My company and many others like it are hiring.
In times past or for certain fields the realization that that there are
five candidates for every job was an unfortunate reality. In the present economy there is a parity for job and job seekers. However for jobs in the technology and medical sector it's more like three jobs for every two candidates.
My company is expanding and it is primarily based
in America. We are a medium sized
country. We are in need or many
different type of engineers so we are interviewing. The main drive of this article is how to succeed
at the interview. To get an interview
you have to have the right experience, write a good resume and impress with a
short cover letter as well as apply for the right job. All of the above is beyond
the scope of this article and I entreat the reader to look online for a plethora
of advice. Here is the steps for success
on the interview process.
#1) Prepare yourself: Most people assume this has to do with
physical preparation. Unless you are
interviewing to be a model nobody cares how you dress. That new suit jacket will not get you the
job. On the last two interview’s I didn’t
even wear a jacket. I wore a button-down
shirt and an ordinary tie. Be
presentable and that’s it. It’s far more important to be intellectually prepared. Every position has a written description. Read it, then read the company bio. Understand what they are looking for, do some
research. Then go back to your textbooks
and do some studying. There are two types of interviews, personality and
technical. Sometimes these two are separate but many times they are
combined. Another way to look at it is
many companies will do a phone interview and then call you in. On the phone interview,
they will review your experience and on the in person one they will grill you. For the personality or phone interview you
need to be able to explain your past experience in a nice, natural, but not too
rehearsed 30 second explanation. Get
it? Always be able to explain what you did in each
job/role you put on your resume in a natural sounding 30second-1minute sound
byte. If you get past this stage you’ll
be grilled technically and sometimes it’s brutal. Just do the best you can but study for at
least 2 hours on the basics of any job. Wouldn’t
you study for a test in school?
#2) Be Yourself: “To thy own self be true.” Don’t really be yourself, just be the natural,
smart, fun hearted, loving part of yourself.
Answer the questions openly and honestly, do the best you can. I’ve had had interviews where I eventually
got the interviewer to chuckle at some halfhearted joke. It humanizes you which is not enough to get
you the job but might help on edge cases to make you special/memorable. My God Mother’s husband Eddie Hara once told
me, “You can’t really lose what you don’t have.” It’s an important concept. You don’t have to be nervous on an interview because
you don’t have the job so you don’t have anything to lose. You are just trying to do better. In spiritual terms remember that God is in
control and you are simply petitioning to do something more. I always pray only
to present myself the best I can so I know the job goes to the best candidate
and if it’s not me, that’s fine.
#3) Leave the past in the past: A common question is why are you looking for
a new job or why did you leave this or that job. We all go through difficult situations. Sometimes we quit, or get laid off or even
get fired. Try to always put the best
face on things. If you’re still working
for a company and looking for a new job say something like you’re not growing
in your current role and you want to do or experience more. Sounds very good and its always party
true? Leave negativity behind, DON’T
EVER COMPLAIN ABOUT A FORMER EMPLOYER.
That is so critically important.
If you’re already complaining about an employer on the interview what
are you going to do to me when you’re working here. I don’t need the drama, sorry. Just remember the best revenge is living
well.
#4) Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth: I guess the perfect job is winning the
lottery and doing whatever you want.
Aside from that every job has positives and negatives. What’s important
you? Compensation(salary) Co Workers,
Location, Manager, Work Requirements, Position, Office, Benefits, ect. It’s different for everybody, you never get
everything you want. If you’re out of
work is it at least two or three things you like and if you’re moving, is there
at least two better benefits? It’s up to
you.
#5) Take an advantage: In my department, we tend
to ask concept questions and then give a technical test. If you’re ever, ever given a test to take
home you need to hit it out of the park.
Think about what a gift it is to get a take home test, you can take as
much time as you want (usually 2-3 days), and look online and in the case of a
program compile the code and run it. Why
not look amazing? Invest in a job interview and they probably will invest in
you.
If it’s not meant to be it won’t but why tempt
fate?
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