Business Communication Skills

Interviewing Skills

Instructor: Syed Ameer Ali

Types of Interviews

Patterned Interview: Highly structured, systematic, and are designed to serve as a stable yardstick against which applicants can be measured. They are designed to overcome problems of inconsistency. Essentially, the identical questions are asked of all applicants, and then the individual responses are directly compared with each other. The typical use of a patterned interview is an initial screening of many applicants to weed out the more obviously unqualified. Many first interviews follow this format.

Non-Directive or Free Association Interview: Typically employs open-ended type questions such as Tell me about yourself. This allows the applicant to express himself/herself in his/her own unique wayoffers greater exposure to an applicants personality and attitudes. However, the interviewer needs considerable training and skill to keep the applicant from rambling, and also to objectively analyze data. Many campus interviewers will at least appear to follow this format. Stress Interview: The purpose of this method is to measure the applicants ability to handle stressful situations. Stress interviews are used to weed out individuals who react defensively or get easily injured. Stress questions and/or techniques are often utilized in various interviews.

Group and/or Area Interview: Group interviews are often used for higher-level business and academic positions. Typically a search committee composed of personnel representatives, managers and often psychologists will examine an applicant. Each interviewer will often be assigned a particular area of the applicants background to hone in on, e.g. experience, education, work style, etc. This approach can be exhausting for the applicant, especially when the interviewing is structured on a oneon-one basis, or takes several hours or days.

Behavioral Interview: This type of interview is designed to elicit actual information from candidates that will demonstrate their effectiveness as long-term employees, and facilitate the matching of organizational and applicant needs. The goal of behavioral questions is to have the candidate recall and describe situations where critical thinking and success factors were demonstrated. A sample behavioral question might be: Describe the situation which best demonstrates your ability to get things done through others. Through the behavioral questions, the interviewer is seeking REAL answers, that is: Relevant information, Experience, Action taken, and Leadership demonstrated.

Business Communication Skills

Interviewing Skills

Instructor: Syed Ameer Ali

Important Interview Information

Nervousness: Recruiters are aware that job interviewing can cause extreme nervousness. Usually a recruiter will make allowances for this, especially if it is one of the applicants first interviews. Try no t to fidget with your hands or articles of clothing. Keep frequent eye contact with the interviewer, but dont stare. In most instances, nervousness will become less of a factor after two or three interviews. For this reason, it is wise to save your most important interviews until you have acquired some practice. Above all, dont become discouraged; interviewing is a learned skill. However, if you are still having difficulty after your fifth or sixth interview, it may be best to discuss the situation with a counselor at your Career Center or other career professional. Eye Contact: Having good eye contact is very important when communicating, especially when interviewing or meeting a prospective employer. Very often, lack of direct eye contact can give a person the wrong impression about you. We typically think that a person who cannot look someone in the eye may either be shy, hiding something or is dishonest. Maintain good eye contact when communicating; it will leave others with a positive impression of you. Body Language: We can say many things with our bodies using non-verbal communication. Make sure that your body language portrays a message of friendliness and openness. When communicating, watch out for folded hands and arms, crossed legs, head in a downward position, or not sitting directly facing the person with whom you are talking. These gestures could lead others to think that you are very closed, aloof or distant. Be Candid: While subterfuge may get you the job, it isnt likely to k eep it for you. The hiring of an employee is, after all, an agreement to buy what the employee has to sell. Unless both parties have a pretty honest evaluation of each other, the sale is apt to be cancelled later. Think On Your Feet: Dont let the interviewing situation stampede your confidence. Make sure that you get the opportunity to fully express your strong points. Your answers should be factual, sincere, but should not convey conceit. For example: o Point out improvement trends in your grade point average if it appears to be low; o Note any supervisory or leadership positions you may have held, even volunteer positions (most internships can legitimately be described as experience, so be sure to emphasize them);

Business Communication Skills

Interviewing Skills

Instructor: Syed Ameer Ali

Questions For The Interviewer

1. How much travel is normally expected? 2. Do employees normally work many hours of overtime? 3. Can I progress at my own pace or is it structured? 4. What is the average age of your first level supervisors? 5. How much contact and exposure to management is there? 6. Is it possible to move through the training program faster? 7. About how many individuals go through your program each year? 8. How often are performance reviews given? 9. Is it possible to transfer from one division to another? 10. Does the business offer employee discounts? 11. What is the normal routine of the position Im interviewing for? 12. How much independence is allowed in dress and appearance?

Business Communication Skills

Interviewing Skills

Instructor: Syed Ameer Ali

Fifteen Knockout Factors

(Reasons Why Candidates Receive Rejection Replies)

1. Lack of proper career planning purposes and goals ill defined needs direction. 2. Lack of knowledge in field of specializationnot well qualifiedlacks depth. 3. Inability to express thoughts clearly and conciselyrambles. 4. Insufficient evidence of achievement or capacity to incite action in others. 5. Not prepared for the interview no research on company--any presentation. 6. No real interest in the organization or the industry merely shopping around. 7. Narrow location interestunwilling to relocate laterinflexible. 8. Little interest and enthusiasmindifferentbland personality. 9. Overbearingoveraggressiveconceitedcockyaloofassuming. 10. Interested only in best dollar offer too money conscious. 11. Asks poor questions about the job little depth and meaning to questions. 12. Unwilling to start at the bottomexpects too much too soonunrealistic. 13. Makes excusesevasivenesshedges on unfavorable factors in record. 14. No confidence and poisefails to look interviewer in the eyeimmature. 15. Poor personal appearancesloppy dresslacks sophistication.

Business Communication Skills

Interviewing Skills

Instructor: Syed Ameer Ali

Twenty Frequently Asked Interview Questions

1. Tell me about yourself. Expand on your resume. 2. For what position are you applying? 3. What are your long-term career goals? 4. Why do you feel you will be successful in ? 5. What supervisory or leadership roles have you held? 6. How do you spend your spare time? 7. What have been your most satisfying and most disappointing experiences? 8. What are your strongest (weakest) personal qualities? 9. Give me some examples that support your stated intere st in 10. Why did you elect to interview with us? 11. What courses did you like best? Least? Why? 12. What did you learn or gain from your part-time and summer job experiences? 13. Which geographic location do you prefer? Why? 14. Would you prefer on-the-job training or a formal program? 15. What can you do for us now? What can I do for you? 16. What are your plans for graduate study? 17. Why did you choose your major? 18. Why are your grades low? 19. Tell me about your extracurricular activities and interests. 20. Why did you quit your various jobs?

**Remember, your interview really begins as soon as you arrive at the place of the interview, or even before. Who knows, the person sitting beside you on the bus on the way to the interview might work for the company! Maintaining a professional attitude even as you leave your house will not only help prevent any potentially embarrassing moments before you get to the interview, it will also keep you in a good frame of mind. Here are some more tips to keep in mind as you head to the interview.

Business Communication Skills

Interviewing Skills

Instructor: Syed Ameer Ali

Know Yourself
To make substantial headway in self-reflection, spend some time on the following exercises. When considering your responses, think beyond your professional life and current circumstances. Include instances as far back as your youth. o Make a list of five accomplishments that you enjoyed. o Make a list of five things you have done that make you proud. o Describe three scenarios in which you felt highly motivated to accomplish something. o Describe three scenarios in which you lacked motivation. o Think of three scenarios in which you felt appreciated by other people. How did they communicate that appreciation for you? o Make a list of how your colleagues, staff, and supervisors describe you. Include the positive and negative feedback. o Make a list of how friends and family describe you. o Make a list of ten of your best personal qualities. o Think of two small and large decisions that you have made. Describe how you went about making those decisions. o Describe two situations that seemed risky to you. What did you do? o Describe a conflict situation between you and someone else that was resolved to your satisfaction. How was it resolved? o Describe a conflict situation between you and someone else that was not resolved to your satisfaction. What happened? o Complete this sentence: When I want to show appreciation for other people, I usually o Complete this sentence: I work because o Complete this sentence: From a job I want

Business Communication Skills

Interviewing Skills

Instructor: Syed Ameer Ali

Thank You Notes

Not only does the thank you note communicate respect for the employer and reaffirm your case as a candidate, but it also provides you with an easy excuse for calling the employer again. When you make sure the note arrived, you can take the opportunity to discuss certain aspects of the position, ask the interviewer whether he or she has any additional questions for you, and reaffirm your interest in the job. Thank you note reminders: o Send the note within 24 hours of the interview if you send it via the mail service and 48 hours of the interview if you send it digitally. o Send one note to each person who interviewed you. The interviewers will likely compare your notes. o Make the note personal, but professional. o Keep the tone positive and confident. o Keep the note brief; use your words economically. o Refer to specific things that the interviewer said during the interview. o Reaffirm how you can add value to the company. o Be certain that there are no grammatical or spelling errors in the note. o Follow up the thank you letter with a phone call a week later, if you have not heard from the employer.

What To Take To The Interview

There are some essential things you will want to take along with you when you go for a job interview. The best advice is to carry with you a small folder that contains: o Copies of your resume, to give to the interviewer at the start of the interview and for your own reference during the interview; o Copies of letters of recommendation, and a typed reference sheet to be given to the interviewer; o Other material relevant to the interview; o Pen and paper, so that you can note the name of the interviewer, time for future interviews and other pertinent information.

Business Communication Skills

Interviewing Skills

Instructor: Syed Ameer Ali

Dressing For The Interview

What you wear to an interview can be as important as what you say. o Always wear clean and neat clothing; make sure it is pressed. Nothing will turn an interviewer off more than an outfit that looks like its been sitting in your laundry hamper since your last job interview. o Wear deodorant or antiperspirant! Enough said about that? o Use little or no perfume or cologne. You want to smell good, but not overpowering. Also, more and more people find they are allergic to perfumes and colognes. You dont want to make you interviewer break out in a rash! o Have fresh breath and clean teeth. o Have clean, recently cut, and neatly brushed hair. o If possible, before you interview find out how people dress at the place of employment. Dress as well or a little better. But be careful, as overdressing may also turn the interviewer off.

Tips For Males

o For business, public contact and customer service positions, wear a suit jacket, dress pants, shirt and tie, socks and polished shoes. Avoid loud colors. o For positions with less public contact, wear a sports jacket or a sweater, a shirt with a color, dress pants (skip the jeans or sweat pants), and polished shoes. o Facial hair should be clean-shaven or neatly trimmed.

Tips For Females

o Go easy on makeup and fingernail polishavoid unusual colors, too heavy an application and extremely long nails. o Simple clothes and quiet colors are most suitable. o Very tight clothes, see-through tops and short skirts should be avoided. o Nylons and low-heeled shoes are best for professional, office, sales, public contact and customer service jobs. o Clothing and accessories do not have to be expensive to make a good impression, but they should always be in good taste and clean. They should also be toned down rather than wild or extravagant. You want the interviewers attention to be focused on you, not on your clothes.