Once you have caught the eye of a future employer with a professional cover letter and resume, it is now time for the next step in securing the job of your dreams: the interview.
The interview is your opportunity to make a great first (face-to-face) impression. The interviewer will be able to see your personality, knowledge of the company and passion to work there. However, a successful interview will require thorough practice and preparation. This week’s blog will help you get started or help continue your preparation.
For this week’s assignment, please complete the Informational Interview Assignment at: http://www.perfectinterview.com/ucf/. Here are the steps to complete:
1. Complete one "short" interview where the selections are chosen for you. Complete one "short" interview where you make the selections. Choose at least three areas you'd like to work on the most. Note the options of the "Alternate Response" and the "Coach" that can be used.
2. You may choose to either use video capture or no video capture. If you choose no video capture you will be required to type your responses. Save both interviews.
3. Draft a reflection about your practice interview, commenting on the questions asked and your responses to the questions. You might comment on what questions were problematic. What were the strengths of your responses? What could you improve in your responses? How did you responses compare to the "Alternate Response"? What did you learn from the "Coach?"
4. Give one question about interviewing or a piece of advice that you've gained in your interviewing experiences.
5. Click on "Review Saved Interviews." Click on the "Share" button. E-mail yourself your interview and include the links in your posting.
Please post your interview reflections, questions, concerns, and/or comments to this blog.
Additional Information/Resources:
Want to know what a career is really like? Ask someone with first-hand experience. Check out this informative article on “informational interviews”:
http://www.bls.gov/opub/ooq/2002/summer/art03.pdf
Also check out UCF Career Services’ Online Workship “Plan for the Interview”:
http://www.career.ucf.edu/UserFiles/File/Plan%20for%20the%20Interview/player.html
I have interviewed several early career people that graduated from college and applied at Lockheed Martin. Their interview skills have been exceptional and it has been very obvious that they had training. I now know where they got it. This is a very useful tool and should give everyone some very helpful information whether you're new at the interview game or a seasoned professional. I learned a few things that I will apply the next time I interview candidates. I hope I don't have to be the candidate again but in this day and age you just never know.
ReplyDeleteOne question I always like to ask is, "Do you think you're prepared to do this job?". Of course most new graduates don’t have a lot of knowledge about what the job entails unless they've interned in the position. However, I'm looking for enthusiasm. Not braggadocio, but confidence and a willingness to learn.
Links:
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032640&type=standard
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032639&type=standard
@Deb - Thank you for sharing that this interview tool is useful. It will definitely be something that I will use to prepare myself for future interviews. I recently had a mock interview here at UCF and overall it went very well. The interviewer was pleased with my appearance, personality and answers to the questions asked. He gave me a few suggestions regarding jewelry, posture and answering some of the more general, vague interview questions like "Tell me about yourself". It was definitely helpful. Also, thanks for the new vocab word "braggadocio" LOL. I will definitely have to use that someday! Take care.
ReplyDelete@everyone: Please post your responses as soon as possible, as it is already Thursday! Thanks.
The interview process was pretty accurate. I have interviewed for positions in both the private companies and law enforcement agencies. The difference is that when you interview some agencies (usually law enforcement) it is more of a panel interview than just a one-on-one. I really didn’t find any of the questions a problem or difficult. I think one thing that would have helped a little is if there was a specific job opening. When they would say this job or company it’s was difficult to be too specific.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032711&type=standard
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032710&type=standard
The interview went pretty much like I expected it to go. Some of the questions were kind of hard to answer and some weren’t that bad. Questions that were problematic were when I was asked if I was fine with the salary I was going to be making and when I was asked about what I did last time I had a disagreement with my manager. The strengths of my responses were when I was asked about my past education. The alternated responses were a little different than mine. The coach taught me a lot about how to answer these questions. It taught me that it’s better to be honest than to just say something because it sounds good. A piece of advice I’ve gained in my interviewing experiences is try to relate the answers about your past experiences to the job you are trying to get.
ReplyDeleteLinks:
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/text_viewer.asp?id=A840407D-3D79-4C5E-810D-1B1375E13080&mediatype=WMV
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/text_viewer.asp?id=5D210DE4-D1E1-4E6E-8594-53D08EB9D062&mediatype=WMV
The interviews were good practice. I did not like some of the questions that I did not have an answer for such as: “What does the job you’re applying for entail,” because I was not actually applying for any job. I did not use the “Coach” feature. My responses were similar to the “Alternative Responses,” which really gave me goo insight to what my answers should be like.
ReplyDeleteAlways speak clearly and confidently when in an interview.
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032728&type=standard
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032729&type=standard
@Deb: Your post is really helpful and I'm glad that you made some interesting points.
ReplyDelete@Robin: I agree that the interview was pretty accurate. It definitely would have helped if there was a specific job opening that we were interviewed about.
I really don't have much interview experience at all, but I didn't think the interview questions were hard and I kind of expected that there were going to be questions similar to what was asked. I thought they were pretty accurate
ReplyDeletehttp://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032733&type=standard
I wasn't able to open the website, but I hve a lot of interview expeience. I've had group and individual interviews for retail jobs amd for graduate school.
ReplyDeleteI have nailed every interview and I believe the key is to be confident and sincere.
I have never had a question in an interview where I have choked. For the most part the questions are straight forward.
I have a post interview question: how should one go about when discussing salary?
The interview process was pretty accurate from the interviews I have been to. This is actually I nice tool to have so one can prepare for different questions that are typically asked during an interview.
ReplyDeleteMy last interview I went to was for the career I want to do for a long time, if not my entire career. It's something I'm passionate about and I had really researched the position. It was a career that was going to take a lot of effort to apply for and get through the schooling so I wanted to make sure I did my research and that it was the right career for me before I wasted my time or the interviews. The actual job hiring process took about a year, and then about 10 months of training. My interview went really well. Even though I was nervous, I felt like I was prepared and professional, and that I answered their questions sincerely.
I think confidence it definately important, but don't come off as arrogant or cocky! I sometimes find it hard to answer questions concerning my strengths and weaknesses and accomplishments. I don't want to sound like I'm bragging but at the same time I do want to highlight my strengths to the hiring company.
Links:
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032744&type=standard
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032746&type=standard
-Heidi Simons
@Robin Your answers to the interview questions were good. You come across as sincere. It would be easier if they set up a scenerio and fake company and approached the interview like that.
ReplyDelete@All If you read my post you can tell I liked this tool. I really have interviewed several graduates and their interview skills are impressive. If I was younger and applying for a position in my field that I new would be highly competitive, I really would pull up this tool and run through a few scenerios. It's was very obvious to me as an interviewer that these early career people had training. I asked a couple of them at work yesterday and they confirmed that they had used the tool quite extensively. Don't blow this one off.
ReplyDelete@Deb- I agree with the question you came up with. I think you should ask yourself if your prepared for the job and think of your prior experiences that might have helped you to prepare.
ReplyDelete@Charles- I also don't have much interview experience, but I think these questions were good practice and pretty similar to questions that you will be asked when getting a real job interview.
@Josh – Your right about relating your past experiences to the job you are interview for. I have found that it shows that if the situation, whatever it maybe, arises again you can handle it because you have experience. The jobs that I have interviewed for and related something from my past job, I was hired or was given the promotion.
ReplyDelete@Leah – I had the same issues with the simulator; it’s hard to give an answer to something like that. I wish they would have given us some kind of generic background before beginning the interview; such as you are interviewing for a position doing accounting or whatever.
@Deb - thank you, I've done a lot of interviewing in my life :)
The responses provided by the examples were very eloquent and professional compared to what I originally thought to say each time. I do feel this is mostly because it was scripted, but being able to speak like that in an interview would definitely give you a step up in the selection process. None of the question are particularly difficult and were normal interview questions, and the coach was very helpful in forming my answers to the questions.
ReplyDeleteA piece of advice would be to just be yourself and answer honestly, employers like to see the real you in the interview process and it hasn’t failed me yet.
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032747&type=standard
@Hiedi
confidence is definitely a key ingredient for the interviewing process as long as its confidence and not arrogance. Unfortunately many people have problems with interviewing and for some employers a bad or nervous interview undermines the persons accomplishments
@Jazmin
I too have wondered exactly how to speak about salaries in the workplace during an interview, assuming your not applying for a job that has a set salary
Well the interview was a bit weird but I had a good time with it. I kind of like that the lady was a bit creepy in that she was very stern and had no positive expressions. Also, it's a great tool in readying for an interview because it can give you lots of questions that you might not otherwise be prepared for.
ReplyDeleteThe most important thing in interviews for me is to be honest but not too honest. For instance, there is always something going on in anyone's personal life but if they ask if there is anything going on in your personal life in an interview it is best to say something positive about your family or nothing.
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/text_viewer.asp?id=08036042-47B0-4856-BBF8-4C7D25484AF9&mediatype=flv
@Heidi - I too think confidence is very important but am also careful that I am not overly confident and come off as offensive and/or obnoxious.
ReplyDelete@Leah - Some of the questions were a bit weird to me too. I was asked if there was anything going on in my personal life that would have an effect on my job performance. I thought that was a bit weird and really wouldn't expect that in an interview.
I haven’t been on an interview for about 4 years now but I can say that I was a little taken by surprise especially with the first question (what does success means to you?) I think that success for me has to be divided into personal and professional. And as far as success professionally I would like to be practicing speech language pathology and have complete my educational objectives.
ReplyDeleteI do have to say that remaining professional and confident is very important at the time of an interview. And unless asked about your personal life refrain from tell your interviewer about how many children or pets you may have. Later on when you have been hired there will be time to make a personal connection with your peers.
Overall I really like the example answers, it gives me an ideas on how to answer accordingly and professionally.
http://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032760&type=standard
I thought that the link worked for both here is my second interview
ReplyDeletehttp://www.perfectinterview.com/online/review_gateway.asp?id=3032761&type=standard
@josh I also think is very important to remain honest throughout an interview. After your hired you will continue to have a professional relationship with these individuals and no one will want to start with the wrong foot having to explain yourself later on.
ReplyDelete@Heidi unlike some of us this tool (perfect interview) was unknown to me but I agree with you that is really useful and is something we can all take advantage of.
ReplyDelete