Interview time, oh oh
 

Well since the downturn in the economy, my home business has virtually come to a standstill.
I have an opportunity on Monday for a job Interview that will actually blow away any kind of money I have made before.
Heres the problem. It's been 32 years since I have had an interview, and really, that interview was nothing special. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions to make the interview swing in the right direction?
I am going through a mock interview today, which will I'm sure help immensely, but just looking for more.
I have researched the company and the things that pertain for the job.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Think of scenarios when you've had to deal with conflict in the workplace. Look up behavioural questions... Whatever they are called. Good luck

Basics
 

Just think of the basics.

YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION.

You probably dont need to be in a suit and tie, unless that is the normal attire for the profession. Well groomed, neat and tidy, and go forward with a firm handshake into the interview.
Nothing says "next" to me more than a candidate with a clammy limp-wristed handshake, who comes in with sloppy attire, and his hat on backwards, and trying to look me in the eye through the long hair that keeps falling into his face.This is a pretty extreme case, but you get the idea!
The job market has come full circle in this economy. It's no longer "what can you offer me", but now kinda back to "here I am, and this is what I have to offer YOU"
Be straight-forward and honest. Dont be afraid to sell yourself, but try not to be that pushy salesman that everyone is in a hurry to hustle out the door.

I'm sure there was a job description or a position description, it is important to highlight those or keep them close. Time management and how you manage deadlines and priorities is also important. How to manage conflict.....how to deal with the public

Having said that, not sure what line of business you're in...

More to that...think of how you solved problems, and the solutions you came up with

Body language is huge, don't slouch, and don't lean across the table....focus on your successes in your career. Give examples of winning strategies you came up with....

Try to avoid starting sentences with ummm or ahhhh...( I struggle with this because it gives me time to think)

Remember this, most first interviews are done by HR. They have NO clue what the job is all about. So, baffle with bull****. Second interview gets a little more technical. So, get to know your audience QUICK so you can speak technical with them.

Hope this is a better help then you have already gotten

Good luck

Google "behavioural descriptive interview questions" and even go to the websites of some of the major companies. You will find questions have evolved to "tell me about a time when......." It is based on the concept past actions are the best indicator of how you will act in the future.

If its a larger company an you have limited experience working in a large corporate culture those are the types of questions I'd focus on if I was interviewing you, and I've done hundreds in the past decade. Resume screening is where you filter out technical education and training, interview is where I answer two questions:

Is this a person who will fit in with the culture of my team/company?
How difficult will this person be to manage?

Red flags are someone who has ego issues, frequent job changes they can't explain, etc. My first question is going to be tell me about a time you had a conflict with a coworker and how did you handle it. I'm then going to ask who can verify that and they better be on your list of references.......and we will follow up and ask them about the incident so be warned.

Good luck, dress well, arrive on time, make eye contact and give clear honest answers and you'll do fine.

For those questions that start with, "Tell me about a time when you..." Remember the acronym CAR.

CONTEXT: Give them a story of a situation of problem they are asking about.
ACTION: what were your actions that you employed to resolve?
RESULT: What was the result of your actions to resolve the issue?

Typical context questions have to do with dealing with difficult people, challenging management when you disagree with a decision, problem correction, personal challenges, personal successes. I try to think of personal experiences for all of the above before an interview so I don't have a minute or so of, "Um..."

The question that asks you to "run us through your career experience and tell us how it will relate to the job..." Or a variant of this is a question you should have a prepared mental response for. This could also be worded like, "tell us what a attracted you to our job posting..."

If you are a guy who talks a lot when nervous, restrain yourself from wanting to fill silence with sound. When asked a question, answer it and then shut up. If this is a panel interview and people are taking notes, there might be a period of silence after you stop talking where they are writing notes. A lot of people , in their nervousness start filling that space with sound. Usually with babbling nonsense.

When the questions are through, they will usually ask you if you have any questions for them... Have at least two. They can be about the job, culture, company... Don't ask about salary or benefits in an initial interview unless they say they're offering you the position first.

My last tip for you would be, think of a canned response to respond to the "Tell us about yourself..." Question. That is sometimes the hardest question for nervous interviewees. If you can have a 30-second spiel ready for that question, it'll kick your interview off nicely. That 30-second response should be a summary statement of your career and personal history. 30 seconds... Not 10 mins. It's a question that'll prove you can talk and aren't a robot and breaks the ice.

Sorry... One more thing. GOOD LUCK!

Don't do this...come into an interview and say you will take anything...and then say you can't work for less than $30/hr....had two guys do this in the last two weeks

Your resume got you there or a high recommendation. Arrive early be ready to answer all questions honestly and based in life learnings. Do not ramble on thinking you need to have filler to the questions.
As indicated below you got the qualms now they got to see if you are a fit for the company, team player, motivator, mentor, leader etc.
Good luck.

One thing i do is ask for the names of attendees to the interview, and friend request them on LinkedIn. doing so forces them to click your profile to browse your qualifications one more time. Also gives me a chance to see their qualifications, and work they've done, and formulate some scenarios where they can readily relate.

I have done allot of interviewing before I retired. Main principle was past performance will likely predict future performance - people do not change.
They will likely ask you questions (ask for examples) related to problem identification, problem solving, team work, team leadership, initiative, communication, conflict resolution, cost reduction, productivity improvement, training, leadership, personal development (skills you have acquired), computer skills and how you have used them (Email, word, excel, etc), and likely several other dimensions.
Do not use the same example. Be prepared and good luck!

First impressions are everything.

The only reason I got offered my interview with my company is I wore a nice suit to the job fair at SAIT. The lady said it showed I was serious about finding work.

Firm handshake, lots of eye contact. Speak professionally. Dress as best you can to suit the job. No BS.

Lots of good advice here. Be sincere and honest, no BS.

Being that you were self employed you have a greater understanding of what a business faces day to day to survive. This kind of experience is not common in the work force today. IMHO you have an advantage because of this.

BW

I'll disagree with the suggestion of 'friending' the interviewer on LinkedIn, as such an action seems a bit excessive, but I don't think checking out their profile would be too much (knowing that they'll be notified of their profile view and that you were the individual who was viewing it). This will show a bit of initiative but don't overdo it into projecting creepy desperation.

If it's a trades job or involves field supervision be sure to touch on being proactive about safety and maybe have a relatable first hand account of a safety experience to mention if need be. I would imagine there's less focus on it in office positions than in the trades so maybe it won't even come up, but being able to relate a cause & effect of an incident or perhaps a time you performed a successful intervention is good.

The most recent interviews I had a couple of years back touched on questions about conflict resolution & teamwork.

And lastly Google yourself and see what pops up. If you have lots of social media posts from platforms such as Facebook, take a peek at what it projects to an employer or a stranger. Revise your privacy settings if need be. I have a feeling that one comment I left in a news article comments section played against me for the last interview I had (my resume and work experience was stellar and the interview went pretty well). The comment was left within the week preceding the interview and was opposing some factually incorrect advocates of gun control; the interview was at a place that could be described as highly likely to lean to the political left. I know people who have changed to false names for their Facebook profiles for this very reason.

Along the same line it can be helpful to not reveal things about your personal politics or such. For instance my wife is a communications professional and decades ago had some experience in the political arena, her resume notes what her position was when she was in politics but says "Communications Lead for a Political Party" rather than noting which political party it was. A co-worker of hers back then gave her the occasional lift home in his financially-frugal former cop car, until recently this same guy was our Prime Minister.

Had an interview not to long ago, I don't think they use the CAR acronym anymore. My interview they use the star acronym and actually record my response to the STAR.

Did a lot of research on questions they ask they can hang you up and practice. It makes the answer short and what they want to know.

S - Situation or
T - Task
A - Action you took
R - Results you achieved

These were all based on behavioral questions

Hope this helps

I found this interesting so I just called my niece who has worked in HR for Baker for 10 years.

She said quote "Creeper":sHa_shakeshout:

But obviously you got your dream job doing this or you would not have recommended it.
So I will not argue your success

Go get the book "60 seconds and you're hired" by Robin Ryan. Best book I've ever seen on interviews.

All the above suggestions are good..to a point. When I was doing a lot of interviewing it was pretty easy to tell when the person walked in with a scripted/memorized set of answers to the "basic" questions. I would then take the interview into a totally different direction. I want to know how the person thinks on his feet, not what he studied and memorized for two days before the interview.

Some really good advice here. Just remember they want to put you off balance with their questions, to see how you react. Just remember this because one of their questions might wobble you. It will help you keep cool, and maintain yer confidence. Also watch you body language!!!!! Sounds simple but slouching, yawning, staring off in space etc will bite you in the ass.

Think of them as a client that you would really like for your business. think about that kind of energy you want to put forth. Honesty about not having an interview in 32 years is not only a great ice breaker but will work in your favour. Try to position your chair so that they are looking at you more from their right side if it's a seated interview, or be on their right if it's a walk around interview.

Most large companies now use BDI interviews, and they all use pretty much the same questions. Look up BDI interviews online, and read the examples, and think up experiences of your own that best match up with the examples provided. Look at the answers in the examples, and tailor your answers to resemble the examples. If HR is giving the interview, it will come down to who gives the best answers during the BDI interview, and the best story teller usually gets the job. HR usually doesn't have any experience with the actual job, unless it's in HR, and they won't ask any technical questions.

If someone with actual knowledge of the position is involved with the interview, then they will usually ask some technical questions. In that case, it's a good idea to know as much as you can about the company, and the job description, so you can convince them that you are qualified. Do not embellish your experience or your training or your technical knowledge, because if the interviewer catches on, you just ruined your chances.

Ask questions about the position, as in the duties and responsibilities, schedule etc, to show your interest, but don't ask too many questions about the wage and benefits. You don't want the interviewers to think that you are only interested in the money.

I have given many interviews, some with HR , and some with other leaders , and some people that were very qualified failed the BDI part of the interview miserably, because they didn't prepare, or were too nervous to come up with appropriate answers. Other people were caught in lies about their experience or technical training and knowledge. For the most part, I hired the people that were most qualified but they still had to pass the BDI part of the interview.

An e-mail pops up in my inbox, I click "accept", and then delete the e-mail. There is no "forcing" of me to look at their profile. Just saying...

Google the address you are going to our do a drive by. This way you know where you are going and will calm your nerves. Arrive early if you are to early sit in the parking lot and wait. Do not show up late. If possible review company be able to speak to their history and mission statement. I would also suggest coming with references even if they have not asked for them.

Good Luck

Lots of good advice on this thread.

In addition don't forget to inform your references that you will be using them.

Had someone apply for a position and their reference was so horrible that they didn't get the job even though everything else looked good.

Very good point, I have hired people because of their references when I had multiple people that were fairly evenly qualified, and that gave comparable interviews. Most really good workers value their word too much to give someone a reference, unless they really believe that the person will do well at the position.

Back when I worked for my Dad we fired one guy who was caught red-handed stealing from us, he was billing clients one amount and encouraging them leave the recipient portion of their cheque blank, he would then cash it in his name and submit us an invoice for a lower amount and hand in cash for that. This was apparent very quick as the cash coming in was unusual. This guy still used us as a reference!! The potential employer got the whole story about the theft & fraud. I wonder if he got hired.... :thinking-006:

Great advice on here. One more suggestion:

Make sure you're rested and hydrated and have a good blood sugar level before walking through the door. A glass of water and an energy bar (or "Goo"-type gel) 1/2 hour before your appointment is a good way to ensure the latter two are covered.

That is what I hated about my former job. If someone contacted me about a former employee of mine, I was only allowed to confirm that the employee worked for me, I was not allowed to divulge any details as to the employee being terminated, or any issues with that employee. As well, as a representative of the company, I was not allowed to give a reference for any of my present employees.