Web Mortgage Brokers

Posts Tagged ‘job interview’

A major hurdle to overcome when applying for a new job is the interview stage.

The interview is reached after you have successfully submitted your CV and letter of application.It is likely that the employer advertised for the position in the local press, or online. Some also use head hunters.

The interviewer will have initially only have seen your CV, before meeting you in person.Given the many that apply, this usually takes about 30 seconds and so with the limited words, one must be sure that the resume is well written and grammatically correct.

Your CV states personal details and achievements. At the interview stage the interviewer will want to learn much more about you.Interviewers commonly ask to describe your previous role and what you have achieved with your last employer. This will usually include how the person handled a situation in the company, the challenges of the job and the relationship with coworkers.

Family and social life may also be discussed, so the interviewer can get a feel for your personality and how you interact with others.

A common question is “why do you want to work here?” Be ready to answer this and state your ambitions for the future with the company. If you are being interviewed for vacant John Lewis Job Vacancies, tell them why you like John Lewis as a company.

Interviewers like to ask questions about your future goals as they can see how motivated you are.

Most interviewers ask for your salary expectations so they can see if you fit in with their budget.If what is being asked is too high, the employer will usually ask if the salary is open to negotiation.

When the interviewer has finished with their questions try asking some of your own.

This is the best time to know a little bit more the company one might be working in and to get a feel of the potential company.

If there are no more questions, the interviewer will then end the meeting and call the applicant back if the person has passed the initial interview so that the next phase of the application process can begin.

I hate assessment tests. They are after all, very useful in a many ways. A well structure aptitude test can really help you discover if you are a good fit for a certain level of class or if you need to start at a lower level.In the area of high stress jobs where people tend to get burn out, a psychological assessment test can prove to be very useful.

But, I do feel that it has gone some too far. Assessment testing are used in almost every area. You even got the kindergarten assessment tests that was meant to assess young students when they are too young for this. The test may not be accurate at all.  At such young age, people tend to grow at different speeds.And it can be counter productive when not done correctly. All this while, we try too hard to put everyone in pre-define boxes, and I think that now, society pays a heavy price for it.

Fortunately, most jobs do not employ these assessment tests yet. As a matter of fact, you only usually find them at the very big corporations, the ones that hire hundreds of people at a time and need efficient ways to root through candidates. My opinion is that this is the reason why big business is so inefficient. Although the large companies have more resources, more funding, and more connections, they also have backwards hiring practices. Rather than looking at every potential applicant as a person, they view them as a list of scores. No wonder they often do not hire the right people for the job. How can it be, when so many are weeded out based on an arbitrary test assessment?

Thinking of getting into the top the University such as Harvard? Learn How to get into Harvard and you also need to understand the details of Harvard Admissions. If you are looking for a job, knowing the job market will help you in your job hunting process. Visit Average Job Salaries.

At the age of fifty-something, I lost my job.  My company, here in Oklahoma City, was very pleasant when they notified me that I was not being fired, just laid off.  But, you know what?The end result is identical.The upshot is I am out of a job, idle, not working, and oh I almost forgot, looking for employment. 

I began my journey to a new job by updating my resume (there was some dusting off involved but I finally got it ready to go).  Next, I got the resume out to as many potential employers as possible.Then I bet you can guess what follows getting your resume out?  That’s right!You are then called in for an interview.  Another journey I hadn’t taken in 36 years.

I arrived on time for my first interview (I would hope so!).  I sat down with a smiling Human Resources woman who said that she had a few questions for me and she would be taking some notes as I was answering them. 

And so we began.She was asking many questions, all of which I was sure I had the answer for.  I noticed quickly, however, that she would often re-package the question and toss it back to me, even though I felt I had already answered it.  The questions dragged on forever, it seemed.  In fact, a lot of the time the “question” didn’t seem like a question at all but rather it was phrased like this, “Give me an example of a time when you …”.  I left the interview feeling frustrated and a little unnerved.  I was prepared to answer questions like, “Why did you leave your last position?”, “Do you have a strong sales background” or “How often did you figure the sales commissions at your last job?”  No such luck!  These questions never came up.  What were these people looking for anyway?  Couldn’t they trust that I would give them 110% if they would just give me a chance?  The answer:  I guess not!

I went home and, as I had with my resume writing, I looked for information on what makes a good (might I say great?) interview.Let me share what I was able to find out.  Information that would have been good one short interview ago.  Here goes:

Employers want you to answer questions in the STAR format.  They will ask you a “question” and they want you to answer it by sharing either a situation or a task that you were involved in (either in a personal situation or at your workplace), then include the actions you took and the results you achieved.  Thus the star.  So, let’s break it down by including some examples.

1)      The first question she asked was, “Give me an example of a job you had where quality and/or accuracy was very important”.

·         A possible answer from me should have been (t), “Each month, at my previous job with a furniture store, I calculated the commissions for all of the sales people”.  Here I had placed myself squarely in the middle of a task. 

·         I would then add, (a) “I created an excel work sheet, on the Great Plains software I worked with, that allowed me to input their commissions on a daily basis and have their totals calculated for me by month end”.  All right, that’s a strong action, this doesn’t seem so hard. 

·         And finally, I would finish with, (r) “This saved me time but, most of all it provided a precise accounting of their work and they could be accurately paid”.  Great finish with a result that impacted people’s paychecks.  Always a reason to be ultra accurate. 

2)      Let’s try one more example.  Another question I was asked, “Tell me about a time you dealt with a frustrated/upset customer”.

·         (s) “A woman came into the furniture company I worked at screaming and complaining that the side lever on the Lazy Boy chair she had just been sold had broken off.  The chair had cost her a fortune and she had been assured it was top quality.”

·         (a) “I remained calm while I apologized for this inconvenience and assured her I would do everything I could to help get this resolved.I got out the number for La-Z-Boy and together we called them up.  These kinds of warranty issues have to go through the manufacturer.I had the lever part shipped to our store and then scheduled the Service Department to actually do the repair.  I told her that we would be by to pick up the chair that afternoon but the delivery of the part and subsequent repair would take about 3-4 days.  Again, I apologized for any inconvenience this would cause her.

·         (r) “The woman had composed herself by now and told me that, although it truly was an inconvenience (she had purchased the chair in time for her son’s graduation), she appreciated how quickly and calmly I handled the situation and she would continue coming back to shop at our store in the future.”

Had I answered the questions in my first interview with such thoroughness I know the Human Resources person would not have had to prod me along.  Needless to say, I didn’t get that job but I am now armed with all the information I need to be a STAR in my future interviews.