The Career Interview Blueprint

By Farai Rwambiwa

The Career Interview Blueprint: A Comprehensive Guide to Ace Any Interview

 

Are you looking for a job or a promotion in your career? Do you want to impress any interviewer with your skills, knowledge, and personality? Do you want to overcome any red flags or challenges that could hurt your chances of getting hired?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this book is for you.

The Career Interview Blueprint is the ultimate guide to prepare for and ace any job interview. Whether you are applying for an internship, an entry-level position, or a senior role, this book will help you stand out from the crowd and get the offer you deserve.

In this book, you will learn how to:

 

- Answer over 150 of the most common and toughest interview questions, including traditional, situational, behavioral, and career-specific ones.

- Avoid the traps and pitfalls that could ruin your answers and your impression.

- Use the STAR method to structure your answers and provide relevant examples and evidence.

- Create your own answers using the expertly designed cheat sheets and templates.

- Write winning cover letters, resumes, reference letters, and thank you letters using the application package.

- Negotiate your salary and benefits like a pro using the salary negotiations guide.

- Test your readiness and progress with the interactive quizzes and reports.

- Get the perfect answers to your internship interview using the internship special package.

- Find specific questions and answers for every career, including medical, legal, sales, management, technical, education, and more.

 

The Career Interview Blueprint is more than just a book. It is a mock interview experience that will give you the confidence and skills to succeed in any interview situation. It is also a career coach that will help you overcome any red flags or challenges, such as being fired, underqualified, overqualified, inexperienced, or lacking a degree.

Don't let your interview be the reason you miss out on your dream job or promotion. Get The Career Interview Blueprint today and get ready to ace any interview.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Farai Rwambiwa
• Release date: Dec 13, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223206033

Book preview

Farai Rwambiwa

Copyright © 2023 by Farai Rwambiwa

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher

Dedication

This book is lovingly dedicated;

To my Dad, the late Dr John Percival Rwambiwa. What a genius!

To my Mum, Vongai the most remarkable person I have ever known. A master inspiration!

To my young brother Shingai, an astounding life coach. An example to emulate

Special mention, Dr and Mrs Chirawu, for always being of good encouragement.

And to you Gaby one day you will see this when you grow and prepare for what I know will be a fruitful career.

Introduction

It is no secret that the world as we know it has taken and continues to experience a ubiquitous paradigm shift in each and every one of it’s spheres of influence and livelihood; politics, economics, science, justice, humanities etc. As you well know, in these spheres are careers from where we win our bread whilst modifying the realm of our existence in order to fulfil what is now an adage perhaps cliché; to make the world a better place.

Whether we have or will attain this is subjective hence debatable especially considering the new advancements in technology which have given birth to artificial intelligence in what may be viewed either as a harmony or disharmony. Therefore in regards to the former one may argue that the integration of AI in all the aforementioned spheres will aid human labour. Inversely, in the case of the latter one may argue that the paradigm shift will obliterate human capital in lieu of Al thus eradicating a lot of careers.

Whatever the case, this begs the question; has the world evolved into a scenario where it demands what many refer to as the survival of the fittest? A lot of pundits will affirm this in the positive even to the point of asserting that this has always been the case. However, I believe that is a cynical way of interpreting both the history and status quo of our evolution. Going by the latter I would argue that what our current and ensuing dispensation demands is not a survival of the fittest but rather what I would like to term a revival of the wittiest.

Nowadays, a lot of people are fit to survive in any system by simply adapting to it’s modus operandi. However, few are actually witty enough to think outside it and conversely subdue or influence it on the auspices of better and unique innovations that positively enhance better results than the norm both qualitatively and quantitatively. Consequently, the so called dawns of new eras are always left at the mercy of time rather than at the wittiness of present inventiveness which always brings the future into the now.

In light of this, we can define wittiness in this case as not working towards a vision but working through it to better it. It is envisioning a better vision within a vision. It is thinking outside the box, outside the system rather than merely adapting to it. Ostensibly, this is what employers and different players of industry are looking for, and will certainly choose. In an era where education is easily accessible, just about everybody is an expert in knowledge and skill according to their field of specialty. After all, are they not all doctors, engineers, lawyers, accountants etc., with more or less the same qualifications and training in a given field? Do they not argue more often than not that their careers are a calling? But Wisdom has spoken this way;

Many are called but few are chosen.

—Jesus Christ

Ironically, this is the same principal that incidentally is used on the same precipice you will undoubtedly know as job interviews. Indeed employers use job interviews primarily as a screening process to distinguish between those who are content with abiding in the box and those thinking outside it after which they will make a selection from the latter. This should come as no surprise since the former are ordinary whereas the latter are extraordinary.

And just as the terms are self-explanatory, the difference is in the extra yet for the latter it is not merely an extra in conformity to the same disposition of the former who are like the middle-ages folks content on foot, bicycle, car and any other vehicle subject to the only law they dared romance with—the law of gravity, until the Wright brothers emerged. Rather the extraordinary ones are cognisant of and therefore base their innovations on higher laws that offer a unique yet better and more efficient way of doing things. They are just as right as the Wright brothers in daring to soar by envisioning beyond the common precipice and by tapping into superior laws upon which they debut their inventions.

You see the intellectually equipped will meet the job systematically in a one-plus-one-equals-two manner while those with extra equipping which is not limited to intellectual prowess but includes personal, emotional, and mental fortitude are innovative and will seamlessly tackle issues arising in the workplace that were nowhere covered in their academic syllabuses or professional training. The former may be wanted but the latter are certainly needed. Therefore, while a specific career may be your calling, it is not so much about you being called to fulfil the calling as much as it is you being chosen to undertake it by those needing you and are purveyors of the very opportunities relevant to your calling.

The question then is how do you set yourself to be the chosen in a world where many are called but few are chosen- even fewer if one takes into account factors such as; location (some regions are blighted by high unemployment rates), nepotism (not everyone has that rich uncle or connections), and logistics? The simple answer is, by making yourself needed. Now, one might have an erroneous belief in luck and if such a thing does exist, I would to them that they heed what elsewhere wisdom said;

Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.

—Seneca

Nonetheless, let me hasten to state that so crucial is preparation that In the interview process, opportunity rather invites preparation. So there you have it, you set yourself to be the chosen through quality and efficacious preparation that transforms you to what is needed and not only what is wanted. Well just how do you do that?

Enter the Career Interview Blueprint.

Whilst I am aware of the fact that there are colleges, learning institutions, and other forms of literature that touch on this subject, the Career Interview Blueprint takes a virtual and uniquely formulated engaging approach with the job seeker that covers all bases including, those minute details that lots of coaches often take for granted or brazenly address yet are so fundamental in turning the dynamic of the interview process in your favour. As such the blueprint’s fundamentals transcend into all careers drawing (for the sake of familiarity and better comprehension) principles from two analogies of commonly known day to day experiences which are; the sales pitch concept and the dating principle.

I am sure you have heard it said before that an interview is like a sales pitch. If so, this means you are in essence selling yourself. The pertinent question to ask then is Why would and why should anyone buy you?  What are you offering that I as an employer do not just want but need?

The precursor to these answers is found in first impressions. We all fall in love at some point, marry and so forth. But not before first impressions serve as a decisive indicator to the love story of our lives. So before the sales pitch analogy you will find that interviews are first and foremost like going on a date. We can even call it a blind date given both parties are yet to see each other. Now if you meet your date and he/she is scantily clad this will broadcast all sorts of negative impressions about them. So it is with interviews, in fact, factors like improper dress code, mediocre etiquette, poor grooming and deportment will ensure your chances of been chosen are slim.

The Career Interview Blueprint is a guide for any job seeker especially the one who needs to change his packaging, who wants to win the heart of his/her date right on the first meeting. It is an investment into your personality producing positives like professional attractiveness while formulating in you an irresistible corporate repertoire. It’s ingeniously designed to uniquely meet every career and address various anomalies that are viewed as obstacles or hindrances to attaining one’s dream job.

Are you inexperienced or underqualified wondering if you will ever win your dream job in a highly competitive market of experienced and amply qualified job seekers? Fret no more, for this book will help you to assert and market yourself irresistibly with the little that you have. Do you have a negative history one that you feel is a big red flag? Then you might want to read chapter seven titled burning red flags where you will learn perfect answers and strategies to getting your second chance handed to you on a silver platter.

I wrote this book not to have it on the library shelves of renowned career authors but rather to shelf you the job seeker on the job library where prospective employers will read you and discover the intriguing story you are, one they can’t help but take home with and integrate into their vision. But not before giving you some resume and cover letter secrets that will leave the employer in great suspense and eagerness to meet you. For every question there are clearly spelt out strategies to approach and nail it. The strategy sample answers include what you may term cheat sheets not to mention there are also quizzes to keep you updated on your progress. The book is interactive since it’s for you and your date.

Now lets toast to your success! Your job search is not a one time stint but a journey completed with the Career Interview Blueprint.

—Farai Rwambiwa

Founder & Managing Director of ELPO INTERVIEW COACHING EXPERTS

Work Email: [e-mail]

Personal Email: [e-mail]

Website: www.farairwambiwa.com

PART 1

PREPARING FOR THE JOB MARKET:

Interview Fundamentals & Protocols

CHAPTER 1

INTERVIEW PREPARATION

What is an interview? I am glad you asked because there are a lot of job seekers out there who when it comes to attending an interview get quite apprehensive with crestfallen faces as if some form of interrogation awaits them. Consequently, when the interview commences they are defensive, nervous and unable to assertively express themselves or keep to the script. They get too personal to draw self-pity and even end up trying to bootlick, apple-polish or as it were manipulate the interviewer. Frankly put they make a lot of costly mistakes that eradicate their chances of employment. These negatives largely emanate from an erroneous understanding or perception about interviews. So let us set the record straight by definitively addressing what a job interview is.

A professional job interview is first and foremost a conversation not an interrogation. As in all constructive conversations it is a mutual exchange of information concerning the needs and expectations of both parties, in this case between a prospective employer and you the applicant to ascertain whether there is a mutually satisfactory match. The prospective employer will evaluate the match between you and the job by answering three fundamental questions:

-  Can you do the job? (Employer wants to know if you possess the necessary work experience, skills, educational qualifications to perform the duties of the job)

-  Are you motivated to do the job? (Employer wants to know your personal characteristics and if you are interested in the job enough to perform it with consistent effort and dedication)

-  Are you a good fit for the job? (Employer wants to know if your values, goals, work ethics are consistent with the organisation’s mandate. Basically, is there a match between your personality and the organisation’s goals?)

On the other hand you the applicant are here to;

-  Determine for yourself if the opportunity is a good fit;

-  Convince the employer that you possess the relevant skills, strengths, and qualities for the job.

Interview Formats

Many people are familiar with Traditional Interviews which are typical interviews used to assess skills and qualifications. They are usually conducted in an office setting. However,  job interviews can be conducted in a variety of places depending on the format of the interview. Let us take a look at the other formats:

Phone Interviews

Phone interviews happen at the suggestion of the employer because of a number of factors like distance, Covid-19 lockdown protocols, company policy etc. You will have to mutually agree on a specific time and date for the interview. Let us consider some important tips:

-  Phone Interviews are just as important as in-person interviews so prepare thoroughly. In fact, most experts recommend dressing up as you would for an in-person traditional interview because your manner of conversation can be affected by what you are wearing. Wouldn’t you agree it’s better to have your phone interview well-dressed sitting up straight than lying down on the couch in your pyjamas?

-  Just like grooming, deportment certainly has an effect on your voice-tone projection which is essential in phone interviews. So sit up straight with a confident posture, smile and be alert.

-  If you have an option, avoid using a cell phone or being in a poor signal location. Poor reception or broken signals can diminish your chances.

-  If the job you are interviewing for is one in which you will do a lot of phone contact with customers, clients or business partners of the company then take extra care not to break any phone etiquette rules. Do not interject when the interviewer is speaking.

-  You might actually be on speaker phone or on a conference call so be sure to articulate your words meaningfully and do not mumble. Be attentive and engaging to each interviewer as questions come.

Skype/Video Interviews

The only difference video chat interviews have with phone interviews is that you can be seen. As such it’s important you:

-  Select a good background even a plain wall background. Your environment says a lot about you. Computer or mobile applications like Zoom have a virtual background feature you can make use of. If you opt for one, choose or upload a corporate setting background as opposed to picking an irrelevant but beautiful graphic setting like a beach.

-  Dressing up will certainly be vital.

-  Configure your camera position and be sure to look directly at the camera so as to make eye contact with the interviewer.

-  Familiarise yourself with video chat interviews by visiting Elpo Interview Coaching Experts

Group Interviews

There are two versions of group interviews:

I.  Interviews in which the applicant is interviewed by a group of individuals in an office, conference room, lunch or dinner setting, or through teleconferencing. Nurses and teachers are examples of those who are often interviewed in this manner. For nurses the panel may involve a doctor, senior nurses, and members of the hospital board. Teachers are interviewed by the headmaster, senior teachers, parents representatives and some members of the school council.

II.  Interviews in which several applicants are interviewed at the same time. Normally in such interviews a question is posed for discussion. The applicants are then evaluated through the contributions they make and collaborative skills they exhibit.

Nevertheless, the tips for both types of group interviews are more or less the same;

-  Give firm handshakes accompanied with good eye contact to each interviewer as they are introduced to you.

-  Keep in mind their names and roles in the organisation

-  When answering a question address it to the person who asked it regardless of their rank. If your answer is long then you can look at the other interviewers at intervals albeit objectively addressing the initial questioner and giving him or her the better attention.

-  After the interview make sure you shake each individual’s hand before you exit.

If the group interview is the second scenario then follow these tips.

-  Greet all of the other applicants and shake hands if introduced.

-  Do not treat the other applicants as your rivals. In most cases if you get the job some of them will be your co-workers. The point of such group interviews as mentioned earlier is to gauge your collaborative skills.

-  Follow the interviewer’s lead.

HR Interviews

Depending on how the company formulates it’s interviewing procedures you will meet the Human Resources team either at the first stage of the interview or only after the Hiring Manager has considered you as the ideal candidate and is now preparing for the negotiation phase. The essentials of the HR interview including salary negotiations are extensively covered in part two of this book.

Dining Interview

Dining interviews happen when the employer invites the applicant to a meal in a social or more casual setting. This enables the employer to evaluate etiquette, conversational, and interpersonal skills. These types of interviews are common in careers like insurance and real estate that involve sometimes entreating potential clients to meals as part of a business strategy. Dining interviews can also be used as a second interview to decide on the final batch of potential applicants who made it through the first interview. Take note of these key points when going for a dinner interview:

-  Neatly fold your napkin and place it on your lap

-  Be polite to the waiters and waitresses always saying please and thank you as they serve you or when you are responding to or asking questions.

-  Avoid alcohol and ciders. Stick to mineral water, juice, or soft drinks.

-  Select a medium priced meal that is easy to consume.

-  Avoid discussing dietary restrictions.

-  Eat small bites of food - one bite at a time

-  Do not speak with food in your mouth.

-  Try to eat at the same pace as your interviewer.

-  Elbows should be off the table and your feet on the ground crossed at the ankles.

-  Do not insist on paying for the meal or offer to pay the tip.

-  After the meal, thank the interviewer

-  Follow up with a thank you