Tuesday, August 11, 2020

That dreaded Job Interview....

Turning up naked at an interview is NOT
recommended!

Noticed a couple of fellow bloggers on the prowl for that corner office and stratospheric remuneration (Salary/ Pay - for the workers; Remuneration - for the executives).

Recall coming across some pretty good material a long time ago albeit from the interviewer's point of view. Theses are the questions designed to put you off, make you sweat and shake.

Basically, the objective of the interview is to see if you can:
  1. Do the job
  2. Want to do the job
  3. Get on with the boss and his crones
So when you're in that room, don't panic. Here's some pointers....


Appearance

Don't scream "pervert" if the guy's staring at you. Just trying to decide if that nose pin matches with the outfit (get rid of those studs and hide the tats).


Work Experience. They will ask some irrelevant questions, things like:
  1. Things you liked best about your last job
  2. Things you liked less
  3. What were your accomplishments and how did you achieve them
  4. What did you learn from job
  5. What were the difficult problems you faced and how did you handled them
  6. Were there opportunities for promotion and advancement (why weren't YOU promoted?)
  7. Ways you found most effective with people
  8. Type of challenges you faced and how did you meet them
  9. What's the reason(s) for changing job
  10. Any frustration’s on the job and how did you go about resolving them
  11. What's your preferred job environment
  12. What are you looking for in a job and where do you see yourself in X years (your career ambitions)

Education
  1. Subjects you liked best (no point going for a book-keeping job and saying you hate maths)
  2. Those liked less and why
  3. What were your reactions to teachers(if you hated maths, you'll be asked if your maths teacher was bad).
  4. What were your grades and how much effort did you put in (are you a quick learner or a little slow?)
  5. Why did you chose the college that you did
  6. How did you chose your major
  7. What were the toughest courses
  8. What were your major achievements and how you managed it (sitting at the pub).
  9. What were your extracurricular activities (careful here!)
  10. Relate your education with your career ambitions (make sure it's consistent with 12 above)
  11. Satisfaction with your education
  12. Any specialised on-the-job training (Save the guy money since your last boss' trained you)
  13. Recent courses attended (ditto)
  14. Future educational plans (don't say none!)

Attendance (just making sure you're not a lazy b*stard)
  1. What do you do in your spare time (boozing is not the right answer).
  2. What are your hobbies and interests
  3. Do you get involved in the community
  4. What have you learned from these activities
  5. What activities would you like to be involved in but currently aren't
and the sneaky one...

Given these commitments, what's your availability for the specific job requirements such as:
  • travel
  • relocation
  • overtime
  • weekend work
  • evening assignments

Attitude/ Initiative
Positive
  1. What contributions have you made to your current job/ school
  2. Do you have any specific talents or abilities
  3. How was your recent performance review (good stuff)
  4. What are your best qualities as seen by others
  5. What are your assets in working with others
  6. What are your interests
Negative
  1. Where do you need to improvement
  2. What are your weaknesses
  3. Qualities wish to develop further
  4. What advice have you received from others
  5. Any areas needing improvement in working with others
  6. What further training or experience do you think you need
  7. Recent performance review (bad stuff)
What is your present or last salary
(don't lie here, unless the Company's hit the wall and the truth will never be known)

... and Luck! You'll need plenty of it.

4 comments:

Lavender said...

Oh egads, these things are more like interrogation than interview! And the bottom line is always you doing 4 peoples jobs while they lounge around conducting thier social life as if they were at thier own home!!!


Oooops, um, guess I have some issues, eh?

Still its a good article Mate, nice of you to put it out there for those in need of good advice, Cheers!

Young Werther said...

Hi Lavender, Don't you just hate attending interviews... I definitely do.

Problem is I might have to spruce myself up, dust off the cobwebs and get that resume ready... damn recession. The worst thing, I didn't get any pocket money from Rudd!

Frequent Traveler said...

Good summation, YW.
Everybody should have those basic essentials well prepared for before they go on an interview.
You've got to be quite skillful in discussing your negatives so that they do not come off in a 'red flag' light.
And above all, tell the truth. Tactfully.

uglyfatchick (Chicky) said...

Now I know the questions.. I need to find out how to answer them the right way...