Its that simple but alot of people wont want to agree with this but maybe after reading today's article on "Overcoming interview tension and getting the dream job", you will see its that SIMPLE!
first, alot of people develop anxiety, tension and fear even before the interview starts, tension and anxiety is common if it happens to be your first interview, but it sometimes happen to people who have gone through series of interviews before, its normal to feel tensed up but its not allowed to let it eat you up and overcome you, alot of people who are very confident with certain things tend to lose their nerves in an interview room, this shouldnt be and this is why am going be telling you about tricks, Dos and Donts in interviews and common questions interviewers ask during interviews and how to overcome them no matter how terrified and tensed up you might be.
There are certain reasons why interviews are conducted:
1. To test your ability in handling situations
2. To determine if you really have what it takes to do the job
3. To test your mental and physical skill
4. To be certain you have a good knowledge of the content of your CV, and that you should know like the back of your hand
5. To know how well you deal with issues, challenges and presure
6. To know if you have a leadership characteristics
7. To know more about your personality and your other job experience
These and many other reasons are why interviews are conducted, but like i said, we will overcome it. Now,always remember that interviews can be very tricky, when preparing for an interview, make sure you dont over work yourself, read too hard or try hard to rehearse your words so much as this could get you tensed up and you might begin to lose confidence in yourself. During the interview, be sure to always keep eye contact with the interviewer as this will tell you if you are doing good or not, but note that sometimes, an interviewer may not let you read through, he/she might seem not to show interest in whatever you are saying but pls dont ever think for a second that they are not listening, they are, they dont just want you to get all excited, some might have this serious but boring look on their face, looks that makes you feel like you are saying trash and this might get you to feel that you really are, and you'll begin to lose that confidence you once had when you walked into the room, but let me tell you, you are not saying trash, let me remind you again that no interviewer will welcome you reading through them cause this might begin to tell you if you are doing good or not, so note dont get turned off cause of the boring faces some might put on, they just dont want to show that excitement they have for you burning inside. During an interview, its best you dont let your mind wander away, its not professional and again some interviewers do this purposely, they want to test your listening skills, cause at that moment you are under the spot light.
Moving on! now lets talk about the most important things and rules that applies to an interview, i call them, THE DOS AND DONTS. lets find out more about the Dos and Donts that applies to interviews cause most people always wonder why they dont get the jobs or the call back even knowing they did pretty well during the interview.
THE DOS AND DONTS
The Dos and Donts are simple rules that should guide you during and before an interview.
1. Do not stay up reading and rehearsing your words a night before your interview, i said this earlier, trust me, it wouldnt help you, rather, it builds up more tension inside you and when you get to the interview room you will look like some one who just fought in a ring match, dont forget your brain needs to cool off and relax and your eyes needs to shut down for a while so that swollen dark rings dont form underneath.
2. Do not dress funny to an interview, you should always remember that an interview is like an examination, you will be scored on dressing, manner of approach and one on one conversation. it is wrong to wear jeans or dress casual to an interview, you need not only act but also dress like the professional that you are cause the first thing an interviewer takes not of even before you open your mouth is your physical appearance and if its bad this might just be a major turn off and most times, no amount of qualification or words from your mouth can repair the damage already done. Ladies, it is wrong to wear very high heels to an interview( you know what i mean by very high heels) this is not professional, dress for the occassion, its annoying when you are called into a quiet interview room and your heels begin to hit the floor like its gonna bring the building down, thats really a major turn off already. If you are going to wear heels, then wear a not too high heel so you can be comfortable and it doesnt make an annoying sound.
3. Do not only wear a pant trouser, a shirt and a tie, (GUYS), that dressing is incomplete, you need to wear a suit, this makes you look fit. i know of a story of a young man that passed all the test he sat for and when he was finally invited for the interview, he dressed in a pant trouser, shirt and a tie, he was scored based on his appearance and performance during the interview and was not given the job, WHY? good question, the interviewer felt he was not completely dressed and he lost the job simply because he did not wear a suit, the interviewer told him this after the interview so he doesnt make the same mistake twice... this is a mistake i believed he will learn from. And ladies, do not, i repeat do not wear heavy make up and complicated hair do to an interview, it gives a twisted impression in the mind of the interviewer, heavy make up is totally wrong, light make up with light shades of colour that goes with your skin is perfect.
4. Do not flirt with your interviewer, this goes to both the guys and ladies, you ve got sexy eyes, great body, fine skin, yes! we agree!. now the question, do you think its everybody that gets turned on by that everytime?, it might work in other occassions but not in a professional one, why not use what's upstairs and rely on that to sail you through, it is not professional and at that point in time, your interviewer will think its totally unprofessional and this will make him/her think so little of you.
5. Do not do this in an interview "ehn!"especially when an interviewer ask a question you did not hear or understand, its totally inappropriate, its better you say this "please! could you repeat that." and please dont ever say this, if you are guilty of it please stop it this minute, you didnt understand or hear what the interviewer said and you want him to repeat the question then you say " sorry?" OMG! are you for real? does it look like the interviewer missed his step and crashed to the ground? why sorry? please and please you've got to stop saying that, it can be said and allowed in other occassions but not when its a professional one, like i said earlier, its better you tell him to please repeat the question and cut the whole 'sorry and ehn" scene.
6. Do not interrupt an interviewer either when asking you a question or addressing you simply because you think you know where the question is headed or you know the answer already, believe me, doing this does not always end well.
7. Do not show fear or tension, bite your nails or begin to sweat especially when you are asked a question you do not know the answer to or understand, note that every question asked is based on you, your experience and your general knowledge of things, try at every point in time to always stay one step ahead of your interviewer so some questions dont take you by surprise and try to stay calm so the interviewer dont see your heart fighting to come out of your chest. its best you watch funny videos on your fone or talk to a friend to get a laugh cause this will help ease the tension.
8 Do not avoid eye contact and please do not forget to keep a genuine smile on your face even if you feel you are sinking to the ground, its important you keep the eye contact going and that lovely smile on.
9. Do not paint your former boss or company bad simply because you are asked a question regarding it and do not also paint your self black and how incompetent you were in your former job even if asked to talk about it, choose your answers carefully cause this will tell the interviewer what your reaction about them to another company will be.
10. Finally, do not forget to play your last card at the end of the interview especially when and if asked by the interviewer if you have any question, this will help you know if you ve been extermely boring all through the interview or if you ve impressed your interviewer,,,, ask a question that will help you get a positive response from him, and i mean a reasonable question concerning your career path.
These are 10 major DOS and DONTS you should always have in mind during and before an interview. now, am going to be sharing with you six (7) important and most common interview questions interviewers ask during interview.
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND HOW TO TACKLE THEM.
There are so many questions asked during interviews but i have come to realize that among all these questions asked, few keeps coming back to the question board, making it the most asked and used interview questions companies use these days to evaluate candidate who apply for a job. Here are some of the questions.
1.TELL US/ME ABOUT YOURSELF.
many people fail this question not because they dont know what to say but because they dont understand the question, when you are asked in an interview to tell about yourself, it simply means the interviewer is interested in knowing, first, about you, your name, age, state of origin, are you a 2:1 or 2:2 student?, your course of study and university attended and any professional qualification should be included if available, then move on to telling your experience that is relevant to the position you applied for. see! its that simple, this is all they ask you do, not tell them about your family history or how you happen to be the last born in a family of 7,,, No! No!! No!!!.. they are interested in knowing how well you fit in the job you applied for.
2. WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN 5YEARS?.This question is asked to determine if you are the hard working type, the progressive type and to know if you are ambitious and a goal achiever. to answer this question, the interviewer is hoping to hear you tell him the goals you ve set and how you hope it develops in 5years to come, answers like this might give the interviewer a positive thought for you. When asked this question, simply just say something positive about your aim for the future " in 5 years, i hope to be in a position that enables me acquire more responsibility, i hope to acquire skills, training and personal self development that will help me perform my duties more efficiently and professionally".. this is a positive answer to a question like that and if asked what kind of skills, simply remember to say 'leadership skills, communicastion skills' and so on.
3. WHY DO YOU WANT TO WORK FOR US?
This is a simple and direct question to understand but understanding it alone is not enough, you ve got to give the striking answer the interviewer is hoping to hear. to answer this question, make the interviewer understand that you ve read about the company and you know the reasons why you chose them, not because there was a job vacancy but because the company has alot to offer you and you in return want to use your experience for the growth of the company, let the interviewer know that you believe in the VISION and MISSION of the company and that you are ready to meet and learn with the great minds behind the growth and development of the company and you are ready not only to receive but to give back and contribute to its the growth and development.
4. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT US?
This is simple and staright forward enough for you to understand, if you ve done your reading and research about the company you applied for then you do not have a problem with this question. this question simply wants to know if you know about them and what they do, this is why you should never go to an interview unprepared or not reading or knowing important facts about the company you hope to employ you.
5. WHY SHOULD WE HIRE YOU?
This question is asked to test if you know your worth and your potential, so give it to them, let them know your potential, let them know your worth and what you have to offer to the company, tell them why you are confident that you are better than the other applicants fighting the same position with you... you ve got to remind them once more on your qualification, skills and your experience and how you are able to handle situations, challenges and deadlines using positive results from your former place of work as your solid and unshakeable example.
6. TELL ME ABOUT QUESTION
This question is always about situation, occurence and resolution. it always goes like this, tell us about a challenge you once had in your former place of employement and what it almost cost you and how you were able to contain it. to answer this type of questions, simply use the STAR method.
S-Situation
T-Time
A-Action
R-Result
(situation)=tell them about an event that occured, (time)=how long it lasted, (action)=what did you do about it, (result)=and what was the outcome of it after providing the solution to resolve it, was it positive or negative? please, always have a positive result for this kinds of questions about situation.
and if you are asked about your leadership skills and how you ve ever displayed leadership skill, please remember that at one point in time or another, you once acted as a leader either in school or your former place of employment, answer questions like this with the SMARTER Method but most times you can cut it to SMART.
S-Specify
M-Measurable
A-Attainable
R-Realistic
T-Time Bound
E-Evaluate
R-Re-evaluate
in most cases, its best with cut it short and stick with the SMART. apply this method in answering the question about leadership using situations and event and how you achieved a positive result out of it.
7. Do you have a question for me/us? Finally, this is usually asked at the end of an interview, its a question the interviewer normally ask at the the interview before he tells you "that will be all fro now, we will get back to you" this question is asked to determine if you were fully participating through out the the interview, please and please, dont ever reply this question with a NO answer cause if you do, this will give a not too good impression in the mind of the interviewer, its better you ask the interviewer how you have performed so far and if there is any area he would love you to work on and develop, and like i said earlier on, asking questions about what they expect from you in terms of your career path wouldnt be a bad idea as this will tell them you are ready to learn from mistakes and find a way of correcting them and move forward.
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