He'll examine your educational background and work history to determine if you have the technical qualifications the position requires. Of all the criteria he'll assess and weigh, none will be more important than your strengths and accomplishments. Your strengths establish your ability to perform the job and your accomplishments document those strengths. In addition, past performance is the best indicator of future performance.
An interviewer will also ask you questions to investigate a host of other factors, such as your level of motivation, values, attitudes, and personality. His purpose will be to learn if you're the right type of person for the job, what your potential is for promotion, and if you'll fit into the company environment.
This emphasis on an interviewer's questions and your responses to them isn't meant to diminish the important role that chemistry can play in the hiring decision. This factor often carries as much weight as an applicant's ability to perform the job, sometimes even more.
Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do to create chemistry-it's either there or it isn't. But there's a great deal you can do to prepare for your interviews, so that you'll provide the best responses possible when being evaluated by potential employers. This is the purpose of this section.
Following are few questions you can expect to be asked, and you should have ready answers for them when you go on your interviews.
Guidelines to Consider
When formulating responses to these questions, keep your answers brief and to the point. One or two sentences will usually suffice. A succession of long-winded replies will just bore an inter viewer.
There are also no "right" or "wrong" answers. A response that will make a favorable impression on one interviewer might not appeal to another. Some of these questions, however, afford hid den opportunities to convey qualifications. Others have disguised purposes or present certain difficulties. There are ways to shape your responses to these questions-by addressing particular topics or bringing forth specific kinds of information-that will enable you to make a favorable impression on all interviewers you meet. Here are guidelines to follow:
Questions Concerning College Experience
An interviewer will ask about college experience only if you're in the early stages of your career. The further along you are, the less emphasis he'll place on your academic background. For senior-level positions, questions concerning education will usually be omitted.
If asked about your college days, discuss academic topics and extracurricular activities that demonstrate leadership qualities or relate to your chosen field. Substantiate your early seriousness of purpose and commitment to your career. Don't portray college as having been a social experience.
Why don't you have a college degree? If you didn't complete your studies or attend college at all, an explanation most inter viewers will accept is that you lacked the necessary funds or had to go to work in order to support others.
What's your most memorable experience from your college days? Tell an interviewer about an experience that is career-oriented. Never say, for example, that this is where you met your spouse. If you had college to do all over again, what changes would you make? The changes should be ones that would better prepare you for your occupational choice. Don't say, for example, that you would attend a coeducational school or go to a college in a city versus a rural area.
How did you happen to select your major? Hopefully, your major will pertain to the position you're interviewing for, and you therefore selected it because it would prepare you for the type of work you want to do.
How has college prepared you for this job (field)? Other than taking courses that pertain to the career you've chosen, mention activities you've participated in that have prepared you as well. If necessary, explain how these activities relate to the job or field you've selected.
Additional Questions for Women
Do you plan on getting married? If so, how will this affect your career? If you're single and plan on marrying, it won't influence your career at all.
Do you plan to have (more) children? You're undecided. How do you feel about supervising men? It makes no difference if a subordinate is a man or a woman. You're interested only in the quality of someone's performance.
How do men like working for you? You've never been told that you're any different to work for than a man.
How does your husband feel about you working? He approves. What would you do if your husband were transferred? Y)u would move with him. Not only will an interviewer respect your honesty, but saying anything else would cause suspicion about the stability of your personal life.
