Once you determine the "if", "what", and "when" of any examination requirements, you should immediately begin to prepare for the examination. If, for example, a job requires typing skills, you may have to take a typing test. Since you know such tests aim at determining your speed and accuracy, you know what you do: sit down at your typewriter and time your speed and review your accuracy so you know exactly how well you will perform on the test as well as determine if you need to improve your performance before taking the examination.
The same is true for other types of job skills. If you must give a presentation of some kind, practice with a tape recorder as well as an audience of friends who can give you useful feedback for improving your delivery skills. If you must take a test to determine your reasoning, analytical, and problem-solving skills, you should consult several books in the reference section of your local library which have practice tests for assessing such skills.
The questions asked of you during the interview are a form of examination. These you can anticipate with appropriate answers. But other types of examinations usually involve specific performance criteria you need to know about and prepare for. If you don't do well on these tests, you cannot expect to pass the critical interview stage.
Prepare For Questions
Assuming you know yourself and have done all the necessary research for anticipating the interviewer and the interview situation, you next need to prepare for both general and specific interview questions. Although you cannot anticipate in advance all the interviewer will ask, you can anticipate the most important ones.
You can expect to be asked questions regarding your education, your work experience, your career goals, and how you get along with others. Several of these questions will certainly arise during the interview:
Anticipated Questions
Your Education
- Describe your educational background. O Why did you attend University (or College)? O Why did you major in_? O What was your grade point average? O What subjects did you enjoy the most? The least? Why? O what leadership positions did you hold? O How did you finance your education? O If you were to start over, what would you change about your education? O Why was your grades so low? So high? O Did you do the best you could in school? If not, why not?
- What were your major achievements in each of your past jobs?
- Why did you change jobs before? O What is your typical workday like? O What functions do you enjoy doing the most? O What did you like about your boss? Dislike? O Which job did you enjoy the most? Why? Which job did you enjoy the least? Why? O Have you ever been fired? Why?
O Why do you want to join our organization? O Why do you think you are qualified for this position? O Why is you looking for another job? O Why do you want to make a career change? O What ideally would you like to do? O Why should we hire you? O How would you improve our operations? O What is the lowest pay you will take? O How much do you think you are worth for this job? O What do you want to be doing five years from now? O How much do you want to be making five years from now? O What are your short-range and long-range career goals? O If you could choose your job and organization, where would you go? O What other types of jobs are you considering? Other companies? O When will you be ready to begin work? O How do you feel about relocating, traveling, working overtime, and spending weekends in the office? O What attracted you to our company?
Your Personality and Other Considerations
- Tell me about you. O What are your major weaknesses? Your major strengths? O What causes you to lose your temper?
- What do you do in your spare time? Any hobbies? O What types of books do you read? O What role does your family play in your career? O How well do you work under pressure? In meeting deadlines? O Tell me about your management philosophy. O How much initiative do you take? O What types of people do you prefer working with? O How creative, analytical, tactful, etc. are you? O If you could change your life, what would you do differently? O Who are your references?
- Do you have any time gaps that are not accounted for in your resume ?Your work or educational history?
- Have you held several jobs or attended several schools in a short time span?
- Does your work history show a pattern of lateral (or downward) movement within or between organizations?
- Are you applying for a job with less responsibility/pay than your present or most recent job?
Illegal Questions and Tactful Responses
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes discrimination on the basis of race, sex, religion, or national origins illegal in personnel decisions. Questions that delve into these areas as well as others, such as age, height, or weight, are also illegal, unless they can be shown to directly relate to bona fide occupational qualifications.
Most interviewers are well aware of these restrictions and will not ask you illegal questions. However, you may still encounter such questions either because of ignorance on the part of the interviewer or blatant violation of the regulation.
Women are more likely to face illegal questions than men. Some employers still ask questions regarding birth control, child care, or how ?eir husbands feel about them working or traveling. The following types of questions are considered illegal:
Illegal Questions
O Are you married, divorced, separated, or single? O How old are you? O Do you go to church regularly? O Do you have many debts? O Do you own or rent your home? O What social or political organizations do you belong to? O What does your spouse think about your career? O Are you living with anyone? O Are you practicing birth control? O Were you ever arrested?
O How much insurance do you have? O How much do you weigh? O How tall are you?
Although we hope you will not encounter these types of questions during your job search, you should consider how you would handle them if they arise. Your decision should be thought out carefully beforehand rather than made in the stressful setting of the interview. It must be your decision - one that you feel comfort able with.
You may want to consider the following suggestions as options for handling illegal and personal questions. If you encounter such questions, your choice may depend upon which is more important to you: defending a principle or giving yourself the greatest chance to land the job. You may decide the job is not as important as the principle. Or you may decide, even though you really want this job, you could never work in the organization that employed such clods, and tell them so.
On the other hand, you may decide to answer the question, offensive though it may be, because you really want the job. If you get the job, you vow you will work from within the organization to change such interview practices.
There is yet a third scenario relating to illegal questions. You may believe the employer is purposefully trying to see how you will react to stressful questions. Will you lose your temper or will you answer meekly? Though a rather dangerous practice for employers, this does occur nonetheless. In this situation you should remain cool and answer tactfully by indicating indirectly that the questions may be inappropriate.
For example, if you are divorced and the interviewer asks about your divorce, you could respond by asking, "Does a divorce have a direct bearing on the responsibilities of_?" If the interviewer asks if you are on the pill, you could respond, "Yes, I take three pills a day - vitamins A, B, and C, and because of them, I haven't missed a day's work in the past year." The interviewer should get the message, and you have indicated you can handle stressful questions.
Turn what appears to be a negative into a positive.
A possible response to any illegal question --regardless of motive -- is to turn what appears to be a negative into a positive. If, for example, you are female and the interviewer asks you how many children you still have living at home and you say, "I have five - two boys and three girls", you can expect this answer will be viewed as a negative. Working mothers with five children at home may be viewed as neither good mothers nor dependable employees. Therefore, you should immediately follow your initial response with a tactful elaboration that will turn this potential negative into a positive. You might say,
"I have five - two boys and three girls. They are wonderful children who, along with my understanding husband, take great care of each other. If I didn't have such a supportive and caring family, I would never think of pursuing a career in this field. I do want you to know that I keep my personal life separate from my professional life. That's very important to me and my family, and I know it's important to employers. In fact, because of my family situation, I make special arrangements with other family members, friends, and day-care centers to ensure that family responsibilities never interfere with my work. But more important, I think being a mother and working full-time has really given me a greater sense of responsibility, forced me to use my time well, and helped me better organize my life and handle stress. I've learned what's important in both my work and life. I would hope that the fact that I'm both a mother and I'm working ~ and not a working mother - would be something your company would be supportive of, especially given my past performance and the qualifications I would bring to this job."
Here you were able to take both an illegal question and a potential negative and turn them into a positive -- perhaps the most tactful and effective way of dealing with a situation other interviewees might respond to in a negative manner.
You should decide before you go into the interview how you will handle similar situations. If you are prepared for possible illegal questions, you may find your answers to such questions to be the strongest and most effective of the interview!
Ask the Right Questions
As you prepare for the interview, you should outline questions you want to ask the prospective employer. You need to ask questions to elicit information you need about the position and organization; indeed, you want to know if the position is fit for you.
In addition, the interviewer will be making judgments about your interests, qualifications, personality, and competence in part based on the number and types of questions you ask.
What types of questions should you ask in order to get information and impress the interviewer? In general, questions relating to job duties, responsibilities, opportunities for training, and employee advancement within the company are appropriate. Avoid asking self-centered questions. Those dealing with salary and benefits should be avoided during initial interviews or early stages of the interview unless they are raised first by the interviewer. Of course you are interested in salary, but you do not want to create the impression it is your primary concern.
Remember, the prospective employer is interested in what benefits you will bring to the organization. At the same time, you need to establish your value in the eyes of the employer prior to discussing money.
The following set of questions outline some of the most common questions interviewees should ask. Again, do not consider this to be an exhaustive list, but use it to generate additional questions appropriate for your situation:
Questions You Should Ask
O What duties and responsibilities does this job entail? O Where does this position fit into the organization? O Is this a new position? O What kind of person are you looking for? O When was the last person promoted? O What is the best experience and background for this position? O Whom would I report to? Tell me a little about these people. Are you happy with them? What are their strengths and weaknesses? O May I talk with present and previous employees about this job and organization? O What problems might I expect to encounter on this job? (Efficiency, quality control, declining profits, internal politics, evaluation) o What has been done recently in regard to_? O What is the normal pay range for this job? O How did you get your job? O How long have you been with this company? O Tell me about promotions and advancement with this company. O What are your expectations from the person hired for this job?
Having prepared a written list of questions, many interviewees wonder whether they should memorize them or write them down and take them to the interview. We suggest writing them on an index card and carrying the card in your suit pocket, attaché case, or purse. If, as the interview progresses, you remember all the questions you wished to ask without reference to the card, that is excellent. On the other hand, you may find you simply can't recall those questions - especially given the stress of the situation. If that happens, mention to the interviewer that you have some questions you want to be sure you don't forget to ask, and then refer to your index card. By formulating questions prior to the interview, you demonstrate concern about the position as well as preparation for the interview. Most interviewers will view you in a positive manner if you do this.
Practice the Interview
You have prepared for the interview by formulating your questions and answers. Yet, you may wish to prepare even further by actually practicing the interview.
There are several ways to practice. One method, requiring the least effort, is just to think through a hypothetical interview by anticipating questions, generating answers, and formulating questions you would ask. Another method is to have your spouse or a friend run you through a practice interview. Give them a list of questions in order to role play the interviewer-interviewee encounter. Another method is to tape record --either on your own or with a friend -- interview questions and responses. By doing this, you will be able to evaluate your effectiveness in handling interview questions. Review your recording and repeat questioning and responding until you are pleased with the results. Don't try to memorize responses. Your goal should be to convey the message with the meaning you intend in a manner that seems comfortable and spontaneous.
Preparation for the interview takes time and hard work. Since our focus is on successful interviewing, we have no quick and easy methods for getting the job you want. When you go into the office for the job interview, you know you are competing with others who may be just as well qualified as you. At this point the slate is wiped clean; you and the other candidates start from zero. Whether you or someone else is offered the position will largely depend upon the interviews ~ yours and theirs. As the door closes behind you, you'll be glad you took the time and effort to be well prepared for what could well become a $1,000,000 prize!
Review Your Preparation
As soon as you learn you are invited to a job interview, you should quickly assemble? The information you need, organize it around the specific position, and prepare for the major stages of the interview. Begin by reviewing our checklist of the most important elements that should go into preparing for your interview.
Your Interview Preparation Checklist
Reviewed my research files on this organization
Conducted additional research on the organization, interview, and interviewer to determine what I will encounter on the day of the interview
Refocused my goals and strengths around the job description
Answered all the organizational research questions I need to for this interview
Answered all the interview situation questions I need to for this interview
Identified what examinations 1 will have to take and prepared accordingly
Developed and rehearsed general answers to anticipated interview questions with a friend or/and used a tape recorder
Formulated a list of questions I need to ask the inter viewer
If you follow these interview preparation guidelines, you will be in a good position to handle most interview situations, interviewers, and questions. You should do well in communicating your strengths to employers.
