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TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEWING
I. Honesty – it goes without saying, you must
always be honest about your background and skills! Be confident about
your background.
II. Personal
A. Hygiene – Make sure you have brushed your teeth, bathed/showered,
use deodorant, etc. – good impressions aren’t made through
bad hygiene and odor
B. Appearance – Dress professionally (you should be better dressed
than the person interviewing you)
C. Verbiage – Be succinct (to the point), but always offer to
go into more detail. Also, know your background – be able to explain
your background on a deep level. How you explain your projects can make
a big difference in how they see your skill level.
III. Body Language
A. Handshake – Be firm, but not overbearing. Do NOT give a “limp
fish” handshake, especially if it is a woman whose hand you are
shaking. Your handshake says a lot about your work habit and personality.
B. Eye Contact – Make sure you have good eye contact during the
interview. Do not look up or down like you are lying or embarrassed
to be there – keep your eyes on the manager, and bring a pen with
notepad to take notes, write down your questions and have a place to
divert your eyes to so you aren’t staring him/her down.
C. Posture –Don’t slouch, keep your shoulders and back
straight, be relaxed
D. Mirroring (Reflect their body language, i.e. if they are sitting
back and crossing their legs, do the same)
E. Confidence – have confidence in your skill and ability to
get the job!
IV. Introducing yourself to the manager
I have been looking forward to meeting you! Thanks for taking the time
to meet me today.
V. What to say when they say “Tell me about yourself”
I would love to, where would you like me to begin. (You could further
say, I could start with my most recent experience, or was there an area
you were interested in?)
VI. Answering Questions Regarding Previous Positions
Follow this format with each position you have had. You should be able
to explain your job in a succinct concise way, but be able to go into
much further depth about your background (many managers give feedback
that the candidates they interviewed did not have deep knowledge of the
projects (hardware and software) they worked on – don’t be
one of these people!). Anything that is on your resume may be questioned,
so make sure you know exactly what you have done, how you did, etc. If
you can, use graphs and schematics to further show your abilities
1. Product/Industry – Explain briefly what your company did and
the product line you worked on, not everyone knows your company, and
many companies have multiple product lines.
2. Task – What were your specific responsibilities (the manager
doesn’t want to hear what “we” did, but rather what
YOU did.
3. Tools – i.e. Which languages did you program in, what software
have you used, operating systems, hardware – for each project.
Do not assume anything, be prepared to explain anything you have said
you have done in great detail.
4. Role in Group – were you the lead? Manager? Individual contributor?
5. Contribution – What did you accomplish while you were there??
6. Release/Lifecycle – Is that product on market now? Did it
ever go to market?
7. Challenges/Solutions (Optional) – if it is applicable to the
job you are interviewing for, you can talk about a problem the company
had, and how you solved that problem. Many interviewers ask if you have
ever had a problem or challenge, and how did you solve it, so this is
good to think about in advance even if you don’t bring it up.
VII. How To Overcome Technical Weaknesses
What if you have no experience or limited experience in something? Here
is an ideal answer that shows confidence in yourself, and will let the
manager know you can still get the job done!
I really don’t have in professional experience in that area?
However, I have read about it, studied it, and have a very good understanding,
and would love the opportunity to work with it. If this were something
that were important to this position, I would be more than happy to
work extra hours, or do whatever it took to bring myself up to speed.
VIII. Key questions you can ask when they say “Do you have
any questions for me?” You should ask 3 to 5 questions:
2-3 Technical questions about the position, 1 or 2 company/ market space/direction
questions, etc. and always the “Million Dollar” Question!
Hints:
Always prepare questions to ask. Having no questions prepared sends the
message that you have no independent thought process.
Some of your questions may be answered during the course of the interview,
before you are offered the opportunity to ask. If so, you can simply state
something to the effect that you were interested in knowing about ...,
but that was addressed during the interview. You could ask for additional
clarification if applicable.
Do not ask questions that are clearly answered on the employer's web
site and/or in any literature provided by the employer to you in advance.
This would simply reveal that you did not prepare for the interview, and
you are wasting the employer's time by asking these questions. Always
do as much research as you can on a company and make sure you have read
the job description.
**Never ask about salary and benefits issues until those subjects are
raised by the employer.
Sample Questions:
- What are the day-to-day responsibilities of this job?
- What is the biggest technical challenge you are facing right now?
- What kind of work can I expect to be doing the first year?
- How do you hope this new hire impacts the organization most?
- What is the organization's plan for the next five years, and how does
this department fit in?
- Who are your competitors?
- Which markets do you cover and are there any other markets you hope
to be going into?
- What makes people successful here? OR Can you describe an ideal employee?
IX. The Million Dollar Question - $$ (this question
is key to getting any job)
How do you see me fitting in?
X. How To End The Interview Successfully
Thank you for taking the time to talking to me today. This is the kind
of opportunity I have been looking for, and I think I can make a valuable
contribution. I look forward to the next time we meet.
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