面试 behavior questions Interview Preparation Tips.docx

INTERVIEW PREPARATION & TECHNIQUE Interview Preparation & TechniqueINTERVIEW FACTS Have your facts ready your skills, experiences, purpose and goals. Interviewers do not appreciate unprepared people. How you answer is as important as what you say. Candidates, who answer questions with two or three sentences, have a greater chance of securing the job ahead of candidates who give one-word answers, i.e. Yes or No Listen carefully, smile, nod and agree where appropriate show the interviewer that you respect them and you are interested in what they are saying. Jobs are given more often to people the interviewer warms to. Make sure you establish a rapport with the interviewer. Do not discuss your problems interviewers like and look for problem solvers! Interviewers will look for your negative aspects. Dont let them find any! You will impress the interviewer if you discuss the tasks of the position rather than the pay. It will also impress the interviewer if you have some questions prepared to ask at the interview.PREPARATIONDo some research into the organisation concerned. Some good sources include:o Campus Careers serviceo Libraryo Professional bodyo Recruitment consultancyo Family and friendso InternetYou can also find useful information in publications such as Graduate Opportunities, Business Whos Who, Compass Australia, BRW and Jobsons Year BookPrepare a list of questions you want to ask about the organisation and the position think ahead! Such questions might include:o Do you have a detailed job description?o Why is the position available?o What training and induction will be given?o What prospects are there for personal and professional development?o What are the companys plans for the future?o What attributes would you hope that I would bring to the job?o When can I expect to hear from you?PRESENTATIONLook professional, act professional and dress for success, you will never have a second chance to make a good first impression! Dress conservatively rather than casually or radically for example, a dark suit and tie, or a skirt and jacket as a general rule.For men, the accepted professional dress is a dark coloured suit, collar and tie. For women, again a smart suit or a neat dress with a jacket. Be conscious in both the male and female case not to be overly flamboyant, do not wear outlandish, faddish suits but well tailored conservative suits.For females, very short skirts are not recommended if you want to be taken seriously. The length of the skirt should be no shorter than just above the knee; also, wear stockings and shoes with a heel. Jewellery should be subtle and understated for females and ales should not wear earrings this is regarded strongly by employers.Hair grooming is also and important part of presentation. A smart, conservative hairstyle contributes to a totally professional image. To achieve your goals you must market or project yourself in the best possible way.ATTITUDEIt is a fact of life that having the right range of technical skills is not sufficient in itself to ensure success at interview. Getting a job offer calls on a combination of both technical and interpersonal skills, and this can cause anxiety to the unprepared. These skills however, are based on simple concepts, which once mastered can help you successfully manage the rest of your career. The two basic concepts that underlie your success are perception and communication. Both are closely linked.Perception is about instinctively recognising the expectations of others. Body language, raising eyebrows or crossed arms, for example, act as alarm bells that tell us the interviewer remains unconvinced. But simply assuming the interviewer has not understood or appreciated what you have said is not enough. We need to determine which aspects that have not comprehended and why.COMMON SENSEEnsure you are fully aware of the time of the interview, where it is and who you are seeing. Be on time for the interview, even 10 minutes early is acceptable.Look at sample questions which are commonly asked at interview, be prepared to answer them intelligently. (Some sample questions are attached to this document)The InterviewFirst impressions are critical. Research has shown that a job candidate will have made an impression on a potential employer within the first eight seconds of meeting the person. The remainder of the interview is spent either confirming the first impression or turning this opinion around.To be on the safe side, bring a spare copy of your resume with you to the interview. Arrive at least ten minutes early as interviewers are unimpressed by lateness, or excuses from a prospective employee.DURING THE INTERVIEWBody language and either forms of non-verbal communication are important elements in the way an interviewee performs. Appearing relaxed and trying to act naturally is easier said than done but good appearance is mostly a matter of assuming a position that you are comfortable with. Sit up straight, lean forward slightly and always maintain good eye contact with the interviewer or panel looking disinterested will limit your options. Dont smoke during an interview or 1 hour before.Treat the interview as a two-way discussion and answer questions honestly, directly and keep to the point. Everyone present will be focusing their attention on you, so clouding your answer with jargon or evading the issue will be more obvious than you think. If you are not certain about a particular question, dont be afraid to ask if it can be rephrased. Listen dont interrupt and only answer what is asked.There are common questions that arise in most job interviews, and while you should be prepared, try not to rehearse answers that are too precise. A better approach is to work on broad subject areas that are likely to come up during the interview. Some of these areas include:General BackgroundOften the first question is a request for a summary of your background. It is quite acceptable to repeat major points you have outlined in your application documents.QualificationsA specific question often asked in why you think you are qualified for this position. “Qualifications” in this context means all qualifications which make you suitable for this position; education, employment related, and personal. In most cases, this may be the questions that will win or lose you the job so your answer needs to be clear and memorable.ExperienceHeres where your research pays off. Your answer should include details about relevant employment, community or education experience and a discussion of the nature of the industry, the organisation and the position itself.Reasons for applyingIf you are applying for your first or one of your first jobs your answer should describe what you find appealing about the position, how you prepared yourself for a career in the organisation and how you believe your present job equips you for the position in question.Career objectivesBe ready to discuss your long-term aspirations; the best approach is one that indicates you have thought about your career in these terns and have some action towards realising your ambitions.Crisis managementIn some organisation, employers give candidates questions designed to test their ability in situations or crises. You should try to find the most common type of dilemma for employees in the job you are seeking and formulate an intelligent response.Your questionsTowards the end of the interview you will usually be asked if you have any questions of your own so try to think of at least one or two intelligent questions before the interview. Be confident when asking your questions and use them to score additional points in your favour for instance, by asking about the companys plans for the future and the support the organisation might provide if you wanted further training.At the end of the interview, smile and thank the people involved for their time. While decisions and job offers are usually made some time after the interview/s, should an offer of employment be made at the conclusion of any interview, ask whether the offer will be confirmed in writing. Also, it is not unreasonable to request a short period of time to consider the offer before formally accepting.SAMPLE QUESTIONSWhy do you want to be a (Job Title)?Why are you seeking a position within our company?How do you see your career developing? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?What attributes could you bring to this position and company?What interests you about the product / services we provide?What did / do you enjoy the most / least about your last / current job?Describe a situation where you have(this is the style of questioning used in competency based interviews, asking for examples of previous situations it is based on the promise of “past performance predicts future behaviour”, so have some relevant examples ready)What would your colleagues and former employers say your strengths were?What is your definition of Teamwork?What are your strengths / weaknesses?What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? What are your salary expectations? How much notice do you need to give in your current role? Do you have any holiday plans within the next six months? There are no correct answers to these questions, but obviously the recruiter is attempting to build a psychological picture of you. Therefore, put yourselves in the recruiters chair, try and project a positive but honest evaluation of yourself, your ability and weaknesses. Remember that the recruiter will be put off as much by a self proclaimed “Superman” (on the basis that no one is perfect) as much as someone who is timid, shy and lacking in self-confidence.Tips for Handling NervesDos and Donts of Interviews Speaking too quickly: this leads to a lack of understanding Speaking too slowly: the interviewer may become impatient, may not listen, and anticipates what is coming next Speaking too quietly: creates the impression that you are unsure of yourself. Lack of emphasis, everything is neutral Use of filler words: for example know what I mean?”, “not so”, “sort of” This can be irritating because they do not add to the content, if anything it communicates a lack of self-confidenceAlways: Smile, maintain eye contact, and answer the questions Remember that in an interview, the interviewer should speak 30% of the time and the candidate should speak 70% of the time.Resource NotesBehavioural InterviewingIncludes the following competencies: Adaptability Attention to Detail Career ambition Creativity Customer service focus Decision Making Delegation Developing others Influencing / persuasiveness Initiative Management / supervision Motivation Negotiation Personal standards Planning and organising Problem solving Quality (Drive for quality) Relationship building Teamwork Tenacity Working under pressureAdaptability How do you cope with change? Tell me about a time that you have had to adapt to a new set of circumstances or environment. What strategies did you use to help you adapt? What was the outcome?Attention to Detail What techniques have you adopted in the past six months to ensure the details associated with your job are followed through? Give me an example when attention to detail was important. How have you maintained it?Career Ambition What are your career aspirations? What motivates you? How would you define ambition? Who / what has played the most significant part in your career development? How are you capitalising on your strengths? What are you doing to address areas that need development?Creativity How much opportunity for innovation and imagination is there in your current position? Describe a situation in which you had to develop a creative or innovative solution to a problem. How did you go about it? What was the outcome? Can you think of a recent problem in which old solutions would not work? How did you solve the problem?Customer Service Focus What does customer service mean to you? Describe a situation in which you exceeded a customers expectations. How did you go about it? The outcome? Sometimes we wish we could change the way we interact with customers. Tell me about a recent interaction you had with a customer that you wish you could change. Tell me about a time you dealt with an unhappy customer. What was the problem and how did you deal with it?Decision Making Tell me about the toughest decision you have had to make at work. Why was it difficult? How did you go about making the decision? What was the result? What would you change, given the chance? Describe a time you deliberated over a decision for a long time. What was the outcome? What kinds of decisions do you make rapidly and which ones do you take time on? Please give me some examples. Can you give me two examples of good decisions you have made recently? What were the alternatives? Why were they good decisions?Delegation Tell me about a project / task you have recently delegated. Why did you delegate it? Describe the approach you took in delegating the task. What was the final outcome?Developing othersTell me about a time you rewarded / encouraged someones performance.When developing people, we often have to take different approachesInfluencing / Persuasiveness What does persuasiveness mean to you? Sometimes we introduce ideas in the workplace that our colleagues dont agree with. Describe a situation in which you had to persuade people to accept an idea. How did you do it? What was the outcome? Tell me about a time that you overcame a customers objections. What were they and how did you handle them? Describe a time you could not overcome a customers objections. What happened? Would you do anything differently, given the chance?Initiative Tell me about a time that you demonstrated initiative. What instigated the idea / action? What was the outcome?Management / Supervision What does leadership mean to you? Describe a situation in which you delegated work / tasks. How did you go about it? What was the outcome? Have you ever been required to deal with a team member who has performance problems? How did you handle it? What was the result? Would you do anything differently? Have you ever had to set goals and targets for individuals? How did you go about it? The result? How do you keep people around you motivated?Motivation How do you manage / sustain your motivation at work? Tell me about a time that you had targets or goals to work towards. How did you go about working towards those goals? What was the outcome? Describe a situation in which you felt particularly motivated at work. Why did you feel motivated? What was the outcome? Describe how you like to be managed. Why? Tell me about a time that you had the chance to motivate others. How did you go about it? What was the result?Negotiation Explain your understanding of negotiation. What does the term win / win mean to you? Tell me about a time that you have had to negotiate. How did you go about it? What was the outcome? What was the outcome for the other party? Would you do anything differently?Personal standards How do you define doing a good job? Are you doing a good job now? How do you know? In your opinion, what distinguishes a good employee from an average employee? Have you ever had to compromise your standards in the interest of getting the job done? Tell me about it. How are you capitalising on your strengths? What are doing to address areas which require development? Are you managing or supervising staff? If so, how do you go about setting them goals / targets? Have you ever had to deal with an employee who did not meet targets? How did you go about it? When judging the performance of your team members, what factors or characteristics are most important to you? Give examples. How have you rewarded staff who exceeded targets?Planning & Organising How do you go about managing your time at work? Tell me about a time that you had a project to complete. How did you go about planning for it? Tell me about a time that you had conflicting deadlines that were equally important. How did you manage that situation and what was the outcome? Would you do