Five Things You Need to Know — Interview Success Tips

Interview Tip 1: Plan Ahead and Practice — Research the company and the position, if possible. Review your work experiences. Be ready to support past career accomplishments with specific information targeted toward the company’s needs. Then practice using role-playing. Ask yourself some of the common interview questions listed below. Try to keep your answers to the information your new employer will want to know.

  • Tell me about yourself. (Try to hold your response to two minutes.)
  • What do you know about our company?
  • How does this assignment fit into your overall career plan?
  • Why are you looking for a new career?
  • How would your colleagues describe you?
  • How would you describe yourself?
  • What are the five most significant accomplishments
    in your career so far?
  • Can you work well under deadlines or pressure?
  • Why do you want to work for us?
  • Have you kept up in your field with additional training?
  • What are your strong points?
  • What are your weak points?

Interview Tip 2: Eye Contact — Maintain eye contact with your interviewer. Show, by your interest, that you want the job.

Interview Tip 3: Be Positive — In particular, avoid negative comments about past employers.

Interview Tip 4: Encourage — Encourage the interviewer to share information about his or her company. Demonstrate your interest. Some suggested questions to ask the interviewer are provided in the “Questions You Could Consider Asking the Employer” section.

  • Why is this position open?
  • How often has it been filled in the past five years? What were the
    main reasons?
  • What would you like done differently by the next person who fills
    this position?
  • What are some of the long-term objectives you would like
    to see completed?
  • What are some of the more difficult problems one would have
    to face in this position?
  • What advancement opportunities are available for the person who is successful in this position, and within what time frame?
  • What significant changes do you foresee in the near future?

Interview Tip 5: Adapt — Listen to the information the interviewer is giving you about the company and position. Then adapt your responses using your achievements that best fit the goals and information provided by the interviewer.

Source: Careercc.com