How To Pass A Job Interview
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Introduction
Should I be serious? Where and when should I go? How should I direct my body language? What should I dress? What should I prepare? All these questions will probably encounter any one who wants to apply for a job, especially a job you really want. One of the most scary tasks every new applicant will eventually face is conducting the first interview. A job interview is any face-to-face contact with anyone who has the authority to hire or supervise a person with his or her skills. However, an interview needs not to be frightening event. In order to ensure that your first interview–and successive ones–will be remembered as an enjoyable experience, this paper will tackle what you should do before, in the day, during, and after the interview.
Before the Interview
Being able to do the job well will not necessarily get you hired. The person who gets hired is often the one who knows the most about how to get hired. As a result, going to the interview is not merely having the qualifications. Accordingly, any simple mistake will lead to lose the job. For this reason, you should focus on the three important instructions in preparing yourself.
Find out what the job responsibilities are
In order to know the job duties, you have to know the language of industry and any piece of information about the company. Therefore, do an inventory of your skills, knowledge, and traits, before you go to any interview. Figure out what makes you different from 19 other people who might be applying for that same job. It is the suitable time to impress your interviewer by showing that you know your responsibilities toward this job.
Find out and record where, when and whom you will interview with
We live in a commuting world. Therefore, you have to worry about whether you are going to be late to the interview. Therefore, how do you avoid such an experience? Go to the intended interview location a few days early. Check out the place and become observant. Ask the receptionist or secretary about the company. Show interest. Never get anyone mad by the kinds of questions you ask. Observe how long it took you to drive to the location. What kinds of problems did you have with parking? How will these parking issues during the actual interview affect your arriving on time? Tazmeen (2005), academic teacher, states:
I will never forget an interview I was late for. The parking was horrendous, and I did get lost. The company still gave me the interview and the employment test, but I knew my chances of being employed were nil.
However, if you had prepared yourself to this crucial issue, all these concerns would have been checked out in advance. See how the people are dressed within the organization. Does the attire appear casual or quite formal? How do people wear their hair? Check the facial hair with the regular hair.
Find out everything you can about the interviewer before making the initial contact. Show the interviewer that you care enough to have done some research beforehand. For example, if you are being interviewed by an author, you should at least read about his/her main works, or enough of them to have an overall knowledge of the questions you might be asked. Therefore, you should search for any information through the company website, company philosophy, annual reports, and the network with current employees (Robinson, 1983).
Prepare a resume
Your goal is to show the employer why you are the best person for the job, so relate your strengths and experiences to the job. Obviously, this will be achieved by preparing your resume in which all of your personal information and experiences. Your resume might be the turning point in the employers mind or the first baby step toward getting your target job. Generally, if your interview is resume-based (youve had to supply a resume either before or concurrently), have the facts of your stated objective, relevant experience, education, etc. thoroughly memorized and mentally supported.
In the Day of the Interview
As far as we know, the day of the interview is the most memorable worrying one in your life. Consequently, it might be either the resounding victory day or the depressed one. Because we (Azzam & Ibrahim) have experienced once a depressed day while applying for a job, we are concerned about you not to fall on the same hindrances we did. While its impossible to anticipate everything you may encounter, here are some tips that will help you negotiate the interview process in the first day successfully.
Acknowledge your nervousness
Absolutely, you will be very nervous during this day, so you should try to relax yourself in order to alleviate your nervousness. Do your best just to be yourself, no more; no less. Many applicants feel nervous during an interview and of course they would much prefer not to let this nervousness show. However, its not such a bad thing to be nervous. The interviewer will understand this. Your nervousness may even show that you feel this job is important to you. If you were not nervous, and therefore sit a little nonchalant, it might indicate that you are not that interested. Stanton (1977:118-124), states that you should realize that the job interview is more than a means for the employer to determine which of the applicants is most suitable for the job. The job interview especially is a moment of mutual acquaintance. It is a first meeting with people that you might soon work together with. Therefore, the boss should actually be just as nervous as you!
Advance preparation reduces your nervousness
It is assumed that you dont go in with egg on your tie, spinach in your teeth, or without a thorough knowledge of the organization and position for which you are interviewing. Beyond that, theres an important principle that will enable you to be much more confident. Its called, “over-preparing.” It goes like this: Plan your strategy–your answers to all the possible questions you may be asked or the challenges that may be thrown at you–and then practice, practice, practice. Repeat your best responses until they are entirely natural, until they simply roll off your tongue with the apparent spontaneity that comes only with successive repetition.
Practice answering the worst possible questions
During the interview, the interviewer may bombard you with embarrassing questions or personal questions that