My Career Voyage! Charting The Course

By Patty E. Shaver
Career Development Facilitator

Now that you have an appointment scheduled with an interviewer, you must be prepared to sell yourself. Are you ready?

You have seconds to make your impression, so be sure to smile and give a firm handshake when you meet. Body language is 55 percent of the communication process, tone of voice - 38 percent and words seven percent.

There are are several different kinds of interviews:
On-on-one: most common type of interview where one person conducts the interview

Group: several candidates are interviewed at the same time. The purpose is to to see how you well you contribute to team situations.

Panel: the interviewee is interviewed by a panel of employees of the company. Be sure to make eye contact and be ready to respond to confrontational/friendly approaches and respond appropriately.

Multiple: several interviews are set up with different members of the company. Try to find out ahead of time what the schedule will be and how long you will have with each interviewer.

Second interview: if you called back for a second interview, you may be one of the final candidates for the position.

Types of questions:
Question and Answer -- typical interview format where the interviewer asks questions that may be either straightforward or tricky. Always remember to mention your strengths when you answer.

Behavioral: the interviewer asks questions about how you would act in a specific situation, such as: give an example of a time when you had to deal with conflict and how did you resolve it; or how did you solve a problem that brought about a positive result.

Common Interview Questions:
According to Richard Bolles book, What Color is Your Parachute, five questions employers want to know are:

Questions you could be asked:
Be ready to answer these questions and remember to research the company, know the job requirements and how your knowledge, skills and abilities relate to the position, give specific examples to illustrate your strengths and how you would respond in certain situations, and answer the questions directly and honestly.