For instance, you may be asked to describe you strengths and your weaknesses, your goals in life, your desire to move up the corporate ladder and such. Even if these questions are expected to be asked, it can be nerve-wracking when they are actually asked. That is why you may want to do a number of practice interviews. These practice interviews work best with another person, like a family member or a friend, but you can also do them by yourself, like in front of a mirror. Practicing your responses before a job interview is one of the best ways to make sure that your answers come out exactly the way that you wanted them to.
The above mentioned preparation tips are just a few of the many that you may find useful, when it comes to preparing for a job interview. If you are hoping to schedule multiple interviews, you may want to invest in resource guides that focus on successfully mastering the interview process, as that interview process is often the deciding factor in whether or not you get hired.
Tags: Few Days, Hygiene, Interviewer, Interviewers, Interviews, Job Applicants, job interview, Job Listing, Job Listings, Notebook, Pant Suit, Personal Appearance, Public Perception, Writing Utensil, Writing Utensils
