Career Essentials: The Interview: Career Essentials, #3

By Dale Mayer

Today's economy is tighter and more complex than ever before. With no time or money for mistakes, companies need to find the 'right' person for every position quickly and efficiently.

To have reached the interview stage is a feat in itself. Now it's critical that you not only get through the interview but that you dominate the competition. If this is the job you want, there is no room for errors, not when there are hundreds of solid candidates lined up behind you.

This book details the many different kinds and styles of interviews, in addition to the steps to take before, during and after the interview for maximum effectiveness. Tough questions will be asked in an interview. You need to answer them and ask a few hard questions of your own. The skills and techniques you will learn here will stay with you throughout your life to be utilized in multiple situations, helping you to enjoy a rewarding career.

This is the 3rd book in the Career Essential series, and it covers all the 'essential' information you need to know about interviewing successfully and so much more. Like all the books in this series, the information presented here is concise and clearly laid out in an easily accessible style so it's fast to read and easy to follow.

Good luck!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Valley Publishing Ltd.
• Release date: May 10, 2011
• ISBN: 9780986968204

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author who writes for the young, the old and those in-between. Some of her books are hot, some are sweet. Some will keep you up at night with a light on to keep the boogie man away and some you'll want to cuddle close. She's long given up on trying to fit a specific genre. Instead she honors the stories that come to her - and some of them are crazy, break all the rules and cross multiple genres! And that's okay too. There is one guarantee with each book - it will be a great read - each and every time.

Book preview

Back Cover

Today’s economy is tighter and more complex than ever before. With no time or money for mistakes, companies need to find the ‘right’ person for every position quickly and efficiently.

To have reached the interview stage is a feat in itself.

Now it’s critical that you not only get through the interview but that you dominate the competition. If this is the job you want, there is no room for errors, not when there are hundreds of solid candidates lined up behind you.

This is the 3rd book in the Career Essential series, and it covers all the ‘essential’ information you need to know about interviewing successfully and so much more. Like all the books in this series, the information presented here is concise and clearly laid out in an easily accessible style so it’s fast to read and easy to follow.

Sign up to be notified of all Dale’s releases here!

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Christoph, Jason, Nick and Kara, with thanks. Hopefully, the information found between these covers will serve you well.

Acknowledgments

The Essential Series books wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my friends and family. Many hands helped with proofreading, editing and beta reading to make this book happen. I had a vision and without all these special people, I couldn’t have made it come to pass.

I thank you all.

Introduction

The Essential Series is about getting back to the basics. Each book contains information on this subject and only this subject. Why? Because our lives are complicated and full. We don’t have time to sort through multiple chapters and hundreds of pages to find the necessary information. Our world has become one of instant gratification. In a few clicks, we expect to have the information at our fingertips.

For that reason, this book has been written in an easily accessible style so it’s fast to read and easy to follow.

Career Essentials: The Interview will teach you everything you need to know to interview successfully. It’s designed to help you understand the different kinds and styles of interviews and the techniques interviewers might use. The early chapters cover essential preparation for your interview and the science of first impressions before moving into the main section: interview questions.

Interview questions can be broken down into five types: general, focused, difficult, illegal, and open ended. It’s important to understand what can be asked, what can’t be, and how to have answers for all of them. We often feel helpless in an interview, afraid that the interviewer is in charge of our future. That’s not true. You are there to be assessed for a position and to assess the company as a viable option for your own future.

People who succeed at interviews have taken the time to prepare their answers to the many potential questions listed in this book. Having the questions available to ponder is valuable. Having effective answers and learning to deliver them in a confident manner is…priceless.

Being able to interview confidently will not only help you give the professional impression you’re hoping to achieve, but will also allow you to relax, settle into the interview naturally, and allow you to develop that all important rapport with the interviewer.

Preparation is key. A successful interview depends on your ability to organize a vast amount of information about you and your life prior to that meeting. I can’t guarantee that you will get the job, but if you follow along in this book and prepare for the interview beforehand, you’ll be a viable candidate for the position.

The skills and techniques you will learn here will stay with you throughout your life. They will improve your chances as future opportunities present themselves, helping you to enjoy a rewarding career.

Good Luck!

1.

Types of Interviews

Going through a job interview is not at the top of anyone’s wish list. It can be nerve wracking to the point of being downright unpleasant.

There are two perspectives to a job interview. The first is from the interviewer’s point of view. Are you the right person for the job? Do you have the skills, qualifications, and personality to fit in with the other employees? Do you have the proof to back up what you say you can do?

The second perspective in the interview is your point of view as the job candidate. This is your opportunity to see if you would like to do this job every day. Does the company feel like a good personal fit? Is the company culture comfortable? Is the company heading in a direction you agree with? Can you see your future unfolding with them? Will you be properly compensated for what you can bring to the job?

Interviews are stressful and time consuming for everyone. However, they offer flexibility in assessing and selecting candidates for many types of positions. Interviews will generate data that can be analyzed afterward to see which candidate is best for the job. Even though there are many tools available in today’s market to discern the most—qualified candidates, interviews are still required to find the ‘best’ fit.

A calm and professional demeanor is a sign of confidence. Although there’s no way to make you a hundred percent comfortable with the process, educating you to the types of interviews that you might experience will help you to maintain that demeanor. Interviews can be different depending on the profession, the industry, the company, and the different interviewers. Some interviews are dependent on the level of the position while others will be specific to an industry regardless of the position level.

Let’s take a closer look.

Screening Interview

A screening interview usually means the job applicant has passed whatever initial selection process the company has in place. Now the company wants to take a closer look.

Screening interviews have modernized with the times. They can be completed via:

•    Phone – this may seem like an informal method and doesn’t deserve your full attention, but you couldn’t be more wrong. If you don’t pass this interview, then you won’t make it to the next. A phone interview can be short or, depending on your answers, could end up being quite long and in-depth.

•    Web and email – this is where you will be asked to submit your application, résumé and cover letter and to answer specific questions. Some of these computer interviews can be done through a website or even over the phone where you push buttons to answer.

•    Person-to-person – rarely done but don’t discount the possibility of the recruiter calling you in or asking to meet you somewhere for this initial meeting.

•    Video – this type of interview is through videophone or videoconferencing, and is already very popular with large companies throughout the world. Interviewing in front of a web cam is becoming common. It’s fast, efficient and still gives the more personal visual cues to help read facial expressions and body language.

The screening interview is normal when the employer or recruiting manager needs to reduce the number of potential applicants to a shortlist of people they’d like to speak with further. The screening is usually quick, rarely lasting longer than two or three minutes, just long enough for an employer to determine if they want you to come in for a full interview.

If the applicant